Chapter 1 Last Day of School
Today is the last day of school. My mom said I can stay home and pack up. I am going to California with my father William. I feel like this summer my dad and I are going to bond a lot! Last summer, he promises me we both were going to go to New York City. But we didn't because mom was going to miss us. But this time, I feel like it's going to work. This time won't be any distractions. It's only going to be dad and I. Sherry and William. Father and daughter. Putting my last shorts into my suit case, I knock appears at my door. Without looking at the door nor opening it up, I say aloud, "Come in!" My mom opens the door and sticks her head inside looking around. "Sherry, your father is running a bit late." "Yeah, I've notice." Trying to close my suitcase, I hear my phone rang. "Excuse me." I say as I turn to my dresser and pick it up, "Hello?" I say into the phone waiting for an answer. "Sherry, it's me. William. I'm sorry I'm running a bit late. I'm stuck in traffic." "Dad! Where are you? Are you close?" My father sighs, "Sherry, I'm way deep in Raccoon City. Look, I will call you later okay?" Before my dad can hang up I quickly say, "Dad! Are we still going to Cali?" "Yes, keep getting ready. I will probably be there in an hour." "Promise?" "Promise." He says. He hangs up and I plot right on top of my suitcase and try to close it. My mother gives me a look and I look at her, "What?" She shakes her head and lightly pushes me off of my suitcase. She presses the clothes down in my suitcase, closes it, and zips it all around. "Um, thanks?" I say giving her a light smile. She smiles back at me and sits on the edge on my bed. We both sit on the bed quietly. Breaking the silence I say, "Um so…any plans you're going to do while dad and I are gone?" She still looks at me and shakes her head. I wonder what I am saying that's making her feel disgusted. "Sherry, It's just I'm worried about you." "Mom, I didn't even say anything." "No." She says leaning towards me touching my hair. "It's just; I can't stand you not near me. I'm worried about you." Almost laughing, I sit up on my bed and put my head down looking at my hands. "Mom, look, I see you're at the worried parent stage. But look, this is good practice. Imagine when I go off to college. Someday, you're going to see me gone. Well, not gone as in never see you again but as gone as see you sometimes and we will always stick together." My mom looks at me with worried eyes. She looks as if she is about to cry. Almost crying, she pulls me in for a tight hug and says, "I love you so much Sherry!" Trying to breathe, "I love you too mom." She let's go of me and gets up from my bed. "Well, enjoy your hour here in Raccoon City. Tomorrow, you will be in California." I smile as she left my room. Oh mom.
To kill time, I called Leon and Claire and told them to meet me at the ice cream shop. They both pretty much got there before I did because as soon as I got there they both shouted my name and told me to come over by them. "Hey." I say as I sit down at a chair. Leon laughs as he licks his Vanilla ice cream. Claire just looks at him wondering why he's laughing. "What?" He asks taking a huge bite out of his ice cream. "Nothing." Claire says looking at me. "So." She says, "What's the first thing you're going to do when you land in California?" "Hmm…maybe unpack and explore California shopping centers." Claire suddenly gasps. "Oh my God! You know what you should do? You should totally buy me a t-shirt from California." I laugh, "Of course I am, I'm going to bring you guys back something. Don't worry, I got this." Leon looks at me. "What?" I ask. Leon shakes his head and finishes up eating his ice cream. "Also, if you see any cute guys, let me know because they might like red heads." Leon elbows Claire at her ribs and she starts to laugh. "Oh sorry Leon, I forgot you were there!" Leon wipes around his mouth with a napkin and turns to Claire, "How many times am I going to tell you babe? You can't see other guys! It wouldn't be fair to me!" Claire laughs again and wraps her arms around Leon's neck leaning forward to him. "I was just kidding, I love you Leon. You're mines forever…" she says almost in a whisper. Almost about to kiss him, I quickly hide my face which was pretty much red and shouted, "SHERRY IS IN THE TABLE." Claire and Leon both look at me and they both laugh. "Sorry kiddo!" He says putting his arm around Claire. I put my head on the table and groan. Claire reaches across the table and pats my back. "See Leon! That's why I always tell you to not to get me all hype up!" Leon chuckles, "Claire, don't act like you didn't want to kiss me." Hearing Claire and Leon talk about their relationship is kind of cute. But seeing them kissing and stuff I never liked. It wasn't because I am jealous. It's just because I don't need to be reminded that I never got my first kiss. I'm sixteen! What sixteen year old never experience their first kiss?! Sadly, I was one of them. Putting my head up from the table, Claire touches my hand and rubs it. "Sorry Sherry." She says still rubbing my hand. "It's okay." I say as I look down at the table. Leon gets up from his chair and looks around. "Well, I should get going." "Where are you going?" Claire asks looking up. Leon