HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Chapter 1

    "Hey Ally. How are you doing?' her best friend Michelle asked taking a seat next to her on the couch. 

    Today was a bad day. She didn't get them very often but when she did, she just wanted to be alone for a little bit. 

"I'm okay Michelle, really. I just wanted to chill out tonight at home and watch some movies" I said flipping through my sss Prime. Michelle and I had been best friends from my first day of school. She had been you too. She didn't grow up here like every other person we went to school with. She grew up in Chicago, but her father lost his job and they were looking to downsize. Her mother grew up in a small town and wanted her daughter to have the same type of experience. The first day at a new school can be rough on anybody but when you are already taller than the majority of the girls in your class it can also be an easy target for bullying. It didn't help that she had braces, crazy wild jet black curly hair and was supper skinny. One girl in particular as making fun of her that day and I defended her. I was a good girl now, but that didn't mean I forget how to to defend myself, bot with my words and my fists. Thankfully all it took was a few choice words regarding the girls eye brows or in her case, the one really long brow that stretched the length of her whole face and the 'fight' was over. Now, Michelle was a respectable 5'8. She still skinny with crazy curly hair but she had a gorgeous smile. A kind of smile that could knock men off their feet. 

"It's Friday night" my other best friend Tracy said. As if I didn't know what day it was. 

    Friday night meant drinks at the local bar, even though we were too young to drink, we could still go all dressed up in our Friday's best and listen to the great live bands they had playing downtown. Tracy had just broken up with her boyfriend and was looking for a replacement. This last heartache had only lasted a few hours before she had already started making weekend plans to tear up the town in a new outfit. Even though there weren't very many places we were allowed to go into since we were not 21 yet. She loved Tracy like a sister but her taste in men wasn't exactly the best. If you ask her why she would blame the way she looked. 

Tracy was petite with long straight blond hair. She was considered overweight but not by too much. I was convinced the majority of the extra weight was from her boobs but she refused to acknowledge that comment. She wanted to be model skinny and was always getting on some new awesome diet that required her to pretty much starve herself. She would last for maybe two or three weeks and finally give up blaming her lack of willpower while she inhaled a burger and fries. Her hair was too straight or too blonde. Her ass was too small. Her stomach was too big. There was always something and no matter how much Michelle and I would tell her she was beautiful, she just didn't want to hear it. According to her, that was the reason why every guy she has been with dumped her. It wasn't because she forced the poor guy to go on these crazy diets with her or if the guy even glanced at another woman she had a meltdown. Nope, it was because when her arms were extended while waving at someone, the skin under her arms would wave too. 

    She needed to go out tonight. She wanted to make sure that the whole town saw her with a new man before they saw her ex, Vance, with another woman. She swears he cheated on her but as far as Ally knew there was no actual proof. 

    "I know it's Friday Tracy but i'm just not into it tonight. You guys go and have a good time. I will be perfectly fine. I'm going to order a pizza, I have some beer in the frig and there is a Lord of the Rings marathon on tonight" she said giving them a big smile and a wink. They knew she was in love with Viggo Mortensen in that movie. 

 "Not those movies again. They are so old" Tracy whined 

"I can stay with you if you want" Michelle offered. She was so nice.

"Now your are bailing on me too! Come on guys! You are supposed to be my best friends. You need to help me get back at Vance." she yelled 

Michelle and I had no idea what she wanted to get back at him for. Vance seemed to be a nice guy. They had all gone out a few times as a group and he seemed really great. He would always compliment her on how she looked, acted like a gentleman by pulling out her chair and opening her door. It was true you never really know a person, but she had always been a good judge of character and she thought he was okay. The way she grew up she had to be able to look at a person and know if they were there to do her harm or not. Neither Michelle or Tracy had absolutely no idea of her past and she was planning on keeping it that way. She love them both dearly, but she couldn't take the chance of them finding out the type of person she used to be and the type of people she came from. 

