Page 206 of Now and Forever

Pulling my phone out of my purse, I pressed to call my mom, hoping she wouldn’t cringe at the cost of my roaming charges. I strolled towards the end of the bed, taking a seat while I cradled the phone on my ear, waiting for her to answer.

“Sweetie, how have you been? How are you settling?” My mother’s gleeful greeting made me realize how much I missed home.

“Just tired, but yeah, everything’s been great. Margaret’s been really nice,” I responded with a smile on my face.

“I know! Did she manage to get you an internship? I haven’t spoken to her today. Maybe she’ll call later. Nevertheless, how are you, baby? This is the first time you’ve been out of the nest; I’m actually really nervous. I try not to worry, you know, but it doesn’t help that your dad freaks out, as well. Thank goodness for Grace. She never fails to remind us that we’re a breath away from a nervous breakdown if we didn’t stop worrying about terrorist attacks, getting robbed, and all of that stuff.”

My grin grew wider. Grace, my little sister, was the cute, sarcastic doll I adored too much. My parents were both worrywarts, but she would always take them down a notch.

“I’m fine. Jesus, Mom, I’ve been gone for, like, a couple of days. And, no, there’s no terrorist attacks, but I’ll do let you know if something comes up,” I teased, hoping she would calm her butt down.

“Now that’s not funny, Serena. You should be kind to my nerves. You know how I get,” she reprimanded, but it was obvious in her voice just how much love there was.

“You guys have to stop. Seriously. Have some confidence in me. I can handle this.” Reassuring her somehow worked.

My parents were great folks, but holy crap did they worry. It was to the point of borderline paranoia.

As our conversation progressed, I asked for updates about Grace and how she was doing in school. Grace was in the top of her class, as always. I was the laidback one, while my little sis was the perfectionist in the family. We were like night and day, yet our sisterly bond was as strong as ever.

The more I conversed with my family, the more homesickness settled in. Then again, it also reassured me that I was going to be okay. They grounded me. Thinking about them made me realize what was important in life.

I was here to experience living and studying abroad, not to find a boyfriend.

Boys came and went, but achieving lifelong goals, such as experience and education, that was for life.

Prioritizing was all I had to do. Cruz and his magnetic eyes be damned.

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