The Truth about Forever
Chapter One: Unexpected
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The title is from a book by Sarah Dessen. I read it and highly recommend it for any girl who likes a good book. The story line is sort of based on the book, too.
No one expected this. I'm sure no one saw it coming. It's hard to focus on something when something else, or rather, someone else, is flooding your mind.
A feeling of overwhelming came over me as I stood on my balcony and stared out at the sunset with the same questions running through my head. Although they were still the same questions, they never failed to suck the life out of me. Maybe it was because I didn't have the answers and thought I would never get them.
The sound of a voice over the intercom pulled her out of a trance. Marissa Cooper walked back into her bedroom as she heard the voice again when she noticed that the voice of her mother, (the only one in the house who took any usage of the intercom and only used it when she was too tired or weak to come all the way upstairs to talk) didn't sound like her mothers at all. A third call,
"Marissa, sweetie, please come to the kitchen." She sniffled, trying hard not to make it too obvious. "It's important."
She definitely knew something was wrong. Not just by her mothers hushed tone or the sound of grief in her voice, but she felt it. That strong tugging at her gut as she reached for her terrycloth robe that hung in the back of her closet door. She wrapped it tightly around her slim waist as she moved swiftly out of her room and on her way to the kitchen.
As she completed the last few steps toward her destination she could hear sobbing, most likely coming from her sister, Kaitlyn, who, when Marissa arrived, was hunched over on the couch with her head in her hands. Her mother, who was sitting on an island stool with a dainty tissue in one hand and the cordless phone in the other, didn't even notice her walk in.
Standing and watching, Marissa wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. She just wanted, no, needed to know what was going on. She walked cautiously over to her mother and gently lifted her hand to a shaky shoulder. Julie turned around, eyes red and puffy, face blotchy from incessant tears.
"Marissa," she whispered, almost inaudible.
"Mom, please tell me what is going on? Why are you two crying?" She glanced over to Kaitlyn. She hadn't moved for a while and probably wouldn't anytime soon.
"Your father..." she continued, still whispering. She waited a moment and looked into her eldest daughter's eyes as if contemplating whether or not she was ready to hear this or not. "Around 7:30, he was driving somewhere, I'm not sure where, but he got into an accident," she paused again.
Almost immediately tears began to sting her eyes, but she held them back for some reason. She wasn't sure what was coming next, but she knew it couldn't be good.
"He sustained severe head injuries and...and he was pronounced dead at the scene." Julie began to cry again as Marissa stood there, in total shock. As the seconds passed, she just hoped and prayed so hard that she was dreaming, no, having a horrible nightmare, and would wake up any second. But deep down, she knew it wasn't. This was real. As the tears stared to flow, she embraced her mother, then her sister. She made her way up the stairs back to her bedroom when she started to think. This was just one more instance that made her believe, truly believe that her and her family were constantly being punished for something. And let me tell you, it sure does suck.
I know it's really wordy, but this is just the beginning. Please review, everyone.