"Michelle is not bailing on you. You two are going to go, have a great time, pickup some hot guys and tell me all about it in the morning over lunch" I proclaimed. Michelle looks at me a little concerned but finally agreed. 

"Is Mitch coming over?" Tracy asked seeming placated that going out with still on the agenda. 

    Mitch and I have been going out for almost 2 years now. He is a great guy but he really wasn't good at the 'emotional stuff' like he called it. My parents anniversary was coming up in a few days. It would be one year since they both passed away in a car accident. They were on their way back from volunteering at an orphanage in the next County when their Church bus was hit by a drunk driver who lost control of the wheel. Some people asked how somebody could be that drunk at seven o'clock at night but she knew. She remembered all too well those 'type' of individuals. If it wasn't for her parents she was positive she would have become someone just like that. Drinking away the pain. 

    When her parents died, she was devastated. It took her almost two weeks to leave the house after their funeral. The pain of losing both of them at once so suddenly made it difficult for her to breathe. She couldn't stop crying. How could she continue living her life without them. Living a life that they provided for her. Every major decision in her life, from when to take her driving test to what college to go to, for the last five years was made only after talking to her mom. She was her role model. She wanted to grow up to be her, to have the type of relationship she had with her father. After they had adopted her the relationship that she had with Antonio had changed completely. He was her dad. The first and only Dad she ever had. She remembered sometimes she would come down the stairs and he would be watching TV. She would sit right next to him on the couch just so he would put his arms over her and she could snuggle into his side. He wanted a man that would treat her the way he treated her mom. She wanted to grow up and give them grandchildren. She knew there was a chance it would never happen because they were already in the 70s but they were in good health for their age. They ate right. They took their pills. They would sometimes take strolls around the block hand in hand. They could have easily made it a few more years. 

    Soon she would be engaged to Mitch, then married and then they would start having kids. They could have made it to see at least one grandchild. One dumb drunk asshole ruined it;. One bad decision caused her parents to leave this world without the thrill of holding a baby in their arms. 

"No, he is not coming over tonight. I told him it was okay if he wanted to go out with his friends" I replied shrugging. I didn't want to admit it to them but I was secretly glad he wasn't going to be here with me. I loved him I did but there are just some things that he would never understand about me. 

    While I was dreaming of a perfect life, Mitch was living it. He was the mayor's son. His parents were high school sweethearts that got married right after high school and had him a few years later. Growing up Mitch had everything that I wanted. He grew up with a large happy family. His parents were one of the richest people in town. He grew up respected and loved by everyone. In school he was popular not only because of his family but because he was a jock. He was even valedictorian. To the whole town, he was perfect. When he asked me out the first time I thought it was a joke.  Maybe his friends had made a bet with him. I rejected him on more than one occasion. Michelle and Tracy thought I was nuts, especially Tracy but while I knew my parents loved me, I knew my friends liked me, I even had a boyfriend or two before Mitch but never someone like him. He was persistent though and finally wore me down. After I talked to my mom about it of course. Mitch not only had no idea of my life before I arrived to Somerville, but he wouldn't even be able to imagine being in that type of situation. 

    If I was being honest with myself I would have to admit that I was scared to tell him. I knew he wouldn't understand. What scared me the most was when he or if he ever found out, would he look at me or treat me different? Would he treat me the same way that people treated me over there, like I was trash. I don't know the answer to those questions and that is what scared me. Mitch and I had already had conversations about our future together. His plan was to date for 2 and 1/2 years then get engaged and have a year to plan the wedding. Once we were married we would live in a apartment so we can both save money to buy a house by his parents. He told me the whole saving money was part of the plan but that odds are his father would buy our first home for us as a late wedding gift. They were so out of my league. Who the hell buys a house for a wedding gift? Wrapped up in my own thoughts I completely missed the smile that was on Tracy's face when I told her that Mitch would be going out tonight without me. 

    Once I assured Michelle one more time that I was okay, she and Tracy left me alone to watch Viggo Mortensen's gorgeous face and reminisce on my time with my parents. When Elron and Arwen had their father daughter talk I started crying all over again.