The halls of the large house I've called home seemed to tower over me, like an unwanted fate looming over your head. The dark tiled floor seemed like thin ice and it was going to break if I stepped to heavily.
I picked up the backpack at my feet, stared around the living room once more, which held a couch nearly twice as tall as I, and I am a fairly tall person, then a large oversized chair beside it. A coffee tabled stretched out before our flat screen TV. Yeah, you could call my family rich. With mum a nurse and Mark a firefighter, we get along pretty well.
I stepped out onto the large porch and was greeted by the 5 o'clock morning breeze. It was always nice in fall here in New Mexico. But, the rest of the year was annoying.
Over the railing, I saw Mark haul my, rather light, trunk into the back seat of my mum's small Ford Fiesta parked in the driveway. I trotted down the steps and walked over to the car.
Mark shut the door after shoving the trunk in. He huffed and walked off to go inside.
I went over to the passenger's door, yanked open the door and tossed my backpack on the floor where my feet will go.
"Zanna!" my mum's hysterical voice erupted the quiet morning.
I turned and found her running over to me.
My mum had always been the calm, not-really-there type of person. I've never seen her cry. Well, except that one time that came home from football when I was all beaten up because we didn't use pads, and we got into a fight at the end. I was bleeding everywhere. She didn't really like that.
She wrapped me tightly in her arms.
"Be careful. Make sure you visit Ryan as well. I suspect he's a bit lonely," she whispered when her tears had subsided.
I'm not exactly sure why she'd want me to visit Ryan, my older brother. He does live down in England. And I'll be living Stonehaven, just a bit south of Aberdeen. Yeah, I'll be living in Scotland. And driving down to Carlisle will be about 4 hours.
"Mum, he lives a few hours away from us. It'd be a day trip," I told her, breaking away from her smothering hug.
"Just visit him someday. You know how close you guys were," she pulled back. She patted my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
Mum looks like me in some ways. Like that wavy black hair, and the dark, dark brown eyes, and the thin lips. I get my pale skin and nose from my dad, John.
"Alright, alright," I agreed.
"Hey, hey. Alright, she's going to miss her flight soon. Let's get going," Mark came back, keys in his hand.
I glanced at my mum before I walked around the car and shut myself into the passenger's seat.
"Bye, Mark." I heard Mum say to my step-dad.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. He's never been a morning person.
He got in, started the car, and drove off, leaving Mum in the driveway.
"You're going to write, right? Sophie would go mad if she never heard from you," he said, a huge yawn interrupting most of his words.
"Yeah, I will. Promise." I stared out my window, watching the neighborhood flash by. I was going to miss New Mexico. As hot as it is during the summer and spring, it's still a lovely start. Hideous, but lovely. Mornings and evenings were the best.
"Tell Ryan I said hi," Mark glanced over at me, "when you see him, that is. I haven't seen him since the wedding."
"Yeah. I don't start school until October 21. I have a week to prepare. Isabelle gave me a list of everything I'd need." Isabelle was my teacher. She'd come down from Aberdeen to teach me. John, my dad, hadn't found a high school for me. Or, he just didn't try.
"Tell us how the first lesson went. I'm curious how home schooling works."
The rest of the drive went silently. We both ran out of subjects to talk about, so we just stayed quiet.
We reached the Albuquerque International Airport soon enough and we made our ways up to the doors.
That's where I said my goodbyes, set my promises of writing, got my things, and watched life as I knew if drive off.
I slung my backpack on my back, picked up my trunk, and checked in. I handed off my trunk to the guys to put it in the plane, and weaved my way to the security check.
It took me a little while to find the gate after I went through security. Of course, the overflow of foreign people didn't really help.
Once I got to my gate, most of the seats were full. Sighing, I took the closest seat, which was next to a girl about my age. She was reading a rather thick book, so she wouldn't decide to be friendly.
"Hey."
Scratch that.
I glanced over at her: she was turned slightly in her seat, her piercing green eyes turned on me. I rolled my eyes, and turned a bit to face her as well.
"Hello," I said through gritted teeth. I never was the friendly kind of person. Strangers just tick me off.
"What is in Edinburgh that interests you?" She asked. This girl had pale skin and lengthy black hair that was straight as a ruler. The girl shirt she was wearing really made her eyes more piercing, with it in your peripheral vision.
"My dad lives near it. He said I should get out of the U.S. to live up there. He promised it was great," I sighed. I just think John was rather lonely, with Ryan down in England anyway.
John had always annoyed me, with his constant drinking and partying. Mum made him stop if he wanted me up there. I also heard her over the phone say that Ryan had beaten sense into him.
Literally.
"Oh. That's nice. So, what's your name?"
Should I tell her? "Zanna," my name rolls off my tongue before I decide whether to or not.
"Lovely. I'm Kat."
"First Class may board now," a female voice bounded over my head.
I stood up, pulled out my ticket, and made my way up to the counter.
I gave the lady the ticket, she tore a part off, then handed it back. I walked down the little hall and stepped onto the plane at the end.
I saved up extra for first class because I've always hated sitting with the lazy bums that sleep on your shoulder if you're not careful enough. Or the kind that have no respect for personal space.
I took my seat after quickly finding it, and shoved my bag beneath the seat in front of me.
Settling back into the comfort of the seat, I watched the other people file in. A girl that had nearly a light grey skin color my attention as she took her seat a few behind me. She had a light blonde hair color and crystal clear blue eyes. Something about her seemed wrong. She looked deathly sick, but didn't seem it as she twirled her way down the aisle.
