Grace

17- a fairytale.

When I was younger, I always had super high expectations of love. Like a fairytale or like a Disney movie. My parents were so in love with one another, it gave me so much hope. It gave me a huge glimmer of hope that I'd find my prince charming and live happily ever after, just like them.

They used to spin each other around in the kitchen. They danced every single day while they cooked dinner together. It was their special thing to do. They loved dancing together. 

They used to take me to plenty of dances when I was younger. They loved watching me in my light blue, Cinderella like dress. They would spin me around for hours and I never got tired of it. Never once would I get dizzy. 

They loved taking me to dances. They loved the attention I would get from all the other couples that were their age. They had me at a really young age, both of them were 22 when I was born. 

They were the only one out of all their friends that had a baby so young. They were high school sweethearts. Everyone romanticized their love. Everyone still does. They were the power couple of the school. Everyone wanted to be with them and everyone wanted to be them. 

I actually met Angel during pre-school, because of my mom. Her and Angel's mom Mindy met at the bar 5oh one night when we both were really little. Although, back then it was owned by someone else and had a different name. We were home sleeping in our beds by the time our moms met. Mindy had been sending Angel to a school in Patagonia called Children's Gift. I wasn't in school yet, but when my mom heard about that school she fell in love with it.

Mindy said all the teachers were very amazing and treated the children like gold. They even skipped nap time so the kids would be able to go to sleep earlier every night. They only had nap time for the kids that really needed it. Like the kids that would go around biting all the other kids just because they are grouchy. Anyways, that's exactly the kind of school my mom was looking for. 

Back then, we lived much closer to Patagonia. Only 15 minutes away from Angel and Mindy. We had play dates at least once a week. Most of the time, Mindy would pick me up from school on Friday's and my parents would be invited to Mindy's house for game night, movie night, etc. And all of us would gather around every Friday. 

Those days stopped when my mom passed away. Mindy and my dad remained good friends after that. Angel and I had always hoped they would get married one day and we would actually be sisters. We always dreamed and prayed for that day to come. But it never did. Mindy started seeing Rob and finally moved away from Patagonia about four years ago, when Angel was 20.

Angel's dad was never in the picture. The only thing I had ever known about him was his name was John and he never had any clue Mindy got pregnant. She kept it that way. She preferred being alone than being with some probable scumbag she had hooked up with once at a bar on vacation in Hawaii. Angel always dreamt of one day going to Hawaii and finding him. But she never wanted to in case he'd turn out to be a giant douchebag. 

I don't blame Angel for never finding her dad. She was super independent and never needed him in her life. Angel eventually had a little step brother named Robbie (Robert Jr.). He had moved with Mindy when she and Rob left for Massachusetts. Rob grew up there and always wanted to move back to his home state. Mindy didn't mind going with him. She got tired of Patagonia. She gave Angel the house when she left. 

It was fully paid off. That's probably why Angel always had extra money. She didn't have as many bills to pay. She must've spent her money on whiskey, margaritas and wicker furniture.