Young Annabelle (7 page)

“ANNABELLE!”

There was only one piece of artillery left in
this world that could have broken that happy bubble: my mother’s
screeching voice.

It was amazing, as I rode my bike to work I
felt a new strangeness inside. The early morning sunshine hadn’t
heated up yet so it lazily caressed my back. It was nice, peaceful.
I stopped at the top of the hill, the wind leaving my hair as I
paused. I’d been pedaling pretty fast and there might have been a
good reason to get to work early today…

Nervous, I pulled my feet back onto the
pedals and pushed forward. As soon as I picked up enough speed, my
arms flew open. As I soared down the hill there was a big car
driving down next to me, but I didn’t let it distract me; this
moment deserved my undivided attention and respect.

“Fireball,” a familiar voice called from
behind as I knelt to lock my bike.

My heart instantly began beating a mile a
minute. “Hi,” I replied as I looked over my shoulder at him.

Standing a hundred feet tall with the sun
framing his entire body, he practically sparkled. James smiled
warmly and stepped towards me, offering his hand.

“Thanks.” I grabbed his hand and a jolt of
electricity shot threw me as he helped me up.

He didn’t let go of my hand and pulled me
closer to his body.

Oh. My. God!

“What do you think you’re doing?” I said
quietly in his embrace.

He looked down and leaned in. “This.”

Suddenly, his lips were on mine. My first
kiss ever was happening thirty minutes before my shift!

The kiss began lightly, gently. I had no
intention of pulling back because it felt too darn good and he must
have felt the same because his lips pressed further into mine. He
released my hand and softly held on to my face instead. He tilted
my head back a little and leaned in further; my mouth was forced
open by his urgent tongue. His hand left my face and glided down my
shoulder, his arm encircled my waist and pulled me tight against
his chest.

Wow! I can’t believe this! I should totally
stop, I’m not easy…!

Just as I was about to pull back, he did. But
only his lips left me, his forehead rested on mine, his hands held
me close.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he
whispered breathlessly.

I giggled quietly and leaned back. “Awhile?
We just met yesterday.”

“I met you first when I saw you riding your
bike down that hill. It was like you were flying.” He didn’t let go
of my waist.

“You saw me fly?”

He nodded.

“The black SUV, that was you?”

“And today too. It was beautiful, the way you
looked with your arms stretched out as if you were actually
flying.”

“It was beautiful?” I repeated, looking
deeply into his eyes.

He nodded. “Beautiful,” he muttered huskily
as he leaned back in and kissed me again.

My arms slid around his neck and I pulled
myself as tight as I could into his embrace…

Then I woke up again.

The memory of sparkles and kisses still
resonated on my face. The lasting impression left me in a slow daze
like I was on a drug that had my entire body tingling. As the
minutes passed, the real sun slowly peaked in on me, inch-by-inch,
starting from my feet and covering me in its warmth.

I felt light, I was on a cloud baking under a
ray of sun that was reserved for angels. It was almost 8 a.m.; in a
perfect world, the radio would turn on playing a slow R&B jam
and I’d cross my arms behind my head and drink in the moment,
humming along to the slow, sensual beats of the song.

August 2
^nd
, 2012

“Honestly, Annabelle,” Mom sighed, “I thought
I taught you to at least brush your hair before putting it up in a
ponytail.” Exasperated, she took a sip of her steaming black
coffee.

Lalala! What was that? I can’t
hear you!

I held back the delirious giggle that
threatened to erupt. I wasn’t in any kind of mental state to be
answering Mom’s questions. I simply nodded like I understood and
accepted her complaint. Absentmindedly, I swirled the contents of
my cereal bowl and brought a spoonful to my mouth.

Ugh! What the hell is
this?!
I grimaced as I
chewed the twigs. Whatever this ‘cereal’ was, it didn’t taste like
anything you’d find in the supermarket.

Where the hell did she buy this
crap?…Maybe a health food store? They’ve probably got crazy stuff
like this on their shelves.

