Chapter 1

The drive to grandmothers house has always been long since my parents moved us away to a big city. I was only fourteen at the time. It was a four hour flight and about an hour drive from the airport. If we drove the whole way it would take us about twelve hours. Before the move I spent every weekend atleast at my grandma's house. It was strange after we moved. Visits happened once a month, then once every few months, and eventually it became once a year.
I hadn't seen her in about ten months. I wish this visit was on a happy note.
My mother and father had been killed in a horrible car accident. It happened about a month ago. The bank finally caught up with the house and took it.
My parents hadn't expected to die soo soon so their will's had not been completed yet. Besides they really didn't have much to leave me and what they did paid for the hospital bills and funeral expenses. Their house and car's were bought from loans from their bank, and since there was no one paying the loan and no money in savings from my parents the bank took them back.
I had a job but it had only been part time. I just graduated high school and was getting ready for college. The little bit of money I had was not enough for me to live off of.
So my only option was to move in with my grandma until I could finish college or find a decent job.

I could see the begining of Appaloosa Plain's. Building came into view. Memories of this town flooded my head and my heart began to race. Unfortunetly a lot of those memories included my mother and father. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I swallowed hard trying to force myself to remain calm.
I didn't want to explain to a random stranger about my life. The cab driver was a women and more than likely would pity me. I didn't want her pity. I was tired of it.
It took about ten minutes from the edge of town to get to my grandma's. I was excited to see her but at the same time would rather be back at home and to have everything back to normal.

The cab driver stopped in front of her house. I slowly got out of the car and got my suitcase from the trunk. I headed up the stone path towards the front door as the cab pulled away. I paused in front of the house to take a moment.
Even from out here I could smell the chocolate chip cookies she was baking. She had the best cookies ever. When I was upset or mad she would always bake me a batch and no matter what I would calm down. I didn't think cookies would help this time. But I couldn't blame her for trying.

I sat my suitcase next to me and took a deep breath as I loudly knocked on the door. I hoped she had heard me. I waited a few minutes and then heard shuffling behind the door.
"Who is it?" I heard her voice come from behind the door.
"Grandma it's me Scarlett."
She had never updated her door so it was a bit old fashioned. Which meant she didn't have a peakhole. She was never one to open the door unless she knew who was behind it. I didn't blame her. A little old lady living alone could never be too safe.

She opened the door and let me in. The aroma of chocolate chip cookies hit me even stronger than it had outside. I had to admit it smelled really good. The smell brought all kinds of wonderful memories flooding back to me.
I missed the weekend visits I had, had with her growing up. I had my mother's old room to myself here. Of course when I started staying over she had a makeover done on it to better suite me. Of course I would probaly have to do another make over on it. I'm an adult now and the room was made for a young girl.

"Oh dear it's so good to see you. I've missed you dearly."
My grandma immediately wrapped her arms around me. Before I could help it tears began falling down my eyes.
"Oh calm down now. Everything's going to be ok now that you're here."
She held me until I calmed down. I couldn't believe that I had lost it. I had kept my cool all day but for some reason here in her arms I couldn't hide my feelings anymore.
"Why don't you put your stuff up in your room and come back down for some cookies?"
She let go of me and I nodded my head.
I grabbed my suitcase and headed up to my room.

I sat my suitcase on my bed and sat down on the edge. I could feel the begining of a migraine.
Being in this room didn't help my weak stage. My mother had grown up in this very room. Sure it had looked different then but just the mere thought brought back tears.
I had only brought one suitcase. That's all that I was aloud to carry on with me on the plane. The rest of my stuff would arrive in the next couple of things. I only packed my clothes and personal belongings. It was too much money to try to bring the big things. Plus I knew this room was already furnished and I doubted my grandma would want to get rid of this furniture. It had been the same ones my mom used.

I sat at the table just as she was pulling the cookies from the oven. They were the best when they were fresh out of the oven.
She placed a plate in front of me then grabbed one for herself. I bit into the cookie and as the warmth filled me I felt a bit of my sorrow disapear.
I wasn't completely alone in this world even though I had felt it since the day I had heard of the accident. My grandma always knew how to make things better. As long as I had her by my side I knew that I would be able to learn how to live with this tragedy.

We sat there eating until all of the cookies were gone. Normally we would have only had one but this situation called for the whole plate.
"Do you plan on going to college here?"
She was just trying to make small talk to keep my mind off of the bad. I wasn't completely sure what I was going to do and I didn't want to answer that question quite yet.
"I don't know grandma. I'll look into the community college and see what courses they offer. I'm just not sure if right nows the best time. I will look for a job immediatly though."
"Oh dear don't you worry about that. When your granfather left this earth he made sure that I would be taken care of for the rest of my life. Plus on top of that I have my pension. Money isn't a problem and if you need anything please don't be afraid to ask me for it."
"Thanks grandma but I think I'll get a job anyways. It'll be best for me to get out of the house and have something to take my mind off of things."
Even if I didn't feel like I wanted to get out I couldn't just sit around and let her support me. I was raised to be independent and take care of myself. I feel bad if someone buys me anything let alone pays for me to live.

After I finished cleaning up the dishes I headed upstairs to the bathroom. A long hot bubble bath was needed.
One thing I could do to help my grandma while I was here would be to help her remodel the house. The colors of the rooms were outdated and worn out looking. A lot of the furniture were on their last limbs and at any minute are bound to break.
I had always had a want for decorating. It was another field I had looked into going to college for. If writing hadn't worked out it would have been my second option.
The warm water relaxed my tense muscles. My headache had slowly started going away. Thanks in part to the tylenol I had taken.
Today was the start of a new life for me. First step was to grieve and get past the emotional rollercoaster I was on. The next was to get a job and start saving. Who knew after that. All I could do is take it one day at a time. That's what my grief conselor had told me atleast.