Moon Phased: The Triple Claim

Chapter2

Raven’s POV

The drive to my grandmother’s house was done in awkward silence, as I sat between Evan and Chase in the front seat of his truck, while the cool night’s breeze seeped through the cracked windows, tousling my long dark hair. I tried my best to keep my eyes looking forward to the road, but I found it hard not to steal glances at Chase sitting directly beside me. He kept his head turned the whole time, looking out his window, as if he was trying to avoid interacting with me, but from our brief encounter at the Diner, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with his father making him come along with us.

The road that we were now driving on began to look familiar, making me realize that the uber driver had been heading in the right direction, and when we passed the side road where he had turned around at, Evan began to slow his truck down, before turning on his turn signal.

“No wonder you couldn’t find your grandmother’s lane. I will have to send the boys over this weekend to take care of this.” He said as he pulled off the road onto a lane that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in half a decade, making me realize that he wasn’t lying when he said my grandmother hadn’t driven in years.

As he drove up the lane, his truck hit a bump, and my hand went to grab ahold of the seat to steady myself, but instead of the seat, I accidentally grabbed ahold of Chase’s leg. Our heads turned at the same time to look at one another, while I quickly retracted my hand, as I apologetically said to him, “Sorry.”

By the look on Chase’s face, you would have sworn that my touch had scolded him, making me quickly turn away, as I noticed a faint light in the distance approaching. As my grandmother’s house came into view, it was clear that her lane wasn’t the only thing in desperate need of repair, making me realize this was going to be a big change from the lifestyle I was used to.

Before Evan even put the truck into park, Chase opened his door and jumped out, as if he couldn’t wait to be released from my presence.

“Thanks for the ride.” I said to Evan, letting him know that I appreciated it, as I quickly moved to get out of his truck, knowing that Chase would be happy to be freed from my presence.

The front door to my grandmother’s house at that moment opened, as I heard an elderly woman’s voice call out, “Is that you Evan?”

Evan shut his truck off, getting out of the truck too, as he says, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I’m just dropping your granddaughter off.” As he moved towards the house to talk to her.

Chase appeared at that moment, handing me my bags that they had placed in the bed of the truck, and I was just about to tell him thank you, when Evan called out, “Chase, get over here and say hello.”

I watched Chase roll his eyes, before he headed towards the house, and I slowly followed him as I took in my new home. The house was a small ranch, and it reminded me more of a cabin that I once stayed at on vacation with my parents, but unlike the cabin we stayed in, it had seen better days.

One of the shutters was missing from the front window, while the other hung on by a thread, as the white paint was chipping off in numerous places. It was a far cry from the home I was raised in back in California, but it was my home now, and I had to make the best of it.

“I can’t believe how much you have grown since the last time I saw you.” I heard my grandmother saying to Chase, as I made my way now onto the rickety porch that creaked beneath my feet.

My grandmother’s eyes at that moment spotted me, and I could see tears begin to pool in them, as it was the first time she had seen me in well over a decade. “Raven.” She said as her hand moved to her mouth, as she tried to fight back the emotions of seeing me, but unfortunately, I didn’t share the same emotions as her, because she was just a mere stranger to me.

As if Evan could sense the awkwardness between myself and my grandmother, and my lack of emotions of seeing her, he quickly says, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Mrs. Wilson, and I will send the boys over this weekend to take care of the lane.”

Turning, Evan quickly moved off the front porch, only to stop at the bottom of the steps before turning to look back at me as he says to me, “Chase will pick you up for school in the morning.”

My eyes quickly moved to look at Chase, who was clearly once again unhappy with his father, and it didn’t take long for him to make up an excuse to not want to do as his father asked of him, as he says, “But dad, I had plans before school.”

“Your plans can wait.” Evan said back to him with a stern tone, making Chase’s eyes narrow as he looked at me.

It was clear that Chase had no desire to take me to school, nor, at this point, with the way he was reacting to me, did I want him to. The last thing I wanted was for him to be forced to do something that he didn’t want to do, making things even more uncomfortable between us than it already clearly was.

“No, it’s fine. I will just take the bus.”

The look of distaste slowly began to leave Chase’s face, knowing that he was now freed from having to deal with me, but that relief was short-lived when my grandmother says, “Oh dear, I am afraid I forgot to set up transportation for you. I assumed your car would have been here by now.”

Dread instantly formed on Chase’s face, as he realized he wasn’t getting out of this. Through gritted teeth, he says to me, “Be ready by seven twenty.” Before he stormed off towards the truck.

“You must be hungry.” My grandmother said as she ushered me into the house, and as I stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping back in time as her décor looked like it had to be from the eighties. By the looks of things, nothing seemed to have been updated since my mother had left here, but then, of course, my grandmother had been alone raising my mother all those years, living paycheck to paycheck.

I remember my mother telling me how lucky I was to have the life I had, and now I was seeing exactly what she meant. It was clear that my mother had grown up poor, and that would explain why she wanted to better herself by going to college and getting the hell out of here.

“Actually, I already ate at the Diner, and I am really exhausted from my travels today. With school starting tomorrow, I would like to get a shower and unpack a few of my things. That’s if my belongings have already arrived.”

The smile on her face began to fall, and I felt bad for making an excuse not to spend time with her, but all of this was hard on me, and I needed some time alone to adjust first, before I could sit down with her.

Nodding her head, she says, “Of course you would be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.”

Turning, she began to walk towards a small narrow hallway that only had three doors, stopping at the first one on the left. Opening the door, she stepped to the side, allowing me to enter as she says to me, “This was your mother’s room.”

The room was about the size of my walk-in closet back home, and with all my boxes of belongings that had arrived, there was only a small path that led to the twin-sized bed that sat beneath a small window. The room smelled of musk, telling me that the door had remained closed for many years, probably since the day that my mother had left here, as posters from my mother’s era still hung on the walls.

“The bathroom is straight across the hall, and the towels are in the closet.” She then said, and I turned around, thanking her, not wanting her to see the state of cultural shock I was in.

Thankfully, she didn’t linger, and I closed the door, before I moved to the small window, pulling the curtains back, opening it to air out the room. A light breeze carried the scent of fresh pine into my room, making the musky scent bearable, as I turned and looked at the stack of boxes, dreading the thought of going through them, but I knew that I had too.

As I began to sort through the boxes, I noticed a small vanity with a cloudy mirror sitting against the wall behind them, making me move a few boxes out of the way so that I could get to it. It wasn’t the mirror that I was looking at but the pictures that were taped around the outer edge.

Plucking one of the photos from the mirror, I stepped back to the middle of the room under the light, as I spotted my mother first in the middle of the picture as she posed with a man with his arm around her, and a group of her friends. As I stared at the man with his arm around her, I realized who that man in the photo was.

“A friend, huh.” I said to myself, as the man in the photo was no other than Evan, telling me that my mother and him at one point in time were more than just friends, and it now made sense why he was so eager to help me. But it also made me wonder what had happened between them, for her to leave him behind, when she had left, with their picture still taped to the mirror.