It was a gorgeous sunny day and I had just gotten off the train, refreshed from having such a nice ride. It sure was quiet though. I hoped little Jake was okay in my purse but I worried about him a ton. It made it hard to enjoy what should've been a picture perfect day, but as the train pulled into Valleydale station, I briefly let down my emotional guard, allowing myself to smile in a more genuine sense. I had been so nervous about so many things in the past 24 hours but this wasn't the time to let that get in the way. I just wanted to see my dad again and my friends. Hopefully everything would be at least somewhat similar to how I remembered it.
The thing I worried most about (other than Jake, of course) was explaining to everyone what happened to me. I'm sure an ongoing investigation had been conducted to find me ... nobody would believe I was shrunk, let alone everything that happened afterwards.
I walked through the busy terminal, careful to clutch my purse close to my person. It was unlikely but there were some shady characters in this part of town, especially at the Metro Dale station. It was one of the more active parts of town, which told you all you needed to know about "scenic" Valleydale... there were more people taking trains out of town than into it.
If I had had my car still, I might not have even needed the train. It was about a 2 hour drive from the city but of course with everything that had happened, I was in no condition to drive. Just the thought of returning home to my old room and (hopefully) my old car made me smile. I hope they'll remember me and how things were... well, then again it's not like I was out of it for that long, and things could be so much worse.
I take a deep breath as I enter out into the larger crowd and the parking lot where people are constantly in motion. This is the first time I think I'll see my dad in months and while I certainly remember him and he remembers me, something made me nervous about this first conversation after being missing for so long. I glanced around frantically but it was like a nightmarish "Where's Waldo?" out there and nobody was standing still long enough long enough to get a good look.
I walked down the concrete ramp to the parking lot when I noticed omebody emerging from a nearby crowd to give me a hug. Oh my god! It's my dad!
"Dad!" I squealed and threw my arms around him. He gave me a long hug before letting go and looking me in the eyes, his face not showing much emotion but I could still tell he was happy. Dad was never the most emotional individual but I was sure he had been startled to lose me and was even more relieved by what had happened.
"Kelly! I'm so glad you're okay!" he said, sounding out of breath. From just behind him was a little girl of about 10, wearing a thick pink jacket which she playfully waved from side to side, using the sleeves as if they were natural extensions of her arms. I remembered this little scamp ... it was Katy from next door! I remember babysitting her as recently as last summer.
"Kelly!" she screamed in glee, "we thought you were gone"
"Well, no..." my dad smiled, correcting the little girl, "We always held out hope"
"I said I wanted your room" Katy chimed in, "but your dad wouldn't let me have it, because I was going to put all my stuff in it and I know how much you hate the Jonas Brothers"
We all chuckled.
"Yes, but you have your own room, don't you?" I said, kneeling down in front of my friend from next door.
"No!" she said defiantly, "I mean, I do... but I have to share it with my little sister and she's such a ... crybaby!"
"Well she did just turn 2" my dad noted with a chuckle of his own. "Why don't we talk about this on our way back, c'mon. I think you'll be glad to know I washed the car for you"
"Oh my god, dad" I laughed, throwing myself playfully into his shoulder as we walked side by side, with Katy not far behind, running around us in a playful circle. Actually, it was more of a figure 8. "I'm just happy to see you... and Katy! and... I mean, the car is whatever..."
"Non-sense. I know how clean you kept that car" my dad replied, "and I wasn't going to let it go"
"Let it go... let it gooooo!!" Katy chimed in, quoting her favorite recent Disney movie.
"I see you haven't changed much since I've been gone" I said playfully, ruffling the little girls' hair as she ran past me. She gave me a brief smile, but then focused more on her own hair for a moment before returning to her aimless wandering around us.
"Things just weren't the same without you, Kel" my dad sighed, "this summer seems like a blur... it was one of the hottest summers Valleydale has had in years but without you around... it may as well have been 0 degrees..."
"Yeah, we really missed you Kelly..." Katy added,"where did you go?"
