Chapter 30
(Shayla)
After the long flight, I finally got home safe and sounds. As soon as I walked in the airport, Matthew, Robert and Mary were there to greet me.
“Shayla!” Mary smiled and ran over to hug me.
“Hey, Mary,” I smiled, hugging her.
“How was your trip?”
“It was magical. I really didn’t want to come home.”
“I bet! Look at you with a tan!”
“I tanned?!” I looked at my arms.
“Yeah, girl! You look good!” I must have tanned at the beach or something.
“Excuse me, Mary,” Robert smiled and hugged me.
“Rob!” I squealed and hugged him tight.
“Hey, little sis. Why didn’t you tell me you were going all the way out to Cali? I had to find out from this Knucklehead,” he nodded toward Matthew. “Did you see Aunt Justine?”
“Who is Aunt Justine? I didn’t even know we had relatives out there.”
“Well, if you would have told me,” he ruffled my hair.
“I’m sorry!” I laughed as I got out of his hold.
“Shayla got it on with Michael Jackson,” Matthew teased as she came over to hug me.
“I did not,” I pinched his arm.
“Well, you must have, because you only called me once and I see this glow on you, girl.”
“Oh no. That’s her tan,” Mary interrupted.
“Nah. That’s no tan, Mary.”
“We didn’t do it, Matt! You’re so nasty. Can we go visit mom and dad? I’m sure daddy wants to see me.”
“You’re gonna have to wait,” Robert grabbed my suitcase.
“Why?”
“They went out of town for their pre-anniversary.”
“Is Mariah with them?”
“No,” Matt laughed.
“Then who is taking care of her?” I asked them.
“Take a wild guess.”
“David?” At that, Matt and Robert burst into laughter as we walked to the car. “David is taking care of Mariah?!”
“Yeah, who else would?”
“Why didn’t one of you take her?”
“We’ve got our own problems to deal with.”
“And David doesn’t?!”
“Nah, he’s out of work, he’s still on break, plus his grades are low. Dad decided to teach him a lesson.”
“Some lesson!” I shook my head.
“He put it on himself. He knew someone would have to take care of Mariah for their pre-anniversary.”
“Well, let’s go see them.”
“You might not want to do that. He’ll try to put Mariah on you.”
“So?” I shrugged, “I don’t mind.”
“Shayla, you spent all break in California. Today is your last day of break, right?”
“Yeah…”
“So, you’ve got class Monday, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Plus, you’ve got jetlag. You don’t need to be taking care of Mariah right now.”
“Well, will one of you do it?”
“Why? You don’t trust David?” Robert laughed.
“I do, but he doesn’t need this on his plate right now. Robert, you and Mary can take care of her. You’re all done with school.”
“So? I can’t believe this. Mariah is going to hate you guys when she gets older.”
“Mariah is in good hands.” Mary smiled as she got in the passenger’s seat.
“Mary, you don’t know David like we do,” I laughed.
“Oh, come on. I’m sure he knows how to take care of his bay sister.”
“He loves her and all, but he doesn’t like kids.”
“She’s like five years old. It couldn’t be that bad.”
I sighed, “Mariah is three…”
“Oh…” she turned around and buckled her seatbelt as Robert and Matt got in the car.
“Are you ready to go home?” Matt asked me.
“No, but maybe I should. I might have to clean up after Lauren. May as well do it now.”
“Lauren didn’t trash your room, Shay,” Matt assured me.
“How do you know? She’s a party animal. She warned me when I moved in and said that I may have to clean up after her messes.”
“I made sure she didn’t trash it.”
“How?” I made a face. “You don’t even know her.”
“We’re good friends. She didn’t trash it. Trust me.” I rolled my eyes and leaned my head up against the window. I miss Michael already. As soon as I get home, I’m going to call him, so he’ll know I got here safely.
VII
(Michael)
I lay in my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Why did the time have to go by so quickly? I turned over and looked at the picture of Shayla and I making funny faces. She’s the best person I’ve ever met. “Now what am I going to do?” I groaned.
“Michael?” Someone knocked on my door.
I sighed, “come in.”
“Are you okay, baby?” Mom asked as she walked in and shut the door behind her.
“No…”
“Michael, now that she’s gone, that doesn’t mean you should lie around because you miss her.”
“I know, but I don’t know what to do now. It was so much fun having her here.”
“You can write music,” she offered.
I shrugged, “I guess I can do that.”
“Michael, I don’t like seeing you like this. Did you take any pictures?”
“Of course!”
“May I see them?” She asked. I sat up and got the pictures off my nightstand.
“Most of them are of us kissing,” I giggled.
“Oh!” She laughed and opened the package. I watched as she looked at our pictures. “What was this all about?” She asked as she pointed at a picture of Shayla kissing me on the cheek while I made a fake disgusted face.
I laughed, “she decided to give me a sloppy kiss after we finished eating ice cream. My cheek was so sticky,” I smiled.
“I bet!” she laughed and looked at the other pictures. “Did you discover anything new about yourself while she was here?”
“I don’t really know, but I do know I love her.”
“You do?”
I nodded, “I love her very much.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“She’s amazing! Better than any girl I’ve ever met. She understands me and she’s the girl I’ve always wanted.”
“And what kind of girl is that?”
“We’re both very child-like, she likes to climb trees like me and most of all, she loves me too.”
“Are you sure this isn’t just a brief puppy love type romance?”
“I sure hope not.”
She smiled and kissed my forehead, “the moment I saw her, I knew she was perfect for you.”
“Really?”
She nodded, “A mother knows those type of things.”
I smiled and gave her a hug, “do you think I’ll see her again?”
“Of course!”
“Great. I hope I see her soon…”