Just Me ✔

Chapter 2

I wake up in a comfy bed. As I sit there, the events of yesterday all come back; my mom lifeless on the bed, my dad with red staining his blonde hair. I wipe my tears, and push the thoughts aside. I physically can not believe it. I saw it, yet I refuse to believe it.

I wander through a long hall, going through some doors, when I come across a kitchen, occupied by many police officers.

"Morning, Jayden." A police officer says.

"Hey," I say weakly. How'd he know my name?

"My name is Officer Clark," He approaches me, shaking my hand.

"I know it's a tough time for you right now. But we have to get through a lot of the hard stuff today. We received your parents' wills. It appears you have no living relatives. We found that your mom's childhood friend, Beth, will be taking you in. We have notified her, and she will be picking you up soon. We recovered a large sum of your items from your house, go ahead through them, and if we forgot anything, we'll go back and pick them up for you," he says as he gives me a sad smile.

"Thanks," was all I could get out. This is all happening to fast. I just feel very uncertain about everything.

~*~*~

Beth was supposed to be here any minute now. She apparently lives in Pennsylvania, which is quite far from Florida, where I'm from.

I hear a knock on the door as some officers open it.

"Hi, I'm Beth," a woman says with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hi Beth, let's go over a few things before you guys go." Officer Clark says.

They sit down at a coffee table, and I sigh, heading back into a bedroom. I fall back into the soft bed, and stay for a minute. I close my eyes and try to clear my mind.

"Make a wish, Jayden!" My dad says as he puts his hands on my shoulder.

I squeezed my eyes shut and made a wish, then blew out my 7 candles.

"What'd you wish for?" My mom asks, cutting the cake.

"I can't tell you or else it won't come true!" I say with a smile.

"Here's your piece of cake Jay," My mom said as she handed me a giant slice of chocolate cake.

"Thank you, mom!" I say as I chowed down on my cake. I hear my parents laugh from behind me. "What?" I asked wondering what was so funny.

"Nothing, don't worry," My mom said with a smile on her face.

"Are you ready for your present?" Dad asked.

"Yes!" I screamed. I love presents! Last year, I got a dollhouse!

"Okay, here you go." Dad said as he gave me a card.

"Sorry it's not much honey." Mom said, as she rubbed my arm.

"Oh. That's okay!" I say with a smile. I still got some yummy cake!

I open the card, and see a dog with a birthday hat on the front cover. 

"Read it out loud," Dad says as he takes out his phone and aims it at me.

"Okay," I start, "Happy 7th birthday Jayden! We know how much you love animals, and how you always wanted a sister or brother. You have been so good this year and we love you very much. We thought that you would like to have a new friend living here. Love, Mom and Dad." I look up and see mom holding up a little puppy with a pink bow on, in front of me. I gasp.

"Is she mine?" I ask.

"Yes, happy birthday!" Mom says.

I run over and grab the puppy from her hands. "Oh my gosh! I love her. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squeal into her fur.

"Her name is Layla. She is a pug, and she is only 3 months old. You have to be gentle, okay?" Dad says, putting down his phone with a smile on his face.

"Of course! Hi, Layla!" I say to her in a high voice. She give me kisses on my nose, causing me to giggle. I look up to see my parents staring down at me with huge grins on their faces.

"She likes you, Jay!" Mom says. I giggle once more, and snuggle with my new sister.

I open my eyes, feeling the tears slip down. That was 10 years ago - my 7th birthday. Layla passed away a few years ago due to cancer. I miss them all so much. I hear someone knock on the door lightly. I quickly wipe away my tears and open the door.

"Hi Jayden, I'm Beth," she says with a small smile, hand extended. Her eyes were slightly red, I could tell she was crying not too long ago.

"Hi," I say, as I shake her hand.

"As you probably already know, I will be taking you with me to your new home. Our flight leaves tonight around 9, so take your time here, okay?" she asks, in a small voice.

"Okay. Thank you Beth," I say.

~*~*~

After saying goodbye to my best friend Macy (which took hours), Officer Clark and Beth packed the car of my 2 boxes of things. I hop in the passenger seat as we head off to the airport. I'm going to miss Florida.

I sigh and stare out the window.