"OMG Ashie! Look at the house!" my best friend Stacey exclaimed.
"Stace, did you just say OMG? Nobody says that now! How many times do I have to tell you that? It's so-NOT-cool!" I huffed at my best friend. She just rolled her eyes at me. I think she's too taken aback by the mansion in front of us.
"That is the one, isn't it, Julie?" she said to my mother who was in the front seat and shoved my little brother Sam by his shoulder to let her face make it's way ahead in between the front seats of our BMW X7 where my Mom and Dad were seated.
Me. Ashley Summers. A 17 year old normal teenager. Skinny, with a decent height, waist length blonde hair and honey skin.
Stacey Stone. My childhood best friend who is more than a sister to me. She's tall and has a fairer complexion than mine and has the weirdest, friendliest and the most rocking personalities one single person could contain.
Julie. My mother. A woman in her early forties with a slender and elegant body and the person I hate being around.
Peter. My dad. Talking isn't his thing really. But what I see prominent in him is that he has a very practical and positive train of thoughts and he never lets anyone around him feel low about the hardships one faces in life. He would do something magical to make things work. He's more of an Actions-Speak-Louder-Than-Words kind of a person.
And Sam. My 11 year old little sweetheart. He's a good kid, naughty and mischievous just like other boys his age but with a great mind and an even better sense of humour.
We moved out of Washington to Oregon for mine and Stacey's high school studies. After my grandfather passed away seven months back, he left his mansion to his only son, my Dad, and my parents made the decision of moving to Oregon as it needed to be looked after. So as soon as we finished our junior high school, Dad made all the arrangements of shifting.
Nicole, Stacey's mother will be joining us after a week as she had some paper work to be taken care of. Nicole and Stacey have been living with us like a family after Stacey's father cheated on her mother and walked away with some other chick six years ago. I felt really bad for Stacey had to go through a lot of drama back then at such a tender age. She was very close to her Dad and even he loved her like a Princess but wonder what changed the man's heart that he became strong enough to leave his wife and his little girl for a bit*h! He had been trying to contact Stacey for the past one year saying that he realised his mistakes and was sorry but Stacey had been like a hard rock ignoring all his calls and texts. She had moved on and was happy now and that was what matters.
So the point is that my best friend stays with me, in the same house. We go to school together in the same car. We walk together, shop together, eat together, sing and dance together and share weird thoughts, make beautiful memories, talk about every little secret, fight with each other, fight for each other, get upset with each other, make up for that, play pranks, make mistakes and love each other like no one else does. But mostly, we enjoy each moment like there's no tomorrow.
"Ashley! Are you sleeping with your eyes open?" I heard Sam speak for the first time in six and a half hours that we were in the car. He was too busy with his iPad playing Angry Birds to notice anything around him. He indulges into things quite deeply and I like that about him.
"No Kiddo," I said and smacked his shoulder lightly.
He playfully pointed his tongue out at me. He can be so cute when he does that.
"Isn't it beautiful Ashie!" Stacey said when the gates opened and our car entered the mansion. We passed the big lawn spread on both the sides with trees and trees all around and circled a large fountain in the centre of the path and made our way towards the entrance.
Mom and Dad stopped to look at us with a genuine warm smile before getting off. I returned the smile, unlocked the doors and hopped out of the car followed by Sam and Stacey. I stretched my hands and legs a bit and went inside through the tall doors only to end up in an even taller living room.
"We're home!" I shouted. My voice echoed in the room and I heard the sound of footsteps rushing from my right.
Beside me, I could hear Stacey giggling at my stupid comment.
A well-dressed short man walked into the room and greeted us, "Welcome welcome! We have been waiting for you to arrive. Please do have a seat," he said and shook hands with my Dad. "Nice to meet you," Dad added and we made ourselves comfortable. Well, in reality I didn't feel at comfort. This wasn't what I was expecting. I mean, I thought we were moving to a house with no one in there and here, we are being greeted affectionately by someone. It felt more like coming to a hotel than our own house. "I'm Mark, the caretaker and here's my crew," he gestured towards where he came from and I saw two men and a lady enter the living room. Mark went and stood by the lady and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Great. First a caretaker and now an entire family!
"This is Sarah, my dear wife. She helps me with looking after the place and any and every other necessary thing."
"Hi Sarah!" my Mom said cheerily and waved her hand at Sarah.
Sarah repeated the gesture.