A heavy feeling sunk into my stomach as I turned back to face the normal way.
The seat next to me shook as someone took their seat. I glanced over and found the girl whom I was speaking to earlier settle into her position.
Lovely.
"Oh! Hey!" she giggled, "Funny, aye?"
Yes, yes, so funny.
"Yeah, sure," I mumbled, turning away to look out the window.
Once the rest of people boarded, and the plane began moving, I fell into sleep.
The ride seemed so short when you are sleeping through most of it. When I was awake, I was forced to play cards with Kat. She had a very childish, yet brilliant, mind. After the few games we played, I pretended to fall asleep.
"Welcome to Edinburgh, Scotland," a voice boomed over the speakers.
The plane skidded to a halt at the gate and I got off with Kat still at my heels. She was like a little stray puppy with absolutely no one to go to.
A light rain fell when I got off. I began walking in a random direction, planning to find this one my own, but Kat grabbed my arm.
"This way," she said, dragging me along through the crowd of people.
We made our way to a small place where there was a large crowd of people waiting. I immediately picked out John, who was towering over everyone by at least a half of a foot. He is where I got my height from.
Beside him, I found Ryan leaning against the wall.
I tore my arm from Kat, and began trotting faster and faster to reach them. I wasn't necessarily happy to see John {I still remember the unfriendly visit he last had at our house.}. But, I was excited to see Ryan.
"Hey, kid," he said as he gathered me in a hug, and I caught the look he gave John as he let me go.
John gave me an awkward one armed hug and then pushed through the crowd, implying that we were to follow.
"So, how was the ride?" Ryan asked as we started after him.
"Long. I sat by this girl who wouldn't stop bothering me. It wasn't the best."
"Was it that girl that you were with a few minutes ago?"
"Yeah," I pushed a guy out of my way as he purposely moved in my way.
"Ah. That was Kat Rowe. Yeah. I know her older brother. He's an old buddy," he stuck his hands in his pocket as we descended the stairs to baggage claim.
"So, you came up from Carlisle to pick me up?"
"Yeah. I figured why not. I had a long lecture at school anyway, I thought I could miss it," he winked.
My brother looked nothing like anyone in our family. He looked so different that a guy mistook him for my boyfriend once, and that did not turn out well. He had dark brown hair that just reached his jaw line, and he usually had it in a Mohawk, when he had time. He had blue eyes and tan skin. He was only a foot taller than I.
John was standing by the circular belt as the luggage came about.
I trotted over, stood beside John, and stared intently on the bags.
Soon enough, my trunk came along. I yanked it off and followed John out the doors into the garage.
"Want me to get that?" Ryan asked, pointing down at the trunk.
"You want to?" I handed it off to him, and he snorted.
"Geez, do you even have anything in here?"
Oh, yeah. He benches every day, so he's pretty muscular.
"Yes, I do," I rolled my eyes.
"Is it alright if we stop at Woodside? I'm starving," Ryan asked John when we reached the battered Chevy.
"I told you to have breakfast before we left," John scorned and Ryan flinched.
"Well, I was a little excited to see my little sister," he punched me, "so I forgot to eat."
"Alright," John sighed, "Just get in and we'll go."
I took a window in the back seat, for Ryan took the passenger seat.
The truck was musty inside. I set my backpack on the seat beside me and stared out the window as we sped out of the parking lot.
After we finished eating at Woodside, we finally went home.
He lived on the edges of Stonehaven, so there were no neighbors around.
John still lived the old house he's lived in for the past few years. It was a grey bricked house. It was two stories, by the obvious height. The windows had outside panes, and those were painted a black that matched the ebony roof. The door was a dark oak.
He parked in the driveway and got out.
Grabbing my backpack, I jumped out and slowly made my way to the front door.
A little way down, across the street, there was a forest. Hanging above me was a light grey sky that was drizzling a very light rain.
I walked inside.
The living room was first to be walked into.
The walls were an earthy brown. Black leather couches were sitting in the middle of the room, in front of a rather large TV. For a living room, it was fairly small.
"To your right are the stairs. Go up and past the bathroom and at the end of the hall, your room is to the right. The bathroom is the second room when you go up the stairs and to your left," John said as he pushed past me and threw himself on the couch.
"Alright," I mumbled and lightly jumped up the stairs.
The hall was dim as the sun was still rising slowly, but through the clouds it was hazy. It was rather long, but felt as though it was a forever long walk.
There were a few rooms upstairs, all the doors shut. I wondered what would be inside. Are they just guest rooms?
My room had the door creaked open.
The walls were a dark purple and shelves were nailed against them here and there. A, full size, bed was close to the large window that was in a little nook. Right next to where I came in, there was a white desk that had a small bulletin board hanging up. On the wall opposite of the window, there was a closet.
I set my backpack down on the wooden floor and went back downstairs to get my trunk.
Loud snoring filled the room. John was sleeping on the couch and Ryan half on and half off on the chair.
My trunk was sitting in the middle of the floor. I picked it up and dragged it back up to my room.
I flung it on the bed, which already had sheets on it, and unlocked it. My clothes were stacked nice and neat all inside. A few of my school binders were tucked inside the net, along with a few notebooks. In the net above that, I had my straightener and curler, even though I didn't really use it that often.
I unpacked all my clothes and hung them on hangers that were on a pole that ran horizontally across. I set my pants beneath that.
After I had finished that, I tossed my trunk in there, shut it and fell onto my bed.
I was asleep within seconds of closing my eyes.
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