A Year Without Breathing
He was a 21 year old recovering addict. She was a out of control 17 year old. When his uncle asks him to take her in after the death of her dad, they'll both find out what it means to go a year without breathing….
Chapter 1: Inhale
Gippal...
Take a deep breathe…
9 am
42 days sober. That's hard to believe. I inhale deeply as I open my eyes to the white ceiling roof of my living room. Another night when I didn't make it to my bed. I'm not surprised. In the 3 months I've lived here, I've woken up on this couch more than my own bed. But I don't mind. Whether I wake up on the bed or the couch, my morning soundtrack is always the sounds of the beach front. Oceans, birds, and the smell of crisp fresh air. It's calming.
Almost makes it easier to stay sober. I almost fall back to sleep but my phone starts to ring. I don't remember turning back on my cell phone. So it must be the house phone. I don't feel like getting up. Don't find a reason to. So I let the answering machine get it.
Meanwhile I try to figure out why I'm up this early. I had something to do today…now what was it?
"Hey, Gippal." My uncle's voice says out the answering machine. " I know you aren't sleep. You should've answered the phone and quit being lazy. Anyway, I called to remind you to pick up Rikku. She'll be at the airport by the pick up terminal by 10. So get ya butt up and go get her!"
That's right. I do have to pick up that chick. She's staying with me for a while. Her pops died or something like that. She's a 17 year old wild child or some crap like that. But seeing what I've gone through she'll probably be a walk in the park. The social services put her in my Uncle's care but since he travels a lot in his line of work I have to be her guardian or some shit like that. That's rich. Me a parental guardian?
Good things it's only for about a year. Any longer and she'll be just like me. Lost and recovering. Uncle Rin put her in Santa Barbara High. He's seems to like this place a lot.. He put me in this ocean front beach condo on the beach my first…….. Anyway. I think its cool. Not too much commotion or distraction. But I should get showered and go pick this chick up. A 17 year old cant be good. But I agreed so I guess I should follow through.
--
11:15 am
Almost an hour and a half late, I finally pull into the pick up terminal I know I'm late and I know Uncle Rin is going to have my ass. But I push that to the back of my mind and pull out that photo from the glove compartment. Uncle Rin gave it to me so I could recognize this chick…Rikku. I should get use to calling her Rikku. The photo is from when she was 15 but what difference can a 2 year time span make.
Okay so, taking a glimpse at the pick, I'm looking for blonde hair and green eyes with a slight tan. No big. I just have to narrow it down from all the other blondes in this damn airport. …….. Great.
---
Noon
After what seems like eternity I narrow it down to 3. But that soon turns to two when the 3rd turns out to be a mom with 3 toddlers. But then my search finalizes when the taller of the two blondes climbs into the back of a limo. She looked like a rich preppy kid anyway. I would hate to have to live with that.
So this leaves me a blonde chick standing by a no parking sign. She has mid-back length sandy blonde hair. She's wearing a black tank and some old jeans with tears in the knees. Carrying nothing but a moss green duffle bag on her shoulder and a dark orange suitcase by her legs, she reminds me of a female me. She sat on it after a moment. Probably tired of waiting for me.
So I decide to go pull up in front of her so I could go home and sleep or something. I had one of my meetings at 7 tonight. And I didn't really feel like being out in the streets with all this……temptation. It made it easier on me. I pull up in front of her and roll down the window. She peeks into the car and I try to be friendly. So I give a nice smile or one that I can manage with my tired mood right now.
"You Rikku?" I ask.
"Yeah." She states simply.
So I tell her "Get in" and unlock my passenger door.
To Be Continued…….
YAY!!! My new story! I've been itching to put this out. So I hope you enjoy this. It's a real change from ADW and ADW2 but I think you'll like it. My C&R is on hold. And I'm about to post and epilogue for ADW2 but either than that this is my new baby. I'm so excited for this debut. Tell me what you think about the concept please. R&R. Chapter 2 is on its way so be patient.
Xoxo,
Ayata-Ayumi