looks down at us both. "Going home." He says yawning. "Dude, it's three in the afternoon" I said getting up out of my seat. Claire blushes and takes Leon's hand. Suddenly, I realize what they are talking about. "Oh" I say a bit uncomfortable. Leon and Claire laughs and my face reddened. I hate it when my face turns red. That's the only reason why I hate about being so pale because I turn to like a freaking tomato! "Well, have you ever considered about doing it at night? I think it's much more romantic." Leon chuckles and puts his hand on my shoulder, "How do you know? Have you ever tried it?" My face turns red again! Leon is such an asshole. "Um, no?" "Then how do you know if you do it at night it's more romantic?" "I don't know!" I yelled. Claire hits Leon at his stomach playfully. "Leon, get in the car!" "But why?" "Leon! Get in the car!" Leon sighs and did what he was told. "Wow." I said folding my arms. Claire hugs me and I hug her back. I always love Claire's hugs because it wasn't like an ordinary hug from a regular person. It was a hug that felt really great! "Look," she says holding onto my shoulders. "I want you to have fun okay? Remember what I said about the t-shirts!" I smile as Claire left. "Bye!" I shouted.
As soon as Claire and Leon left, I went straight home. I was kind of upset that they both left me for some stupid sex! "Sherry?" My mother shouts from the kitchen. I close the front door behind me and sat down on the couch. "Sherry?" He says again walking out of the kitchen. "You're father just called." "Really? What he say?" She sighs and sits beside me. "He said he will be here in a couple of minutes." I got up from the couch and jump up and down smiling widely. "Sherry! Stop doing that!" I stop and look at my mom who started tearing. "Mom, please. Can you please stop crying? I hope you don't cry for three months." I pull her in for a hug and she hugs back. "Sherry, I don't want to see you go…but you have to." We both break apart and I wipe her tears away from her eyes. "Look, mom, like I said before. This is good practice." She nods and continues to wipe her tears. "Yes, you are right. I'm so proud of you Sherry." She hugs me one final time and then says, "You say goodbye to your friends Claire and Leon?" Walking to the kitchen to get a bottle of water, I say, "Yup, we couldn't hang out much longer because they both wanted to have se-" Before I can finish the rest of my sentence I say, "Um…secret!" Quickly opening up the fridge, looking for two bottles of water. I grab the two water bottles and when I stand up turning around. My mom face was near mines. Ooops. "Sherry? Repeat what you just said." "Say what?" Quickly as I can I walk out of the kitchen and put the two water bottles onto the coffee table. My mother follows me, "Sherry, repeat what you just said!" "All I said was they both wanted to have a secret! I don't know why…" She looks at me one final time and then sighs and says, "Well then, Sherry. If that is the truth then okay? If not, please don't play with my intelligence! I was once your age." She walks upstairs and I shake my head trying to think of something else besides what just happen.
To kill the rest of the time, I decided to take a nap. In the middle of my nap, I hear two voices. My mom's voice and a deep voice. "William, Sherry's been acting weird lately." My mom says trying to whisper. I sit up from the couch and stretch. "What kind of weird?" He asks. Before my mother can talk I went into the kitchen and pretended I didn't hear a single word they said. "Hey Sherry! You're ready to go?" I nod and took a water bottle out of the fridge and took a sip from the bottle. "Well, let's go. Honey, I will talk to you when we reach the airport." "Okay." She says almost getting ready to cry. My mother so needs to woman up. I mean, yeah I know she cares about me but like damn! Can she at least bear with me? Upstairs in my bedroom, I look at my room one final time and said, "See you in September!" Pulling my luggage out of my room and rushing down the stairs, I see my dad kiss my mother on the lips. "William, promise me you will take care of Sherry." "I will! I promise! I'm her father!" He kisses her one final time on the lips and this one seems a bit more like a make out. EW, since when old folks make out? Aren't they time up? I mean, a kiss will be fine, but a make out? We have Claire and Leon to thank for that! "Um, dad! Can we go now?" I ask rolling my eyes rushing towards the front door. He puts his shades on and says, "See you soon!" We both leave the house and head towards our car and put our luggage into the trunk. Which didn't take too long. Then we went inside the car and my dad started the engine. Finally, the car starts moving. It was late out. Looking out my window, seeing house by house passing by, I ask, "Dad, what time is it?" "It's eight o' five. Will probably get there by in the morning." The car ride lasted for thirty-five minutes. When we reach the Raccoon City Airport, we got out of the car, grab our luggage and went straight inside the airport. People were scattered all over the place! "Sherry, you go sit in the waiting area while I go get the two plane tickets." "Okay." He leaves me alone and I pull out my phone and text Claire:
Me: Claire! Are u still up?
