BREAK

VANESSA'S POV 

That scourging hot sunday afternoon, i stood right infront of my parents house contemplating when to go inside and how to explain what brought me back home from pullman. I actually intended to leave on Saturday the day after the party, but i had a throbbing headache so i had to rest for the whole day, before i finally decided to sail early this morning

"You're gonna keep standing there or what?" Came a voice which sounded like it belongs to an old lady, I turned around and found out that it actually belongs to Mrs Robinson, our grumpy neighbor, she's been like that ever since we moved in, since i was still in highschool

"I'm going in now, was just taking a quick look around" I said and gave out a fake smile which she huffed to 

"Baby, you're back? What happened" mum asked once she opened the front door to let me in, she had a shocked yet happy expression written all over her 

"Honey who's there?" I heard dad ask from one of the rooms

"Come see for yourself, you're not gonna believe it" mum said as i made my way into our already familiar house, nothing really changed, just a new set of players

"Vanessa?"dad called in a questioning manner 

"Hi Dad" I said with a smile, what i didn't know was that he was gonna rap me up in a tight hug 

"No way are you guys leaving me outta this" my mum said an engulfed herself in the hug, which looked like it lasted for a few minutes rather it was just for some seconds before they pulled off 

"You guys are acting like i went off for a year, meanwhile it's just a few months" I pointed out

"Well don't blame us, we missed our baby too much" Mum said stroking my cheek  

"Oh yea? Cause it doesn't seem so to me" I said, pointing towards the set of players

"Seems like you two have been having a fun time while I was away" I said laughing as i walked up towards my room

"Wanna freshen up, I'll be down real quick" I yelled and shut my door 

 My room was just like i left it, with no trace of dirt on it

'Seems like Mum do look after here for me' i said thoughtfully 

  I then hurried with a cold bath cause of the hotness in the weather.

"Mum what's cooking" I asked sneaking from behind 

"Pasta, just as you like it" she simply said 

"Can i help, where's dad anyways" 

"Went to get something from a friend, he would be back in time for dinner and no you can't help, you need to rest cause you just returned, just sit there and tell me how everything have been" she moved me over to sit on the kitchen chair

"School have been alright, like i always say whenever i call" I replied

"And work?" 

"Yea that too" I replied again

"And Emily? She's good?" 

"Yea, speaking of Emily, I'll be going to say hi to her parents on her behalf tomorrow on her behalf, cause she couldn't swing by" I explained

"Oh okay, are you guys on break or something?" 

"Yes and No..." 

"Yes because we kind of are, in school and No because we aren't at work, and school would commence by next week so the break's kinda over" i explained 

"Why then did you wait till the last minute before coming over?" She question

"Was working remember, i just took a week off to say hi to my parents, didn't know that would be a bad idea" 

"Of cause it's not, I'm so happy you came" She said, dropped what she was holding and proceeded to give me another tight hug 

"Honey, I'll be having a guest over today, if you..." 

"Mum there's no need for whatever you wanna say, remember i told you I'll be at Emily's" I reminded, cutting her off in the process

"Oh yeah, sorry i forgot, have a good day then" She said and i went off to start with my preparation.

   Monday wasn't really sunny like yesterday, so I just put on a casual outfit and went off, i boarded a cab cause i didn't drive to Seattle, on reaching there, i sighted Emily's mum exiting their building so i hurriedly paid the cap driver and got down 

"Mrs Lopez, Mrs lopez " i called while hurriedly approaching her, she then made a turn and caught a sight of me 

"Ahhh Vanessa?" She said out loud surprised and gave me a hug in between

"Wait Vanessa?" This time she asked looking stunned

"Aren't you supposed to be in school? What are you doing here? Waiting is Emily here too" She asked looking around, leaving me with little space for explanation

"Well no, Emily isn't here, and I'm here for a week to see my parents"

