It was never easy being me or living my life. Between my mom moving to New York when I was eleven and forcing me to live with my dad who abused me everyday, yeah my life is pretty much hell. Except for the occasional time when he would get drunk and pass out at the bar, but that hasn't always stopped him before. I remember nights when he would come home drunk, angry and yelling. I was asleep when I would wake up from him yelling and hitting me; I would wake up crying. He would hit me then cover my mouth holding a knife to my throat, telling me to shut up or he'll kill me. Then he would rape me until he passed out. When I turned fifteen the sexual abuse stopped because I could finally fight him off.
God I can't wait to leave this hell whole; only one more week, then im free.
"Nicholle, get your ass out here!" he called from the living room. I made sure I had my pocketknife and walked out of my room.
"What?" I said through closed teeth.
"I need you to do daddy a little favor," I looked at him and almost thought about grabbing my knife, "I need a few more beers." I know im not helping anything if I encourage the drinking, but im hoping eventually he'll die from alcohol poisoning if that's even possible. I walked in the kitchen and grabbed three beers out of the fridge. I threw them at him as I walked by. He grabbed my ass and gave it a little squeeze.
"Don't touch me you fat bastard!" I said sharply and turned around to face him.
"Feisty are we?"
"No, more like sick of your bull shit!"
"Now don't act like that, it hurts my feelings you know."
"I don't give a shit about your feelings, you could go die for all I care." I said, turning around and heading off to my room closing and locking my door behind me; I locked my windows too. I laid down on my bed and pulled out my iPod. I turned it on and shoved the ear buds into my ears; before I knew it, I was asleep. Maybe about two hours after I had already fallen asleep three heavy knocks on my door woke me up.
"Nicshocle." My dad's drunken voice called out from the other side of the door. I just ignored him. He banged even harder on my door now.
"Open sa dsoor." I pulled the blankets over my head and tried to tune him out. He finally went away, but soon enough he was back.
When I woke up in the morning, he was laying on the floor right outside my door. I gave him a kick in the gut and he didnt even move. I stepped over him and grabbed a strawberry nutrigrain bar from the kitchen. I walked back into my room and closed my door. I don't have to go to school because it's the first day of my winter break. I turned on my phone to text my best friend, Tatiana. Tatiana has been there for me forever. We met in school she saw my scars and she was the first person to ever ask me if I was okay. She helped me out through everything.
Hey tati, u up? I waited a few seconds.
Yeah u ok?
Im fine. Can u come over?
Yea ill be there in 10. Window or door?
Whichever u feel like comin through.
See u at ur window.
Haha kk.
I decided to call my mom and see how she's doing. I dialed her number and put it to my ear.
Ring, ring.
"Hi, baby."
"Hey mom. How's things in the big apple?"
"Okay, I wish I was there with you though. I miss you so much."
"I miss you too mom. Hows Nana?"
"She's okay, feeling a little better. How are you?"
"That's good. Im okay. Cant wait to get out of here this week."
"Im glad you're getting out. Im so sorry that I can't come down and help you. You understand why I can't though right?"
"Yeah, I know you can't leave Nana, I understand. Don't worry I don't blame you."
"You're so grown up. I love you and miss you so much."
"I love and miss you too. When will I see you again?"
"Maybe a month, but im sending you something that might make that seem not so long."
"What is it?"
"You'll see. You might get it today."
"I cant wait! Well I guess I'll let you get back to Nana and your work."
"Okay, sweetie. I will try to call you tomorrow."
"Ok, love ya bye."
"Love you too, bye." We hung up. Tatiana should be here by now. I got up and went to my window. I unlocked it, opened it, and stuck my head out. She was walking down the street. She got closer and I backed up so I could help her in. once she was in I closed and locked my window.
"Hi." She said.
"Hey." We sat down on my bed.
"So whats new?"
"Well, I have a few new bruises, and another cut."
"Where?" I stood up and pulled the back of my shirt up from the bottom to show her the cut. I pulled up my shirt sleeves and showed her the new bruises on each arm.
"The cut was when I was asleep. The bruises were because his beers weren't cold enough. But don't worry, I got him back. I cut his cheek when he was walking away from cutting me. And I kicked him really hard in the side this morning so he'll feel that too when he wakes up."
"Im so sorry."
"It's not your fault, but thank you." She gave me a hug carefully.
"So you're out of here Friday right?"
"Yup."
"Im gonna miss you so much."
"Im gonna miss you too. You wanna help me pack?"
"Yeah. You got any bags?"
"Yeah I'll go get them." I got up and opened my door slowly. He wasn't laying on the floor anymore, he was gone. I walked in the kitchen got the boxes, and two bottles of water, walked back in my room closing, and locking the door behind me.
"Think fast." I tossed her the bottle of water.