One minute later Claire replies,
Claire: Yes, I'm really tired.
Me: That's what you get :P Maybe next time you will tell Leon no. Ha-ha.
Claire: SHUT UP! (Just kidding, Love you Sheer) Are u on the plane yet?
Me: Nope. I wish though! I'm so excited for Cali!
Claire: DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE T-SHIRT!
Me: What's up with you and the t-shirt?
Claire: I don't know…
Me: Ha-ha! Well, I will text you first thing tomorrow morning! Tell Leon I said Hi: D
Claire: This is Leon…
Me: What?
Claire: This is Leon! Claire is asleep.
Me: … Are you serious?
Claire: …no…I'm making toast.
Me: That doesn't even make any sense dumbass! Please work on your sarcasm please XOXO
Claire: W.e. Goodnight Sherry, Have a safe flight!
Me: Thanks Leon! : )
Shutting off my phone my dad walks up to me and says, "Let's go." I follow him into the plane and we both put our luggage away and sat down in our seats. I sat next to the window and he sat next to me. "Are you nervous?" He asks. I shake my head. Honestly, I am nervous. What if this plane falls?! Oh god! Why am I thinking that way! Take a deep breath Sherry! In…and…out. Slowly. Trying to relax myself, I suddenly felt a touch on top of my hand. Opening my eyes, my dad's hand is over mines. He must be nervous too! I thought. The rest of the plane ride was quiet and peaceful. Can't wait for tomorrow morning.
"Sherry, Sherry, Sherry, wake up." I felt someone pushing me. Sitting up from my chair I rub my head. "Sherry, get up. We're about to land. Get ready." Rubbing my eyes my dad drinks his coffee and I then get up from my seat and go to the bathroom. I freshen up and went back into my seat. "How many minutes exactly?!" I ask holding on to my seat. He looks at me and smiles, "Sherry, will you calm down. We will land in a couple of minutes. Now, eat your breakfast. I look at my plate and it was pancakes with scramble eggs and toast. Cutting a small piece out of the toast, my dad says, "Three more minutes. I hate to rush you but, do you think you can eat your breakfast fast?" I nod and started to take big bites out of my pancake. He laughs and helps me finish it up by taking the fork out of my hand and eat some of my pancakes. The plane lands and people started to get off the plane. Dad and I grab our luggage and got off the plane. It was extremely as we both got out the plane. We went through the airport and as I was pulling my luggage I said, "Dad, we made it. Summer begins now." "Well not exactly." He says. I stop pulling my luggage. He stops too. "What do you mean?" I ask crossing my arms. He chuckles and says, "Okay, you're going to laugh. We're going to spend four weeks here in Florida! I want you to get a chance to meet my friend named Albert!" "What?!" I shouted. Everyone in the airport looks at me and my dad shushes me. "Sherry, calm down. We're still going to go to California. Just chill here in Florida for four weeks. You know this is my hometown!" "Yes, I know. But! Really? Dad!" "Sherry, look, after four weeks I promise! We will go to California for the rest of the summer. Deal?" Still crossing my arms and disappointed I nod and said, "Sure. You're lucky I'm not stubborn daughter." Pulling my luggage again, my dad shouts out yes and he follows behind me. I hated how he promises me and made changes. I really don't care about Florida! As soon as we reach outside, a man with shades waves towards us. "What the hell? Who is that? Why is he waving at us?" My dad laughs and says, "That's Albert." He walks towards him and I followed. "Albert!" "William!" They both each other and I just stand there feeling helpless and furious. Why is he doing this to me? Was this to get back at me because of not caring about mom's feelings about me leaving? "It's good to see you again." Albert says letting go of my father. He then looks at me and takes off his shades, "You're Sherry? Aren't you?" Afraid, I held onto my luggage tighter. "Um, yeah? Why?" "You've gotten so bigger!" He says smiling. What the hell? He met me before? My dad puts his arm around my neck and says, "Yup, Sherry. You might not remember because you probably didn't care about Albert but you two met when you were three years old." "What do you expect?" I said raising my eyebrows, "I was a toddler." Albert and my father laugh at my comment. "Wow, she reminds me of my son Jake." "You have a son?" My father asks shock. Why didn't he know? I mean, they both