Un-Ordinary Girl

Chapter 14

          I awoke the next morning to hearing a ringing noise. It sounded almost like mom's cell phone when a client or boy toy calls. "Hello?" I opened my eyes and was looking directly into Jackson's face. He looked upset. "Okay. I'll tell her. Yes. Thank you." I looked directly in his eyes. "Katelyn. That was the hospital. I'm so sorry." I didn't hear anything he said after that. My world crumbled. I lost my grandma. Nana wont ever smile at me again. I felt myself start to have a panic attack. Then, I couldn't breath. My world faded again.

          When I woke up, I was back in the hospital. I tried to move my left hand but felt someone gripping it. I looked over to my left and saw Jackson sitting in a chair fast asleep. I felt tears slip down my face as I remembered that my grandmother was dead. I wanted to sob but was scared of waking Jackson. Unfortunately, I had to cough. I pulled the oxygen mask off of my face. It wasn't helping me.

          "No. Keep it on Katelyn. They somehow got the oxygen mixed with your asthma medication. I need you to keep breathing sweetie." I let him put the stupid mask back on. I hated it but he was right. I needed to breathe in my medication.

          "What's going to happen to me now. I know moms going to be arrested. She shot at me and killed Nana. I just don't have anyone else but the Wong's but I don't wanna leave my apartment."

          "You won't have to. I called some people that know me in the system and they said that if you can some how prove that you are capable of living on your own, they can approve of you staying at the apartment you already live. You would just need someone to advocate for you as well as check in on you. An adult like Mrs. or Mr. Wong?" I smiled at him. He thought of everything. "Oh! One more thing. Here. I found it at your place." He pulled out the gift that the Wong's gave me. "It is two days after your birthday but still. I'm sure you still want to open it right?" I smiled and nodded at him.

          "Yes, I do." I opened it and found two small gifts. A card and a new bear. Inside the card was my usual birthday allowance.

          "Damn girl! How much is that?"

          "It isn't much. Just two thousand. They always give me two thousand dollars for my birthday ever since they lost there twins. Then I get two thousand on Christmas. And then for new years and Chinese new years I get two thousand five hundred."

          "How can they trust a person with that kind of money let alone a kid? And how is it that they give you that kind of money? Where do they even get that kind of money?"

          "Easy. They invested money in the stocks that I told them to invest in. I'm really good at predicting the stock market. When I get headaches when thinking about a particular stock, I tell them that it's time to cash out. When I get butterflies when thinking about one, I tell them that it is a good investment."

          "Where is all this money being stored? You would need a bank account." I blushed and looked down.

          "I keep it all in my money box. If mom ever found out that the Wong's were still giving me money or that I had a job and was getting money that way, she would have taken it so a bank account was out of the question." He looked sad and just hugged me. A few weeks later, the Wong's came to sign me out of the hospital. I also somehow managed to pass ninth grade at the top of my class again. The month after school let out for the summer, the courts granted me permission to live on my own as long as I checked in with a psychiatrist for an evaluation every month. It was for the panic attacks and the past trauma.

          Today, Jackson said that he was gonna take me somewhere new. He hadn't told me yet. "So, since you aren't going to tell me where we are going, how about you tell me what happened on the day of the school dance since I was out to go to my shrink."

          "Well, the girls were as crazy as you described. Each one seemed to want to offer more than the last girl that asked. So to every girl who asked me, senior girls included. I told them to meet me in our court yard at lunch. They did. The guys looked like they were about to try and jump me. And I told them all proudly that I had a girlfriend that I was taking to the dance. Each one of them looked anxious. Even Tracy and Penelope. Then I said your name and there was riot."

          "So that's why all the girls at the dance were glaring at me and all the guys were giving you high fives. I was so confused and all you kept doing was laughing." He chuckled. We soon arrived at the DMV. I guess he needed to do something with his license.

          "Come on. It is time that you go for your drivers test." I got out of his car and started jumping up and down again and again and again. I had just finished drivers ed last week. I can't believe this is actually happening.

          "Thanks babe. Best date ever!" He looked at me confused. I started to feel confused as well. "What's the matter?"

          "This isn't the date. That isn't until later." I felt a little dejected but remembered that he said that it was later. We went in and I waited. "The Wong's invited us over for dinner again. Are we accepting again?"

          "Of course we are. They feel like they have there twins back. Unfortunately, that means I now have to share the attention. I have basically been their proverbial only child for some years now." I gave him a side grin.

          "Well then, I can't wait for my first family dinner in a few years." I passed my drivers test. Then he wouldn't tell me where we were going again. "This is the date portion." I got even more excited. I couldn't wait to see where we were going. We pulled into a Pontiac dealership. I was confused. Was his idea of a date getting service done on his car? We could have gone running in our wolf form if this was going to be it. "So, which one do you want? The state said they would pay for it." The date was getting me a car!

          I jumped around in excitement and then ran to kiss Jackson. "Thanks babe. Best date ever."