All Grown Up

dr

ment, I just stood there in the driveway, staring

ged since I had l

in the cul-de-sac, just like we used to when we were kids. The Leroy house was pa

to this life. This was a tiny, two-bedroom house. Back when Annabelle and I were kids, sharing a room had been fine, but what about now?

three-bedroom unit. The shared living room had been spacious, with lofted ceilings and incredible views out over the Seine. The metro was just a couple block

A few shops, a tawdry bar that I wouldn't be caught dead in, and who knew wha

get out of there, and I h

there was no denying that I'd had some good memories here in this house. Baking in the sunny, yellow kitchen with Mom and A

to get out of this town,

might be family, but I hadn't lived here for years now. And I wasn

brown hair dark, and it was styled in a sleek bob with a cute fringe just brushing her eyebrows. Her blue eyes

I didn't think you were ever going to come back here. What's up? You're not engaged, are you

ead. "No, no

edly had some time off and thought that it would be nice to come home. Of course, she didn't buy that for

he last thing I needed was her making a scene at the

e room just in case Mom wasn't joking. You can have my bed for now. We'll figure out something else so

d. "Don't worry about it," I said. "I didn't expect everything

h, now I know why she was so adamant that we weren't just having boring meatloaf leftovers tonight." She giggl

push. I had missed her laugh, and hear

that it had once belonged to both of us when we were kids. The glow-in-the-dark stars were still peeling off the ceiling above wher

e to pick up the pieces of my life, rest up, and train hard. I would be back in Pari

ankle a rest than out of any real desire to lay down there. I couldn't help feeling out of place. I should offer to stay out on the sofa, I kn

l. She still lived here with Mom and Clayton, while theoretically saving for college. But she'd been saving for college f

me. I knew she was too scared to travel. She'd probably live here in Aberd

once been so close, and yet we couldn

ork or something?" Annabelle asked. "Is that why you're back