Angel In Progress

1. Of Locked Car Doors and Guardian Angels

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SO I GUESS IT ALL started out like this.

The sky was a gorgeous amber as the sun set overhead, basking the school parking lot into a golden haze. Beautiful sunsets were a common sight in the part of Florida where I was from, so it wasn't the brilliance and beauty of the sunset that was making me cry, as I sat inside my white 2013 Honda Accord.

The parking lot of Southview High was deserted as it should have been at six pm on a Friday evening, with the exception of myself, of course. And there I was- sitting in my car, sobbing my heart out with the windows closed as Drake blasted at full volume out my car speakers. You're probably wondering why I was crying in such a psychopathic way all by myself, and you would understand immediately if you saw the book I was holding to my chest as the tears rolled down my face. Yes, you've guessed it, clutched in my fingers was a copy of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

Call me weird, but this was one of my favorite places to relax after school- ironically at school itself. It was impossible to find time for myself at my house- my family wasn't the most understanding when it came to my personal space and peace of mind. Living with four other siblings and two (practically insane) parents was quite a feat, but I guess it could be fun at times. Haha, no.

"Why," I dramatically called out to nobody in general, as I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "Why did Gus have to die so early? Why does cancer even exist?!"

Obviously, nobody answered my unanswerable questions, and for a few seconds I just listened to the morbid voice of Drake singing about how fake people showed fake love to him in the background. It was so unfair. Augustus Waters didn't deserve to die!

As I sat there in my car, pondering on the injustice of the entire situation, Drake was interrupted by the annoying sound of my ringtone. I let out a soft huff of annoyance as I pulled the AUX cord out of my phone and glanced at the caller ID. The selfie my younger sister Maddie had forced me to take with her lit up my phone screen, her name blinking across it, and I sighed as I answered the call.

The shrill voice of the sixteen year old hollered into my ear, almost shattering my eardrum before I could utter a single word. "WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?!"

I cursed, pulling my phone a few inches away from my ear, so I wouldn't go partially deaf. "Gee, Mads, I don't think the people asleep in South Arabia heard you."

"Sorry," she snapped back, not sounding sorry at all. "But seriously, Grace, where are you? I've been waiting for way too long now. It's your turn to babysit the kids tonight!"

I slap my hand to my forehead in realization. Today was the day I was supposed to be at home early to look after my little siblings since my parents had another business party to attend to. As orthopaedic surgeons, they worked a lot, but they always had the time for us too. Except on Friday nights. Those were the nights they ditched us to go get wasted with all their high school friends on someone's yacht.

"Crap," I muttered, sheepishly, tugging at a lock of my unruly but strangely straight brown hair. "I completely forgot. Uh, I'll be home soon?"

"How soon?" she demanded. "Because I have a party to get to in like, forty five minutes, and I was counting on you to not ditch me! I can't even leave until you're here because if Mom finds out that I left the kids alone at home, she'd kill me."

"I'm on my way, Maddie," I rolled my eyes. "I hate how you can't just ask Caleb to look after them. And another party? Which one of your pretentious little friends is throwing this party now?"