Well, it’s been a long time since Julian and I started talking, Marcus and Victoria started dating and my mom and Tom have been on a few dates now. Well, three months exactly. As if it was meant to happen, Julian showed up at my mom on New Year’s Eve. He met my mom and she really liked him although she was a bit upset about me forgetting Austin. Austin didn’t leave my mind at any moment. He was always there but those mixed feelings I had weren’t helping so I spent a whole weekend sleeping and shutting everyone out, including Julian.
My mom thought that at some point I would’ve need to see a therapist but I refused. The only person I would’ve been able to talk to would’ve been my old school’s counselor back in San Antonio. We both sat down with Tom and talked about it. Apparently my aunt had offered my mom for us to stay with her for a week. That meant I was going to be missing school and a lot of homework but I did my best to please my mom.
“Are we there yet?” I looked up from my book and turned to look at Alejandra who sat in the backseat with me. We were in Tom’s 4x4 pick-up truck on our way to San Antonio.
“Just five more minutes and we enter San Antonio.” She nodded right after Tom answered. I stared at him from the backseat. He somehow felt the need to be with us once he asked mom to go on a date with him for the second time.
The rest of the drive was quiet and out of nowhere my stomach started to flip, twist and turn. The feeling of being back at San Antonio was sort of overwhelming. I kind of missed the town I grew up in. I missed one of the few friends I made there Jared. We both met back in school. He was the typical nerd nobody wanted to hang out with. I liked him in a friendly way. He was very smart and fun to hang out with. I didn’t get why people didn’t like him.
“We’re here.” I looked up from my book again to see my Aunt's house in front of us. I shut the book and stepped out of the car.
The house looked the same. My aunt's garden was bigger. She had flowers around house, from orchids, carnations, sun flowers to lilies. The grass was cut just like she wanted it. Low but with a bit of a spike. The house was painted in white while the big columns at the entrance were painted in a baby blue. The front door opened up, letting a big golden retriever run out of the house.
"Dylan!" He ran over to me. I bent down and rubbed his neck once he was close. Dylan used to be a puppy when we left San Antonio. "Oh my god! You've gotten so big!
"That's Dylan?" I looked up at mom and nodded with excitement. "He's so big right now."
"I know, right?" I turned my attention back to Dylan and placed a kiss on top of his head. He licked my face, letting me know he was excited and happy to see me. "I missed you too boy!"
"Janice!" Dylan stopped licking my face to walk away. I stood on my feet to see my aunt at the door and smiled. My mom walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her little sister. I grabbed my bag from the back of the truck and walked over. My mom and aunt let go. My aunt stared at me with a smile on her face. "Welcome back Calli."
"It's good to be back Aunt Calliana." I wrapped my arms around her, holding onto her like my life depended on it.
I loved my aunt more than I loved myself. According to my mom, I'm a living miracle. I was weaker than a normal baby when I was born. Apparently I had scratched my belly button and hurt the chord that connected me to my mom and they had to do a c-section to get me out before the bag flooded with blood. Considering I lost most of my blood, my aunt volunteered to donate blood so I could survive. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her heart of gold. She's the reason my mom named me Callianne. Callianne Gabriela Johnson.
"You're so grown up. Danny has been missing you since you left." I stared at her in awe. Danny was her parrot. He was very nice to talk to every single time.
