Chapter 3

Finally. The day was here. Desiree sat in her wheel chair as she desperately waited for her brother to leave the room and tell her she could leave. Finally she was going to get out of the hospital after seven weeks away.

It wasn't all happy, though. She had been told she was losing the use of her legs for good, which didn't really surprise her. really, she knew that around week two, but no one really wanted to tell her. Either way, she was going home.

Yes, she was thinking about just ending it all as soon as she left, but she was certain somehow Lance would stop her however she tried. What she didn't know, is how she was going to function on her own. That was when her brother introduced a new idea.

Moving in with her aunt. Her mother's sister had never really been a part of her life, but she had been kind, and that was something to go on. It wasn't like she could move back in with her parents, or move to New York with her brother. He was always too busy to be home whether he wanted to or not. It had taken a lot just for him to get a day off to get Desiree.

No, Desiree had talked to her aunt and was moving in with her at least until she found a way to care for herself. She really had no other options at her disposal.

Her aunt lived several miles from where Desiree used to live, but was still in the school district. Lucky enough for her, Desiree was still close enough to go to her old school. She wouldn't have to switch districts. Really, there were no others schools near her anywhere, so it wasn't like she was really going to leave unless her aunt lived in some other state like her brother decided to.

She had decided to go back to school at the start of the next semester, which was in about two months. By then she would probably be on her own again, which was something she was looking forward to. Of course, there was also the possibility that she wouldn't ever be able to completely be on her own again, but that wasn't something she wanted to think about.

Nathan then walked out of the door and smirked at her, "Come on, Des. I'll drive you to May's."


The drive was slow, and it had taken a bit more time than expected to get her wheelchair in the back of the car. It wasn't impossible though, and Nathan's determination t o be back in New York by the next day was certainly making things go a little faster.

Soon enough, they were pulling into a long driveway near the forest. After about a minute, Nathan parked the car and Desiree looked up. In front of them, there was a large house. Not massive, but certainly big enough to fit a very large family comfortably. Just then, a small woman ran out onto the porch without shoes on. She smiled widely at the two in the car and started walking through the grass towards them. The looked way too perky for the occasion.

"Hi, Desiree, Nathan. I haven't seen either of you in forever!" She hugged Nathan before she walked to Desiree's car door and opened it for her. Nathan pushed the wheel chair around the car and helped his sister into it. May looked ecstatic.

She waved goodbye to Nathan as he drove back down the driveway and out of sight. He was on his way back to New York. May however, had started wheeling Desiree towards the house. There was only one stair to the porch, so that wasn't a problem, but the house was big enough to have two or three floors. Luckily, May had planned everything out even though she had only been called the night before last.

"Okay," May started, "I cleaned out one of the guest rooms on the bottom floor so you wouldn't have to somehow get up the stairs, but my room is on the third floor, so if you need me, you'll only need to yell at me."

Desiree smiled, not knowing what else to do. She had never had real parents that actually cared for her. The only parental figure she had was her brother, who looked out for her until she was old enough to look out for herself. May was a whole 'nother ball game. She was the kind of person where happiness just radiates off her in waves and you really have no other choice than to be happy.

It was sickening.

The woman led Desiree to a large room filled with all of her things from her old house. Des had known nathan had taken all her things over, but she didn't know he meant everything. Of course, it was nicer than her old room, and clean too.

May smiled at her as she opened the windows, "Now, I need to go upstairs so I can keep working, but I'll only be on the second floor, so I should be able to hear when you call. Actually," May said as she walked across the room. She pointed to a box on the wall and opened it, "This is a laundry chute because this room was a wash room a long time ago, so if you need me, just yell up it, because I'll be right above you."

May smiled, hugged Desiree, and walked out of the room, leaving her niece to be by herself. Desiree let her fake smile fade and her face become expressionless, like it had always been. She wheeled herself around the room and looked at everything that stood out. Soon, she stopped next to the bed and lifted herself onto it. It was low enough for her to pull herself onto, which she decided, was another one of May's ideas.

She couldn't help but smile at the thought her aunt had put into her arrival. She had known her aunt was a nice person, but she didn't know how far that extended. Her aunt had always been the sweetest person she knew, even though they only met once when Desiree was around 10, and even then she was a better parent than her real parents ever were. There was really no question to it.

***

Desiree wheeled herself into the living room and found her aunt sitting on the sofa, watching The Office. May turned around at the sound of her wheelchair and smiled. She patted the seat next to her, "Here, come watch with me. I'm guessing you got bored with sitting alone in your room?" She had guessed right.

