Numb
Chapter 1
It was late morning
when my mother called me downstairs for breakfast. I had been
listening to my alarm clock going off for a solid hour, but I was
just too lazy to turn it off. I threw the blankets off of myself
and stretched for about 5 minutes before I finally got out of
bed. I trudged downstairs and plopped down at the breakfast
counter. My mother placed a bowl of Special K cereal, a plate of
strawberries, and a glass of orange juice in front of me.
"Thanks mom," I said.
"You're welcome, honey. What time does your flight
leave?"
"Two-thirty, but we should probably leave around one.
I'll go get ready as soon as I'm done
eating."
"Okay, are you sure you want to go? I remember you came home
very angry last year, I don't want to see you like that
again."
"I'm sure, I want to see my father, and this is the only
time of year that I get to do so."
"Alright honey." My mother was worried about me
going to see my father in D.C. She hated the idea of me being
away from her for 12 weeks, but I knew she would be fine because
she had my younger sister, Emma, to keep her company. My sister
and I had different fathers. My parents got divorced when I was
6, and two years later my mother remarried and had my little
sister. She's been married to Ryan ever
since.
I finished up my
breakfast and headed back upstairs to get ready to leave. I
grabbed my outfit for the plane, which just consisted of a
sweater and yoga pants because I wanted to be comfortable, and
hopped into the shower. I took a quick shower and brushed my
teeth. Once I got dressed, i brushed and blowdryed my hair, then
straightened it. Then I did my make-up and put some extra things
into my suitcase. "Aria, we have to leave!" Emma yelled
from the bottom of the stairs.
"Alright, I'm coming." I grabbed my suitcase and my
cellphone and headed out to the car. When I got in, my mother was
practically in tears. "Mom, please, stop crying. I'm
just going for the summer. You see me 275 days out of the year,
dad only sees me for 89, so there's no need to cry. I'll
come home after 90 days, and you'll get to see me for 275
days before I leave again." I hated this part because no
matter how much I begged her to stop, she didn't stop crying
until after I got on the plane.
When we got to the airport, we got on a shuttle-bus over to my
terminal. We waited about 30 minutes for my plane to get in. My
mom and Emma said goodbye to me and I went to wait in line. After
about five minutes or so, Emma came running up to me, screaming
an crying. "Aria! Please don't go! Stay home!" I
really don't understand why it was so difficult for them to
grasp, I mean I went every single year, they shouldn't freak
out like they do.
"Emma, I've got to go. You know how you see your dad
every day? Well I don't get to see mine every day, so I go
and visit him during the summer. You'll be fine, I
promise." I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead before
she walked away.
"Now boarding ticket numbers 201 to 225." My ticket
number was 203, so I got onto the plane and took a window seat on
the wing- the seat I get every year. I listened to the captain
and the flight attendents to do their spiel, buckled my seatbelt
and put my headphones in. The plane took off and I turned my
phone on so that I could listen to my music. I was hoping that
this summer would be better than the last one that me and my
father had spent together.