Reina of the moon

5. New life

By the time the whole hiring process ended in the little corner booth, Bella's band had already started to attract more and more people. I can't blame the customers for being lured in, the band was absolutely great.

Zane showed me the way to the bathroom so I can change to my new uniform. Sophie, another employee was "nice enough" (forced) to show me the ropes of making smoothies.

It was simple enough. All I had to do was follow the recipies and let someone else deliver it to whoever ordered it.

Around 3 I took my break and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. I went out to the little dock in front of the café, I criss/crossed my legs and started to enjoy the sweet red apple and the blazing heat of my new home - Australia.

I then remembered that I had to call my mom or aunt Carla and tell them where I was. I started pat down my body but still couldn't find my phone. I must have left it at home, yeah sure that's not suspicious at all.

I decided to cut my break short and ask Bella or Zane if I can borrow their phones. I saw Bella and the band still performing so I had to ask Zane, I'm sure he'd understand.

And surprisingly he did. He even helped me make my 1st international call, which was more complicated than I thought. I dialed my aunt's number because it wasn't midnight in California like it was in Arkansas.

Aunt Carla pick up the phone after I texted her that it was me - I know she normally doesn't pick up if it's an unknown number.

We started talking after she had ended her speech about how scared she was that I just disappeared, how happy she was that I was okay, and then how disappointed she was that I just disappeared.

I didn't say anything for those long 15 minutes  because she had to get it  off her chest. There was no point talking to her whenever she goes through one of her rants.

She said she called my parents, they felt hopeless because they couldn't do anything from Arkansas. She called the police but they said she had to wait 48 hours to file a report, I then explained that that "law" was just an excuse for police officers not to do their job.

But then I went back on track. With the help of Zane, I came up with a random, bad lie. I explained that 'I met some old friends at the beach, who said that they were on their way to their boat to sail off to Australia. They invited me to come, to visit Australia!'. Which is my actual dream. (Next to visiting England and South Korea) And everyone in my entire family knows that. 'My old friends said that I can get in touch when we landed'.

She then started asking all the most logic questions.

¿What about your clothes and phone?
-I'll borrow from my friends.

¿How long are you going to stay?
-Probably a month, I'll call if it's any longer.

¿What about money? You won't be living as a leach, right?
-I already have a job that a friend got me.

¿Who are these 'friends'? ¿How do I know they'll take care of you?

-I'll give you updates every Friday at 10:00(PDT).

After convincing her and assuring that I'll be fine, I said goodbye and hanged up the phone. Zane ushered me to go back to work because I had spent almost an hour on the phone without knowing.

It was 5:30pm when Cleo came to pick me up and take me to my temporary home. We walk for about 10 minutes when we started walking up her street. On our way, she kept on going on and on about how much I'm going to love it here.

Her neighborhood was something straight out of the movies and her house looked like my dream home. A view of the water, 2 stories, big yard.

When we entered the house, we were greeted by a woman with curly dark blonde hair and a man who looked slightly bigger with brown hair. They were both wearing aprons. And the smell of fish was in the air.

"Oh welcome, just in time for dinner." Said the lady.

"So this is your new friend, right, Cleo?" Said the man with a little smile.

"Uhh... yeah, this Reina. Reina this is my dad, Don, and my stepmother, Sam...speaking of...why are you here? I thought they transferred you to the next city for next 3 months."

"- mhm, nice meet you both. Excuse me." I excused myself to the living room so they can talk in private in the foyer. In the living room was a younger girl, must be Kim, Cleo's "Brat" sister. She turned down the volume of the t.v she watching to make a conversation with me.

"So tell me, why do you think Cleo has so many friends? Because honestly she is such a loser, don't you think so?" Kim said in a loud whisper.

"Well, that's one way to introduce yourself" I quickly said because I don't want her as an enemy. Who know, maybe the two really care about each other and hates anyone that the other hates.

"I'm Reina, nice to meet you. You must be Kim, Cleo's little sister."

"Hmph, little sister? I'm 15 years old, I'm basically an adult" Kim said full of pride, turning her nose at my comment.

"Right~" I said obviously uncomfortable.

"-We'll talk about this after dinner" Mr. Sertori said. As he stomped his way to kitchen with anger. He grabbed an extra set of plate and utensils for me to use.

Everyone looked sad/mad as we sat down on the chairs. Cleo pointed to the chair next to her so that I can sit down between her and her step mom

Her dad had his back to the t.v in the living room. Mrs. Sertori was across the table. And Kim was already gobbling up her fish trying to see the t.v, moving back and forth to get a better view, clueless of the tension.

Our dinner was quiet but Mrs. S tried her best to make it comfortable by making small talk.

Cleo had finished eating and stormed off up the stairs next to the foyer. I slowly got up.

"I'll go check on her - excuse me." I said as I put her and my plate in the kitchen sink.

When I got up the stairs, I called out to Cleo. She said 'in here' behind the closed door at the end of the hall.

She was upset ever since that conversation with her parents.