With a bit of May's help, Desiree made her way onto the couch and looked at the TV. Her aunt turned the volume down and turned to face her niece. "So, how are you?" She asked.

Desiree smiled, "Not as bad as before. Say, I was thinking I'd start going back to school when second semester starts, which is in around two months. Until then, I'm not sure what I should do." She told her aunt truthfully.

May's face lit up, "Well, I don't know if you know this, but I'm an artist. I work here at home and I make my own hours, so really we can do whatever you want, whenever you want. Right now though, let's juts talk." She suggested.

"Okay," Desiree started hesitantly, "What about?" May just shrugged and Desiree shrugged in response, "Okay, well, I guess my first question is how long have you lived here. I mean, I thought you lived far away and that's why you never visited."

May frowned a bit, "I am sorry I never visited, but I always thought you were gone. I mean, I didn't think my sister would leave her teenage daughter behind when she went around the world. You shouldn't be on your own forever, no offence to her parenting, but It's really bad. Even I know that, and I don't even have kids." She ranted to Desiree for another couple minutes, not that Desiree minded. It was nice to have someone civil to talk to about the most random things.

May smiled, "Okay, now it's my turn. Do you have any friends? I mean like, is there any body you would want to invite over? A boyfriend, girlfriend, anybody?" She asked curiously.

Desiree shook her head fast in disgust as she grimaced, "Never. I don't even have friends, let alone a boyfriend." She held her tongue, making sure her aunt wasn't about to question her last statement. It had slipped out. "Well, I- you know, nevermind. I don't really have friends." She admitted.

May shrugged and smiled, "Okay. Well, then you should go make some friends. I know a place you can  start. My neighbors live a few blocks down the road, if you want to go meet them tomorrow. I know they have a son and a daughter. Maybe you could talk to them."

Desiree shrugged in agreement, "Okay. We can go tomorrow if that works for you."

May tilted her head to the side and smiled warmly, "Good. Now, is there anything you need? Is there anything we forgot to put in your room, or are you out of anything? I'm going shopping in an hour, and you can come with me if you want."

Desiree shrugged again, "Sure, I'll come. I have just been sitting around a week, so it'll be nice to get out of the house."

May smiled and stood up from her place on the couch, "Good! Now, come. We need to get you dressed. After all, don't think I didn't notice you've been wearing the same pajamas for the last four days, just with a different jacket. You can't hide from me!" After that mildly intimidating comment, they walked into Desiree's room and May helped as she got into something more suitable.

Sooner than expected, it was time to go. They got into the car, and twenty minutes later, they were at the closest store they could find. Sure, the distance the house was away from the city wasn't convenient, but hey, the location was pretty enough for May. At least pretty enough to drive several miles towards civilization.

They walked- well, May walked and Desiree rolled down the isles in the stores for a while before they were finally able to leave with everything they had come for.

In reality, May's "groceries" were mainly paint brushes and replacements for her watercolors. There were some canvases and other arty things in there, but the majority of it was paint brushes.

It turns out, you can't take May into art stores, or even the art sections in stores, or she will not leave. She was like a mom in a home store, if that puts things into perspective for you.

Around two or three hours later, they were back home and both of them were ready to sleep for the next several days. It was of course only 5, and neither of them had eaten dinner, but nonetheless, they passed out on the couch almost as soon as they sat down after getting home.

The next morning, the both of them woke up the unfamiliar ringing of the doorway. It wasn't like either of them had ever really had visitors.

May woke up with her hair in her mouth and her head looking like a literal bee hive, though of course she still looked enough like the goddess she was to open the door. Desiree however had never been fond of how she looked after she woke up, just like every other teenage girl. Knowing her hair probably looked like a rat's nest, she wheeled herself to her mirror to fix it just enough to be seen by other people.

A minute later, she heard her aunt calling her name, "Des! We have company! Make yourself presentable and come introduce yourself!"

A minute or so later, she decided she looked human enough to go out of her room. She rolled into the living room and stopped as soon as she saw who was sitting on the couch.

May smiled, clearly oblivious to Desiree's expression, "Desiree, I would like you to meet the Matthews, Sally and Carson, and their son Lance. These are the neighbors I was telling you about."

Desiree continued to stare, and everyone except Lance continued to not notice.

"I'm sorry Aria couldn't come, but you and Lance should talk. Go ahead, have fun. I think you two will get along very well."