Pretty Baby
By AmericanBaby
Disclaimer: I don't even own my own my own bicycle…
Author's Note: I only have 1 word to express why I am a lame updater—College. It keeps me busy, even when I don't live on campus. I'd like to now introduce Chapter 8…
-Niki
Chapter 8, Lacey:
Somewhere Else
Pancakes for breakfast? A sister-in-law across the table? So far Deb and Nathan were turning out to be the birth family I had always dreamt of. All we really needed was Dan at the head of the table, a dog named Spot on the floor, and a white picket fence around the yard. Somehow, as soon as I show up in a home, things usually seem to magically go wrong. Example one: Deb rushing to her husband (my father?) in peril. I think the worst time was when I changed foster homes two years ago. The couple was really nice and just the right age where I could pretend they were my real family. Their names were Beth and Frank, Beth used to be an interior decorator and Frank was in the army; together we made the perfect family. Problem with Beth and Frank was that they kept me on my toes. No parties, good grades in school, and we had a family dinner each night. I'd never been in a family like theirs before. Of course, as foster law states, I got comfortable with Beth and Frank the very same week Frank got reassigned to Iraq, then I got reassigned to the 90-year-old Douglass's who could have been my grandparents.
Someone in this family must have money because as soon as we walked into the garage I saw two very nice sports cars waiting. I thought of my beat up Jeep outside and the two summers of waitressing it took to buy it. My story sounds a little "Cinderella Story-ish," but the diner in Charlotte was my only real home. My first foster parents took me and my foster brother to the diner every Sunday morning. After living with them, I always managed to find my way back with each new house I got placed in. As soon as I turned 15, my best friend, Maggie, and I got jobs there as waitresses.
Now I felt a million miles away and I couldn't run away- not from my real family, they weren't just another temporary, replica of family. These two people sitting in the car with me, driving God-knows where, they are connected to me now.
No one talked during the car ride. Personally, I wasn't able to think of anything to say. All I could think about was Lucas; another brother. Honestly, I hadn't paid attention to that section of Deb's letter. All I could think about was that she wanted to hear from me. Everything seemed louder to me. Nathan's hands slid up and down the steering wheel and scratched as his thumbs grazed a ripped section. Haley's finger nails grazed back and forth over a hole in the knee of her jeans. I couldn't even hear myself think over the up and down, back and forth, up and down, back and forth, click of the turn signal, and squeaking of the loose radio dial. My nerves along with the blueberry pancakes jumped to the top of my throat as the car slowed and pulled into a parking lot.
The silence screamed as the three of us sat in the car before anyone could get out. Finally Nathan was first, and for some reason Haley waited for me. She seemed to prefer walking last and I didn't mind, as long as I didn't have to go first. The café was everything I expected- cozy booths, coffee brewing, pastries on the counter. One waitress was taking orders, another carrying out a tray of over-flowing plates out from the kitchen, and a short woman with dark hair ringing an order up at the register.
Her head snapped up as the bell rang against the glass of the door. "Haley James Scott! Back in Tree Hill!! I can barely believe it…"
"Karen, you sure are a sight for sore eyes," Haley hugged the older woman in a prolonged greeting. I saw Haley glance at Nate out of the corner of her eyes as she led Karen towards the counter.
"That's Lucas' mom, Karen. It's her café."
Silence ensued shortly after and I bit all of the nails on my left hand to stubs after following Nathan to a booth that was pushed into the corner. Nathan kept a watchful eye out the window, for Lucas I assumed, while I examined the damage I was doing on my right nails. The door opened and closed at least 10 times before he arrived. Lucas opened the door and the bell clattered. I could hear his footsteps which sounded more like stomps before I could see him. And I could feel his anticipation before I could turn to face him.
xxxxxxxOTHxxxxxxx
"… Lacey's staying with us. Mom rushed to the hospital to meet Dan. Luke, something happened to Dan. I don't even know what to think. Have you heard anything?" Nathan had started his story off slowly beginning with Haley, and then me, and finally Deb rushing off to find Dan. His speed had increased and Lucas had creases forming between his eyebrows as he processed all of the information Nate had just given him.
"Slow down, Nate. Something happened to Dan? As in he needs medical treatment. Did you hear anything else?" Lucas addressed the issue of our father first. Something I hadn't even thought about yet. What if I didn't get a chance to meet my biological father?
"I just told you everything I've heard in the past 12 hours. Luke, I don't want to go to the hospital for Dan. We shouldn't have to."
"Listen, Nate, I know we don't have to go for Dan. I think your mom sounds like a wreck now. Don't you want to make sure she's okay through this?" Lucas seemed logical and our eyes met as he asked the question. I almost couldn't tell who he was looking to. I knew I wanted to rush to Deb- our relationship would magically form and there would be an instant mother-daughter bond, it was something I had dreamed of my whole life.
"Yeah, whatever, Luke. I don't even care anymore; you and Lacey do whatever you want. I'm out of this whole big joke."
That was the last thing Nathan said before leaving the table. I just sat there as he slammed first the café door and then the car door and drove away noisily with the rev of the engine vibrating inside my head. I didn't get to see the look on Lucas' face as Nathan left because I was too busy watching the marks he had left on the pavement, trying to mentally erase them- As if that would bring my brother back.
Song Title from Travis