Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 2

**Kapittel 2**

***Vanessa***

**We all pulled away from each other in a matter of seconds.**

"We know," I heard Nikki say smugly, making all of us laugh in unison. "That's why we have a gift for you. A constant reminder that we will always be by your side," she said, then Jay pulled out a velvet leather box from his back pocket and

handed it to me. I gladly accepted the box with shaky hands and opened it, revealing a sparkling silver necklace containing a pendant in the shape of a violets flower with its little blue gemstones serving as its petals. "Oh my God," I gasped and pulled the necklace away carefully from its leather box. I haven't seen anything this beautiful in my whole life. "This is so beautiful," I said, mesmerized by the beauty the necklace acquired.

I heard Harley speak with his voice sounding hopeful, "We hope you like it."

I shook my head. "Are you kidding me? I love it!" I exclaimed, still staring at the stunning necklace.

"Let me help you put it on." Katherine offered, and I nodded at her, giving the necklace into her hands. She accepted it and ran behind me, pushing my hair away and putting the chain around my neck. "Thank you so much, guys." I looked at each one of them, pursing my lips.

"It's nothing." Jay shook his head. "Just please do remember that we're just a call and a touch away. If you miss us and can't contact us, just touch that necklace."

I nodded mirthfully. "Yes, I will. Thank y-"

"Vanessa! We're leaving!" I heard mom say as she locked the door behind us. My eyes widened in bewilderment, and I hastily gave each of my friends a hug while saying, "I'll miss you." Then I ran to the mom's Cruze and shoved myself into the back seat, only to meet Zach, my little one-and-a-half-year-old brother sitting enjoyably on his booster seat while sucking a colossal, swirly rainbow-colored lollipop that was ten times bigger than his little mouth.

The corners of my lips stretched into a wide smile. "Ready to move, baby boy?" I asked him. As much as I wanted to call him big boy, I couldn't because he was still a baby to me. Zach was pretty brilliant for an average toddler. Even though he didn't speak that much, he understood every word we said to him. Whenever he heard me call him baby boy, he would glare at me and say, "Me not a baby boy."

He looked at me with his huge blue eyes and nodded cheerfully, telling me that he was very excited to see his new home, or old, I'd say. I was about to speak again, but the driver's seat suddenly opened, and mom went in, taking over the driver's seat. Zach and I watched her hastily fix her seatbelt and honk the car.

"Y'all ready?!" I heard someone from the crew of the movers ask mom.

She answered by yelling, "Yes!" before turning the ignition on.

When the car vibrated, I fixed my own seatbelt before turning my head to look at our old house through the window. There, by the door pane, I saw my friends smiling sadly at me while waving their hands in a low manner. I lowered the car's window and blew them a kiss as mom started to drive the vehicle away. Away from the house. Away from my friends. Away from home. I sighed and sniffed before sitting straight and glancing at Zach. The little jerk was pretty immersed in his colorful lollipop. I tucked my seatbelt in with another sigh, preparing myself for a long, bumpy, and depressing ride.

*It was raining heavily that day. The clouds were thick and grey, attacking the quiet, wet, and smelly road with little raindrops while the wind howled and swished profoundly back and forth. I couldn't be any more annoyed that I was not helping dad with our financial problems that caused him to sell our car and buy a cheap motorcycle. With a helmet on his head, he held on to the clutches tightly, trying to remain his balance with the tires slipping smoothly on the road, while I, on the other hand, was only hugging his huge stomach tightly. It was a silent, cold trip when I noticed dad accelerating the motorcycle's speed.

*"Dad, slow down," I told him, fear laced in my voice through my clattering teeth. If he kept on doing this, he might lose control of the brakes, and God knows what would happen. Thinking of horrific repercussions was already enough to make my spine shiver in fear.*

*"Can't, sweetheart," he told me, causing my fear to crawl up to my chest. "I'm enjoying the fast pace," he added with his warm peal of a cackle, but I did not miss a slight tinge of something that I could not name. I embraced him tighter when he increased the speed. Jesus!*

*"Dad!" I interjected, finally getting afraid more than ever. "Slow down, please!" I begged while mentally praying for him to slow down literally. I knew I shouldn't have turned down his request and drove this damned thing instead.* *"Okay, okay, princess," he laughed heartily. I know that I was supposed to feel relieved because he was finally going slow down, but I timorously wriggled when I realized that his laugh wasn't mirthful at all but nervous and shaky. I knew it. Something terrible was about to happen, "But first, take this helmet off. It's kinda tight, makes me feel uncomfortable," he told me and began tilting his head to the right side a little, acting as if he was incredibly uncomfortable.* *I gave the back of his head a bewildered look before removing my arms from his large tummy and reaching out to the straps of his helmet, unfastening them with my shaky, cold fingers until I've finally released them. I shrieked when I felt the vehicle suddenly hop as if it went over a rock, scaring me. Despite being afraid, I earned the courage to ask Dad, "O... okay, now?"*

*He nodded and then told me, "Now, wear it." His words rendered me confused. I tilted my head perfectly in the rearview mirror to show him my bewildered loo. "Seriously, dad. What's going o—"* *"Seriously, dad. What's going o—"*

*"Just wear it, Vanessa," he cut me off, his voice firm and his eyes straight on the road. I nervously gulped as I felt the hair-raising arms of fear embrace me from behind. I stared at the helmet for five good seconds before raising it over my shoulder and slowly sliding it over my head. Dad's fresh-scented cologne wafted its way into my nose, making me inhale and exhale dreamily. I always liked dad's cologne. It was a good musky scent. His cologne wasn't too strong that could make someone's nose hurt, and it was not too plain that it couldn't be smelled at all.*

*"Good," I heard him mumble and swerved his head a little, showing me a good angle of a side of his face that has a wide smile etched on it, "Now, I want you to remember that I love you, Vanessa, sweetheart," my heart skipped a beat when he told me those words, "Please tell your mom and your brother that I love them so much. Always keep in mind that the three of you are my life."*

*My eyes widened, "Wait. Dad, what d_"*

"Dad!" I cried, opening my eyes, revealing the fuzzy grey clouds to my sight. I looked around, my heart racing fast, shaking and breathing at an unsteady pace- panicking. Where am I? What happened? The rain. The motorcycle. Dad- "Vanessa, honey, you okay?" a familiar voice asked. Mom.

At that moment, I immediately recalled the prior events; the accident. It happened two months ago. Dad's dead, and we're moving back to our old house. I drew a deep breath in and out. Calm down, Vanessa. Calm down, I vehemently repeated in my mind, soothing myself.

I set my back straight, learning that I was crouching on the seat. My face and neck were drenched with hot tears, which I hastily wiped. I embraced myself, sniffing and rubbing my cold arms with one thought in my mind: another bad dream. Nightmares had haunted me since I woke up from the accident. It always started with the scenario before the accident and always ended with me staring at dad's dead face. It repeatedly played like a broken cassette tape.

I gritted my teeth at the thought of dad's death. It was all my fault. If only I could have taken control of the motorcycle, or if I had asked him to stop at the nearby shelter because it was raining, he could still be alive by now. "Vanessa?"

I turned around, looking for the voice that called my name, leading me to face mom, who was wearing a worried expression. "Are you okay?" she asked.

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my works, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**