Getting It Right (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 12

"Nervous?" Sevyn asks as she helps Corey fold clothes into one of her dads old suitcases from the attic. They're packing for Corey's flight to Atlanta in the morning.

"Is it that obvious?" His eyebrows are furrowed as he moves things around in his suitcase to make room for more clothes.

"Well you've been unusually quiet." She replies. "And we all know how your mouth likes to run."

Corey chuckles sheepishly, "I mean if you were going to stay in your mothers new house in Atlanta with her new family after she's been out of your life for seven years, how would you feel?" He gives up on making more space and decides to take some of his clothes out in order to refold them and move things around.

There were times when he was so closed to backing out of this trip to see his mother, but then he would think of his little sister Ariana's smiling face and immediately get reeled back into the idea. He promised her he would come visit this summer and she calls him every other day just to check up on him and make sure he's still coming. The last thing he wants to do is disappoint her and hear her broken voice crying over the phone.

"What do you think her husband is like?" Sevyn asks him.

Corey shrugs his shoulders. He tried to keep his mind positive about her drug dealing husband but every time Corey tries to picture him, he sees a short round man with thinning hair, big gold chains and a cigarette hanging out his mouth. The kind with food stains on his shirt that orders his wife to make him a sandwich then slaps her on the ass in front of her kids.

"I don't really know. I just hope he isn't planning to ruin my trip or me and mothers relationship. I'm only going down there for her and Ariana, I could careless about his presence." He struggles to stuffs a pair of jeans into his bag.

Sevyn huffs and takes the suitcase from him. "You're making this harder than it has to be." She neatly folds and tucks away all his jeans, then his shirts and piles them carefully on top of one another. Corey watches fascinated as everything fits perfectly into the suitcase. "Have you ever flown before?"

"Nope. I never had a reason to. Me and my dad never traveled anywhere that couldn't be reached by driving." Corey sits down on the couch. "I heard its really relaxing though."

"Yeah if you don't think about the fact that you're suspended in the air in a big piece of metal with wings." She says packing away some socks into the zipper of his suitcase. "I'm excited to head to Santa Monica, flying is fun. I hope you bring gum and ear plugs with you."

"You're mom brought some home for me. She even brought me a neck rest." He tells her. Ever since he moved in with Sevyn's family after his dad was admitted into rehab, her mother has been nothing but hospitable towards Corey. She treats him like her own child and it feels nice to have motherly nurture, something he hasn't really felt since his own mother left so many years ago. Sevyn's mom even offered to convert the basement into a whole bedroom for him but he declined the offer since he's heading to college this fall. It would be pointless to renovate the basement when he's going to be spending most of his time in his dorm for the next four years.

"How's your dad? Have you talked to him lately?" Sevyn gets up from her kneeling position and stands up to stretch her limbs.

"Nah, I almost called him the other day but I figured we had nothing to say to each other. He made it clear he isn't sorry for anything he's ever done to me and I'm trying to enjoy my stress free time before college."

"Did you finally decide on one?"

Corey's amber eyes flick up to meet Sevyn and she's staring at him with an arched eyebrow. So many college have been offering Corey scholarships to come study with them, scholarships that can cover his tuition without a problem. But his heart is set on Brown and everyone knows it. He's already been accepted there, he just has yet to confirm he'll attend. The thing holding him back? Doubt.