Midnight Rose

.As I pack up my belongings in my room, I cannot believe that my grandparents got me a full ride to the college that is in their town. I have been home schooled my whole life. My aunt and uncle believe that I am the reason my parents took off, when really, I have no idea why my parents hate me so bad. The bad thing is that my aunt did not always hate me, but that is another story for another time. I do not believe that I am the one capable of making my parents hate me. I was only three when my parents left me on the side of the road that leads to my aunt’s house. “Hurry up, Clementine. I am not going to wait for you to get everything down here. I want to drop you off and then leave.” My Aunt yells at me as if I am a mistake. I sigh and grab my bag, I stack a few boxes up. I pick the boxes and nod as I head for the bedroom door. I smile, Goodbye town, goodbye people who cannot stand me. I start walking down the stairs as my boots click with every step making it known that I am coming down. I hear my aunt and uncle talking like they are grateful for my grandparents to take me. You see the whole reason most of everyone hates me is because I look different. I have what they call white eyes. They are very pale blue eyes. My skin is dark like a native American. My aunt swears that I killed my parents and that I am not normal. I do not believe that it. I believe that there is more to it. I do not believe anything she says, but what say do I have. I do not remember my parents and I was too young to know about what truly happened. I start walking again and push past my aunt and uncle straight out into a cloudy day. The wind lightly blows as I walk to the car and smile. I put the last of my boxes in the car and shut the hatch as I walk over to the passenger side of the car and open my door. My uncle stops me as he looks at me with a look, that if looks could kill, I would be dead by now. “Don’t you dare cause any problems for your grandparents do you hear me. I will come down there and show you what happens to kids like you.” he says angerly. I glare at him as I push his hand away and get into the car. Closing the door so that I cannot hear him. My aunt gets in and glares as she starts the car and shakes her head. I look out the window and roll my eyes I cannot believe that my aunt is so cruel and hurtful. She does not care that I have feelings or that I feel bad enough that my parents have disappeared. I mean come on I was three when they abended me and left me for my aunt to take care of me. I shake my head as I put my earbuds in and blare my music on my phone. I watch the trees go by as few horses in the field we pass tries to race us. I smile and look away. I cannot help but be excited, to finally get to see my grandparents after so long. It has been years because my aunt believed that my grandparents where trying to turn me in to a hellion. I know they are not though I know that they are good people. They do not treat me like I am a monster or the fact that I am the reason my parents disappeared. I am thankful for them. I know that everything is going to get a lot better. I smile at the thought as my aunt pulls my earbuds out and is beyond mad at me. “CLEMENTINE RAIN LISTEN TO ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU.” She screams as she starts going toward the ditch. “You are so stupid how could you possibly think that anyone would want you. I have never in my life see anyone with that kind of eyes. You are just a mistake all together.” She laughs as she picks up speed and we pass a sign reading: WELCOME TO BRUNSWICK, ME. I sigh of relief as we are now entering my grandparent’s town. I smile as I watch kids go by on bikes or just walking. So, this is what freedom looks like. I was always locked away. Made sure that no one could possibly want to see me. My aunt swore that no matter what that I would make someone’s life hell and just stand there and laugh, but I am not that cruel. I sigh as I lay my head back and close my eyes. You must be wondering why I do not call my aunt and uncle; mom and dad, well you see my aunt and uncle hate the possibility of having kids. They are both so focused on their jobs that they do not want to be bothered by “brats”. Is what they tell anyone. If I ever thought of them as parents? That would be a solid no. I cannot stand them as they cannot stand me. I made the mistake of calling her mom once before only to get my mouth washed out with soap. I never did that again. Least this is a new start and I can finally relax and make some friends. It must be nice to have friends already. I roll my eyes as she goes back to yelling at me for not paying attention, but why would I want to pay attention to her constant yelling. We finally pull up to my grandparent’s house. I look up from my phone and notice a beautiful two-story house, beautiful wood front porch that wraps around the house. It a pale blue and white house. I smile as it already feels like home to me. She parks the car. Before I could even open my door, my door flies open and I am pulled from the car, and arms wrap around me squeezing me. “RALIEY DID YOU STARVE MY GRANDBABY SHE IS A TWIG!!!” Grandmother screams as she grabs me and hugs me. “Let’s go inside, Clementine and get you something to eat and we can get your room all set up.” She smiles and pats my head as I am back to be her little girl. I cannot help but smile at her. I love my grandmother so much. I walk past the old tree I use to climb and stop on the doorsteps of the porch. I cannot help but think that this is where I am supposed to be. I hear my aunt screaming back at my grandmother, calling me a nightmare and a brat. I shake my head as I put my backpack on the ground and run into the back to my grandpa’s shop. I freeze as my aunt calls my grandmother a not genuinely nice name. I swallow hard as I hear them start screaming louder than usual. I finally make it to my grandfather shop, to find him working on my uncle’s truck. Hoping that maybe we can do something, I do not really want to think about what my grandmother and aunt are screaming at each other. I never got really any peace of mind or why family matters anymore. Thunder cracks across the sky, I jump as there is a loud crack as lighting lights up the skies. The branch that was struck with lighting hits the tin roof the shop. He walks over to me patting me on the shoulder telling me that it is going to be okay and that there is nothing to fear. I wish I could believe him. I know that for a reason nothing is ever alright. I sigh as I smile. I lean into his touch as if a child leaned into their father’s touch. Because I did not know my father at all, along with the fact that my uncle was not much of a father to me. My grandfather has always been there when he is able. “My sweet Clementine. Are you still having those darn old flash backs of the past?” he asks in a calm voice. I jump again as the thunder rolls across the skies. I smile and grab his hand. “Grandpappy, I am fine. Just jumpy because my aunt believes that she needs to yell. I am still not use to the yelling and I really don’t want to have to deal with it anymore then I must.” I reply. He just nods as he grabs my hand and turns the lights out in the shop. I cannot help but smile as he waves to grandmother. They love each other so much. Maybe one day I will have that, and I will make sure that I keep and take care of my kids. As we walk across the driveway lighting decides to dance across the skies. I rush to the porch and grab my backpack. My grandfather laughs as he shakes his head and steps onto the porch as the rain decides to become a down pour. I look over at my grandmother and smile as she hands me a towel and brings me inside to dry off. “Come my child. You must eat you don’t hardly weigh anything.” She shakes her head and heads for the kitchen. A chuckle comes from behind me as my grandfather brings in my boxes. Even though I only have two boxes, he can tell that I got big boxes to make it look like I had stuff. The only thing I really have is my phone that I saved money back from when my grandparents would send me money for my birthday. I walk over and sit down on the couch as my grandmother brings me a cup of hot chocolate. “Dennis bring her the schoolbooks and the presents we got her.” My grandmother hollers at my grandfather as he walks down the stairs. He nods as he walks to their room and returns in a short time later. He brings over a big bag of stuff, along with my uncle’s military bag, it has my schoolbooks and supplies that I will need. “Open this.” My grandfather smiles as he hands me this big bag. I smirk as I lean forward and start pulling the paper out, at the bottom of the bag is a beautiful pink laptop, a grey tablet, and a brand-new LG Stylo 5. My mouth falls as my grandmother walks in glaring. “Shut your mouth before you start catching flies in it.” I cannot help but to roll my eyes but before I could, I jump up and hug them. I cannot believe that this is all my stuff. I rush back and start opening the boxes so that I can mess with my new stuff. As the hours goes by, I start to yawn, when I get startled by the tv as my grandfather turns it on. “I wonder if that new road they are putting in is done.” He asks my grandmother. “News Alert: road work for the new road has come to stop.”