"Thanks." She said chuckling. I took two bags and opened them. I handed one bag to her and I took the other one. I started in my drawers and she went for the closet. Before I actually started packing, I turned on my speakers and put my iPod in it. Then the packing began. I took my socks, underwear, and pajamas and put them in my bag. I didn't bother folding them I just took the drawer out and turned it upside down and dumped it in the bag. DING-DONG the doorbell rang.
"I'll be right back." I told her, opened my door, and walked out.
I got to the door and looked out the peephole. It was a guy in a UPS suit. I opened the door.
"Can I help you?" I asked him.
"Yeah I have a package for Nicholle Santiago."
"That's me."
"Can you sign here please?" He handed me the pad thing and I signed my fancy signature. I handed it back to him. "This is kinda heavy do you want me to bring it in?"
"Um, let me see if I can lift it first." He stepped aside. I walked outside and tried to lift it. I grabbed the bottom of the box and pulled up a little, I heard a pop and felt my shoulder fall.
"Whoa are you okay?" He said putting the box back on the dolly.
"Yeah just give me a minute." I stood back up slowly and pulled my arm out then shoved it back in. I heard and felt it go back in. I turned it around in a circle. "All better. It pops out of socket sometime. So could you maybe take it to my room?"
"Sure." He said with a smile on his face. I walked down the hallway and stepped aside so he could take it in. he went in, took the box off the dolly, and rolled it back outside.
"Bye, thanks."
"No problem, have a nice day."
"Thanks you too." He walked away and I closed the door and ran in my room. I ran over to the box and looked at it, it's from my mom. I took my pocketknife and cut open the top. The flaps popped open and the Styrofoam popcorn things fell out. I moved the rest out of the way.
"What in it?" Tatiana asked me.
"Hold on." I moved a lot from the top and saw a lot of stuff. The first thing I saw was a new cell phone. I pulled it out.
"Who's it from?"
"My mom."
"That's nice." I smiled and dug deeper in the box. There was a whole bunch of clothes. Ripped jeans, skinny jeans, shorts, capris, shirts, tank tops, long sleeves, jackets, vests, cropped dresses, leggings, pajama's, makeup, shoes, belts, skirts. I folded everything and put it in a suitcase. I dug further and found another box. I pulled it out, it was a laptop.
"Oh my god." I said.
"Whoa." I looked at the box I didn't open it though. "Aren't you gonna open it?"
"I'll do it later." I looked in the box and it wasn't empty yet. There was a smaller box. I opened it and there were iTunes cards inside. I put those aside reached my arm in the big box and found computer games and DVD's. I smiled put everything down and looked at Tatiana.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, im fine." I picked up the box. "It still feels like something's in it. I sat it back down and turned it on its side so it would fall out; it was a Chanel purse. I stopped.
"What?" Tatiana asked me.
"After everything she already got me, she got me a Chanel purse. I picked it up and hugged it. I unzipped it and found Chanel earrings, Chanel necklaces, and a Chanel wallet. I grabbed my old phone and dialed my mom's number.
Ring, ring.
"Hi."
"Hi mommy! Thank you so much for all of my stuff!"
"Oh you're welcome baby. "
"How did you afford all of this?"
"Well I got another promotion from my job so I figure you should have everything that you deserve."
"It's so much though."
"You don't like it?"
"Are you kidding I love everything!"
"Im glad. There should be a paper on the inside of the box that your phones in. call that number to activate your phone."
"Ok."
"Did you see your purse?"
"Yes! I was so shocked."
"Did you open it?"
"Yes I got the jewelry and the wallet."
"Did you open the wallet?"
"No. Should I?"
"I would, but that's just me." I opened it and screamed. "I take it you opened it."
"Five hundred dollars?"
"Well, I knew that you wouldn't have a job for a while and I want you to be able to take care of yourself."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
"You're welcome baby. But listen I have to help Nana out of the tub, so give me a call before you fall asleep okay?"
"Ok, love you bye."
"Love you bye." I hung up the phone and just looked at the five hundred dollar bills sitting in my wallet.
"Im done with the closet." Tatiana said.
"Great thanks. "
"What now?"
"Um…, well im gonna put my new stuff away so you wanna get news paper and do dresser stuff?"
"Sure." She grabbed the newspaper and started wrapping my valuables. I grabbed my new clothes, folded them if I needed to and packed them away in my suitcase. I kept one out fit out; a pair of ripped jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a black vest. I'll wear it on my last day. There was a knock on the front door. Tatiana looked at me and I looked at her.
"Who do you think that is?" She asked me.
"I don't know." I got up and she followed me into the living room. I looked through the peephole and this time instead of seeing a guy in a UPS suit, there was two guys in black suits. Tatiana and I looked at each other, I opened the door.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" I asked them.
"Are you Nicholle Santiago?" the one on the left asked.
"Um, yeah." They invited themselves in.
"We're, looking for your father." I closer the front door, they sat down.
