Yesterdays | Chapter 10

by Samantha in Texas

*So I think I'm going to keep writing this. I dunno...should I? I need comments because comments keep me going. So...yeah...TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK :)

Chapter 10

                Nancy was surprised to find her parents’ cars in the driveway when she arrived home. Why they were home was the first question she asked herself. If they were home it was only for a short amount of time, and rarely was it that they were both home at the same time. Nancy became worried. Was there something wrong? Did someone die?

                She dropped her keys in the glass bowl next to the door and shrugged off her jacket cautiously. Her parents’ keys were in the bowl too, and their jackets were on the coat rack. She felt anxious and somewhat happy at the same time. Maybe, for once in a long time, they could all eat dinner together. Not some take-out that they brought back from town and that was cold by the time they ate it, but actual dinner.

                That thought made Nancy feel pathetic.

                Who got so excited about having dinner with their parents? The people you were supposed to have dinner with everyday.

                She walked into the kitchen and started taking out ingredients for the lasagna her mom taught her how to make when Nancy was about seven—back when they ate family dinners regularly and they worked reasonable hours. She tried not to put a finger on why things were the way they were but she couldn’t help it. She knew why things were this way.

                They were that way because Luke died.

                She shook the memory away—or at least tried to.

                “Nancy, what are you doing?” Her mother’s voice made Nancy jump causing the box of frozen garlic bread to fall on the floor. She scrambled to pick it, not knowing why her mom’s very presence shook her up a bit.

                “I—I’m going to make, uh, lasagna. Because well you guys are home and I—I just thought…” Nancy trailed off. Her mother was giving her a look she could not read. That upset Nancy because she hated not being able to figure people. If she couldn’t figure people out she had no idea what she was stepping into. It was dangerous. Nancy didn’t like dangerous because dangerous killed her brother and tore her family apart.

                “That’s not necessary. Your father and I just need to tell you something.”

                She froze, not sure if she was ready to hear what was coming up next. Reluctantly, she sat down at the small table and sucked in a breath. Her father, a tall bald man with glasses, sat down across from Nancy with her mom next to him. It looked serious.

                Too serious.

                “We’re leaving.” Her father said as-a-matter-of-factly.

                Nancy felt tears prickle the whites of her eyes. “What? You can’t just leave.”

                “It’s only until Christmas Break is over. We’ll be back January 4^th, that’s for sure. There’s a business trip we just can’t miss. You’re old enough to take care of yourself.”

                Something hit Nancy square in the face. She wondered if they ever remember or even remotely cared that her birthday was on New Years Eve.

                And that Luke’s was on Christmas.

                “So I’m just going to be here…alone. On Christmas.”

                They both blinked, unfazed, causing Nancy’s body to quake in sadness. Either they were trying to forget or they didn’t remember. Nancy went for the latter because that was just like them to forget three things so crucial. She placed her face in her hands and started to cry softly. Nancy could feel her parents watching her, and she knew that their expressions probably hadn’t changed—like if they were talking about the weather. She heard their chairs graze across the porcelain floors.

                Then came her father’s voice, “Stop crying and clean yourself up. You have no reason to be acting like this.”

                But she did.

                She had every reason to be acting like this.