CHAPTER TWO: HOME SWEET, MICHIGAN
May 21st, 2020
A flight from New York to Michigan was approximately one hour and fifty four minutes. Gemma could easily watch about two episodes of American Horror Story during the flight, though she found it difficult to focus on her favorite characters in Freakshow, considering other things were on her mind.
She was excited to see her family, though for obvious reasons, spending four days in Michigan was terrifying for her. Gemma was beyond excited to spend time with her family again despite recently seeing them, but she couldn't help but worry about the other people she may see on her trip back home.
Gemma was absolutely terrified of running into Avery. The two hadn't seen each other in years, and for all Gemma knew, her ex best friend's appearance could have been completely different. If the two did happen to run into each other somewhere in their small neighborhood, maybe Gems wouldn't even recognize her former friend. She sighed, as she clicked out of Netflix. Shutting her laptop and eyeing a sleeping Marcie, Gemma rolled her eyes. If it weren't for her roommate, Gemma would not be in this position right now, fearing for what's to come in the next few days.
She was probably just being paranoid. That's what she tried to tell herself, at least. Because Avery wasn't the only person Gemma was nervous to possibly run into. Michigan was full of Gemma's demons -- which was why she despised going home in the first place. The rational side of her knew that she was being ridiculous - and that she wasn't going home for her demons. She was going home for her dad, who she would soon be celebrating with.
She hadn't realized she fell asleep for the remaining hour of the plane ride, that is, until Marcie violently shook her awake.
"Gems," Marcie's hands were tight on Gemma's shoulders. "God, I don't understand how you're such a heavy sleeper."
Annoyed, Gemma shut her eyes tighter. She wasn't ready to wake up yet, given her lack of sleep from the night before.
"Let me sleep,"
"I can't," Marcie laughed. "We're here."
Gemma groaned loudly, earning looks from a few passengers seated in the row next to her. Not paying them any attention, she unfastened her seatbelt and followed Marcie off the plane.
The familiar smell of the airport filled her nostrils immediately upon walking in. It didn't take long to spot her family, who held up giant poster boards saying Welcome Home Gems! And Marcie!
All of Gemma's Michigan related fears left her for a moment as she ran over to her parents with her overnight bag in hand. She didn't pack much, given she and Marcie were only staying for four days. Though for a reason she couldn't decipher, Marcie insisted Gemma should pack more.
"We're only staying a few days," Gemma tilted her head in confusion as her eyes traveled across the large suitcase full of her best friend's belongings.
"You never know," Marcie shrugged with a grin -- a grin that Gemma didn't know the reason behind. "We might have a lot of fun, and end up staying longer!"
"Definitely not happening." Gemma rolled her eyes before walking out of Marcie's bedroom, and back to her own so she could finish packing her small bag for her four day stay.
Dropping her bag onto the ground, Gemma squealed as her older brother, Jackson, engulfed her in his arms. Despite seeing him five days ago, she missed him. Gemma was extremely close with her brother, given their closeness in age. Only two years apart in age, the two did everything together when they were kids. Gemma was attached to Jax's hip, until their sister Olivia came along. Despite being six years younger than Gems and eight years younger than Jax, Liv fit right in as if there was no age gap at all.
"Long time, no see." Jax hugged his sister tight, sarcasm laced between his words. Not even a week had passed since they lost saw each other, though he was excited to see her regardless.
"Home sweet, Michigan." Gemma replied, her voice lined with more sarcasm than her brother's. If it wasn't her dad's birthday, she would have never decided to come back.
"Alright, enough." Liv broke the two apart. "I want to hug my sister, too."
Laughing, Gemma engulfed her younger sister in her arms. Before she had the chance to pull away, her parents joined in, bringing them all in for a group hug.
"This is so cute," Marcie laughed, joining in on the action.
"We should head home," Gayle spoke as the members of the family dismembered from their embrace. "I'm sure you girls are tired from your flight, and hungry."