"He's not here right now." They looked at me and Tatiana.
"What happened to you?" The other one said. I looked down at the ground and didn't answer them. "Does he still abuse you?" I looked up at them and nodded my head a little. "Where is he?"
"He was here when I woke up, but when Tatiana got here he was gone. I didn't even hear him get up."
"You have no idea of where he could be?"
"None." One pulled out a call phone and dialed a number; he talked quickly for a minute and then hung up the phone. "What were you doing before we came."
"Packing, why?"
"Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes, Friday im going to the La Push orphanage."
"Right I forgot."
"Im sorry, who are you?"
"Im Matt and this is David, we're with child services, and the police station, and situations like yours are our area of expertise."
"Why were you looking for him?"
"Because we think he was involved in a hit and run that occurred last night. "
"Why would you think it was him?"
"Because he was where the accident was last night, the tire marks match your father's car tires, and we can confirm that it was him."
"Oh, what exactly did he do?"
"Well he raped a young lady, hit her with his car and drove off."
"Oh my god." Tatiana rushed to my side. "Is the girl okay?"
"She died, when the tires crushed her."
I put my head in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees.
"Im sending over a psychiatrist to talk to you."
"Lisa?"
"Yes."
"I've worked with her before, she knows my past."
"She should be here in a few minutes."
"Im gonna finish packing." Tatiana said to me.
"Ok." There was a knock on the door. David opened the door, it was Lisa. Lisa has been my counselor/ psychiatrist for the past five years; ever since my mom left. She understands me in a way that no one else could or will ever. I stood up and gave her a hug.
"Hi, Lisa."
"Hi Nicholle. How are you?"
"Im, okay..." Mat and David left. Lisa and I sat down on the couch.
"So what's new." I showed her my back and my arms. "Why?"
"The back was in my sleep and arms because his beers weren't cold enough."
"That's horrible."
"I know."
"When do you leave again?"
"Friday."
"Thank heavens for that. Have you talked to your mom lately?"
"Yes today. She sent me some stuff in the mail, would you like to see?"
"Yes." I got up and she followed me into my room. I showed her everything that I got. "Wow, this is a lot of good stuff." She said when we were back in the living room.
"Yes it is. I love it all."
"Seems like she's trying to make up for something? Maybe leaving you here?"
"I didn't think of it that way."
"I wanted to talk to you about the orphanage that your mother picked out for you to go to."
"Okay."
"As you know its in the Native American reservation La Push," I nodded, "this orphanage is different from other orphanages. Yes, you are still with younger kids, but you are separated in your own room because of your age. In your room, there is a small bathroom and small kitchen. You will be provided with everything you need and you will have the option to get a job if you want. You will have chores and responsibility to earn your allowance."
"So it's like living in a nursing home?"
"Kinda, but not really. Its kinda like college or a hotel room, but you don't pay."
"Oh, ok. It doesn't sound too bad. Its sounds nice and fancy."
"It sort of is." I smiled and she returned one.
"Well, if there's nothing else then I will let you get back to packing."
"Ok, will I see you again before I leave?"
"Yes, I'll come over on Friday and see you to your car."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye." She said hugging my and left. I locked the door and went in the kitchen. I grabbed two big steak knifes and went in my room. I handed one to Tatiana and she didn't ask questions, we just kept on packing. We were done with everything in two more hours.
"Anything else?" She asked me.
"Nope."
"Cool. So what do we do now?"
"Im hungry."
"Same." She said and walked out of my room I followed her. We ended up in the kitchen. We looked through the fridge, freezer, and cabinets. We hound hot pockets and cheese its!
I heated up the hot pockets and while we waited for them to cook, we ate cheese its! They took a few minutes, when they were done; we took a quick bite burning our mouths.
"Ahh." I said.
"Shit, god that's, hot." Tatiana said.
"No dip." We grabbed some drinks and took the food in my room. I turned on my iPod and put it in my speakers.
"What kinda songs you got?"
"Anything." She went through my songs until she found something. It was She wolf. We sat there eating and listening to music. When we were done with our hot pockets, we laid on our backs on my bed.
"So, are you excited about Friday?" She asked me.
I hesitated, "In a weird way, kinda."
"What do you mean kinda?"
"Well, im gonna be glad getting out of here, but im gonna miss you. And when I get there im gonna have no one. I mean yeah I'll still talk to you and my mom, but no one will actually be there. I'll be alone."
"I know, but not for long."
"How do you know?"
"Because, im sure no family could pass you up, you'll have a house in no time. And plus don't forget about all the hot guys there."
"Yeah, that'll be good." I looked up at the ceiling and thought about all the hot guys that will be there.
"I wish there were hot guys here." I laughed. I saw out of the corner of my eye, my dad's truck. I shot up and was suddenly on my feet.
