Free The Hybrid by Lauren Shelton Page B

from his chair. “Where have you been? We’ve
been worried sick about you!” His arms were flailing in
the air as he spoke.
Tru looked up at the tall man before her, solemnly,
knowing how much trouble she was soon to be in. “I’m
fine grandpa. My walk just lasted a little longer than I
thought it would.”
    He threw his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing towards the small house behind him. “Well, let’s get inside
where it’s warm, and call Maggie. She’s been driving all
over the neighborhood, going door to door, asking about
you. She even called the sheriff.” Tru watched him as he
turned around and headed toward the sliding door.
    “Really? Oh my god, Grandpa. I’m so sorry I made you
guys worry so much!” Tru gave him a big hug as he
turned around to look at her. When she let go of him, he
looked
down
at
her,
slightly
taken
aback,
and
then
opened the sliding glass door.
    Tru pushed past him quickly, running inside the house
and into the kitchen, grabbing the bright yellow phone off
the wall. When she had returned to the living room where
her grandfather stood, Tru dialed Maggie’s cell phone
number. Ben watched her carefully, with his arms crossed
over his chest once again.
“Grandma? It’s Tru,” she said after the fourth ring.
    “When I get home, you have some serious explaining
to do.” Tru could hear the heavy breathing in her voice.
She was mad. She was madder than mad.
    “Yes, ma’am,” Tru replied. She would accept any punishment Maggie could come up with. She knew she deserved it for all the worry and panic she had more than
likely put her grandmother through.
The other end went dead, leaving only the dial tone
buzzing in Tru’s ear.
    Tru wasn’t used to having someone care so much about
her. She had to admit, even though she was in trouble, it
felt nice.
    Tru put the receiver back in its cradle on the wall and
walked back to her bedroom at the foot of the stairs. Upon entering the room, she glanced over at her disheveled
reflection in the floor length mirror, and then sat down on
her warm bed. As she sat there, she looked over at the
black alarm clock sitting on the nightstand.
    11:00P.M . Did I really stay out that long? Seriously?
Eleven?
Tru fell back against her mattress and pulled a pillow
under her head, letting her legs dangle off of the side of
the bed.
Almost
ten
minutes
later,
Maggie
walked
into
the
house. Tru could hear the front door closing in the distance, but all she wanted to do was lie down. She was so
tired, and the last thing she wanted to hear was yelling.
She had come to Woodcrest Hills to get away from the
yelling. Tru would accept her punishment, but the yelling
was the one thing she was not looking forward to, at all.
“Gertrude?” her grandmother said quietly as she stood
in the doorway to Tru’s room.
Tru stood from the bed, walked over to her grandmother, and thrust herself upon her, squeezing the woman gently in her arms. “I’m sorry,” Tru whispered into her
chest.
“It’s okay,” Maggie whispered back. “Just promise me
that you
won’t go
and
do
something
like
this
again,
okay?” She hugged Tru softly before she pulled the young
girl’s body away from her own and looked down at her.
“You have your mother’s eyes,” Maggie said. But she
was only partially right. Tru had bright blue eyes ⎯ the
only part of them that bared any resemblance to Gail. But
their
shape
held
no
similarities whatsoever. Gail was
blonde, and tall, and had very angular features. She was
everything Gertrude wasn’t. Tru was the spitting image of
her father. She had his smile, his dimples, his wavy auburn locks of hair, his soft bone structure, and his pure
heart.
Tru smiled up at her grandmother.
    She really didn’t hate her mother. She just felt that Gail
wasn’t as well adapted to parenthood as most women
usually were. She never seemed to care how well Tru did
in school. She never seemed to care who Tru was friends
with. The two of them rarely ever spent