Got Up This Morning

I guess there was a time when I was the perfect daughter. A time when any parent of a miscreant would kill to have me as their own. I was a good Christian girl. I went to church every Sunday with the family, I was never out after ten o'clock my whole high school career. I never touched a drop of beer, never attended a "crazy party", and I didn't even know what a joint was. My grades, perfect. My behavior, flawless. I was on the road to succeed, and I believed nothing... no one could save me from my future.

Of course, I was extremely wrong.

"Mom, please don't cry. It's only a week long stay in California. I'll call you everyday, and you'll love all the pictures I'm gonna take of the beaches."

"I know, Carolina, but you've never been that far away from home before. California and Virginia are on two different sides of the country," my mother whined as she took out a shirt I had placed in my suitcase, re-folded it, then place it neatly back in it's place on top of a pair of dark navy jean cut-offs.

She could whine all she wanted to, but nothing was going to stop me from going on this trip. Layla, Wes, and I had planned it for years, and she wasn't going to spoil it. She wasn't going to spoil the only chance I would ever get to actually be alive before I began to live the life that was planned out for me.

Everyone thought that I loved being who I was, that I was arrogant because of my grades, stuck-up because of my behavior, and nerdy because of my timidness towards others.

I had just graduated, and this was my only chance to have some fun before my life began a downward spiral. After Huntington Beach, I would return to Virginia, begin my summer collage courses, get a job at the local Dairy Freeze, then that would be it. Off to college in the fall, finish that, marry a lawyer(or so my mother prays for every night), pop out a few kids, and become the charming house wive that she was, dying inside from the monotony of it all.

"-and we forgot to get you sunscreen, an extra pair of sunglasses and... Carolina, are you listening to me?"

I shook my head, and turned to my mother, who had jerked me out of my reverie. I walked over to my suitcase and zipped it up with a sense of finality. "I have everything I need, Mom. Besides, Layla is picking me up any minute, and it's an hour long drive to the airport."

My mother opened her mouth to protest when I heard a sharp beep outside of the house. "They're here!" I cheered, pulling my black sweater on and shrugging my over sized purse onto my shoulder. I grabbed my carry-on with in one hand, my suitcase in the other.

I ran down the stairs, kissing my father's cheek and yelling a goodbye to my little brother. My mother came down the stairs and gave me a quick hug, and then I was out the door.

I walked as fast as I could to the green Toyota, smiling at the driver and passenger. I set my suitcase down and tapped on the trunk. It popped open and I lugged my suitcase on top of the other two. Then I shut the trunk and climbed into the backseat.

"I still can't believe your mother let you go with us," Wes said as I settled myself into the tan fabric seat.

"I know, but I'm not worried about it now," I said as I pulled on my black sunglasses.

I turned around as Layla pressed on the gas, easing the car forward and the gradually
speeding up. I frowned as I look at my plain, two story white house. Why did I feel like I wouldn't be seeing if for a very long time?