You Saved Me

She awoke with a jolt, having now landed in California from the 5 hour plane ride from Oklahoma.

“Thank you for flying with Midwest and we hope you have a pleasant stay.” she heard the recording say once the plane landed and people started to exit it.

She mouthed it effortlessly, having memorized that saying from flying so much within the last 8 years.

After the person who sat next to her was able to get into the aisle and remove his carry-on from the overhead bin, it was her turn.

She grabbed her bag and waited in line impatiently, now starting to feel claustrophobic.

She never was, until that day in the closet. That day started a whole series of problems that she would never get over for the rest of her life.

Once she exited the plane, she walked swiftly past people in the terminal, starting to already have heavy breathing and sweat forming on the back of her neck.

The group of people dispersed once the terminal ended, finding the family or friends that were waiting for them.

She looked around, counting to ten in her head to try and help her relax from her somewhat claustrophobic attack, and that’s when she saw the man that would be her ‘father’ for maybe, if she was lucky, the next 4 months.

He was wearing a weathered, brown leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, the big board with ‘her’ name on it covering up his middle section. His jeans were a little bit lighter shade on the front of them than the sides, indicating that they were worn in. His buzz cut black hair made it easier to distinguish how old he was, having more to see on his face. Maybe about late thirties, early forties due to the somewhat visible wrinkle lines on his forehead. But overall, he seemed like a nice man, someone that she probably wouldn’t mind living with too much.

Having to move so much and meeting new people, you develop an apt of reading people right away. You can tell when their gonna be laid back or stuck up, nice or mean, pig headed and arrogant or self conscious and intuitive.

Not that she never gave the person a chance to change her mind. She knew she came off not the greatest to people, always confident enough not to care what others thought of her but not enough to break down and cry when she was alone. She knew how to put on an act in front of people. It was the only way to protect herself.

Maybe I should consider acting as a career.

She never used to be like that, until that horrible day.

“Hi, I’m Brit-Trisha. I‘m Trisha. I take it you must be Robert?” she asked him, throwing him a forced smile and hoping he wouldn‘t realize her little slip up already.

8 years and it’s still hard to lie about my name.

“Yes. But please, call me Rob or Bobby. I hate the name Robert. It makes me feel like an 80 year old grump and I’m only a little under half that age and not very grumpy. Most days.” he said, throwing her a smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood of the drastic change that she was to endure for the next couple of months.

“Well, let’s get your bags and then if you want, sight seeing or just go home. It’s your choice.” he said, turning around and leading the way towards baggage claim and dropping off the dry erase board onto a counter that had a few others laying there.

“How about you just show me anything of interest on the way to the house, that way we can do both.” she offered, and threw him another smile, showing her appreciation.

He looked over at her with a small smile and nodded his head once before turning it back to pay attention to where he was going.

“Is this it? Nothing else?” he asked surprised at how many bags she had.

“Yeah, why?” she asked confused as to why he would be surprised. Wouldn’t he be happy he wasn’t living with a stuck up, 'I want everything' kinda teenage girl.

“Nothing, I just thought for a teenage girl, you would have more than 3 bags. It’s weird.” he said and then noticed her face fall slightly from his comment and then added, “But good weird.” at the end, making her smile come back somewhat.

“Ok, well then. Enough of this awkward stuff, let’s get you home.” he said, clapping his hands together once and then reaching for her suitcase to help carry it.

“I got it.” she quickly spoke up, grabbing the bag away from him.

“You sure? I can carry something you know.” he asked her, looking at her slightly confused about why she wouldn’t let him carry her suitcase.

“Umm….sure. You can carry this.” she said, taking off her dark blue duffel bag and handing it off to him, one hand still wrapped tightly around the suitcase handle.

He took it without a word, but still eyed her funny about the whole suitcase thing.

“So let’s see what California has to offer, shall we?” she asked him, voice slightly higher, obviously trying to lighten the tension that was forming between them.

He again nodded once before proceeding towards the exit of the airport while she sighed in relief that that part was over.

Once she was outside, she squinted from the bright sun that beat down on top of her head, already making it extremely hot.

