Chapter Text
Chapter 1
A lie. That’s all the school system was. Lucille sighed as she rested her head on her hands. For as much as she wanted to be hired by the state as a park ranger, the schooling was absolutely miserable. She was alarmed as the bell rang rather aggressively above her.
Quickly grabbing her things, she walked out of the building and into the parking lot. She didn’t have much homework to do that day, but her work schedule was making her noticeably anxious about getting home and getting it done.
“Well if it isn’t the wannabe ranger herself!”
Lucille felt her body tense as she started walking quicker, but before she knew it, a boy was by her side, a wide smile spread across his face as he noticed how unamused she was by his presence.
“What do you want, Parker.” She finally responded
The boy laughed, “Can I ask you a question?” Lucille scoffed, pulling out her keys as she unlocked her truck. “Only if you can ask it before I drive away.”
Parker opened the truck door for her, smiling at the glare she shot him before climbing into the old, beaten-up Chevy truck she had owned ever since getting her license.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
Lucille sighed, “You won’t leave me alone and you make fun of my dreams with the intention of making more fake and horrible friends.” She pulled the door shut, starting the truck as she started the drive back to Hurricane, leaving Parker alone in the parking lot.
She didn’t feel even remotely awful. Parker was the kind of kid that thought bringing people down was funny and entertaining. It had taken her 4th grade self a year's worth of having a crush on him, but thankfully she had figured it out when they were only kids. It was his decision to be who he was. Not hers.
It didn’t take long until she had made it home. Pulling into the driveway, she walked up the steps to the front door, slowly stepping inside. She couldn’t see that anyone was home, which was very odd considering everyone was almost always home by this time, but it was more of a relief to her today seeing as she now had a quiet house to do her homework in.
Setting up her laptop on the kitchen counter, she started pulling up all the necessary tabs to get her homework done. Not long after she had started reading, she was interrupted by the garage door opening.
She sat there, silently watching as her mother, father, and little sister all stepped through the door. They were all chatting happily amongst themselves, none of them taking the time to notice Lucille sitting on the stool.
She smiled lightly, sitting up in her chair. “Hey guys!”
Her mother looked up, smiling, “Hello dear! How was school?” Lucille nodded, “Alright. How was your guys’ day?”
Pressing her lips together as her father and sister walked right past her, she turned her attention back to her mother. “Busy, but alright.” Lucille smiled, “That’s good! Where’d you guys go?”
“Out for lunch. Emma got another 4.0 last semester, isn’t that awesome?”
Lucille suddenly felt it become harder to maintain the smile on her face, but she forced it anyways. “Wow, that’s amazing. She's so smart!” She watched as her mother’s face lit up even more. “Oh, I know! I think she might actually be able to move out once she’s 18 and go out of state for college! She could be at the same stage of life as you when she’s 18! Isn’t that amazing Luce? We're so proud of her already!”
Lucille felt like every cell in her body wanted to melt into the ground and pretend like she never even existed. She nodded excitedly as her mother walked off to follow the rest of her family.
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Her homework hadn’t taken her near the amount of time that she was anticipating it to, a huge blessing in her eyes as she could now take a few minutes to herself to watch the most recent races in supercross that year. Happily switching the tabs over to the race, she was startled by a knock on the door. Whirling around, she saw her mother walking in.
“Hey Luce, Emma’s having some friends over for her birthday next week. I was wondering if you could swing by the store sometime and grab some supplies? I have a list I can give you.”
Lucille nodded, not saying a word as her mother eagerly awaited her response. “Thank you. Oh- and when was the last time you cleaned your truck? It looks filthy.”
She giggled, “Oh yeah uh, I did that trail by Sand Hollow after it rained a few days ago. Needed to get out for a little bit.” Her mother sighed, “Alright well, maybe you can clean that too. Is your homework done?” Lucille smiled, “I’m 20, Mom. I can mana-”
“And yet here you are, still under our roof. Although you won’t be if you keep that attitude up.”
Lucille shook her head, “No mom that’s not-” she sighed as her mother left the room and closed the door behind her.
Not exactly feeling up to watching anything anymore, she closed the lid of her laptop and climbed into bed, mind still racing with random thoughts that she had pushed to the side throughout the day.
She loved her family, but somedays she wasn’t too sure that they loved her all to much. Shaking her head, she rolled over. How could she be thinking so selfishly. Her parents had let her stay at home while she attended the nearby Dixie State. That was most definitely a sign of love. Right?
Sighing, she pulled the covers over her head, closing her eyes as she fell asleep to the sound of her giggling family in the living room below her.
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