For Now (Forever Book 1)
Read For Now (Forever Book 1) Online
Authors: Kylee Richards
For Now
Kylee Richards
Copyright © 2010 by Kylee Richards
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Elaina
“I don’t see why I had to go all the way to the mall, so that she could get a stupid dress for this stupid dance, “ Braden complains as we sit in the backseat of our parent’s SUV. “The guys are waiting for me to play football. You’re not allowed to play this time,” he says looking at me. We used to get along well, but now that he is fifteen, he doesn’t have much time for his little sister.
“Braden,” my mother warns as she turns to glare at him, “this is for your sister’s first dance; I think you can be a little late to play with your friends.”
“Listen to your mother,” Dad adds. Mom is usually the one to scold us, but Dad always tries to backs her up. I heard them discussing it once, Mom asked him to help discipline us more, but Dad just smiled at her and asked her why when she was so good at it. She was not amused, so after that night, Dad tried helped her punish us more. However, when Mom wasn’t home, we got away with anything.
“See, Mom, I’m right she is spoiled, you are always taking her side.”
“Whatever!” I yell back at him as I ball my hands into fists. “You always get your way.” I’ve always thought that he was the favorite, being the oldest. It might also because he looks just like Mom and Dad; they all have dark hair and dark eyes. He used to tell me I was adopted because I don’t look anything like them with my blonde hair and green eyes. I’ve never met my mom’s family; maybe I look like them.
Mom and Dad are sitting in the front seat, trying to tune us out as Braden and I keep fighting.
As I’m about to tell Braden to just shut up, I hear my father’s loud gasp and look up to see a rusty, yellow sedan passing an old, red farm truck. The car is still over the solid yellow lines and Dad slams on his breaks and tries to swerve, but seconds later the sedan hits the front of our vehicle and our SUV in airborne. I hear my mother’s scream. The scream is cut off as we hit the ditch, landing upside down.
The silence is deafening after the thunderous sound of the crash. The world seems to be spinning. My head feels wet and I can see bright red blood dripping down onto the roof of our SUV, creating a small pool. “Mom, Dad?” I croak, wondering why they aren’t trying to get us out yet.
Out my dad’s window, which is now broken, I see a pair of black boots in the tall brown grass. Then a man I vaguely recognize as a farmer that lives just outside of town is peering into our SUV and yelling at someone to call 911. He reaches out with a shaky hand, presses his fingers to Dad’s neck, and yells to the other person that he doesn’t look like anyone made it. Dark red blood covers his fingers as he pulls his hand away.
Daddy!
I freeze at his words, unable to move, until I hear a strange gurgling sound next to me.
Braden.
I need to get him help. I fumble for my seatbelt, but I can’t reach it and my arm hurts so badly. I manage a small whimper.
The man at the window glances over to me with hope in his eyes and shouts to someone behind him, “The girl is alive; quick we need to get her out.” I hear the wailing sirens of the ambulance in the distance. He runs around to my side, reaches in, and grabs my hand before murmuring in my ear. “Sweetheart, you are going to be just fine, the ambulance is almost here, just stay with me. We will get you out and you will be just fine.”
I’m okay; he needs to get Mom and Braden out.
I can now see that there is a bigger pool of blood below where my mom is hanging and I know she needs more help than me. We need to get her out first.
Why isn’t this man trying to help anyone else? They have to get them out!
This is my last thought as the world goes black.
**********
It has been a week since the funeral and three weeks since the accident. I was in a coma for three days due to swelling in my brain and had to be in the hospital for ten days. I probably could have gotten out earlier, but I think they were trying to give me time before I had to return to this house without my family.
I am now sitting in my bedroom playing with the cast on my arm and looking over the cornfields behind my house trying to imagine the skyscrapers and traffic that I will now see out of my window. I’ve never been to Chicago or any big city for that matter. I’ve seen pictures of my mom growing up there, but she never wanted to visit after she left. She ran from her parents and never looked back. She was happy here living in a small town in Iowa with Dad, Braden and me. The only person she missed from Chicago was her best friend Karen who visited us every year. I loved my Aunt Karen. That is who I’ll be going to live with now. There is no one else. Dad’s parents died a few years ago and I’ve never met Mom’s parents.
Just two weeks ago, I was a normal thirteen-year-old girl, who enjoyed riding my bike around town, playing football with my brother and his friends and begging my mom to take me and my friends to the mall. Now I’m moving to Chicago, a place so big I can’t picture it, with my Aunt Karen and her four-year-old son, Jackson. She lives in an apartment downtown. I’ve never even been in an apartment building. All of my friends live in a house in town or on a farm. So much of my life is about to change. My parents and brother are dead. If I would have not been so selfish, they would still be here with me. Why am I here without them?
Ellie
9 years later
I can’t find them. I can hear them screaming, but all I can see is smoke and the tall corn. There are flames in the distance that light up the dark night and that seems to be where the screams are coming from. No matter how fast I run, I’m not getting any closer. Corn stalks are hitting me and tearing at my clothes and skin as I run, but I ignore the pain. I just need to get to them. The fire and the noise are getting further and further away. I see the bright flash of an explosion and hear my mother’s shriek.
A scream leaves my mouth as my eyes pop open and my hands go to my chest. I sit up in bed. My heart is pounding and I’m gasping for air as I try to tell myself it wasn’t real.
