Careless

Ella James stood around a rather empty terminal, waiting for her Grandmother and Grandfather to pick her up. She balanced herself on the balls of her foot, popping her gum every once and a while out of pure boredom.

An elderly couple kept shooting Ella dirty looks, only agitating her already sour mood. At first she tried to ignore it and popped her gum louder, but they were persistent to make her stop. She groaned in frustration, and flipped them off, and walked closer to the window, so she can spot her grandparents faster and sat on the ledge.

She heard the elderly couple gasp and call her names. Rolling her eyes, Ella just ruled them as senile and problematic. Taking out her iPod she put into full blast, hoping to block out all the noise from around her.

Her mind drifted to al the things that happened in the past year, how she had to drop out of Julliard and how her mom kicked her out of the house. Two months from being evicted from her apartment, Ella made a decision to move to her Grandparent's. At first she was hesitant to calling them. After all, she hasn't spoken to them in years, probably a decade. But they were more than welcoming, which Ella found odd.

Feeling a tap on her shoulders, she looked up and met an elderly couple in front of her; they had a smile on their faces. They seemed glad to see her. "Ella?" the woman asked, looking hopeful.

Ella nodded and got up from the window ledge and brushed off the imaginary dirt from her jeans. She examined the elderly couple she was supposed to call Grandparents; they both looked welcoming and had a smile on their faces.

Norma was surprised to find out what a decade had done to her granddaughter. She remembered Elle as the sweet well mannered ten year old that always followed her mother around or was in the kitchen baking with Norma. Now she had become a beautiful woman, but there was something about her that looked troubled. Norma's eyes widened when she saw a piercing in her bottom lip and multiple piercings on her ears.

"It's good to see you again Ella," Norma greeted her and wrapped her in a warm hug.

Ella stiffened and stood awkwardly as Norma hugged her. Noticing her discomfort, Frank tapped his wife's shoulder. "Norma, I think you're making her uncomfortable," he pointed out.

Norma hesitantly let go of her. "Come, come, let's get your things. Frank can you get her things and put it in the car?"

Frank nodded. "It's good to have you back here, Ella," he said in a low tone."

Ella just nodded and followed her grandparents to their old black open roof Mercury Comet. Ella whistled at the car impressed. "Nice car. Let me guess, 1968 Mercury Comet?" she asked and caressed the gorgeous car in front of her.

Frank laughed. "Close, 1965," he said to which Ella groaned.

"It's beautiful," she whispered and admired the nicely taken care of car.

Norma rolled her eyes. Frank finally has someone who knew a thing or two about cars. Frank was a car fanatic, he loved to collect all kinds of cars and wished there was someone that shared his interest in it. But having two daughters proved to be difficult to get them interested, especially when their interest lay in boys. He even tried to get their close friend's son interested in cars.

"Oh stop drooling over the car you two and let's go," she said light-heartedly and slapped her husbands arm.

Frank loaded Ella's things into the truck while Ella sat in the back. Making their way home, Frank and Norma kept glancing at each other once in a while and then at Ella, who was busy watching the scenery.

They both wanted to ask why Ella was here after all these years. They were ecstatic that she decided to visit them, but they both had a feeling that it was more than just visiting. It felt like, Ella had another reason for being here.

"I'm not going to be here long," Ella spoke up getting annoyed with her grandparents' not so secret glances. She knew that they wanted to know why she was here after ten years, who would trade New York City for boring Cole Harbour.

Frank and Norma expected Ella to be just like her mother, outspoken, independent and rebellious. Renee was someone who would do anything to get out of a place like Cole Harbour, not got back, so they thought Ella would be like their daughter.

"I just need a place to stay until I get my shit together," she explained sadly. Ella had been attending Julliard until recently when circumstances made her drop out. Renee was infuriated that Ella would do such a thing and stopped all funding. "As you know, mom disowned me."

Frank and Norma winced. Their eldest daughter, and the only one in the family who kept contact with Renee, had informed them that Renee disowned Ella because she had dropped out of Julliard, but she refused to say why.

Norma looked back at her granddaughter and gave her a comforting smile. "You can stay with us as long as you like," she offered.

Ella nodded. "I probably won't be staying long. I've saved some money before I got evicted from my apartment."

A few years back after Renee's divorce from Ella's father because she desperately wanted out of Nova Scotia and Ella's father was jobless, she packed up all her things and took Ella to New York. Frank and Norma took Elliot's side and it angered Renee, cutting off all ties with her family.

The last they heard from their daughter before Melissa told them about Renee disowning Ella was eight years ago when an old friend of Renee's congratulated them on their daughter's marriage.

"Well this is home," Norma said when the family entered the fairly large and homely house.

Ella stood in the front foyer like she was a guest in the house. She vaguely remembered the times she running around the house with one of the neighbourhood boys or when she was here with her dad and he would toss the football at her in the backyard. She remembered her old Black Labrador, Sparky, barking and chasing her all around.

"Come," Norma invited her upstairs. "You can stay in the guestroom," she said and opened a wooden door to reveal a moderately large and spacious room decorated neutrally. "You can decorate it however you want," she said and smiled. "It's so good to have you back dear."

Ella gave a small smile and unsuspectingly hugged Norma, catching her off guard. "Thank you or everything. You don't know what this means," she whispered in her grandmother's greying hair. She held back her tears and promised herself that as soon as her grandmother left her alone in the room, she'd allow herself cry just once more.

Norma broke the hug and rubbed her clothed arm. "I'm glad you came back. We've missed you so much."