Princess

I didn’t go to school the next day. I left my phone off and started thinking of all the things I would have to take if I did go to Chicago. They were small thoughts, all insignificant except one. My parents met at college in Chicago. I wasn’t sure where the thought came from and it left as quickly as it came but it winded me all the same.
Bob mentioning my parents last night had thrown me. For so long I could ignore any thoughts of my parents, the condition was that no one could mention them. Him bringing them up again, someone who had probably had more contact with them than anyone else had felt like a slap in the face. I knew somewhere in their minds they would miss me, I missed them more than anything.
The car accident I’d been so keen on running away from had left my family in tatters. I shook the thoughts out of my head and carried on adding things to the list. My thoughts were insistent though, without realising what I was doing I put the list onto my bed crawled into the dark space underneath it. I wiggled myself backwards clutching a large silver jewellery box.
I smiled as I pushed the lid open and revealed the treasure inside.
Photos.
I slowly began looking through them. Tears filling my eyes with some, laughter catching me off guard with others. It was like being transported back in time. My father could still walk on his own and my mother was able to complete a sentence without loosing track of the last word she had said.
I was a small child again and my family was perfect and would stay that way for ever and ever and ever.
I found photo’s of people who’s names I couldn’t remember, of me and Bob on our first day of school, of my parents wedding, of my Grandparents showing me off proudly to the world.
I pulled a sketchpad out from it’s hiding place and let the pencil flow over the paper. Remembering every small detail that the camera had forgotten. The slight scar on my fathers lip from when he got hit in the face by a ball when he was a teenager. Those faint hairs that my mother had that never stayed in place, even if it was her wedding day. The mole on my grandma’s lip that she had covered with some rather clever make up tricks. My grandpas pipe that he had been forbidden to smoke at the wedding but he had snuck it anyway, he said he needed something if he was going to give his little girl away.
By the time I’d finished drawing the sky outside had turned an inky colour. I knew this meant that I’d missed my shift but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I ran my hand through my hair and placed the picture down next to me. I felt drained and yet at the same time I wanted to run for miles. I pushed myself onto my feet and looked around me, the photo’s were littered all over my floor, I didn’t want to move in case I trod on one but someone was lightly tapping on my door.
“Oh, fuck, hang on, rooms a mess.” I stuttered, dropping back to the floor and scooping up as many of the photos as I could and pushing them back into the jewellery box. I saw Assface’s hand helping me but there was another pair of feet in the room. Bob was stood in front of me completely unmoving.
“Chels?” I heard him say cautiously, happy that all the pictures were safely crammed into the jewellery box I stopped up and looked at him. “You draw this?” he asked, looking at the picture I had literally just finished.
“Um, yeah.” I ran my hand through my hair again before playing with the rip in my jeans. I hadn’t really wanted anyone to see it. It felt very personal, those people built up my memories, my upbringing. I didn’t want to share that with anyone, not yet.
“We should hang this in the living room, it’s amazing.” he said, his voice full of awe, I didn’t know how to answer him. I looked up at them through my eyelashes.
“I was thinking of taking it to Chicago.” I whispered, looking down at the floor and concentrating on my toes. “You know, when I go.” I carried on moving the invisible stones around with my toes. When no reaction came I looked back up at them. Both of them were watching me as though I was about to blow up. “I though I would give it to mum and dad.” I carefully walked past them and headed for the bathroom, tears flowing down my face freely. I felt a hand touch my arm and looked back in time to see Gerard press his face against mine.