Follow the Electrons

If all else fails, just follow the electrons...... -_-;;

Well, midterm season is upon us and coffee is absolutely useless. Strangely enough, I've been craving vampires for some reason lately, not that I've gone back to them in a long, long time. Not since the first time I started to write. Must be because of Kim Harrison's For A Few Demons More, which I finally got to read after slaving away over finals just three weeks ago. Let me just say.... beautiful as usual but I don't think I could tell the difference between my tears and laughter after a while. =(

Bored and trying to stay sane while studying so this is my break.


Untitled

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Sighing in defeat, I turned around and faced my stepmother. She was always harping on me to do this and do that. The first year before we moved to California, she had tried to be nice. But now that my dad was working night shifts, she tried to control me as much as possible – not letting me go out with my friends and setting a curfew. It was getting to be that I couldn’t even go to an afterschool activity without telling her.

“I told you yesterday. Today is homecoming. I already said that I was going with Marcus.”

“But –” She had a stricken look on her face, as if my refusal to stay home was painful. What she didn’t know was that staying in the house at that moment would have hurt even more than leaving for school.

“Give me one good reason why I should stay. I’ve been planning this with my friends for weeks. You can’t just say no.” My voice rose as I spoke. Soon, I was on the verge of yelling.

“Fine. Just get back before midnight. Your dad will be worried.”

“Right, Steph.” I saw her wince at my use of her name. It had bothered her from the beginning when I wouldn’t call her mother. But I didn’t need her to replace anyone. Now that my dad was never home, I just did what I wanted. Stephanie Laurens. That was her name. She wore her hair up in a severe bun that added several years to her age. But when her dark brown hair hung down her back in wet tangles, she immediately became more approachable. Not that I was going to tell her. She had a figure I would have killed for. Even though I was at least two decades younger, my stepmother had a better body.

It was worse when she insisted that we have mother-daughter shopping days. Then the guys would all whistle at her. I finally made up enough excuses every time that she didn’t bother.


“You know she doesn’t mean what she says.”

“Didn’t hear the tone of her voice? She hates me. She thinks I’m trying to take over her mother’s place in the house. She thinks that I torture her on purpose.”

Shaking my head, I closed the door behind my stepdaughter’s retreating back. It was enough to drive a person to distraction the way she ignored all my efforts to get to know her.

“It’s only been two years. You can’t expect Elle to forget about her mother’s death so easily.”

“I know that, Derek. But it still gets to me. She didn’t even remember that this was your night off.”

Shrugging off the comforting hand he placed around my shoulders, I went into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. Cradling the steaming mug between my cold hands, I took a sip of the hot liquid before meeting my husband’s eyes.

“I don’t mind. It’s a nice change to be able to relax. We can watch a movie or go out for dinner. Don’t worry about Elle so much, Stephanie. She can take care of herself.”

“I know.”


“Please get back. There’s nothing to see here.”

The sirens blazed – lights flashing red and blue in a shocking myriad of colors. An ambulance sat parked on the edge of the curb, close to the smoking wreck of a red four-door sedan. The hood was crumpled and the taillights had been crushed upon impact with another car. As the medics and firefighters worked their way through the debris, two bodies were slowly extracted from the gaping maw of twisted and misshapen metal.

Gawkers slowly left in singles and pairs when they realized that every member of the rescue team was shaking his/her head in sorrow – not disappointment at the follies of irresponsible drivers.


“Excuse me, are you Elle Sanders?”

Turning to look at the man dressed in an impeccable suit, I nodded my head slowly. The dance had just ended – and with that, the world turned dark once more.

“I’m afraid I have bad news, Miss Sanders. Your parents were in a crash earlier this evening. The other car caught them head-on. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

The words didn’t register in my mind until the lights all went off in the gym. Standing in the circle of light the lamps gave off, I cried silent tears, frozen in shock. The hem of my silver-white gown dragged in the mud but I didn’t care.

~Jen