•Chapter 12•
"Aunt Taryn, do you happen to know the quadratic formula?" I ask with a weary tone, trying my best to keep my eyes open.
Aunt Taryn gives me an amusing smile before letting out a small laugh. "It's only nine o'clock and you look like you're about to pass out."
"Well I've been doing homework for hours!" I yell in exasperation, throwing my pencil on the living room floor and slapping my hands over my face.
Aunt Taryn laughs and shakes her head. "Why are you so stressed?" She asks as if everything was just calm and chill.
The amount of homework I had was ridiculous. I would rather slam my face in a car door than continue to stress over this homework. But I had no choice but to complete it. If you didn't turn in one homework assignment these days, your grade dropped and you were automatically flunking. And I couldn't afford to flunk, because if I fail, it means no good college, and without a good college, I don't get a degree, and without a degree, I get no job, and without a job I'm poor.
"How about you take a break on the homework," Aunt Taryn suggests, reaching over and closing my calculus textbook. "Let's go get some late night ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop."
I put a hopeful smile on my face and put a hand on Aunt Taryn's shoulder. "You're a life saver." I state, hopping up from the couch and walking into the kitchen. I quickly walked over to the kitchen counter and open the drawer, grabbing the key to the shop. My mom was probably gonna be mad that I took the keys without her permission, but I was with Aunt Taryn, so she shouldn't get too mad.
I then run to the front door and Aunt Taryn follows my actions before we both exited the house.
I run out into the night, immensely happy that I've escaped that brutal and torturous homework. I definitely needed a break, because I was on the verge of pulling my hair out...
I instantly hop into the passenger seat of Aunt Taryn's white Nissan car and wait for her to get into the drivers seat.
A few seconds later, Aunt Taryn gets in the car and starts it up before backing out of the driveway. "Isn't this better than doing homework?" Aunt Taryn asks, beginning to ride down the street.
"Definitely," I state, looking out the window as we drove.
"I haven't been to Cherry On Top in so long, I forgot what's good. What's your favorite flavor?" Aunt Taryn asks curiously, looking back and forth between me and the road.
"My favorite is the double chocolate fudge," I inform, the sound of it already making my mouth water.
"You and your chocolate obsessions," Aunt Taryn says with a laugh. I returned the laugh and shake my head. It was true, I was pretty obsessed with chocolate.
Aunt Taryn and I momentarily talk about random things as we drive to the ice cream shop. It only took about five minutes before we were pulling up at the ice cream shop. Aunt Taryn randomly and aimlessly parks in a parking space and we both hopped out of the car.
It was completely dark outside, the only light coming from the various street lights. I walked to the front door of the shop and used to keys to unlock it.
I open the door and walked inside, instantly being greeted with the incessant beeping of the alarm system. It was pitch dark inside, but I've been used to this shop for years, so I flick the lights on without any complications. I quickly run to the alarm system and enter the passcode to disable it.
Aunt Taryn smiles and walks further into the shop. I grab her wrist and drag her along with me to the kitchen. I walk over to the freezers and sling one of the doors open. I scan my eyes over the thousands of flavors of ice creams we had until my eyes land on the huge tub of chocolate ice cream. I grab the tub with two hands and heave it to the nearest counter.
I pull out everything needed to make the double chocolate fudge ice cream and aimlessly start piling the ingredients on top of the chocolate ice cream.
When I was done putting all the toppings on, I mixed it all up and grabbed a bowl from a random cabinet. I put the ice cream in the large bowl and shove two plastic spoons inside. "My work is done," I state after I finish making the ice cream.
"Beautiful," Aunt Taryn comments, adding a laugh before walking over to random table.
It felt nice to be at the shop alone for once, and not being pressured by loads of customers at your throat everyday. I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved working at the shop, but sometimes it could get overwhelming, especially with the amount of homework I get.
Once Aunt Taryn and I sit down, we take our time to share the ice cream and talk about random things. It felt nice to finally get away from all the immoderate, excruciating homework and have some bonding time with my Aunt. It's just what I needed.
"So, do you care to tell me what's been going on with you and the dude who shoved dirt in your mouth?" Aunt Taryn brings up, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Nothing's going on... I just gave him a job here and every since then, we've been having to spend a lot more time together than necessary." I explain before stuffing a spoonful of double fudge ice cream in my mouth.
"You gave him a job here?" Aunt Taryn asks with incredulity. "I thought Cherry On Top was just kind of the family ice cream shop... And I thought you hated him."
"It is the family ice cream shop, and I do hate him... with a passion; but I had to give him the job. His little sister is in the hospital and his family needs money for her medical expenses." I explained, my tone dropping just talking about the topic.
"Aw, well you did the right thing." Aunt Taryn said, adding a small smile. I nod my head and return the smile.
After our brief conversation about Ryder, Aunt Taryn and I go back to laughing and chatting about nothing in particular.
We actually sit in the shop just talking and eating ice cream for about two hours, and I probably defiantly gained a few pounds due the amount of ice cream I ate, but hey, it was worth it.
When Aunt Taryn and I finish our ice cream, I washed out the bowl and put the tub of ice cream back in the freezer, along with all the other ingredients.
Before we leave, I made sure to turn the alarm system back on and lock up the shop. I get into Aunt Taryn's car and decided to face the fact that it was now time to go back home to finish my agonizing and strenuous homework.
Aunt Taryn starts up the car and began driving. I looked out the window as we drove, appreciating all the street lights that illuminate the dark skies of the city of Miami.
Aunt Taryn and I stop at a red light and I used this opportunity to talk to her some more. I turn my head away from the window and towards Aunt Taryn, letting a small smile grow at my lips. "I miss hanging out with you," I mention truthfully.
Aunt Taryn turns towards me and returned my smile. "I miss hanging out with you too, kiddo. Next time we decide to go out, we should bring Ryan along with us."
I grimace at her response and expeditiously shake my head in disagreement. "No we shouldn't."
Aunt Taryn laughs and shakes her head at my attitude. I laugh along with her and turned my head to look through the windshield. The traffic light was still red, but there was something else that I noticed.
My eyes widen in complete consternation as I see a pair of headlights speeding towards us.
"Aunt Taryn!" I scream to the top of my lungs in a fearing, ear piercing tone.
Aunt Taryn abruptly turns her head and grasps the steering wheel with both her hands, but before there is any time to react, I feel the colassal impact, tire screeches and a blarring horn scream in my ear. I feel my body slam against the seatbelt and the shattering glass of the windshield sends chills down my spine.
Just like that... everything went so wrong in less than half a second. Neither of us expected any of this to happen, and just like that, without any warning a car is colliding into our car.
And everything after that was a mixture of pain and blur...
All I could feel at that point was absolute pain coursing through my body... my face, my arms, my legs, my bones. Everything was hurting, and the tears streaming from my eyes was not making the pain any better for me. I'm hurting to the point where I can't even move a joint in my body to any extent.
"Aunt Taryn," My words choke out, causing the pain in my body to worsen. I squeeze my eyes together and let out a grunt of pain.
Seconds after, I thankfully hear the loud noise of sirens coming closer and closer to us. I then see a flash of bright, red and blue lights come closer from the corner of my eye.
I lie in the passenger seat, weak as I've ever been in my entire life. I see ambulance trucks and people surround all around the car. My vision slowly starts to become blurry... and suddenly everything after that point went black.
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