"Yes," Marcie salivated at the thought of food. "I haven't eaten today. I am starving!"
Picking up her light overnight back and tossing it over her shoulders, Gemma was ready to get moving. She was tired, and the thought of cozying up in her childhood bed watching American Horror Story sounded like a dream.
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Two hours after a much needed nap, Gemma and Marcie found themselves reminiscing over old photos in Gem's closet. The pink, decorated box contained memories upon memories, which Gemma had no intention of bring out, that is, until Marcie decided to snoop through her closet.
"Oooo," Marcie smirked, standing on her tiptoes, attempting to reach the bright pink box on the top shelf of the closet. "What's this?"
Pausing her show, Gemma felt her eyes grow wide. She threw her blanket off her comfortable body, almost plummeting her laptop onto the ground in a quick attempt to get up.
"Just some bullshit," she frantically spoke, meeting her friend by the closet, who was holding the packed box in her hands. "No need to look through it,"
"But I'm curious," Marcie winked. "This is like, the second time I've been to your house. I've never really been in your room before. Come on," she whined, "let me snoop!"
Sighing, Gemma nodded her head. There wasn't anything to hide, necessarily, but she knew Marcie was going to ask questions, about everyone who was in the photos. And Gems wasn't in the mood to take a trip down memory lane. She sat back down on her bed, exiting out of Netflix, because she knew she wasn't going to be able to focus on her episode of Freakshow. Marcie willingly joined her on the bed, gripping the box as if her life depended on it.
The first photo she pulled out was one of Gemma and Avery. It was a polaroid, and written below the photo was captioned best friends 5ever.
"Aww," Marcie gaped at the two girls, who had to have been sixteen at the time. Gemma had bright blue highlights in her hair, which she begged her mom to let her get. Despite being hesitant at the thought of bleaching her daughter's hair, Gayle agreed. The photo was taken just before Avery's braces were taken off, portrayed by her closed mouth smile.
The next photo was taken a year later, in almost the same context. Seventeen years old, still rocking blue highlights, Gemma and Avery were sitting on a blanket at their high school's end of the year picnic. Neither of them looked at the camera but instead, were smiling and laughing about something Gemma couldn't remember.
"Too bad she went ghost on you," Marcie frowned, setting the picture down. "She seemed like a good friend."
"She was a good friend," Gemma fell back onto her bed, not wanting to talk about her former friend, anymore. Despite many years passing, a small part of her was still hurt by everything Avery did. "We were friends for twelve years," she sighed. "I don't know what happened, what changed in her when she started taking college classes. She completely turned into someone I didn't know."
"Well," Marcie perked up, trying to lighten the mood. "You have me now!"
"Yeah," Gemma smiled, tossing a pillow towards her best friend. "I'm glad you found me when I was lost."
"Me too," Marcie snickered. "Taking you under my New York wing was the best thing I've ever done."
Sitting up, Gemma rested her head on her best friend's shoulder as she continued sifting through the box.
"No more Avery photos," she laughed. After rummaging through the box and realizing that almost every photo contained Avery, Marcie pushed the box away from her. Gemma laughed as she closed it back up, shoving it into the back of her closet with the intention of not looking at it again for another few years.
"Now what should we do?" Marcie asked, kicking her feet back and laying on Gemma's comfy childhood bed.
"There's nothing to do," Gemma laughed. "Michigan is boring."
The two sat on Gemma's bed for a few minutes, contemplating on what to do next. The only interesting activities they could do was go to the mall, or an escape room. But for a reason Gemma would tell Marcie later -- she didn't want to do either of those things. Being out in public, in her hometown, was too risky. And she wasn't mentally prepared to run into anything she saw as risky.
"Gemma, Marcie!" Gayle called from down the stairs, "I'm baking a cake! Care to join?"