"Whats going on?" Tatiana said standing up. I grabbed her and we fell to the ground. "What the hell are you doing?"
"He can't see you." I grabbed my phone and dialed the number that David gave me.
"He's here." I said when it stopped ringing.
"Were on our way." David said. I got up a little from the ground and looked out the window, he was getting out of the car. I grabbed the two steak knifes off my bed and handed her hers.
"You know the rules." She nodded we got up and sat down on my bed.
"I thought you said he couldn't see me?"
"Well not outside, because if he see's you then he's likely not to come home because he doesn't want to be around people. Or he could see someone else and come in pissed off and do something to one of us."
"Oh, ok."
"As soon as the door closes we need to laugh. Put the knife on this side of you so he doesn't see it." I put it on my right side, which was her left side, because it was the side on the wall. We heard the door close.
"One, two, three." I mouthed. After three we laughed. My dad appeared at the door.
"What's so funny?" He said.
"Oh, just something we remembered from school." I said still laughing a little.
"Which was?"
"Nothing, you had to be there." He took a few steps closer. I looked at him "Is there something you want?" I asked him. It looked like he was trying to intimidate me. He took a few steps closer. This time he was right in my face. Tatiana and me grabbed our knifes at the same time and whipped them out. He looked at the knife and laughed. I held it to his neck and stood up.
"I know what you did last night." I told him.
"How?"
"Don't worry about it." he backed up a little bit.
"You cant do anything to me." He said. I looked behind him in the living room and saw David, Matt, and some other people coming in. I walked him back until he was out of my room. David grabbed him. He struggled, other people joined to help; they finally got him in handcuffs and took him out. Lisa walked into my room.
"Hi sweetie, is there someone you can stay with until Friday?" She asked me. Tatiana stood up and walked over.
"She can stay with me and my family." Tatiana said. I looked at her and she smiled at me.
"Ok, great. I'll keep in touch with you."
"Okay." they left. "Are you sure its okay that I stay with you?"
"Yeah, trust me it'll be okay."
"I just don't wanna barge in and be a burden." She looked at me.
"You wont be."
"Ok."
"When do you wanna leave?"
"Whenever."
"Do you wanna take your stuff to my house and then we can go out somewhere?"
"Sure." I grabbed some bags and she grabbed some bags. We walked to her house and put them in her room. We walked back to my house; I put on some sweatpants, a hoodie and flip flops. I threw my hair up in a sloppy bun; we grabbed the last of the bags and suitcases and went to her house. When we got to her house, I activated my phone real quick so I could charge it for later. We sat down on her bed and talked for a while. We talk about random things, like how great cheese its taste, good songs, sucky songs, celebrities that dress good, celebrities that dress like rodeo clowns, and anything and everything in between.
"Tatiana, Nicholle ven aquí un minuto." [Tatiana, Nicholle come here for a minute] Tatiana's mother shouted from downstairs. We got up and walked down the stairs and into her kitchen.
"Im so sorry, but I need you guys to go to the store for me."
"Ok, what do you need?" Tatiana asked her mother. She usually argued with her mom, but I could hear in her tone that she had an idea.
"Milk, eggs, bread, butter, the basics, and you guys can get some stuff you want for the week. Snacks, lunch, breakfast, stuff like that. Oh, I also need you to get the stuff for rice and beans."
"Mmmm." I said. Her mom laughed. Her mom handed her one of her credit cards. We grabbed our purses and she grabbed her car keys. As we were walking out the door her mom called out, "No sólo compran comida chatarra!" [Don't only buy junk food!]
"Sí mamá." [Yes, mom] Tatiana said as we left. She had a smile on her face the whole way there.
"Whats goin on smiles?" I said to her.
"You'll see."
"Okay." We drove to the store just in time when we got in the store it started raining. We grabbed a cart and got everything her mom asked for first.
"Are you ready?" she asked me.
"For…?"
"To get what we want."
"Ooo. Yes, I am." She went to the ice cream aisle. I grabbed chocolate chip cookie dough, and she grabbed cookies and cream. We put them in the cart and went to the cookie aisle. We grabbed chocolate chip, and frosted. Then we grabbed a few boxes of cheese its.
"You know what else we need?" She asked me.
"What?"
"Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos."
"Do we really need Fritos?"
"No, it just rhymed."
"Stupid." I said laughing. We got the chips and then walked around. "Wait." I said putting my hand in front of her.
"What, did we forget something?"
"Yeah! Brownies!"
"Oh my god yes!" We laughed and went down the cake aisle. We got the fuggiest, chocolate brownies they had. They were fudge with chocolate pieces in the batter so they melt, and then chocolate frosting! We bought everything and ran back out to her car because it was raining. We drove back to her house and carried in all the groceries.
"Did you get everything?" we looked at each other and chuckled.
"Yup." Tatiana said. Her mom looked in all of the bags and saw all the junk we got. She clicked her tongue at us.