I took a deep, subtle breath before
attempting another spoonful.

“Yummy, right?” Mom asked, gesturing her chin
toward my bowl. She did a weird thing with her eyes, widening them
then squinting.

I didn’t know about her sometimes…

Yeah, it’s delicious – for a rabbit!

I nodded calmly and gulped down the mulch. I
glanced up at her through my lashes; her eyebrows were wiggling at
me. Confused, I offered her a shrug, my eyes saying ‘What?’ Her
eyes widen in irritation at my cluelessness then jerked her chin
towards Katherine. I glanced over at my sister, obliviously playing
with her iPhone.

“
Delicious,
right
?” Mom urged in a tone I didn’t dare disagree
with.

I cleared my throat. “Uh, right,
delicious.”

I brought another spoonful to my mouth and
grudgingly ate it to prove I was telling the truth.

Damn this shit is
awful!

I chewed quickly and forced it down with an
audible gulp. “Yummy,” I whispered at my empty bowl.

Thank God, I’m done!

“
Katherine, darling,” Mom said sweetly.
“See what Annabelle’s having for breakfast? It’s delicious
and
good for you.”

Katherine looked up from her iPhone and
smiled amiably. “Mommy, I want some of Annabelle’s cereal
tomorrow.”

Mom looked like she was about to explode with
happiness. “Sweetheart, why didn’t you say anything earlier? I
would have given you this special cereal today.”

“I thought Annabelle was the only one who was
supposed to have healthy cereal.” She was practically pouting.

I stared at my sister in amazement as Mom
blathered on about this rabbit food. With a single line, Katherine
had Mom eating out of the palm of her hand. She was a pro, and now
she was barely paying attention to anything Mom was saying about
health benefits

Bullshit!
I mentally yelled at her.

Instead, I gave her a knowing look. She
replied with a sly grin when mom leaned into her coffee.

“I want to eat Annabelle’s cereal every day
from now on,” she declared.

Mom put down her mug and gushed at her
‘little princess’ for making such a ‘wise decision.’ What a
fool.

“You make Mommy so proud,” she beamed at
Katherine who nodded.

I shook my head. It was so easy for her. She
could just shoot out garbage about wanting something I know she
couldn’t possibly eat every day. She’d try it for a few days then
ask Mom if it was okay to eat Cornflakes instead. I recalled the
beginning of summer when I’d been told about what my breakfast
would be from then until the end of the world.

“
This is the cereal you will be eating
from now on. Do you understand?”

That was it. You eat this. There are no other
options. Only healthy, ‘delicious’ rabbit food.

I wish I could have some
Cornflakes.
I pouted to
myself.

“I’m off!” I announced, quickly rising to put
my empty bowl in the sink before rushing out the kitchen and into
the foyer.

“Annabelle, wait!” Mom shouted at my
back.

I could hear utensils banging together and
her slippered feet rushing around frantically.

What the hell is she doing in
there?

I shrugged as I tied my shoes – that’s when
it hit me. The realization. My head jerked up, horrified.

The purple lunch
box!

I gathered my laces and shoved them down the
sides of my shoes; I had no time for tidy little bows now. I
scooped up my backpack, yelled “bye!” and opened the front
door.

“Wait!” Mom yelled again.

I paused in the doorway and reluctantly
turned to face her, horrified of what was to come. Mom ran from the
kitchen with the beautiful purple lunch box swinging in her
hand.

Damn it! Almost made it!

“Annabelle, I told you to wait,” she huffed.
“Your lunch!” She lifted the box with a flourish like the models on
game shows.

With a sigh, I dropped my backpack from my
shoulder and unzipped it for her.

“You’re welcome,” Mom muttered, annoyed, as
she shoved the box into my bag.

“Thank you,” I mumbled back, zipping the bag
back up and hoisting it onto my shoulder. I stepped over the
threshold and shut the door behind me with an unintentional bang.
An exasperated breath slid from my lips.

Why?