"oh my gosh, are they okay?"Her concerned look was visible as she asked

"Never been better, i just swung by to pay them a little visit" I said smiling 

"Awww that's so sweet, Emily would never do that" She said with no hint of anger

"Of it's any consolation, she said I should send her greetings and oh maybe by thanksgiving she's gonna bring someone" I said jokingly with a light giggle 

"Whos that?" She asked

"That would be snitching" I replied

"Well i think you already have, so just say it to the end" She persuaded still 

"My lips are zip" I said using my hand to indicate 

"I'll need to call her then" She said smirking

"Heading somewhere" I asked cause she was about to make her leave

"Yea I'm off to the salon, wanna trim my hair a bit, but Pablo's inside though"

"Ok then, let me go say hi"

"Urrmmm Vanessa..." I turned around as she called

"Incase i don't get to see you before you leave, tell Emily that I send her my greetings aswell" She said smiling

"Ok would sure deliver" I said and went in

I decided to take my leave later that evening, once i got to the road to take a cab, i waited for some minutes but there seem to be non driving at the moment so i settled on taking the bus but shortly after a blue Lamborghini pulled up next to me, i ignored it at first but who ever was in there rolled down the window and called out my name, i couldn't see cause it was already getting dark but he called again and said his name, i immediately remembered where i knew the person from cause of the voice

"Ray? Like Raymond Perkins from highschool?" I asked to be one hundred percent sure

"Yea, that Raymond, mind getting inside?" He asked

"Oh yea, sure" I said and got in immediately

"Hey?" I said in a questioning way, but he reached out for a hug which i let him have 

"How've you been Vanessa?" he asked with excitement present in his voice

"I've been great, just got back yesterday" i replied

"And where are you heading to, let me drop you"

"Oh, I'm going back home, went to Emily's, when did you get back cause i heard you got into Stanford" I asked him

"Oh that, well i came back last week, it's my bros wedding this weekend so..." 

"Awww congratulations, so happy for you guys, Daryl right" i asked

"Yea him, you could swing by on Saturday if you want" He offered politely 

"That's so kind of you but I'll be heading back to Pullman that saturday" i explained but he kept a puzzled look 

"I got into WSU, i and Emily, remember her right?" 

"Who wouldn't, she was always a pain in the ass" He replied which made us both laugh 

"Okay then, since you won't be able to make it for the wedding, mind hanging out tomorrow, just the two of us? Like old times" He suggested 

"Like a date or something?" I asked 

"Well not really, just to catch up on old times would that be okay ?"he asked again

"Sure would be, was nice meeting you again Ray, looking forward to tomorrow" I said and got down, he was already parked infront of our house

"And thanks for the ride" I said and made my way to the front porch before pressing the door bell, i made a slight turn to make sure he was gone before the door opened

 The next day being Tuesday, we hungout all day first shopping, then dinner later in the evening, after our little dinner at one of the expensive restaurants in Seattle, we got into the elevator which took us down 

At a point, our lips were inches away from each other, almost making out when suddenly the elevator door opened and we backed off, we were already down and few persons stood outside waiting for us to come out so they could get in, which we did.

  Ray drove me home afterwards, it was really nice to be sincere but what suddenly dawned on me was that I've wasted two days doing literally nothing about my actual mission here, it's just three days left now

  On Wednesday, i started off by checking the picture frames from when i was a kid till this point, a lot of pictures brought back old memories both from mine, to my parents and us together but never did i see any picture of my parents when my mum was pregnant

"You're supposed to take a pic when you're pregnant right? Or didn't she?" Came an unanswered question in my head 

The next day, I didn't find anything exactly, so i was left with the last day being friday and thank goodness my parents weren't home that friday, which gave me an edge to look inside their bedroom for anything that could answer my question, i went through the drawers on after another before i finally gave up cause it was hella stressful.

As i stood up from where i knelt, I saw a cabinet far off from where i stood, i decided to try last shot, i then checked file after file carefully, to my surprise i saw something that left me perplexed, it dropped from my hands out of shock but i got a hold of myself seconds later and picked it up to take a photo of it as evidence.