Left Behind

CARTER

“And where do you think you’re going?” Aliyah joked as she stood in the doorway of the room I was staying in.

I finished straightening my hair and ran to the mirror to fix my outfit. “Out,” I replied.
“With who?”

I turned and looked at her with a sarcastic face. She knew who I was going out with. Who else would I go somewhere with other than Casey or Aliyah? “You know the answer to that, so I don’t know why you asked.”

She walked into the room and plopped down onto the bed examining me. I didn’t know why I always had the feeling that Aliyah was jealous that I hung out with Bryce so much. It’s not like they dated or anything. Plus, she had Drake. “Obviously. I just came to tell you to have fun on your date. And while you’re out, I’m going out too. Drake’s taking me out to eat tonight.”

“It’s not a date… and that’s cool. Where is he taking you?”

She shrugged. “He won’t tell me. I guess it’s a surprise.” I nodded, and looked out the window. He had just slammed the car door and was walking up to the front door.

“How do I look?” I asked her.

“Desperate.”

“Bitch.”

She laughed, “I was just kidding. You look cute.” The doorbell rang and Aliyah ran to the door before I could. She opened it and whispered something to Bryce before pushing me out of the door. “Bye!” she yelled and slammed it behind me.

“What did she tell you?” I asked Bryce as we walked to the car.

“Well hello to you too,” he chuckled. “You look nice.”

“Thanks… I guess you do too.” He playfully rolled his eyes at me and backed out of the driveway.
After sitting there in silence for a while, I turned the radio on. The silence was eating me alive for some reason. Before I could stop him, Bryce clicked it off. “Why?” I asked him annoyed.

“Because I’d rather silence,” he mocked me laughing. All I could do was smack him, but he only laughed harder and told me that I was going to get both of us killed.

We arrived at a nice restaurant where we were greeted and seated fairly quickly. Apparently we had reservations that I didn’t know about. The restaurant had the perfect romantic setting, dimmed lights, and candles, everything that I didn’t want. Yes, it was very nice, but it just made me question myself. There was Bryce who was so hot, nice, did anything I asked him, and he made me laugh. But, I wasn’t ready for a relationship. That is, if he even wanted one.

“Good evening, I’m Patrick, and I’ll be your waiter for tonight. Can I get you two lovebirds started with some drinks?”

“Oh no we’re not-”

“Yes, please, can I have… just a coke will do,” Bryce interrupted. I shot him a look and he only shrugged and began reading through the menu.

“And how about you, ma’am?” The waiter asked.

“Call me Carter,” I said. “And I‘ll have a sprite.” The waiter nodded and walked to the back.
Bryce started to laugh. I guess he noticed me staring him down, and I was extremely confused. “Why did you say that?”

“Because, I saw how he was looking at you.”

I shrugged. “So? And it's not like I’m much to look at.”

“You’re the only thing I want to look at. Trust me, he was looking at you.”

“I doubt that he was looking at me. He thought that we were a couple,” I explained to him.

“He just wanted to see what we were gonna say, Carter.”

I shook my head in disagreement. Did it really matter? Were we really having this conversation? “Why do you care anyway?”

“Because—”

“Because what?”

“…I don’t.”

I shrugged and forced a smile at the waiter who was returning with our drinks. “Fine.”

***

Bryce and I were eating. He ordered some large entre that was obviously expensive. I wasn’t that hungry, so I only ordered an appetizer. We sat there silently, waiting for the other to talk first. There was really nothing to talk about.

Suddenly, Bryce’s phone began to ring. He looked at it confusedly and back up at me. “It’s Aliyah,” he said before pressing answer. “Hello?”

I could hear a frantic Aliyah on the other end of the phone. She was yelling something about God knows what, and I was beginning to get nervous. Aliyah and Bryce obviously didn’t like each other that much, so since when did she call him? “Okay,” I heard him say into the phone. “Now?”

Aliyah must have calmed down because I couldn’t hear her anymore. Bryce mumbled a couple more words and then hung up.

“What was that about?” I asked quickly.

“Aliyah says that there’s an emergency. We need to go to her house right now.”

“What about the check?”

“I’ll leave it on the table.”

And then we left.

ALIYAH

I stared at the figure on my couch. What was taking Bryce and Carter so long to get here? All I know is that my mom, Drake, and I all stared at the woman in complete shock. She was a rather sweet woman, short, blonde hair, around her late thirties perhaps, but I had never seen her
before. What was even weirder was that she was asking to see Carter.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” My mom asked her politely. The woman simply shook her head and stood up.

“I’m sorry for wasting your time. If it isn’t a good time, I can come another time. Maybe this is just a bad idea trying to find some connection after all of these years,” the woman replied.

I budded in. “Oh, no, you’re not wasting our time. Carter should be here any second. She was just out, but she should be on her way. Please, have a seat.” She nodded and sat back down on the couch.

“Thank you,” she sighed.

The four of us sat there having an awkward staring session. We didn’t know who the woman was, where she was from, what she wanted. The only possible conclusion would be that it was Carter’s mom coming to find her. She did say that she was trying to ‘find some connection after all these years’.

We all jumped and turned towards the door as Bryce and Carter pushed it open. They looked worried and nervous. I bet we looked as if someone had died the way we were all huddled on the couches staring blankly at each other. “What’s going on?” Carter said speaking up as the woman
stood and walked towards her.

The woman examined her from head to toe before speaking. “You’re Carter?” she said in an unbelievable tone. Carter nodded and the woman gathered her into a tight hug. It didn’t look like carter knew the woman, but you never know. It’s not like she had seen her parents in over ten years.

“They told me I’d find you here,” the woman said.

After the woman let go, Carter stared at her before saying anything. “I’m sorry but do I know you?” she finally asked trying to sound as nice as possible.

The woman shook her head trying to clear it. “I’m so sorry. There’s so much going through my brain that I forgot to introduce myself. “Karen,” she said holding her hand out for Carter to shake.
When she saw the puzzled look on Carter’s face, she began to say something else. “Maybe I should say it this way. I’m Karen Crenshaw.”

Carter stiffened at the last name. “Wait…”

“I’m Lucy’s mom.”