Chapter 1
And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah
The song had ended and some crappy, pop song had started. I turned the radio station until I found something decent.
After a few more hours of driving, I realized what street I was on. I made a turn and saw the enormous house that rested at 415 Whitman Avenue, Lima, Ohio 45802. So this was were we lived now. Ok. I took it in.
Beige siding. Hunter-green shutters. Black iron fence surrounded the backyard. There was a colorful garden beneath the large front window. The porch had two chairs and a small table in between the two. I wondered how much time Dad and Carol spent together on that porch. Mom and Dad had spent time on our old house's porch.
It wasn't that I didn't like Carol. I absolutely loved her when she and Dad had come to visit me last year at The Masters School in New York. She was the closest thing I'd had to a mom since my real one had died when I was only seven years old. Apparently, Carol had felt like I was a daughter to her, because ever since we met, we text, e-mail, and talk on the phone every week. As a teenager, I never had a mom, but Carol was close enough to one for me.
I pulled my 1994 Jeep Wrangler into the paved driveway next to Carol's station wagon, and turned off the engine. Carol had a son, didn't she? Yes. I remembered then, his name was… Frank? I wasn't sure, but I knew that he was going to be a senior at McKinley High School also this year.
I unbuckled my seatbelt, opened the door, and climbed out, grabbing my shoulder bag from the passenger seat. I opened up the trunk and grasped some of my things. I'm going to need to make two trips, I though to myself, lugging my things to the front door.
I dug around in my pocket for the house key Dad had given me to the new house during his visit last year. Once I had my fingers around it, I pulled it out, stuck it in the keyhole of the door, and let myself in.
"Dad? Carol?" I bellowed through the house. No answer. Ok, well, I was early, so I wasn't shocked that they were out. I finished unloading my things, trudging back and forth from the car to the house with my luggage on my back. I had finally loaded everything into main hallway when I noticed a note on the kitchen counter.
Juliana,
Sorry if we're not home by the time you get here. Carol went out grocery shopping for your 'Welcome Home' dinner, and I got called into the shop to deal with a customer. Kurt and Finn are with some friends, but we'll all be back by 4. Your bedroom's upstairs, 3rd door on the right. We've missed you, Princess.
Love, Dad
'Welcome Home' dinner? Really? I had asked him not to make a big deal about it, but it was probably Kurt who heard about the idea, and decided he would die trying to throw this little fiesta.
Dad said they'd be home by 4. It was 2:30 pm right now. I decided I had time to start unpacking, take a shower, and straighten up a little.
I heaved my bags up the stairs, thinking to myself, So his name's Finn? Well, I was close!