ALL THAT GLITTERS...

01.

The little bell rang as I pushed open the door. My bottom was stiff from hours of sitting and it felt good to stretch a bit.

A girl was sitting behind the cash register, her eyes glued to her phone and nodding furiously to the loud music blasting through her headphones.

I walked slowly past her hoping to catch her attention but that wasn't obviously happening, she was too engrossed with whatever was on her phone to even notice me.

My eyes scanned the tiny shop.
It was empty but that was expected, we were basically in the middle of nowhere.

There wasn't any visible dirt but the place wasn't clean either, my nose wrinkled at that.

Talk about poor maintenance.

My hands reached out for one small shopping basket from the pile sitting in front of the first aisle.

The isles were more empty than I expected. The only things I managed to pick were a few cans of soda, juice for me and a whole lot of chips and crackers. But to be honest that was the only thing other than some funny looking sweets that was actually edible.

After paying for the few groceries I had picked up, I left the little gas station store and climbed back into my aunt's blue Toyota. She hadn't moved from where had I left her and was she still in a heated argument with someone on the phone. It wasn't like her to get so worked up about anything, it was either work or she had a boyfriend I didn't know about. Both were none of my business.

My aunt quickly cut the call when she caught my eye and passed me a small smile before stuffing her phone in the pocket of her khaki shorts. Without another word, she climbed into her seat beside me.

"Got everything you needed?" She asked warily as she pushed her chestnut brown hair out of her face as eyed me carefully, as she had for the past few days.

I hated it.
I was okay, I had been for a while.

I gave her a reassuring smile before passing her a bag of chips. We hadn't encountered any sort of diner or restaurant on our way so this had to do till we reached civilisation.
My nose wrinkled at the greasy contents of the packet. I wasn't a diet freak but I was also not crazy about junk food and I knew my aunt wasn't as well.

Lorraine was a food critic for a small state magazine so I knew she could be picky about what went in her mouth but we were both a bit famished, we had been on the road for several hours and by the looks of it, we still had a lot more. This would have to do.

We shifted into a comfortable silence as soon as she got back on the road, we had been like this the whole way, I was eternally grateful that she didn't try to make small talk instead she just turned on the radio station and began listening to the different programs and music that played.

Miles of an endless dust road and wilderness slowly began to fade away till I couldn't see much anymore, darkness blanketed us as nightfall arrived, I was praying that we were close, I was fatigued and I knew I wasn't the only one. A few minutes later I heard my aunt blow a sigh which sounded much like one of relief, It was then I felt the car turn into a small tarred road and many lights came in sight, it seemed like we had finally reached our destination.

We passed by a large welcome sign that was engraved on a large stone structure, 'Sunnyside Creek' it read, I was yet to see the sunny side of this town that stood in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see much in the dark other than multiple lights, there weren't many cars on the road and it was only 10 pm. The night was still young, at least from where I came from.

A few minutes later we turned into a little driveway towards a small two-storey house. All, the lights were off so I didn't see much other than a nice paved pathway with some flower pots on the sides. Aunt Lorraine had a weird thing for flowers, so this definitely had to be her house.

We both got out of the car and proceeded to manhandle our luggage, I hadn't packed much not that I had much left anyway. Mostly a few clothes that I had left which all fit into a small suitcase and a toiletry bag, a trip to the mall had been assured by my aunt once we settled.

"Welcome to my humble home."
Lorraine said after fumbling the keys and pushing the door open. She dropped her bag on the floor before switching on the lights of a small passage that led to an open kitchen area that overlooked the lounging area, it was a beautiful house, lacked a bit of personality other than the flowers but beautiful either way. Her kitchen was absolutely lovely, everything from the counters to the sink look sparkling new, I doubted she used the space very much since she was big on eating out.

The lounging area was also very neat, a huge flat-screen TV was on the wall, a large wooden table in the centre with neatly organized magazines and remotes, there were two large black couches and an armchair of a similar colour and of course, there were flower pots in every corner of the room. I just stood at the entrance taking in my new home, I knew my aunt had lived alone most of her life, jumping from one country to the next, this was her house but she barely lived here. I let out a heavy sigh as realization dawned on me that I had disrupted her life, she had to take on the responsibility she didn't sign up for, neither one of us had been prepared for this huge change to our lives but here we were.

I had been so caught up in my train of thinking that I hadn't heard when the front door locked, my aunt dropped her bags as she hung the keys of the house and car on a small key holder that was nailed into the wall.

"Now, let's get you settled in. I'm sure you'll get accustomed to the house, it is isn't very big."
She told me as she led me towards a staircase on the other side of the house. I had noticed the bottom floor just had the kitchen, lounging area, a laundry room and a dining area which was connected to a glass sliding door overlooking the backyard, the space was not very large but It was elegant.

We made our way upstairs where I was shown a small study, the master bedroom and finally my room, like every other room in the house, it was just as untouched and neat. There was a bed with a navy blue spread with matching pillows and curtains, a wooden dresser stood at the opposite end of the room with a little leather-covered stool under it. I stepped in a bit further and there was also a small empty closet, next to it was a half-open door leading into an en-suite bathroom.

"I hope you like it. Since this was a bit unexpected I didn't get a chance to fix it up for you. But I'm hoping you'll make it homey." Aunt Lorraine said from the door.

She watched me as I looked around, this was new for both of us and I know she wanted to make sure I was comfortable and I was grateful. This was obviously very different from my room back at Amanda's house and that didn't bother me, I wanted to reassure her of that. We both had delt with a lot over the last year, I was just happy to be here.

"It's very lovely, thank you." I smiled at her and moved to drop my bag on the bed.

"Okay then. I will leave you to familiarize yourself with your room. If you're hungry I can cook up something in the kitchen and tomorrow one of my friend's son will come over and give you a little tour of the town, sounds good?"

"Yeah, that's fine. And I'm not hungry, don't bother yourself."

"Goodnight then." The moment she closed the door, I dropped on the bed and pulled my knees to my head. It had been a long year and I felt like I could finally breathe again.

So much had happened in the past year and I was glad to have left it all behind. There was still that ache in my chest, the ache that longed for my parents, the ache that reminded me how i had abandoned them. But I just couldn't put that brave face for people anymore, i couldn't pretend that everything wasn't falling apart. I should've felt like a coward for running away but I felt brave, for wanting a fresh start, in a town that didn't know me, didn't know my background or the tragedy behind me.

Here I could start anew. Carry my parents in my heart and forget the past.

With that last thought, I gave deep sigh and climbed on the bed before sleep consumed me

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WELCOME! to the All That Glitters Series...

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