Karen comes running into the room to check on me. Poor Karen, I used to wake her and Jackson up with my screams every night for a year after the accident. Now the only time I wake up screaming is when I’m under stress, though I still have the nightmares every night. It is always a different dream, but still they all end the same; my family is dying and I can’t save them. I always end up alone.
Karen sits on the edge of my bed and runs her fingers through my hair like she used to do when I first moved here with her. “It has been so long since you had a nightmare, what is going on? Do you want to talk about it?” She gives me a small sympathetic smile.
“I don’t really remember it,” I lie and give her a small smile to show her that I’m okay.
“It’s a good thing that you have an appointment with Dr. Robins today, maybe she can help you get to the root of what is bothering you. But you know that you can always talk to me, right?”
“Yes, I know. I guess I better get up now anyways.” I didn’t realize how late it was, but the sun is already steaming through my window. I glace at my clock and see that I only have an hour until my appointment.
“You’re going out to lunch with Amy today right?” she asks, eyeing me. I can tell that she thinks there is more that I’m not telling her.
“Yeah, after my appointment. I better get ready now,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I stand and stretch, smiling at her to show that I’m truly alright.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight, Sweets. I’m making your favorite dessert for after dinner,” she says with a warm, motherly smile as she leaves my room and shuts the door behind her.
I get ready in record time, but I think I did a pretty good job. I always try to look good when I go to see Dr. Robins at my now monthly appointments. If I look good, she has no reason to believe I’m not good.
Still running late, I make my way out of the building into the hot, humid air. The amount of noise on the street is so much different that where I grew up, it still takes me by surprise sometimes. There are cabs honking, city workers fixing a pothole and I can hear pieces of conversations as people brush past me on their way to work.
Luckily, Dr. Robins’ office is only a few blocks away. I might just make it on time. I spend the walk tying to analyze why I started screaming in my sleep again last night. I’ve been on edge lately. I feel like something is coming and it is making me uneasy. I’m not good at change. On the other hand, maybe it is just because I recently graduated and while all of my classmates are going out and doing amazing things, I’ll be here at the same job. Maybe I’m worried that nothing will change for me. I love my Aunt Karen and I want to help her at the bar, but this job isn’t my passion.
My thoughts are cut short as I arrive at Dr. Robin’s building. I check-in and have a seat in the posh waiting room. Before the accident, I had always thought that therapists’ offices’ would be comforting and cozy, with warm colors. This office is in a newly renovated building, the walls are stark white and mostly bare. It reminds me of a padded room at an insane asylum, how fitting for a shrink.
I pull out my phone to text Amy to discuss where we are going to have lunch. Just as I’m putting my phone away, Dr. Robins pokes her head out of her office and asks if I’m ready.
“How are you doing?” she asks as I sit on her stiff, leather couch. “You just graduated right? That should feel pretty good.”
“Yes, I graduated a few weeks ago. It feels good to be done.” I say as I smile at her.
“What’s next for you? Are you staying here? Have you found a job yet?” she asks as she peers at me over her glasses.
“No new job yet. I’m going to keep working at the bar until things settle down,” I reply as a look around her office, trying to avoid her penetrating gaze. I pretend to be interested in an abstract painting she has hanging behind her desk.
“The bar must feel like a pretty comfortable place. I’m sure it will be hard to leave it once you get a teaching position. Will you be looking for jobs here once you start?”
“Yes, I’ll probably stay in the neighborhood.”
“You know that Karen will be fine if you decide to leave, though I’m sure she will miss you like crazy.” She is looking at me with a sympathetic look that I’ve come to hate. I’m tired of pity I don’t deserve it.
“I know, I just like it here. It‘s become my home,” I reply.
“Okay,” she says, but I can tell she doesn’t believe me.
We spend the next hour with her asking questions about my plans for the future and me giving half answers.
When I make my way back outside, I can finally breathe a little easier. These appointments always make me a little anxious. Now I can go have lunch with Amy. She can always make me laugh with her crazy antics.
Amy is leaning against the side of the building waiting for me. I‘m glad I dressed up, I always feel a little insecure around Amy. She is the type of girl that most guys dream of. She has long, dark brown hair, huge brown eyes and a body that models would kill for. This is what gets her tips at the bar, I know it isn‘t her excellent service. “Hey, girlie. Ready to go?” she asks.
I nod at her, “Sure, lead the way.”
My thoughts return back to the nightmare and my screaming last night as Amy, prattles about some concert that she wished that she had the money to go to. Talking about how their hot guitarist is. I just keep nodding, to make is seem like I’m paying attention, there are never any breaks in her stories, so I know I won’t have to respond anyways.
We get to the café and are lead to a table by the windows.
“So, how was the shrink today? Everything okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, it’s great. Just talked about graduation.” I glace out the window at the people walking by.
“Are you leaving me now?” she pouts.
“No, I’ll be here as long as Karen needs me at the bar.”
“Karen will be just fine without you, though, selfishly I hope you stay. The bar wouldn’t be as fun without making you blush in front of some of the hotter customers.”
“Maybe I should leave then. You tried to auction me off last night,” I remind her.
“Hey, you were going for a lot of money. I don’t think you understand that you are the reason that we have some of the regulars. They could get a drink anywhere or, hell drink at home, but some of them come in several nights a week to see you.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever, I think you are obviously on something.”
“That is why they all sit wherever you are working. Your tables are always a lot busier than mine.”
“Maybe that is because, I actually remember to bring them their drinks.”
She sticks her tongue out at me and I laugh.
Leave it to Amy to make me forget about everything and make me laugh. I really do love this girl.