“Is it always like this?” she asked, already feeling the sweat starting to form at the nape of her neck.

“Kinda. But it gets really cool when the sun goes down. It doesn’t help that you’re wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans though.” he said, looking at her and adding a quick nod in her direction to justify her clothing options.

She smirked at him and nodded while he lead the way toward a somewhat beat up black Chevy Colorado truck.

She smiled once she’d seen it. It reminded her of her dad’s truck.

It was a dark forest green, and always smelled of his cologne. She used to sit in there for hours just to feel closer to him whenever he was away on business trips.

“I also have a Toyota 4Runner, so this is gonna be yours if you want it. I figured I’d bring it for you so you could be a little bit excited about living here. And after you get your license renewed for the State of California, you can drive it all the time. We can go later on this week before school starts.” he informed her and she looked at him with a shocked expression.

“Bobby you really don’t need to give me you’re truck. I can walk if I want to go somewhere. It’s no big deal.” she said, hoping not to offend him in anyway at his gracious gift of just meeting her.

Nobody ever just handed her the keys to car before unless it was to put gas in it, but that was it. Not to actually drive whenever she wanted to. Granted, she’d only gotten her license a little less than a year ago. It’s kinda hard to know if you should get it if you’re moving around all the time.

“Well, then it can be a back up plan to your walking. Incase it gets too hot or something.” he said while putting her duffel bag in the bed of the truck, and looked at her to let her know that she should do the same.

She quickly grabbed the duffel bag off of her shoulder and tossed it in the back, but hesitated with the suitcase.

“Is it to heavy for you? I can put it in there.” he said, walking towards her to grab it but she shielded it from him.

“No, it’s fine. But can I actually bring it into the truck with me?” she asked quietly, looking down at the ground when asking.

“Umm, sure. I guess. Under one condition though.” he stated, while holding up his index finger at her.

She looked up at him, worried of what his condition was but nodded slightly anyways.

“You have to say you’ll use the truck.” he said with a smirk on his face, finger still held up towards her direction.

She smiled, a real smile, at him and nodded her head vigorously.

Maybe this guy is going to be easy to get along with.

* * * * *

“And this is you’re room. It’s not the biggest, but hopefully it’ll do.” Bobby informed her, opening the door to the room.

It had cream colored wallpaper with gold designs on it, that blended well with the gold-ish tan carpet. There was a twin bed, pushed into the corner, and a pretty big dresser across from it on the other side of the room with a small TV on top. At the end of the wall that the bed was pushed against was a closet.

She smiled, it was quaint. The whole house was quaint, in a quiet neighborhood with what seemed to be nice families next door to them. It was a mixture between families with younger children, from the ages of 2-7 or elderly couples.

Maybe I could get a babysitting job or something, just to have something to do.

“And now for the rules of the house. I wanted to put this off as long as possible so you thought I was somewhat cool, but…oh well.” he shrugged, leaning against her doorframe while she set her things on her twin bed and then took a seat on it and looked at him, waiting for him to set his boundaries.

“Like I already said, call me Rob or Bobby. Never Robert. Also, dinner is always around 5:30-6, and it’s never really that good. So if you want, you can make dinner or if you’re gonna go out and eat with friends or something, only thing necessary is a courtesy call letting me know where you’ll be. Also, school nights, you need to be here at the house no later than 10. Weekends, well….it’s negotiable depending on what it is you plan on doing. But as of right now, midnight. Also, another thing is you have to keep your grades up. I know I’m not your legitimate father, but I’ll try my hardest to be as annoying about grades as any parent would be. Otherwise you will lose a half hour on your curfews for every D or F you get. I think that’s it. Do we have a deal?” he finished, extending his arm out for her to shake.

She smiled at him, happy that for once someone actually showed intuitive to set some ground rules. They always said, ‘Do what you want. You’ve been through so much.’ and whenever she did do what she wanted, they blamed it on the fact that her parents were gone. Of course, no one knew the real story of what happened to her parents except for her, the Witness Protection Program and the man who committed the crime. Other than that, it was lie after lie, after lie.