"You guys are gonna turn into junk food junkies!" she said
"Too late." She said taking a bite out of a cookie and handing one to me. We walked upstairs to her room and turned on the radio.
"Im gonna miss this house." I said.
"Its gonna miss you too, and so will everyone inside this house."
"You guys are like family to me." We laid down on our backs on her bed and ate our cookies.
"What do you think its gonna be like?"
"What, whats gonna be like?"
"Moving and living out there."
"Oh, well I think at first it will be hard, but soon it will be easy. I mean it'll be hard not knowing anyone, but I'll manage. If my computer has a webcam we can web chat."
"Yeah that's true. I hope those people are nice."
"Of course they are."
"How do you know?"
"Because Native Americans are never mean to people on their side."
"What?"
"Since im Cherokee, and Choctaw I'm Native American and so are the people that live on the reservation. I might not be from the Quileute tribe, but I am still Native."
"Oh, I get it."
"So im not too worried about that."
"I hope there's some hot guys out there."
"Me too!"
"Come on." She said grabbing my arm, puling me off the bed and downstairs. "Were going out." She called out to her mom.
"Ok." Her mom replied.
"Why are you kidnapping me?" she laughed.
"Im not, im just taking you somewhere against your will."
"The difference?"
"The words." We laughed. We got in the car and she drove to Pat Catan's. We got out and walked in.
"What are we doing here?" I asked her.
"We are going to buy stuff to make stuff."
"What are we making?"
"Customized hoodies and scrapbooks."
"Ooo sounds fun."
"Mhm." We grabbed two baskets. We each grabbed a white hoodie. Then we got stencils, airbrush stuff, paints, and sealers to go on over the paint to keep it on. Then we grabbed scrapbooks, markers, paper, stickers, paper frames, and anything else we thought we needed. We checked out and drove back to her house.
When we got back to her house, her parents were watching a movie in the living room with her brother. Her sister was in her room and we were about to be in Whitney's room. When we got upstairs, in her room, we turned on Latin music and got to work. First, we did our hoodies. We took pictures along the way so we could put them in our scrapbooks.
"Tatiana viene aquí." [Tatiana come here.]Her mother yelled from downstairs.
"B.R.B." she said and left. I sat up there waiting. She came back a minute later with a huge smile on her face and her hands behind her back.
"Hey there smiley." I said. She took her hands from behind her back and she was holding a box. I looked at it.
"They got me a webcam so we can keep in touch!"
"Oh my god that's awesome!"
"I know right!" When we were done with the hoodies, we hooked up her webcam and tried out all the features. We took pick's, vid's and morphed them into different shapes. We spent hours taking pictures and changing some, but keeping the okay looking ones. We printed them all out and put one copy of them in my book and the other copy in her book. When we were done for that night, it was one in the morning. We cleaned up our stuff and changed into our pajamas. We laid on her bed. The TV was on, but we weren't really watching it. We were mostly talking. Talking about random things, like how the weather will be, how the people will be, and just other stuff. Her mom came up at two a.m. and told us it was time to go to bed. I laid there for about an hour and I could still not fall asleep.
"Are you awake?" Tatiana whispered.
"No." I whispered back.
"I can't sleep."
"Me either."
"Well, just think of a hot guy and dream about him."
"Ok." I said while laughing. I eventually fell asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I was alone in Whitney's room. I opened her door and a whiff of breakfast food hit me like a hammer. I walked downstairs and her mother was cooking.
"Buenos días cabeza durmiente" [Good morning sleepy head]Tatiana said to me.
"Good morning."
"Siéntate, ven a comer." [come sit to eat]Her mother said. So we went to the kitchen table and sat down. She brought over bowls of food. Eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, ham, and potatoes. We all ate and then separated in our different ways. Whitney and I went in her room.
"So what are we gonna do today?" I asked her.
"Um…, I don't know. You wanna just walk around because it looks like its pretty cold out. It looks almost like snow!""There shouldn't be snow here until Friday."
"I know, but our weather is always fucked up."
"Yeah I know." I said laughing. We got dressed she did her hair and make-up, but I just slicked my hair back to a ponytail and did the au natural look, no make-up. We went outside and just walked around. The fall breeze felt good, but there was a wintry edge to the air. The leaves blew, and the trees were bare. We stopped walking and laid down in the grass. We looked at the sky and saw the fluffy wispy clouds. I don't know why, but I wanted to cry. I felt like the world was a huge place and im just a small person. I felt sad, but peaceful. I closed my eyes and just let the air hit my face. I took my hair out of my ponytail and let the wind blow my hair.
"I cant believe I have to leave here in three days."
"Me either." I coughed and wiped me nose.
"Ugh, I think im getting sick."
"That's not good. You'll be sneezing all over those people out there." I laughed.
