~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DYLAN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can't believe you didn't tell me." I mutter, pressing a bag of ice against the back of my head.
He starts up the engine and the car rolls out of the driveway.
"I didn't know you would just drop everything and come here like that. Dylan, the whole school was worried about you!" My father scorns, still showing absolutly no guilt for what he's done here.
"Oh yeah, all those stuck up bastards," I roll my eyes, "And you wonder why I left the second you called me? I couldn't wait to get out of there!"
"Watch your mouth, your sisters in the back." He snaps at me.
"Like she hasn't heard it all before." I glance at Lauren in the rear view mirror. She's sitting quietly like the sweet little angel she is.
"That was completely irresponsible of you. No one knew where you were. What if something had happened to you?" He says.
"You sound like the principal at Denham, what the hell happened to my dad? When I was five I used to go play on the street, you didn't know where I was then either?"
"Dylan!"
"What dad? You're overreacting like crazy about this! Since when have you kept track of where I spend every single minute of my life?"
"It's different when you try to cross the country!"
"Well maybe you shouldn't have put me in that stupid school in the first place!" I hiss.
"You think I had a choice?" He practically shouts.
"Oh, like Denham was the only scho-" I stop.
I can feel my eyes tearing up. Great, now he's gonna make me cry in front of Lauren. I say nothing. Even though I'm thinking of about a million ways to combat that argument. I just glare at him while my face cools down.
"I don't know Dylan, between this stunt and the way you acted on the phone last night-" He starts into it again
"I knew you were holding something back on the phone! Oh, and thanks for not telling me you'd moved out already. I probably have a concussion."
"What's that?" a quiet voice asks from the back.
"Nothing, Lauren." My dad says, calmly.
"God" I hiss under my breath as I feel the back of my head. I pull my hand in front of my face, looking at the thin smear of blood on my fingers.
"What happened Dill?" asks Lauren.
I turn around and smile at her.
"I tried to go into our house, but there was already sombody living there. She thought I was trying to rob her or something," I explain.
"So she hit you on the head?" Lauren asks.
I nod. "With a hard, metal pan" I draw out each word, hoping my dad is listening.
Lauren makes a pained face. She's so cute. you can see her mind working as she tries to imagine what it would feel like.
I turn to face the front window as we merge onto the highway. This is going to be a long drive.
Day turns to night as the sun sets slowley on the horizon. I havent said a word this whole time. I couldn't even tell you what I was thinking about. I can't wait untill we get to our new house. Tomorrow I will finally be back where I belong. By the ocean. My one and only love. I lean my head against the side window. My eyes are heavy. I let them fall as the sky darkens
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When I open my eyes, I forget where I am. I quickly realize that we are still in the car. I stretch, yawn, and look over at my father.
"Were we driving all night?" I ask, tired.
I look out my window. The sun is beating down and everything looks warm. We drive on a gravel road. Every few seconds, little pebbles spin up in the tires and hit the side of the car, as we crawl up a large but gradual hill. Farmer's fields stretch for miles on either side of us, with tall bright green grass dancing in the wind like waves on the ocean.
"Are we close?" I ask as I roll down my window. The cool, fresh air blows in and gently rustles my hair.
"Sh, your sister's still asleep." he says softly.
I look back at Lauren. Her head is flopped to the side, her eyes closed.
"We're only half an hour away now." my dad replys.
I glance at the clock in the car. It's ten in the morning. As we reach the top of the hill I can finally see the view I had anticipated. We are still miles away but the dark blue ocean feels close enough to touch.
As we get closer, the roads leading to the house become engulfed in thick woods. Tall, moss covered pine trees stretch into the sky above, letting almost no sunlight through. Every once in a while we pass one or two old, cottage looking houses, each one overgrown and encompassed in greenery. The truck shakes as we motor over an uneven stretch of road. We round a corner. This turn brings us into a brighter area. A grey squirrel dashes across the road in front of us. I looked out my window as we pass a swamp. Shallow dark green water sits stagnant. Fallen trees with bare branches hang desultorily above the water. A few cat tails shoot up by the side of the road. We drive on.
Soon the forest is thinning and between the gaps in trees I can catch a glance of the nearing ocean. We drive a while by the shore
We turn onto a long baren dirt road.
After a few minutes, the car stopps. I look up at the house we're parked in front of, then back at my father.
"No way, this is it?" I ask.
He opened his door and gets out of the car. So do I. My glare is fixed on the house in front of me. I shake my head in disbelief.
Lauren hops out of the back seat. We follow dad up a stone path to the doorway.
The rotting wooden door swings open with a screech. I look back at my dad, Lauren stands behind me clinging to my shirt. Saying that the house is "old" would be an understatement. The room we step into has stone floors. It's small, unlit and has an eerie feel. There is just a small window facing the front yard. The glass is shattered. The only sign that there was once life here is some peeling Victorian wallpaper remnants on the wall opposite the window.
My eyes dart to my father, "dare we go on?" I sneer.
He shoulders past me, through the little doorway and into the next room. I look down at Lauren who is now clutching my right hand tightly between both of hers. She is five years old. Her big brown eyes stare up at me in fright. I pick her up and she wraps her arms around my neck. Honestly, the thought of living here scares me a little too.
I proceed into the kitchen, which thankfully looks much more modern. There's a gas stove and even a fridge. So I guess some previous owner got electricity in.
There's a round kitchen table with two chairs next to a large window. Lauren slips down. She walks around the kitchen and pulls out a few drawers.
I go to look at the fridge and can't help noticing there are dishes in the sink. That's odd. Someone must have been here. Recently.
We continue the tour, into the hallway and up the stairs. Each one creaks as I step on it, like it's ready to give way beneath my feet.
Upstairs there are three rooms. Each with a closed door. I pick one, the middle one, and turn the round brass handle. It opens with a click. The door swings out revealing a well-lit, empty bedroom. The walls are a dull grey. There is an old wooden floor. As I walk in, I can see through a few gaps in the flooring, down to the kitchen. It's a little frightening knowing that these ancient boards of pliewood are the only thing keeping us up.
"We'll have to put a rug over that" says dad, starring through a particularly large slit.
Lauren is still in the doorway peering in. I come out and try another door. This one opens into a bigger room. The first thing I notice when I walk in is how new the furniture looks. There's a bed, a mirror, blinds on the windows. But no dust on anything. The room is long. It stretches from one side of the house to the other. There's a window on each side.
The floor is the same but there's a layer under it. You can't see down into the rest of the house.
I go into the last room. Dad is already there. It's empty too. Slightly larger than the first room.
"Well..." I start off.
"Wait, let's go see the backyard" says dad. He leads the way back down the stairs and out the back door.
I step down onto the sand. A white beach stretches from the back door right up to our own little piece of ocean. Lauren runs down to the shoreline, giggling. I walk closer. The water is so clear and blue. Small waves lap up quietly on the shore. The sun is high and the little beach looks like paradise.
Standing from right here the house doesn't seem so bad. If this is the view from my window, if I can step out my back door and be on vacation, I think I could live with it. I think I could live here.