A secret is a secret | ONC 2024

06 | The Meet-up with Family

The morning of the next day, I was awoken by an alarm coming out from my phone. I lifted my head from the softness of my pillows. I picked up my phone from the nightstand right beside my bedroom. Once I looked at the time on my phone, I swiftly stood up from my bed.

Just like I do every morning, after waking up, I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I exited the bathroom and entered my room again. I changed out of my pajamas and changed into my pair of light blue jeans and one of my college sweatshirts and I put on my pair of yellow Converse.

I picked up my phone and purse before leaving my room. I walked into the kitchen and saw my best friend taking out the milk from the refrigerator.

"Good morning, Beck." I greeted her as I placed my phone and purse down on the kitchen counter.

"Good morning, Lenora." My best friend greeted me, closing the refrigerator door. "You're meeting with your mother and older sister, at the nearby local restaurant, right?"

"Yes, I am. I am looking forward to meeting up with them. It has been two months since I last saw them. By some miracle, today is the only day that my sister and I can meet up with our mother." I replied to my best friend's question, having a soft smile on my lips at the mention of my mother and older sister.

My best friend looked at me, showing me a happy smile. "That's good, after everything that we went through this last week. Lenora, you deserve to spend time with your family. Maybe it would help you to distract your mind from everything that happened this past week. "

I walked toward my best friend and pulled her into a friendly hug. "Thank you, Beck, you're an amazing best friend, I love you and I don't know what I would do without you."

My best friend's smile grew wider as she surrounded her arms around my shoulders, accepting my hug. "You're welcome, Lenora. I love you too, I don't know what I would do without you either."

After a few seconds, Beck and I pulled away from each other's embrace. I looked at my best friend, matching her wide smile. "Beck, how about this, when I return from spending time with my mother and older sister? Do you want to go and go to the movies with me tonight?"

My best friend returned the eye contact as her wide smile grew even wider than I thought it was possible. "Yes, Lenora, I would love to go to the movies with you."

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As soon as I walked into the restaurant, I quickly spotted my older sister sitting on one of the tables in the outdoor area. Kara was waving her hand in my direction as she looked back at me. I waved back at her, and a wide smile appeared on my lips as I made my way toward her.

My older sister stood up from her chair and pulled me into a sister hug. "I am so happy to see you, Lenora. It's been a while since I have seen you in person. I am happy that I was able to find time to see you and Mom this month."

"I am happy to see you too, Kara. This is better than seeing you on my phone's screen during our FaceTime calls. Speaking of, where is mom? I thought she was going to be the first to get here." I greeted her, accepting her hug and feeling her arms around my shoulders. There is nothing better than a hug from your older sister.

"Yeah, as much as I love your Facetime calls, I have missed seeing my little sister in person." Kara started saying as she pulled away first, ending our hug. "I was surprised too, you know how much she loves punctuality. Lenora, our mother should be here soon. She texted me a couple of minutes ago, informing me that she was stuck in traffic due to an accident."

"I missed you too." I told her as I sat down on one of the three chairs right beside my sister. "I hope that the accident wasn't too bad and that everyone is well."