I paused, as did my father. He looked down at Katy
"I'm sure she'll tell us another time" my dad said to the little girl, "For now, let's just get back to the house, we cn have some ice cream or something, it's still not too cold"
"It's 40 degrees out" I chuckled, wishing I had worn something warmer. I was wearing one of Jess' sweatshirts she let me borrow. That girl was like a small salvation army with how many clothes and things she was just willing to hand out freely. I know she wouldn't even notice if I never sent them back but of course I planned to return everything... well, with the exception of the purse... there's one little... person in there that I intended to keep. At least, for the time being.
We got into my dad's green VW and took off towards the house which wasn't too long of a drive from the train station. When I was younger and there was noone to babysit me, my dad would take me to work with him on occasion. I always hated sitting in his office and watching him work, but I liked the train rides. They were peaceful and it was usually a rare occasion to bond with dad.
Since I got older, we sort of grew apart sadly enough.
"So Kelly..." Katy said, breaking the brief silence that we had in the car, "did you have fun where you went?"
"Um... I guess" I said, with a nervous chuckle. My dad shot me an uncomfortable look. Of course, he knew I was humoring Katy for her own good but it wasn't like I was making a joke of the situation either. I still hadn't constructed in my mind how things were going to work out or what I would tell those who asked me about my incident. I'm not even sure how to explain it.
"Where did you go?" Katy asked excitedly, "was it somewhere fun? Like Florida? Or Canada ...?"
"Since when is Canada fun?" I asked, laughing.
"I don't know, I've never been!" Katy said with a shrug.
"Okay, that's enough" my dad said, as we got closer to the house, "There will be plenty of time to talk to Kelly about her experiences later... right now, why don't we just go inside and have some ice cream..."
"Ice cream!" Katy screamed. Her one weakness.
We pulled into the driveway and my mind was flooded with memories. Our house was small but it worked for our small family. It was a dark red raised ranch with dark shutters. The walkway up towards the mailbox couldn't have been more than 20 feet, and we had a lone tree growing in the front yard. The back yard was pretty much just grass and nothing special about it, but it was where I had been most of my life and it suited me just fine. I also saw my purple Hyundai elantra in the driveway. I got out of the car and smiled back at my dad and Katy. They went into the house through the back door which led to the kitchen, while I stayed behind and set my purse down on the back of my car.
I looked down at Jake and smiled. Unfortunately he didn't look too happy, but I thought I would try and cheer him up while I could.
"You wanna ride?" I asked playfully. He gave me a suspicious look back.
"You mean... on your shoulder?" he quiped, "no way, I'll be seen by your dad and that girl!"
I shook my head with a smile and held back my laughter.
"I meant in my car, silly" I laughed, "I could mount you up on the dashboard and..."
"I'm glad you think this is so funny..." he groaned, turning away from me. There came the guilt again.
"Jake... I didn't mean... I just..." I sighed. "I'm sorry... I really... really am sorry... Jake..."
He remained silent and lay in the corner of the purse, not even acknowledging me.
"Jake...?" I said, my voice breaking. Oh no. What had I done? "I'm...I'm sorry... please... talk to me"
Jake gave me a careless shrug and I slowly re-zipped the purse as I could hear my dad returning from the kitchen.
"hey, you coming in?" he asked.
I nodded and slowly walked back inside. I hope I hadn't hurt Jake's feelings. I really did want him to share in this and I was serious about the car ride. I always loved long car rides in my Elantra, out in the rural district. I could get lost for miles, enjoy my favorite tunes and just think. I would've loved to share that with Jake. I wanted Jake to share in this moment with me, it didn't really feel right that I was so happy and he was still so miserable but I guess I couldn't blame him. I began to feel awful that I was a bad friend, a bad girlfriend and just... bad.
I mean, Jake wasn't my boyfriend, but if he was... I wasn't being very nice to him. I ignored him the whole trip and... ugh... I can't keep thinking about this. I should be happy I have my life back.
I joined my dad and Katy inside for ice cream. Katy had already half finished her overflowing ice cream cone and some of its remnants stayed on her face as she smiled, giving me a look as if to ask me why I hadn't started eating yet.
