The flight there was surprisingly quiet and still. There weren’t many people on board; no children, nobody who was scared of flying, just a couple of business women and men and other passengers flying alone including me.
When I got to the Denver airport, I found my duffle bag and heaved it over my shoulder. I walked out to the lobby and searched the benches for my family. I stood in the middle of the lobby feeling like an idiot when I heard my name being called. I whipped my head around until I saw my little sister waving at me. My mom was behind her motioning me towards them. I smiled and headed straight for them.
I set my bag down before diving into my mothers arms. Her touch made my heart warm and tears rushed to my eyes. When we separated she took my cheeks in her hands and smiled, “I missed my baby girl.” She said and kissed my forehead.
“Hey!” I heard Alexis shout. I looked over at her and grinned. She smirked before wrapping her arms around my neck in a huge hug. Of course she was a bit taller than me so people always confused who was older. But that didn’t matter this moment, right then I was happy to see her.
“Where’s Brock and dad?” I asked.
“We haven’t told them yet.” My mom winked and I laughed,
“Oh boy, this’ll be fun.” I smiled as I picked up my bag from the ground and headed towards the exit.
I spotted my mother’s van from miles away; it wasn’t that hard to find considering how huge it was. Long story short; she used to own a daycare so she bought that gigantic thing. All three of us walked to the van; my mom opened up the trunk and I threw my bag in it. I hopped in the front seat, expecting my mom to sit next to me. To my surprise, Alexis opened the door and sat in the drivers seat.
“Woah!” I exclaimed, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, I have my permit now,” She smiled proudly, “I drove all the way here and I’ll drive all the way back.”
I suddenly became nervous. I fidgeted in my seat, twisting my fingers together and biting my lip, “Mom!” I finally turned around, “You let her drive here?”
“Yeah, she’s a great driver!” She smiled and gave Alexis a thumbs up.
I gulped as she started the car. Usually I didn’t wear a seatbelt (Yes, I know I’m bad) but today I was sorta fearing for my life. I grabbed the seatbelt and strapped myself in.
Luckily we made it back home alive, the airport wasn’t too far away from my childhood house, and I was happy about that. Alexis made a fair parking job in our driveway next to my dad’s Ford Truck. My family liked to own big cars.
We all hopped out at the same time; I saw my mom take my duffle bag out of the trunk and wrap it around her shoulder.
“You two go first,” I said to Alexis and my mom, “I’ll hide behind you and surprise them.” They nodded in agreement to the plan and we snuck up to the door. Alexis opened it up and we all made our way inside.
“Well hey you two, it took you long enough to get to the store and back!” I heard my dad’s rough voice at the dinner table.
“We weren’t exactly at the store…” My mom said and they separated to reveal me.
“Tailynn?!” My dad smiled with delight.
“Daddy!” I ran up to give him a hug. I always felt like a little girl when I was in his loving arms.
“Tay Tay?!” I heard my little brother call out my nickname.
“Brocky!” I spun around and hugged the crap outta him.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was muffled through my shirt. I let him go before answering,
“I’m here to visit! My boyfriend is in New York so I needed a place to go to keep my mind off of him and here was the best place I could think of!”
“You’re boyfriend?” My dad got curious.
“Yeah his name is An-” I stopped mid-sentence. I had to quickly think of a different name, a name Alexis wouldn’t recognize. “Antonio. Yeah. He’s latino.” I cleared my throat and made an exit upstairs where my room used to be. That was a close one.
“Hey!” Alexis trailed behind me.
“Hey yourself!” I continued to climb the stairs.
“You aren’t gonna tell me anything about him? I thought we always told each other everything.” Her tone of voice made me stop and turn around.
“I just don’t think you’d wanna hear about the things we do and stuff. I don’t hate you for being curious but I just need a little space, okay?” I put my hand on top of her brown curly head.
“Okay, what ever you say.” She slumped back downstairs and gave me time to get to my room and unpack.
I turned the corner and made my way to my room; my old room. The last time I had been in here I was packing up all my valuables for California. My mom was crying in the doorway and my twelve year old sister was trying to comfort five year old Brock in his room. The memory of that one day left my mind as quickly as it had come. I wanted to have a fun time here; I didn’t want to remember the past and what I had done to my family three years ago.
I sat on my twin sized bed and set my bag on the ground next to it. This bed felt so small without there being an extra space meant for Nicolette or Anthony. Every thing in this room felt so small; my closet, my nightstand, my vanity, even my window was small. I never realized how cooped up I really was in here; no wonder I left.
I heard my name being called from downstairs. I didn’t hesitate from getting up, I was anxious to hear what my mother wanted to do now that I was here. I bounded downstairs like when I was a little girl at Christmas, running to see what Santa had brought me. I headed towards the kitchen where I heard my name.
“So we were thinking about doing something fun tonight!” My mom spoke from the stove; she was making lunch.
“Like what?” I asked, sitting on one of the kitchen stools.
“Like going downtown at night; to remind you of what downtown Denver looks like with all the lights. Does that sound good?” She turned to look at me for an answer.
“Yeah that sounds great!” I spun around on the stool.
“Okay Hannah and Darcy will be here around 6 and-”
“Woah, woah, woah Hannah and Darcy?!” I interrupted her; stopping in mid spin.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with them? They used to be your best friends in high school!” My mom turned her whole body to face me.
“Yeah, that was in high school, a place I don’t wanna remember! Those girls turned into complete bitches the last time I saw them! Why do you think I hung out with Nicolette all the time?” I tried to see the good in them coming but just couldn’t find it.
“Oh common Tay, two of my friends will be there too, so it’s not like you’re going to be alone with them.” She put her hand on her hip which was a warning sign. A sign that told me I better listen to her or she’ll send me back to California.
“Okay, okay fine.” I sighed and continued to spin.
My mom turned back to the stove. It was quiet until Alexis came sprinting towards us from the dining room.
“Hey mom, why can’t I come with?!” She asked.
“Yeah mom, why can’t she come with?!” I mimicked her but meant what I said. If Alexis was there, that could possibly take away some of the awkward moments that were sure to come.
“Because downtown Denver is too busy at night and I don’t want to lose you.” Was her simplest answer.
“Seriously?” Alexis whined, “I’m taller than Tailynn! If you’re going to lose anyone it’d be the daughter you’re willing to take the most!” She pointed at me.
“True dat.” I smiled. When I stopped spinning in the stool, the room didn’t. I held the counter to balance myself.
“Well….” My mom had stopped cooking again to look at us, “Well I guess you have a point there.”
“Sooooo, can I go with?” I saw Alexis cross her fingers behind her back.
“I guess so.”
“YES!” Alexis ran over to me and I high fived her.
The good news was Alexis was coming with to help me stand my ground. The bad news? I was gonna have to deal with some tough ass bitches in four hours.
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