She got up from her bed and extended her arm to his and grabbed his hand and shook it.

“I think I can deal with those rules. Although I don’t think I’ll need the curfews. It’s kinda hard to make friends when you move every 3 months. You should expect me to be home everyday after school for the time I’m here.” she said, and then broke their handshake.

He looked at her with sad eyes, but none-the-less gave her a small smile and said, “You’d be surprised on how nice some people are out here. You always hear horror stories of them being mean and stuck-up, which some people are like that, but when aren’t there people like that? Anyways, there are some good kids around this town. I’m sure you’ll fit in. You seem like a nice kid, there’s no reason for you not to make friends.”

She smiled at his comment, genuinely happy about this move so far.

Most of time, her new ‘parents’ just gave her creepy smiles, sympathy smiles, and let her do whatever she wanted. She didn’t need freedom, she needed stability. And for once, within the last 8 years, she felt like she had achieved some level of happiness.

* * * * *

“So are you excited about you’re first day?” Bobby asked her once he reached the bottom of the staircase and saw her eating a bowl of cereal.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him and nodded her head since her mouth was full at the moment.

The last couple of days weren’t excruciatingly bad with him. He gave her her distance but knew when to talk at the same time. She had a feeling that he might of done this before. Sheltering someone in the witness protection program.

He showed her the main streets that she would need for everyday use. Like how to get to the beach and to school. Also the mall and normal hang outs incase she got asked to hang out with friends, if she ever made any.

She wasn’t going to hold her breath though.

He took her sight seeing too. Like to the Hollywood sign and down to Hollywood and Vine, along with the Hollywood Walk of Fame and that place where celebrities cemented their hand and footprints into. It was busy day, she couldn’t really remember everything and it’s names that he had taken her too.

And the best thing that he did for her, he got her license renewed for the State of California. So now, she was free to go anywhere she wanted, whenever she wanted to.

Not that she had anywhere to go. Why would she leave anyways. For once she actually felt safe in a new house with a new ‘family.’

“Well, Trish. I’m off to work. Lock up the house when you leave.” he said quickly while taking a gulp of orange juice from the carton and placed it back in the fridge.

He saw her look of slight disgust from seeing him do that and after he wiped his mouth he said, “What? gotta have that Vitamin C? Especially in Cali.” and then was out the door.

She chuckled slightly to herself after hearing his little remark.

She actually felt like a normal human being again.

She seemed so hollow before, not saying that Bobby was like a cure to her absence of family, but still. He gave off a comforting feeling to her that made her feel a little bit more secure with herself and her situation.

She actually laughed, a real laugh, for the first time in years. She forgot how good that felt. And smile. And actually enjoy the smaller things that she used to.

Like the shape of the clouds and the sound the waves made when they crashed against the shoreline.

As she finished her cereal, she glanced at the clock, noticed the time and decided that it wouldn’t hurt being a few minutes early for school. Maybe she would meet someone that she could stand to be around for the next 3 months. Assuming that Bobby could hold on that long.

She had woken him up twice since she moved here with screaming, but he didn’t seem to question her about what it consisted of. Which as nice to an extent.

She didn’t have to lie to him yet about anything, besides her name, which was a first because by now with every other family she had, she would have told them about how her parents died in a house fire, car accident or a shooting of some sort along with a little brother or sister. Not that she ever had one, but still, you gotta change it up every once in a while.

What’s the point in telling a small bit of truth over and over again when you’re already living a lie the minute you open up your mouth and introduce yourself. A girl’s gotta have some fun no matter how warped it is.

She grabbed her backpack and keys, and checked herself in the mirror one more time before exiting the house.

She grimaced at her reflection.

Why is that all private schools have almost the same exact outfits?!

Her wavy blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulders which was met with a white button down shirt with a navy blue blazer over it with the St. Mark’s crest embroidered over the left breast pocket. A red, tan and navy blue plaid skirt that went just a little above her knees while her white stockings came up to the bottom of her knee cap and ended with her impeccably white K Swiss tennis shoes.

Yuck. I look like a image from a horny teenage boys mind. Save me now!