"I gotta tell you, Kel" my dad said as he walked towards the fridge to get the chocolate syrup. "Kevin was never my favorite of your boyfriends, you know that..."
I nodded slowly.
"But ever since you went missing, he's been here almost every day..." my dad said, much to my surprise.
"What?" I asked
"Yeah... he's been here to help around the house or just to see how we were doing... he's been distraught since you've been gone... we've all been pretty lost without you Kelly" my dad said.
"Yeah,why couldn't you take us with you??" Katy asked.
I forced a smile but I could feel tears coming on.
"I know... I know... I'm so sorry, dad!" I said, once again giving him a big hug as tears poured down my face. He wiped the tears and smiled.
"The important thing is that you're home safely... but for the police's sake, you need to tell someone what happened... it doesn't have to be right now, but we've been worried sick about you and if anybody hurt you or did anything to you, we need to know... so we can notify the proper authorities" my dad said.
I just gave him a simple nod. I decided now was the time to use as few words as possible. After all, my words seem to get me in trouble, as they had with Jake.
"Kevin!" I heard Katy squeal, running to the door to greet my ex boyfriend. Ex boyfriend? Or current boyfriend? I couldn't believe Kevin... who usually couldn't find time for me on a weekend, found the time to be this close with my family in my absence. It sounded like he was the older son my dad was missing since my brother went away to Texas. Kevin walked in and was greeted by a parade of hugs from little Katy, but it wasn't until he saw me at the counter with my dad that he showed some real emotion.
"Kelly! Oh my God, I thought I lost you!" Kevin exclaimed, throwing his arms around me slowly and holding on for a long time. I looked at him and smiled.
"Did you steal that line from my dad?" I asked. Kevin looked at me questioningly, "Never mind"
Kevin slowly let me go and there was an awkward moment between us.
"Heh, we'll uh... give you two some time alone" my dad said, taking Katy into the other room with him. As they left, I could hear Katy mumble something.
"So..." I said, barely able to make eye contact with my ex. I had to admit, he had fixed himself up pretty good. Not that he wasn't a good looking guy anyway, but he was wearing a nice black jacket and was well dressed and groomed. His dark brown eyes stayed fixated on me for several moments making me feel a little more awkward but I finally forced myself to get a better look at him. His hair was fixed the way I had always liked, with a small spike towards the top.
"So" he said, slowly chuckling himself. "I'm just.. I'm so glad you're okay and I'm so sorry about everything that happened with us and the fight..."
"Oh my god, it's no big deal, seriously" I said, "I didn't even think, I mean neither of us did, things just got out of control and... I'm ... I'm glad to see you"
I really meant that too. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but just knowing that somebody cared that much meant a lot. I figured people cared but I thought after I had been missing for long enough, I'd just be written off. I figured Kevin would get a new girlfriend and life would just kind of fade on without little old me around.
Instead, here I was, nervously taking Kevin's hand as he offered it to me, as if there were some strange ritual I was bound to.
"Um... hey, sorry" I said, slowly letting his hand go.
He gave me a weird look. I shook my head nervously.
"Um... I mean... I um, just got home" I said.
"Oh right" he said awkwardly, "you probably wanted more time to..."
"Yes, more time..." I stuttered. The following several seconds were just us trying to finish a sentence that we didn't know how to start or finish. I nervously walked past him and started up towards my room.
"Hey," I heard him call, "you forgot your purse"
"Oh. I'll be right down" I said as I made my way back upstairs.
Kevin had waited for me... which is remarkable... and he was certainly an awesome guy. Now an awful thought crossed my mind... who would wait for Jake?
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
Kelly returns home to her family, and Kevin makes his long awaited debut in the story. Written from Kelly's point of view
Chapter End Notes:
Things are getting pretty serious already between these reunited lovers, but what does this mean for Jake? Has Kelly already forgotten him? And who will take care of him if she doesnt?
I'd love to hear your reactions and thoughts to this latest chapter as I continue trying to work on this new storyline. Thanks again for your reading and reviews.