I looked at the two men and waited for them to introduce themselves. One of them was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. He had a lean frame and looked in his late twenties. He was wearing a red and white lined apron, white hand gloves and a chef hat which made me assume that he must be the cook here.
The other had a well build frame and was wearing an ink blue coloured uniform so I guessed him to be the security or something.
The apron guy was the first to speak and bring me out of my trance of assumptions. "Hi, I'm Henry. I will be your chef and will serve you all the delicacies you desire to have."
Mark let out hearty laugh at this and added, "He graduated from The Institute of Culinary Education, New York as a topper and takes pride in that."
The uniform guy cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I have to be on duty now. I'm Freddie. I'm the security guard and well, I take my work quite seriously. So I'll be heading towards the doors now," he said in a tone that sounded a bit rude to my ears and left the room.
"He's a moody guy you see," Mark added.
"I'm Peter, and this is my wife Julie," my Dad said. "And that's my daughter Ashley," he continued, "her best friend Stacey and our little super hero Sam! Stacey's mother Nicole will be joining us the following week."
"Yes. You told me about them over the phone. But I must say, it's so great to meet you guys personally," Mark said, "By the way, we have made all the arrangements for you here and made sure that you don't fall short of anything. Sarah will show you around the house and lead you to your respective rooms," he smiled affectionately.
Sarah greeted us warmly, "Come along," and we followed her out of the living area. She led us through a passage and towards the elevator.
I remember last time we visited Grandpa's place when Sam was five, that is, six years back, even before Stacey and Nicole joined to stay with us. Many things have changed since then. The entire house looks different. I wonder what Stacey is thinking right now. For her, everything's absolutely new. But as much as I know her she's too happy to be surprised and wondered. She's probably enjoying all the attention and courtesies she is receiving.
We entered the elevator and I sensed that there wasn't enough space for the six for us to fit but we did anyway squeezing each other.
"Usually it's only two people at most using the elevator so it wasn't made too big." Sarah said a bit awkwardly and apologetically.
It was my Mom's turn to take hold of the conversation, "Oh dear! Don't be sorry at all! That's not a problem. In fact, we are so glad with the warm welcome. You all are so sweet and kind to us that things like this can be overlooked. And anyway, how long do we have to be in this elevator! Its just a three-storey mansion!"
I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration and let out a snort.
She just ignored me and looked away. Once we reached the first floor, Sarah went ahead to show us our rooms.
"This one here is the master bedroom for Julie and Peter," she gestured to a door, "and the one on the far end is little Sam's room.
Nicole's room is on the opposite end," she added and pointed towards a door in the corner of the passage we were standing in.
"We thought the teenagers will want their space and so we kept the second floor for them," she turned to my parent's before continuing, "You can help yourselves with the rooms and I assure you total privacy. I'll show the kids their rooms and then we can all have the dinner in about an hour," she looked unsure at my Mom.
"Yeah! That would be great!" my Mom said enthusiastically.
"C'mon girls!" Sarah waved at us.
"Can I join you ladies?" Sam spoke out in his sweet voice. I wondered why and how he'd been so quite till now. But then again, hasn't he always been shy at new places and around new people?
"Samy! When did you become so polite?" Stacey said surprised by my naughty brother's sudden manners.
"Don't call me that! I hate the way it sounds Stacey Wacey!!" Sam charged towards Stacey, probably to hit her or something, when I stepped in between the two. "No time for fights Sam. I'm already very tired and also in no mood to handle you two. Let's just go to our rooms now!"
Sam instantly backed away. Stacey's face fell at this and I sensed she was enjoying this and was not the least tired. I gave her an understanding look to cover up or else she would eat my ears out telling me how I am always the spoiler for her fun.
"Let's go Sarah." I smiled and started walking towards the elevator.
There were three rooms on the second floor. "The right one is Ashley's and the one just opposite to it is Stacey's," Sarah said politely.
"And the one in the corner?" I asked pointing in the direction of the third room.
"That's for you elder brother, .. "
"Garret! Yeah, cool." I finished for Sarah, "And what's on the third floor?"
"The third floor's entirely for entertainment. There's home theatre, an X-Box, a mini bar, a pool table, a collection of amazing books, games and much more. Its basically everything you teens would love when you want to just chill out with friends. Want to take a look?"
"That sound great but, umm, maybe later. I badly need a shower right now!" I say to her and Sarah nodded. I turn towards my room, "See you Stace! And Sam, you should go to your room and freshen up too."