I remembered the high I was riding when I
woke up. It only lasted until the beginning of breakfast and then,
with a few stupid words from Mom and Katherine, it vanished. I
pulled out my phone out of my bag and scrolled through my inbox,
tapping the conversation with James from last night. A smile
instantly broke out of my miserable expression as I reread the
messages. It didn’t make any sense; I was pissed off but reading
his texts magically made the world okay again.

We hadn’t even talked about anything special;
it was actually nothing. ‘Hey is this you?’ ‘Yeah it’s me.’ That’s
it. Yet it made me so freaking happy.

I’m gone. So totally
gone!

I shook my head at the grinning-idiot-in-love
I called ‘myself’ and wheeled my bike out from behind the gate.

Small, grim clouds began building into jagged
mountains. The wind picked up, pushing against me as I rode to
work. It was a hot, humid wind and I could smell the impending
rain. I sensed a blustery, monster of a storm closing in.

Halfway to work, the first crash of thunder
rattled through me. I pumped harder on the pedals knowing the rain
would begin to fall in a matter of minutes. As I got closer to
work, I thanked God that I lived only a ten-minute bike ride from
the club.

The coming storm meant the golf course would
be closed along with all the outdoor snack stands. When Jenna and I
first started working at the club, we’d been told that even if
there was rain we still had to show up because sometimes other work
could be arranged. We’d be in a heap of trouble with management if
we didn’t show up, assuming work was canceled. Only management had
the privilege of deciding when our shifts were canceled, and that
wouldn’t be done until after we’d taken the trouble to come all the
way to the club in the first place.

The first drop of rain splattered on my
forehead as I paused on the top of the hill. I always took a moment
to gaze at the glorious sight of the path as it curved down the
hill, anticipating the adventure I was about to experience once
again. I flew down; it was amazing as always.

The slow patter of raindrops increased
rapidly as I locked up my bike. By the time I made it inside the
employee entrance, the pouring rain had soaked my entire body. I
flung out my arms, throwing water everywhere.

“Annabelle!”

My head jerked up as I shook off whatever bit
of water I could. Shelby was at the end of the hall, pointing her
finger at me and motioning me to come forward. Like a good little
doggie, I obeyed.

“You’re actually on time today, rain and
all!” She sounded mildly amused. It was such a lie though; I rarely
came to work late, but this bitch counted the milliseconds.

She takes her job way too seriously!

“Am I working today?” I did my best to not
look annoyed. My go-to smile that shielded me from most of Shelby’s
irritating quirks felt strained this morning. My shields were
wearing thin.

Where’s a mutant monster butterfly when you
need one? Can I get like a hundred of them to capture Shelby and
lock her away in a dungeon?

There was no way they could miss her, she was
practically a mythical creature herself.

I sighed softly;
only in dreams could things that cool
happen.
I pictured Shelby screaming like a lunatic as mutant
monster butterflies carried her away. A quiet chuckle escaped at
the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Shelby demanded, pursing
her lips and slamming her clipboard to her side.

I bit my lip to stop the smirk and shook my
head. “Nothing. I was just thinking about something funny that
happened this morning.”

“Yeah, I bet,” she replied, unconvinced.

“So, am I working today?” I impatiently
repeated.

She narrowed her eyes at my tone.

“Yes, you are. Maintenance is cleaning up a
huge water spill in the basement, so I’ve been instructed to gather
any spare staff and get them to clean all the change rooms and the
rest of the bathrooms in the other wings.” A satanic smile spread
across her troll face.

Damn she needs that nose
fixed,
I thought,
shaking my head.

“What! Do you have something you’d like to
say?” Shelby baited.

The urge to speak up was too tempting, but I
glued my lips shut because I knew if I spoke then it was bye-bye
job.

Stupid bank account – the one skinny thing
in my life!

“That’s what I thought!”

God! What I would give to smack that sneer
off her ugly face!

“Great, no problem,” I conceded. “You
probably know where all the cleaning stuff is, lead the way.” I
happily motioned for her to go first. She strode forward clearly
pondering whether that last comment was a jab.