I closed my eyes and I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, the sun was gone, the nice breeze was gone and so was Tatiana. Now it was dark maybe around seven thirty. The breeze was harder, faster, and colder. I sat up and looked around. She was gone.
'Why would she just leave me here? Why wouldn't she wake me up?' I thought to myself. I took my pone out of my pocket and it said I had sixteen missed alerts. Six calls and ten texts. The texts were from friends, but the calls were different. The first was from my mom, then Tatiana, private, Tatiana, my mom again, and the rest privet. First, I called my mom back. It rang a few times.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey mom."
"Hey whats goin on?"
"Oh nothing' just woke up. I took a nap in the park."
"Oh, ok. Why didn't you sleep at home?"
"Well, there was an incident."
"What happened?" she asked concernedly.
"Well my dads in jail. He got drunk, like always, rape a girl and then hit her with his car."
"Oh my god. Where are you staying?"
"With Tatiana and her family."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah im fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Well, if something happens, let me know ok?"
"I will."
"Ok, sweetie."
"So I guess I'll call you later."
"Ok, bye."
"bye." I hung up. I stood up and brushed my clothes off. I called Tatiana, but she didn't answer. I walked out of the park and to her house. When I got there, she was on the couch.
"What the hell!" I said.
"Where, were you?" She said.
"What do you mean?"
"I woke up and you weren't there. I called you, but you didn't answer."
"What? I woke up, you were downstairs, we ate breakfast, we walked around, I fell asleep in the park on the ground next to you, I wake up and you're gone."
"I was here the whole time, you were gone all morning, we were worried."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, wow." I said sitting down on the couch. She rushed over to my side; she put her arms around my shoulders.
"Are you okay?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Are you okay? You look a little out of it."
"I think I just need to take a shower."
"Ok." I went upstairs and went in her bathroom. I turned on the hot water and got in. The water was warm, steamy, and felt good. I don't know what got into me today. What happened this morning? I don't know. I guess I should just forget about it. I washed my hair and my face then got out. I dried off put pajamas on and went in Tatiana's room. She was sitting on her bed working on our scrapbooks.
"Hey." I said shaking my hair out.
"How was your shower?"
"Relaxing. What cha doin?"
"Working on our scrapbooks."
"Oh, ok." I heard my phone vibrate so I went to pick it up.
"Hello?" I said.
"Is Nicholle Santiago there?" a woman replied.
"Who's calling?"
"This is Emily from the Quileute group home."
"Oh, well im Nicholle."
"Hi Nicholle. How are you?""Fine, yourself?"
"Good thanks. I was just calling to tell you that we heard about what happened with your father."
"Oh."
"We've decided that since your room is ready we would come get you early."
"What, when?"
"Early Thursday morning."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Where are you staying?"
"Just down the street from my house. Three houses to the right."
"Ok, we'll see you at six a.m."
"Ok." I hung up. I plopped down on her bed.
"Que pasa?" [What's wrong?]
"I'm leaving Thursday morning." The room fell silent.
"Why?" Tatiana finally spoke.
"Because they found out about my dad and that im living with you."
"Oh." I fell back on my back. "Well, come on."
"What?"
"Lets finish the books, hoodies, and stay up all night on sugar highs." I laughed.
"Okay." we took more pictures, finished the scrapbooks, made our hoodies and went to the store. When we got to the store, we each got a kart. We got pixie sticks, twizzlers, marshmallows, chocolate, m&m's, sugar, lemon heads, ice cream, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, brownies, cake, cookies, cupcakes, pie, cheese its and donuts. We got back to her house and set up for later. We made sure that I had everything that I needed in my bags and put them downstairs. We took a six-hour nap to get ready. We woke up, ate some solid food, rice and beans, steak, and potatoes. Then we had nachos and dip, and busted into the junk! There was candy everywhere. We watched movies and had fun. She dosed off so I took a horn put it right to her ear and blew. She jumped up screaming. I recorded it all on video too. I was laughing my ass off.
"AHHHH, you're a bitch!" she said laughing.
"I know, I know."
"God you suck!" I laughed.
"What did I do something?" I asked nonchalantly. She ignored me and watched TV. I grabbed some cheese its and shoved them in my mouth. She mimicked me, but with m&m's. I grabbed my camera and recorded her. She looked at me slowly.
"Can I help you?" she asked me.
"I just wanna get some footage for memory sake."
"Oh ok." She said getting happy again. "So what should we do?"
"No clue."
"Lets just act stupid and buck wild."
"So…, act normal." I stated.
"Yeah." I laughed.
For the rest of the night we sang, dance, acted stupid and recorded everything! I had to admit that I was sad that I was leaving practically tomorrow. For the rest of the night we did not sleep at all. If either one of us fell asleep we would do something to each other to make us wake up. When Tatiana fell asleep, I blew the horn at her, threw water on her, pulled the blankets off of her to make her cold, and pulled her off the couch and on to the floor. When I fell asleep, she screamed in my ear, put ice cubes on my and under my shirt, shook me and screamed, "THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!", and would tickle my feet.