I enter my room and I am so taken away at its beauty. It's quite bigger than my previous room. Duh. There's a large queen sized bed in the centre with taupe bedsheets and a printed duvet. Oh it looks so welcoming! On the right of the bed is a dressing with a little seat. Besides that, there are windows with the view of the back garden where I see a swimming pool and relaxing chairs. On the left is a closet which is huge! And the en-suite door which doesn't even look like one. I wonder why. The opposite side of the bed consists of a study desk, a laptop table, a chest of drawers and a book shelf. The walls are covered with black and mauve wallpaper and there's a TV on the one next to the door. All in all, just the perfect room I could want!
I went in for a quick hot shower and changed into my grey sweatpants and a navy blue tank top pairing it with my comfy black ladybug flip-flops, tied my hair in a loose bun and ran downstairs in the dining room because my stomach was growling in hunger.
Everyone's already present and Henry is serving Mum some bread sticks. I see Stacey's plate is filled with so much food. She sensed my presence and looked at me. I glared at her and my face clearly said 'You don't have to be the pig that you are. There's enough food and it's our house!' She clearly got my message and smiled awkwardly and ran her hand through her perfect brunette hair trying to say 'I know and I'm sorry! It's not like I can put it back now, okay!'
We do this a lot. This looking at one another and not speaking thing. Such a long friendship has made us capable of understanding each other's thoughts even without saying anything. It actually is a skill if you ask me. It has helped us out of many possible deadlock situations in the past.
I waved my hand in a whatever and went to sit on the empty seat next to my Dad.
We had dinner in silence because apparently we were all too tired to be actually conversing. But yeah, everyone was moaning and drooling over the delicious food and boy isn't Henry the most skilled chef ever.
Post dinner, Mum and Dad went to hang out in the garden and sent Sam off to sleep for he had to be attending his first day in the Mt Pleasant Elementary School tomorrow. As for me and Stacey, we decided to check out the third floor.
The moment we exited the elevator and put out our first step on the third floor, we were caught off guard by its mesmerizing décor. It was so much more than the way Sarah put it. There was a home theatre with a huge curved screen and extremely comfortable couches and cushions. Then there was a gaming arena which Sam would definitely love. An X-Box loaded with all action pack games. An enormous billiard table that looked so classic that not being a fan of billiards or rather never once in my life having held the billiards stick, I had this exciting urge to be a pro in the game. What then caught my eye was the bookshelf located in a far corner of the area with a number of bean bags all around. I went over and had this amazing satisfying feeling and I instantly fell in love this side of the floor. I guessed this particular area was purposely kept a bit isolated so that one could enjoy reading without any sort of disturbance and believe me, the purpose is clearly accomplished. I walked to see what books we had there and call it a coincidence or purely the luck to be in my favour, it had a collection of my favourite novels from some great authors. And another thing that I noticed was the books were different from which I had. Meaning, it sort of completed my collection, filled the spaces. They were the ones missing from my library, the ones I wanted to buy since what I would call forever.
"Oh boy! This is super freaking awesome!" I heard Stacey exclaim.
"Now, isn't it?" I grinned and walked in her direction.
Suddenly her phone started ringing and Animals by Maroon 5 roared through the place. She took it out of her back pocket and gleamed looking at the caller ID.
"It's Joey!" she winked at me and walked away to talk to him.
Joey Wilde. Stacey's boyfriend for around three years now. They had been the most talked about couple in the junior high until Joey moved to Oregon few months back. It surprises me how Stacey and Joey survived their long distance relationship. But you see they are too much into one another to be bothered by the miles separating them. And they managed to remain in touch through Skype. Also, on some days when Stacey was desperate enough to be willing to cross oceans to see her boyfriend we would ditch school and ride all the way here to meet that guy. Yeah, we're cool like that. Sometimes even Joey would show up to surprise her. Summing up, they were the cliché couple pulled out directly from a cheesy romance novel. Joey joined the Madison High School then which turns out to be the one for me and Stacey too. My dear best friend seems pretty excited for high school for obvious reasons.
"Ashie!" Stacey calls out for me, "Do you mind if I go to my room? Apparently Joey and I will be taking a bit longer."
"Not a problem Stace! Good night!"
Stacey squealed and blew me a kiss, "'Night Ashie! See you in the morning!"
Being the book lover that I am, I decided to spend some time in solitaire with a classic novel and comfortable couch before going to bed.