Darla's Games Day 13

I ran up and hugged him tight. "You want to go too? I have to drive it NOW!" I laughed.

"Why don't you and Kelly go and I'll finish unpacking your clothes." He smiled.

"Okay!" I ran and I swear, though it irritated the hell out of me that Kelly acted like she was a teenager too, it didn't phase me. We jumped into the car and she showed me the garage door opener and we were gone.

"Now, don't go getting a speeding ticket." Kelly laughed as I hit the gas to see how fast it would go. I was not disappointed. The pick up on this car was amazing. I couldn't wait to pick Julie up in the morning. We were going to be THE SHIT.

It was a stick shift, which was awesome because I knew how to drive one and I liked controlling the power. Most of my friends thought that was ridiculous that I would want to put the extra effort into clutching instead of just cruising around with an automatic, but that was one thing I enjoyed.

I had no idea where I was since this was not my home town, but Kelly directed me around and we took a nice little tour. She showed me where the nearest grocery store was. She showed me the fast food places and the coffee shop. Finally, she showed me a strip center and I pulled into it on her direction and parked.

"This is like... " I didn't know how to finish.

"Why?" I asked Kelly. "I just got in huge trouble and you and dad are acting like I should get some kind of reward."

Kelly laughed. "Your dad wanted to give you a car on your sweet 16th, but your mom wouldn't let him. The bedroom furniture, well, we wanted you to really enjoy yourself here. I know your mom has had her reasons for keeping you away from your dad. Believe me, I'd be the same way if I were her. But, he always wanted you Carrie. He sued for joint custody when the divorce proceedings happened, you probably didn't know that."

"But your mom was a mess at the time. And hey, I can understand why. John is an incredible man and he was leaving her. She begged him not to take you, and he felt so guilty about leaving that he gave in. He has regretted that for the last six years and believe me, it has been tough on him. He loves you so much Carrie. I know you shouldn't hear this from me. But, I'm not sure you have ever heard it before since the divorce."

"And, I guess you can tell. I'm into him for the long haul. I love him Carrie. I'm not EVER going to try to replace your mom. For one thing, I'm way too young." She laughed, which I thought was a little rude, but I was too happy to criticize that right now. "But, you know, if you need an older sister or just a friend, however you want to see me, I'm going to be here forever, I hope. I'm sure after six years of blaming me for your parents' divorce, that isn't going to happen tonight. But, I want you to know something, that I think is important, though you might not. Your mother and father were not in love anymore when he started seeing me."

"True, I should have never been sleeping with a married man. But, well, he was so unhappy in his marriage and I really did believe he wanted to leave her. And you know what, it would have been years earlier if it hadn't been for you. He couldn't stand to leave you."

"Okay... that is enough." I said, frowning slightly. "TMI for one night okay?"

Kelly smiled at me. "Yeah, sorry. It's just kind of bottled up over six years and I wanted to tell you so much so many times."

"Okay. But let's leave it there for now. I'm in an awesome mood and don't want to discuss my parents' break up tonight." I smiled back.

"Choice." Kelly grinned.

"Huh?" I thought I missed something.

"Umm... cool?" She laughed.

"Wow, was that really used?" I laughed.

"Yeah, back in the olden days." She stuck her tongue out at me. "You know how to get us back home?"

"Not a clue." I laughed.

She pushed a button on the dash and a GPS lit up. "NO FUCKING WAY!" I screamed.

"Hey, watch the language." Kelly smiled. "Seriously, your dad will not want you talking like that."

"Choice." I laughed.

"Check this out." Kelly grinned and clicked a button. "Call home." She said out loud. And damn me if the car didn't call home.

On the second ring I heard, "Hey Princess, I'm sure this is all exciting, but you need to get home. It's a school night and you probably have homework to do."

"Okay Dad!" I yelled.

"You don't have to yell Sweetie, it's got a good microphone." My dad laughed on the other end.

"Choice." I said and laughed with Kelly.

"Now, push that red button to end the call and the GPS will show up." Kelly instructed.

I did and sure enough a map showed. "Now push the green button, hold it and say home." She added.

I did as she said and damn if the thing didn't start telling me exactly where to turn.

When we got back home, I pulled my NEW CAR into the garage and turned off the engine and leaned back in the seat. "Kelly?"

She was looking at me and smiling. "Yes Carrie?"

"You can't buy me, but thanks, the talk was a lot more important, we'll finish it up later okay?"

Kelly frowned slightly. "Hey, I'm not trying to buy you Carrie. This was stuff we wanted to do for you all along. Your mom is very proud. She turned down a lot of things your dad wanted to do for you over the past six years. This is just catch up."

God forgive me. I hugged her.

It was a long hug and eventually did break without being too uncomfortable. "Oh, this button." She pressed a big black button in the middle of the console and a cell phone popped out. "Gets your cell out. Don't overdo it. I hear you lost your last one." She laughed.

I hugged her again, grabbed the phone and we both went running upstairs where I gave my dad a huge hug and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek.

A little while later, I had unpacked all I was going to unpack for the night and I asked if they would excuse me to call Julie. They did and closed the door behind me.

This was a tough call. On one hand, I was ecstatic about where I was living now and the new car. On the other, I was now living an hour away from my best friend in the whole world. I thought about it for awhile and let the excitement wash away.

I dialed Julie and listened to the rings.

"Hello?" Her voice answered the phone.

"Hey Jules, guess what?" I said.

"Oh my God. Carrie what happened? Are you okay? Everyone has been so worried!" Julie started rambling and I had to cut her off.

"I got busted at school." I answered her question. "And my mom sent me to live with Dad for awhile."

Silence. "How is it?" Julie finally asked.

"It's good. I mean, it sucks that I can't walk to your house anymore. But, they haven't pulled me out of school yet." Yet? Was this a possibility? I hoped not.

"Oh Carrie." Julie sobbed. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything wrong Jules. I just got sent to the counselor because my teachers were complaining about my behavior in school. I mean, just the changes, not anything wrong."

"Oh. So, you are coming to school tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah. Of course. I'll see you at your house in the morning okay? I'll tell you about it then."

"Okay. Or you could tell me now." Julie said, she sounded kinda weird.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Well, Carrie, no word from you since school let out, it's like 11:00 and I've been worried sick. Nobody answered your phone at home. You didn't call anyone back when we tried to reach your cell. I mean, hey, I know you are going through some stuff, but would it be too much to expect a five second call to let me know you aren't dead?"

"Damn. I'm sorry Julie. It just happened so fast, and I had to pack everything up and then unpack here and God, I'm sorry Jules, I didn't mean to worry you." Okay, I felt like crap again.

"Listen, please just let me explain tomorrow. I know it's late and you are upset with me and I don't blame you, I'd be climbing the walls too if I hadn't heard from you all night. I did not want this to happen. It just got sprung on me, and I just didn't think. I'm sorry Jules, really I am."

"You know... nevermind." Jules said. Whoah! That is never good. "I'll see you tomorrow if you can fit me in." Click.

Fuck! That hurt.

I had a hard time falling to sleep that night. In spite of my HUGE FREAKING BED!