It was about 7:00 A.M, when we weren't the only ones awake in the house. Her parents were up because her mom had to run errands and her dad was going to work. We spent the day laughing, hanging with friends, enjoying life and just being teenage girls. It seemed like her mom was in the kitchen all day long. When it was time for dinner, her mom had a whole feast made. There was food everywhere! We all ate and laughed; it was like the family I lost a long time ago. I miss that family, I longed for it, but this one is here for me, now. And soon enough it'll get taken away from me, just like the first one.
"Nicholle, I made you some food for the road." Tatiana's mom said.
"Thank you." She showed me everything. She had rice and beans, brownies, steaks, burritos, tacos, empanadas, and so much more.
"Theres so much, thank you. I gained about 20 pounds this week, and I'm leaving with like 15 pounds more of food." I laughed.
"Don't worry about it honey." It was 8 o'clock; 10 more hours until I have to leave my home, my life, my whole world. I held back my issues and figured I should make the best of my last day with my family. We all just chilled mostly in the living room, watching movies, playing games, and just spending the rest of the whole day together. At the end of the night I had to admit, I was depressed. I went in the bathroom turned on the shower got in and balled my eyes out. It was much easier to cry in the shower because no one would hear me over the water and because when I was done, the steam and warm water would relax me and I'd be calm, and serene. When I got out I put on some soft comfy pajamas. When I walked in to her room, there were some soft candles lit and the room smelt amazing. It was really calming me down. I laid down on her bead with my towel around my hair so I wouldn't get her bed wet. I closed my eyes. I was so calm, and it felt like all the stress just left my body. Wait a minute, why was it so cold and dark today? I got up and looked outside of the window. The sky looked dark as what. I went downstairs.
"Hey does anybody know the weather?" I asked.
"For here, thunderstorms and rain. La Push…, snow?" her mom told me.
"What?"
"Yeah, it says snow."
"I didn't think it ever snowed there."
"Yeah I guess it does."
"Then I guess I better change my outfit for tomorrow. Well, I don't know because I guess were driving there."
"Driving to La Push? That's gonna take days."
"Yeah I know. Maybe they have some fast drivers or something." I went upstairs to my suitcases. I pulled out my tie-dye sweatpants and one of my parkas. I threw them on top of my suitcases and went back downstairs. When I got there, it was all dark, no lights, T.V, nothing. I flipped the switch up turning on the lights and was surrounded by a whole room of people yelling, "Surprise!" I screamed and jumped when they all popped up. Tatiana broke free from the group and gave me a big hug.
"Oh my god." I said.
"We just wanted to let you know that you'd definitely be missed." Her mother told me. I gave her a hug too. Someone turned on the music and we all danced, partied, ate, and had a great time. We recorded everything so I could go back and remember my awesome going away party. At the end of the night when everyone went home and I said all my goodbyes, it was time for some sleep.
I was awoken softly by Tatiana; it was 5:30, in the fucking morning!
"Nicholle." She whispered while shaking me slightly.
"Im asleep, come back later." I said. she laughed.
"Come on you have to get up, they'll be here soon."
"Fine." I said taking the covers off and then quickly putting them back on. "Holly shiz, its cold!"
"Well, duh it's almost December." She said. I got up changed my clothes and went downstairs. I ate breakfast brushed my teeth and threw my hair back to a cute pony. At 6 a.m. on the dot, the doorbell rang, Tatiana's mother answered it.
"Hi please come in." she said to the three people waiting outside.
"Hello im Emily from the La Push orphanage and you must be…,"
"Hi im Marry, Tatiana's mother."
"This is Edward and Emmett."
"Hello." Edward said.
"Hey." Emmett said.
"Nicholle, it's a pleasure to meet you." Edward said turning to face me. I wonder how he knew that I was me, maybe because Tatiana looks more like her mother than I do.
"You too." I said back.
"Hi." Emily said holding out her hand.
"Hello." I said shaking it.
"Hey." Emmett said with a huge grin.
"Hi." I said back laughing a little.
"Are you all packed?" Emily asked me. I nodded. "Great then we should get going if we plan on making it back in a few hours."
"Wait, hours?" Marry said.
"Yes."
"But it would take days on a plane, how are we going to get there in hours in a car?" I asked.
"Well, Edward and Emmett are some of the fastest drivers around and its all about the roads you take." We looked at them weirdly. I gave Tatiana and her family one final last hug, loaded my bags into the car and left. Edward got in the drivers seat, Emily in the passenger side, Emmett in the back with me behind Edward, and I was in the back behind Emily. Edward started driving off slowly then when we were out of sight from the house he sped off like a bat out of hell!
