Chapter Nineteen
“Are you sure you want to leave so early?”
“Yes.” Severine slammed her trunk louder than necessary. “You don’t have to leave campus if you don’t want to.”
Lily shrugged and tossed a duffel bag into the backseat. “Nah. I kinda miss my siblings.”
“Kinda?”
“Give it a few days, and then I’ll be begging for you or Ben to come pick me up.”
Severine stretched out her legs and started up her car. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you want to say good-bye to anybody important?” Lily asked.
“Nope. Macsen and I already talked this morning.”
That was a lie. But Severine wasn’t going to tell Lily the truth. After coffee yesterday, Severine decided to pack up earlier than planned. Her exams were done. Lily was finished. Why stay and do nothing when they could hit the road?
Severine was ready to escape.
* * * * *
Blue Mound, Illinois was just the same. Nothing about her small hometown had changed. Most of the time, that was a bad thing—it was the reason she had applied to schools out of state. But as she drove down the main street, she realized it was the security she wanted the most right now.
Her back ached, and she needed to pee about four hours worth of chugging on a Big Gulp. Behind her a CASEY’S sign flashed, but she wanted to be home. She wasn’t getting out of this car until her mom’s driveway came into view.
Her heart tugged with relief as she parked in front of her childhood home. Her mom stood tall on the porch and waved wildly like a happy person...like a mom who had missed her child.
Would Macsen be missing her?
She wasn’t going to waste any energy on him. They were better off with a few days of no communication.
“You’re waving like you’re happy to see me!” Severine shouted out as she leaned against her car door.
Dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, Clacy walked down the pathway. Her thick, dark brown hair fell down to her shoulders. With the sun shining brightly, she shielded her eyes with her hand and squinted at Severine. “It’s been a while, kiddo.”
“I know,” Severine grunted out. God, did she know. She grabbed her book bag and hooked her arms through the straps. If she kept herself busy, she wouldn’t latch onto her mom and never let go.
“Do you have anything in the trunk?”
“Yeah, just a couple of things.” Severine moved her seat forward and started piling her bags out of the car.
“Severine Joi!”
Severine wrapped a bag around one shoulder and grabbed another before she looked at her mom. “Yes?”
Clacy stared down at the trunk. When she looked at Severine, her light blue eyes were sharp. It didn’t take long for her to get back into Mom mode. “This isn’t, ‘a couple of things.’ This is trash bags FULL of things.”
“Okay. Let me rephrase that then.” Severine trudged toward her mom. Her shoulders were already aching from the weight of her bags. “I ran out of suitcases, so I packed some items in trash bags. I honestly don’t see what the big deal is.”
“Are you taking all this back ?”
“No. I’m gonna keep some crap here.”
“More things for me to store away?” her mom asked with false enthusiasm. “My day is complete.”
“You know you missed me.”
Clacy carried the bags with her and wrapped her arm around Severine. She smelled like cookies. She was her mom, and she was the same. Severine blinked back the wetness in her eyes and returned the hug.