Healing, Chapter 1

The phone rang shortly after Tracie had begun eating dinner. She got up and retrieved the phone from under a magazine she'd been reading earlier to help pass the time while her family was away. Recognizing the phone number that had come up, she picked up the phone.

"Hey Kayla. What's up?"

"Trace, I've got some bad news. Adam came home today."

Tracie's heart began beating rapidly within her chest. Thoughts of the fun times her and Adam had once shared began flooding her brain. A smile spread across her face as she thought of his promises of their future together. Coming back to reality, she remembered what Kayla had just said.

"Why is that bad news? Kayla, I know you don't like your brother, but come on. Cut the poor guy some slack. It's been two years since he left for college. That's two years since you last saw him."

"The fact that he's home isn't the problem. Trace, you might want to sit down before I tell you this."

Puzzled, Tracie sat down in the arm chair that she'd been reading in earlier.

"Ok. Now spit it out."

"Adam came home today with another girl. He just barged in through the door, sat my family down, and announced he's marrying this girl sometime next month."

An awkward silence followed Kayla's announcement. Tracie's heart lurched and the phone dropped from her hand. It hit the floor with a loud thump that seemed to echo throughout the house due to the silence. She placed the back of her hand against her mouth, biting back the sob that was threatening to take over her. Tears ran down her cheeks in small rivers.

How could he do this? He'd promised her that they'd be together forever. He had said he was going to come back for her after she graduated and whisk her away. Now, here he was, marrying some other girl. He hadn't even properly broken up with her.

At that moment, she snapped out of her little daze. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear, only to realize that Kayla had hung up. She felt her cell phone vibrating in her pocket.

After digging around in the small pocket of her jeans, she pulled her cell phone out and flipped it open.

Clearing her throat and wiping away the tears that were still trickling down her face, she said, "Hello?"

Kayla was crying on the other end of the phone, saying, "Trace, I'm so sorry. I really didn't want you to be upset. I just knew that he wouldn't tell you. I wanted you to hear it from a friend. I'm truthfully, honestly, extremely sorry."

Fresh tears were forming in Tracie's eyes. She wiped them away with a swipe of her hand. She cleared her throat again before she spoke.

"Kayla, it's fine. I'll be fine. I promise. I just need some alone time to think about it for a little bit. I'm going to go soak in the bathtub. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Bye."

She didn't wait for Kayle to say goodbye; she just closed her phone and set it down on the table next to the arm chair. She picked up the house phone from the arm of the chair and hung it up. She walked numbly into the kitchen to throw away her plate of uneaten food....