Beyond This Moment

2 Day One- 9:09 A.M.

Ninety-six days ago is when I got hit with the terrible news. I've had ninety-six days to prepare for this and yet, I am still unprepared and completely unenthusiastic. Ninety-six days ago, I found out that my dad is remarrying.

Ninety-six days ago, we got the invitation. "Hello, forgotten family! You should come visit, come see my new and improved family! They're so much better!"

Ninety-six days ago, I was told by my mother that I had no choice in the matter. I was to go to the wedding, to support my father's newfound happiness with this new lady who I've never met and their two kids who I have also never met.

My mother, still broken hearted by my father leaving ten years ago, will not be attending the wedding with my twin brother and I but our Volkswagen sedan will be fully booked with me, Gabe, Cassie, and Elias. The guy that I had met only a week ago that is going to be my date because fifteen days ago, my boyfriend decided that he didn't want to be my boyfriend anymore. Instead, he wanted to be my best friend's boyfriend.

I'm still in my bedroom now, lying in my bed and completely dreading the idea of getting into that car today. We're supposed to leave at 9:30 and it's 9:10 now. Everything is packed so all I have to do is get dressed but I just really don't want to.

But I know that if I wait any longer to get ready, I'm going to make us late, which will piss off Gabe and I don't want to start this road trip on the wrong foot with my brother. So I get out of bed with a long yawn and start to make my way out of my room to the bathroom.

Cassie is here, she spent the night. I can hear her through the door in Gabe's room talking to him as I'm in the hallway.

I cringe at the thought of being stuck with this girl in a car for this entire week of driving. It's not that she isn't nice because for the most part, we get along. It's her high pitched voice, her undying need to be accepted by everyone, and the fact that she's completely shameless about the fact that she fucks my brother. Take right now for example, she walks out of Gabe's room wearing one of his shirts and that's it. Her long pale legs stick out from under the shirt like blinding rays of skin, her blonde hair disheveled, her eyes dazed. She doesn't even seem to care that my mom is downstairs right now and Cassie's parading around the house making it completely obvious what they're up to and how they spent their night just two rooms away from me.

Almost running into me in the hallway, she offers me a polite smile. "Good morning. It looks like we're all running a little late this morning."

"I'll be ready on time," I assure her. "Gabe's pretty anal about punctuality."

"You're right. He's been dressed since seven, making sure that he's got everything that he needs packed in his bags," She says with a small laugh. "Anyway, I was headed to the bathroom but you go ahead, I'll go see if I can whip us up a quick breakfast before we head out."

She disappears down the hallway and I go into the bathroom to wake myself up with my morning routine. I'm pretty quick about it so that I'll be dressed in time to eat and make sure that everything's all packed for departure.

Because all four of us have to fit our luggage into one small car, we have to pack very lightly. And by very lightly, I mean one suitcase that wouldn't even be able to fit a small child and then a carry on. My suitcase has my clothes in it. We've planned to get to Seattle a few days early to get settled in and spend some time with the new family and also so that we can make it to the rehearsal dinner. My carry on is full of things to keep me sane on the way there—some emergency snacks, my chargers, my laptop, a few notebooks and writing utensils.

I'm not ready but I will never be ready for this. The only thing that was going to make this trip tolerable was the boyfriend that I thought loved me but now that I'm going alone with Gabe and Cassie, the Jack and Sally of this realm, and some virtual stranger who I've only met twice, it's going to be an absolute disaster. It has to be.