"Coming!" Marcie squealed, before giving Gemma the chance to decide. Marcie loved to bake, while Gemma on the other hand, didn't. Every time she stepped into a kitchen, disaster followed. It wasn't that she was a bad cook, she was just impatient. She never let things cook long enough, so anything she ever created ended up tasting bad, given most times she let things go under cooked.
"You're going to give us food poisoning, one day." Marcie would say, whenever Gemma attempted to cook.
"Who says I haven't already?" she would joke. Though surprisingly, in their time of living together, Gemma had managed to not give herself and her best friend any type of illness due to uncooked food.
"What kind of cake are you baking?" Gemma asked as she ascended down the stairs, following quickly behind Marcie who was taking the steps two at a time. She could immediately feel the house heating up as the oven pre-heated, and she was beyond excited to help Gayle with whatever it was she was baking. Gemma on the other hand, planned on sitting this one out.
"Chocolate, with a graham cracker crust and strawberries on top." Ironically, that was Avery's favorite. Gemma rolled her eyes, though she was sure it was just a coincidence.
Gemma watched the two mix eggs, milk and many other ingredients into a large mixing bowl. The two conversed about different things, ranging from baking, to New York, to the future. Gemma found herself lost in her phone, scrolling through Twitter as her mother and best friend talked about Marcie's upcoming job this Fall. She would be starting her position as a fashion consultant at Velvet Caviar, and she was beyond excited.
"Marcie knows her shit," Gemma chimed in as her roommate gushed over her knowledge of fashion. "She's going to be the best fashion consultant that company has ever - "
Before Gemma could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Though the knock was so light, she almost couldn't tell if she was imagining it. Marcie and Gayle did not seem to notice, as they eyed Gemma, waiting for her to finish what she was saying.
"Seen." she finished, hearing the knock yet again as she finished speaking.
"I wonder who is at the door," Gayle questioned as she began washing her hands, to rid her skin of baking ingredients.
"I can get it," Gemma offered. "You guys are baking, your hands are all dirty. Doesn't seem like Jax or Liv are going to answer it - " she peeked into the living room, to see Olivia watching something on the TV, paying no attention to the knock on the door and Jax, who was passed out with his airpods tucked in his ears. Gemma doubted they even heard it, due to the loud volume of the television. "So I'll get it."
"Thank you, dear." Gayle smiled at her daughter. After drying her now cleaned hands, she turned towards Marcie, ready to pick up where they left off. The last thing Gemma saw before removing herself from the kitchen, was the smashing of graham crackers for the cake crust.
She playfully rolled her eyes at her siblings as she walked past them, who definitely did not hear the knocking at the door. Another soft knock was heard, just as Gemma was approaching the wooden door. She didn't hesitate before turning the knob and opening it, though when she locked eyes with who was on the other side, she wished she would have waited just a little longer.
She wished she hadn't answered the door at all. Because maybe the person on the other side - who in a million years Gemma wasn't expecting to see, would just turn around and go home, after knocking on the door three times with no answer.
The blue eyed, now red headed girl smiled at Gemma -- a wide smile that she knew all too well. Her hand clamped over her mouth, which had fallen agape the second she opened the door.
"Avery?" she spoke against her hand, though before she was able to push another word out, her former friend who she hadn't seen in years engulfed her in a hug. The touch felt foreign to Gemma.
"Gems!" Avery squealed. "I didn't think you would be here! I'm so glad to see you!"
Backing away, Gemma's hand fell from her lips but her mouth stayed agape. She was at a loss for words, as her ex best friend stared at her with nothing but happiness in her eyes. Avery didn't give Gemma a chance to speak, as she engulfed her in yet another hug, though this one was tighter than the last.
When Avery finally pulled away, with no more intentions to hug her old best friend, who she ditched all those years ago â Gemma stood completely frozen in her spot.
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a/n: did you see that coming? hehe.
not sure if I like this so far... it's just so different than what I'm used to writing! but I'm going to stick it out, because I do have a lot of plans for this story!!!