are best friends! "Yeah! Crazy right? I just find out last summer! I got in contact with Jake's mother and she told me the only reason why she stayed away from me was because she was pregnant. And now I find out I have a son named Jake." "How old is he?" "He's seventeen." Albert shakes his head. "The boy is causing me a lot of trouble." "What kind of trouble?" "You know, beating up other teens. Cursing teachers out. The boy doesn't have any friends!" Poor Jake, maybe if I meet him I can maybe be his friend. But why wouldn't he have friends? Back in Raccoon City, if you beat up a lot of kids you will automatically fit in with the popular kids. But here in Florida, you didn't. That means, no one will want to be you friend. Was Jake mean? If so, why? "Well, let's go inside the car." Albert puts his shades on and gets inside his car. My father does the same thing and I climb in the back seat. The car moves and I put my shades on. The sun was burning my skin! I felt like I was getting a tan. "Sherry, I know you're still upset about the whole California thing. I just wanted to let you know that I'm truly sorry." Trying to ignore my dad's words I look out my window pretending I didn't hear anything he said. "Sherry? Don't ignore me when I am talking to you." "Whatever." I said giving him my best attitude. Albert laughs, "Don't worry, she will get over it! I promise! Watch, as soon she gets comfortable here in Florida she's never going to wish to leave." William sighs and says, "Hopefully she does." The car was silent. Albert must have lost his mind because not in the million of years will I ever wish I will stay here in Florida. Florida is boring. I've been here multiple times when I was little. Well, actually a toddler. Let's just hope four weeks pass by fast!
The car stops in a drive way of a big house. "Welcome." Albert says as he gets out of the car slamming the door. Before dad and I can get out of the car, he says, "Sherry, be mad at me only. Don't be mad at Jake or Albert. It's not their fault. It's mine." "Of course it is! Every freaking year you promise me we will have this father and daughter bond but it will never happen! Do me a favor? Stop promising me things that you clearly won't keep!" I quickly get out the car and ran inside the house. As I was running, I heard Albert said, "Wow." Instead of running upstairs, I run outside into the backyard and there was a pool. Slowly walking around the pool I look at the clear blue water. I thought about back home, Raccoon City beach. Leon, Claire and I were at the beach playing in the water. I couldn't swim. Leon offer to give me swimming lessons but Claire told me to deny it because she didn't want Leon to fall in love with me. Which I think Leon will never ever will! My hot body was craving for water but I didn't allow it. What if I fell in the pool? I thought. Finally, I take off my sneakers and put my feet into the water. Ahhh, feel better. Everything around me felt peaceful. Hearing the sound of the water, and closing your eyes thinking of a happier place you wish you were at is the best feeling! But it didn't last long because that's when I got push into the pool. Trying to get back onto land I scream for help. "HELP! HELP! HELP! I'M DROWNING!" My life is about to end! OH GOD NOT NOW! I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN MY FIRST KISS YET! I couldn't open my eyes because I was afraid that if I open them I will panic even more and possibly drown. "HELP!" I shouted! Suddenly, someone's arms wrap around my waist and pull me onto land. I started coughing. "Sherry! Are you alright?! God!" Coughing for a final time I open my eyes and look around me. There was my dad beside me, Albert, and a teen boy. Who I am guessing is Jake! JAKE?! Was he the one who push me into the pull? Why would he do that? "Sherry, what happen?" Albert asks waiting for an answer. I cough and look at the pool and back at Albert. "I-I don't know." Jake stands there besides Albert and slides his fingers into his pants pocket. He looks at me with this mean stare which wasn't a welcome stare. It was more of a leave stare. "Well, go change. After that, let's discuss about what happen." Albert helps me up and Jake just stares. Also my dad. My dad takes my hand and as we both started going back inside the house, Jake just kept on staring and staring. What is wrong with him? Questions constantly kept popping up into my head.