At first, we were all silent; but the radio was on, some kinda classical stuff. Then a few miles passed and Emmett looked at me.
"So, Nicholle." He started. "How's life?"
"Emmett." Emily and Edward hissed at the same time.
"No, it's ok. Life…, has been better than usual."
"That's good."
"So how's your life?" I asked him.
He laughed, "Different."
"How?"
He and Edward both looked at the mirror in between the driver and passenger seat at the same time and shot each other quick glances, then Emmett laughed. "It's complicated, I'll tell you some other time." He said.
"Uh,ok." I took out my iPod and shoved the ear buds in my ears. I turned on Don't Stop believing, by: Journey. He grabbed the right one out of my ear and shoved it in his right ear. He started singing along and soon was shaking the whole car with his voice and his dancing. I was laughing so hard. When I laughed everyone else laughed. So maybe this transformation won't be that bad. I let him sing out the whole song then changed it to a song Tati put on it.
"Aw, snap." Emmett said. The song I out on was Intergalactic by: The Beastie Boys. He started to rap and made his hands dance along too. I just laughed and laughed and laughed.
"Oh my god I think I might die laughing!" I said, he laughed.
"Hey you guys wanna stop bumpin around back there." Edward said fatherly.
"Hey you wanna chillax bro?" Emmett said back pretending to be mad, I giggled a little. I accidentally hit the button on my iPod and changed the song.
"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled.
"Sorry I hit the button." I put it back and fast-forwarded to the part that he was on. When it was playing again he smiled closed his eyes and banged his head mouthing the words. I turned my head the other way and looked out the window. I guess I never really realized how fast we were going because the trees just looked like blobs of blurry green, orange and red. I looked at the speedometer, and it said that he was going 85mph and we weren't even on the freeway yet!
"Whoa, why are you driving like a maniac?" I asked him.
He laughed, "Im not im just used to driving fast." He looked at Emily and said, "She's just like Bella." They laughed lightly.
"Who's Bella?" I asked.
"My girlfriend."
"Oh."
"Yeah, she always thinks I drive too fast."
"Well its true you do!" he just laughed.
"If you think I drive too fast wait till you meet the rest of my family."
"They drive like maniacs too?"
"Sure we do." Emmett said.
"Wait you guys are brothers?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, shoulda known, you guys both have pale skin, unique eye colors, and your voices."
"What about our voices?" Edward said looking at me though his mirror in the middle of the front seats.
"Nothing bad it's just that I've never heard anyone that had voices like yours, its saintly." We laughed.
"Well, thank you." I laughed again.
"Do you know what I mean though?"
"Yes, I know exactly what you mean."
"Hey Nicholle?" Emmett asked me.
"Emmett." Edward said harshly. Emmett kinda growled a little back in response.
"Whats up?" I asked Emmett.
"I got a weird question for ya."
"Shoot."
"Do you believe in vampires?" I looked at him surprised. He just asked a weird question just unexpectedly.
"Yes." This time they all looked at me. "Why?"
"Well, because-" Edward slammed on the brakes and I jolted forward.
"Emmett." Edward said getting out of the car, Emmett got out too. They talked outside for a quick minute then they were back in the car and Edward was off speeding away again.
"Do you?" I asked him.
"More than you think. What about were wolfs?" this time Emily turned back and shot him a warning glance.
"More than you think."
"And why is that?"
"Cant say, sorry."
"If you tell me your secret I'll tell you mine."
"I don't think that's such a great idea." Edward said.
"Why not." Emmett said.
"You're really asking that question?" Emily asked him.
"Yes I, oh never mind." I took my iPod from out of my ears and handed it to him. I popped off my shoes and put them up on the seat and laid back.
"You can listen to it, im gonna take a nap." I told him with my eyes closed. I knew he was listening to it because I could feel the car shaking from him. Soon I was asleep.
When I opened my eyes, we were somewhere dark. I could still see so I guess my eyes had changed colors. I saw Emmett looking at me so I looked back at him.
"What?" I asked him.
"Whoa, when did you wake up?"
"Just now. Where are we?"
"In a tunnel we should be out in a few seconds. When we got out the sun was still out and bright.
"Oww my eyes."
"Whoa!" Emmett said looking at me eyes. I closed my eyes for a few seconds then opened them, they had changed back. "What the hell was that?" he asked me.
"My eyes change colors sometimes. They've always done that, its just some weird family thing."
"I think it's pretty cool."
"Thanks." I said laughing. "Does your family have any weird things?"
"Well, kinda, but instead of telling you I want to show you."
"Ooouuu when?"
"Today maybe, if you want."
"Sure! How much longer till we get to La Push?"
"Maybe a half an hour." Emily said.
"Make it 20 minutes." Edward said gunning it. This time I swear to god I was pushed into the back of my seat and it was hard to sit forward!