The Vale Of Tears

Chapter 13: Exhilaration

'For me, the adventures of the mind, each inflection of thought, each movement, nuance, growth, discovery, is a source of exhilaration.'

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"Skylar, be careful, okay? If anything happens, I want you to call me and I will pick you up right away." Skye's dad halted next to her in front of the house.

She had been waiting for the boys to come pick her up to finally start their journey. Her mother still wasn't thrilled at all but her dad had come out to see her off. Skye couldn't help but appreciate this small gesture.

"Here, you can use this credit card." Her dad handed her his card, but Skye shook her head.

"Skye, I know you're trying to be independent and all, but keep this as an extra precaution. I would feel much better about this whole thing if I knew you had some sort of back up," he said softly.

Skye felt grateful for her dad. He was offering her help while still respecting her independence. After all, he was her father and Skye figured that even though they hadn't had the prefect relationship in the past, he still cared about her and that this was his way of trying to slowly start building a bond between them.

"Okay, thanks dad, I appreciate it," she said with a small smile.

The front door opened and Skye's mother walked out. She stopped next to them and turned her gaze to Skye.

"I don't like that you're going ahead with this but if this is your decision I will respect it. Your dad was right and it took me some time and a lot of convincing from him but I realize now that I haven't been doing nearly and much as I'm obligated to do as a mother and I'm really sorry for that. I understand if it's too late for apologies but I want to be on good terms with you when you're going away from us." Her mom's voice wavered.

Before Skye could reply, her mom hesitantly reached out to give her a hug. Skye immediately returned the hug and tried to put all the feelings she couldn't express into the hug. She hoped her mom understood just how much those words meant to her. Skye's dad came and joined in the hug as well and Skye felt like her heart would burst with happiness as a tear rolled down her eyes. This was what she had been dreaming of, and yearning for, for years. Their hug felt warm and safe and she didn't want to let go and it seemed like her parents didn't want to, either.

They broke apart when they heard a honk. Skye whipped her head around and saw her friends grinning at her. She said her goodbyes reluctantly and hopped in the back seat while Flynn put her suitcase in the trunk.

"I promise I will take good care of her," Flynn turned to her parents and said politely. Her parents nodded and smiled in approval. Skye couldn't help the smile that took over her face either.

Flynn rushed back and took the shotgun seat and Kyan drove off.

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"So, where are we going first?" Flynn asked, already starting on the snacks he had brought with him.

"I was thinking we could start from right here. As in, we could explore the local history here and just look around. I mean, we've been living here for our whole lives but we haven't seen half the beauty of Boston. And I'm sure Skye would like to explore around here a bit, right?" Kyan answered.