Life Isn't What It Use To Be

Summer is near and Mysteri has the chance to escape her past and go towards a new future, the only thing stopping her is 1000 hours of community service and her coworker Riley Valor

Chapter 2

 

It was quiet when I awoke. The sun peeked through holes in my curtain, lighting up the dark attic I called my bedroom. I reached over to my bead side table (my desk) and grabbed my glasses.  I slipped out of my bed and shuddered upon touching the cold floor. I walked slowly down the stairs to the first landing. It was again, quiet. Too quiet.

“Hello, is anyone here?” I continued to walk down the hall way until I came to the last set of stairs. I could now hear snickers and giggles coming from the kitchen. I finally got down the stairs when I heard,

“she’s here everyone hide.” I rolled my eyes and walked toward the kitchen and pushed opened the swinging door.

“SURPRISE!” My eyes really opened when they turned the lights on.

“Too bright… can’t see a thing-” Two very large arms squeezed around my waist from behind and made me scream in surprise.

“Tyler let go of me, I can’t breathe.”  Tyler gently placed me on the ground and steeped in front of me. He was really tall standing next to Rose. She was about 5’1 and he was about 6’2. Tyler had just finished his fourth year in University after getting a scholarship for playing soccer. He was a great student and was only taken care of by Rose for one year before heading off. When growing up together we were closer than two peas in a pod. He was always the Prince, and I the Princess. He was the super hero and I was his side kick and ect. You couldn’t break us apart with a crowbar. That was until he went to University. I tied my hair up in a high ponytail with a hair tie I had kept on my wrist from before going to bed. Tyler hadn’t changed that much. His eyes were still navy blue, and his hair was still sandy blond.  He had the cutest dimples this side of North America and an air of age about him, like his mind was advanced by twenty years.  I smiled at him and gave a nice, normal hug. Stephanie started to sing,

“Tyler, and Mystery sitting in a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G first comes love, then comes marriage, then-”

“What time is it.” Stephanie stopped singing.

“It’s the afternoon. You sleep like the dead. I heard Tyler say you looked cute.” A deep blush escaped my grasp and crept over my face.

“That’s not creepy at all who are you Edward Cullen?” Everyone broke out into a laugh.

“M’lady Mystery is correct that is completely barbaric to watch an unmarried woman in her sleep.” Jeremy was speaking in a nice British tone.  Tyler laughed and I couldn’t help but blush. He seemed to have grown so much.

“How come you’re here? I thought you didn’t get off till tomorrow?”

“What and miss you leaving I don’t think so.” Truth be told he was actually five years older than me making him 21, and WAY out of my league. After all how many couples do you know of that involve a 21 year old guy and a 16 year old girl still in high school. Though Stephanie sure didn’t have her doubts about us. I sat down at the dining table.

“So what’s with the surprise party?” Everyone gave a sorrowful look. Jeremy was the only one who spoke.

“We’ll miss you Mystery. We don’t want you to leave us for 2 whole months, you might find a better man then me.” I smiled and bent over so that I was eye level with him.

“I promise that I won’t find a better gentleman then you at the end of the summer.” He let a monstrous grin slide across his face. After getting settled Tyler helped me finish packing and took my bags down to the front door, for when we had to leave to go meet the guy picking me up. We had eaten a large picnic in the field behind the mansion and we listened to Tyler talk about University, his new life, and a girlfriend he had met while on a class trip to the South. Rose had already dropped off the sheet so the Riley person would be picking me up at 5 in the afternoon. It was now 4:30pm and we heading over to the school, well Tyler, Rose and I were. Rose was having a heart attack as she drove the bright Orange Ford Explorer down the road toward the school. I watched the scenery go by as Tyler and Rose chatted it up. I wondered if I would miss this town. Nope couldn’t picture me missing it. The family yes, not so much the town, people, and school though. The car came to a stop and I got out.  I took out my guitar and then my small suit case and heaved my backpack on.

“Did you pack everything, your toothbrush, toothpaste, did you pack any pads?” I nodded shyly. “What about your contact lens?”

“I don’t like wearing them,” I whined. Rose shook her head and packed the contacts  anyway. You’ll need them when working near the water.” I shuddered, I hated the water, it was so wet… Two bright head lights shone on Tyler’s face and was soon followed by a very loud honk.

“I guess well see you in two months.” Rose hugged me tightly and stepped back.

“Guess I’ll see you too.”

“Yea” Tyler put hand on my shoulder and bent down. His lips touched my forehead and he backed away.

“Don’t do anything stupid kid.” I nodded

We both went quiet, all except for the sound the cars engine.

“Ok I guess I’ll see you later.” I started to turn toward the car.

“Wait!” I turned, half expecting Tyler to run towards me like a scene from one of my romance novels.

“Mysteri, I want you to know that-“

“HONK” the sound drowned out all of Tyler’s words. I turned sharply to glare at the driver. The car door opened, and before I knew what I was doing I walked up and slapped the face of the person who got out, and immediately regretted it. My heart slowed, not at the fact of actually hitting someone but of the fact of who I hit.

He rubbed his face.

“I’m surprised, most people don’t catch me off guard, you look more like a person who talks, not use’s violence.”  His eyes were the first thing any person would notice. They were a brilliant shade of green with golden flecks that shone in the afternoon sun. His hair was tousled, like bed head, and was a dark chocolate brown. His body wasn’t as muscular as Tyler’s, not by a long shot, but it was lean, like he did a lot of swimming.

“I-I’m sorry I couldn’t, I just-.” I paused and tried to form words but I was at such a loss of them, I looked down out of shame.

“Lets just go.” I looked back at Rose then at Tyler. He just stared and smiled like a kid. I loaded my stuff into the back, and got into the passenger side. I looked out my window as Riley got in and drove off.

It was silent for a very long time.

“So, your name is Mysteri right?” I kept my eyes on the passing scenery.

“Yea”

“Wow you’re depressing, did that guy dump you or something?”

I rolled my eyes and turned to face the windshield.

“No, and why are you so irritating? It doesn’t matter anyway; he’ll only see me as a kid.” I mumbled the last bit to myself.

“Why is that?”

I looked at him from the corner of my eye.

“Why is what?” I pretended not to know what he was talking about.

“Why won’t he see you more than a kid?” So much for that.

“Because, that’s all I’ve ever been, the little girl that follows him around pulling pranks and getting in trouble with him.” My words drifted off into the memories they brought back. Then silence returned with a vengeance for 5 whole hours.

 

By the time we got to the docks the sun was just setting over the lake front. The scene was a picture perfect.

“I think you’ll really like it here, the scenery is much better than any town I’ve ever been to.” I nodded in agreement. I followed Riley to a tavern sitting on the water on stilts.

“It’s against regulations to be on the water at night without headlights, which need to be replaced on the boat, so were staying here for the night. We’ll get some food, rest, and wake up nice and early tomorrow.”

“Fair enough” We walked in and I was immediately surrounded by a strange welcoming warmth. There was a desk in front of us where a Mexican looking girl stood reading a magazine, with her cleavage for the entire world to see, she looked about Tyler’s age, had long black hair, and was wearing a tight purple V-neck and jeans that rode low on her. She looked up and smiled as soon as she saw Riley.

“One room two queens please Pheara.”

“Sure sweetie. You don’t want just one king, for you and your girly frien-” She looked over at me and lowered her voice, raised her eyebrows,

“Never mind two queens it is.” She checked us in on Riley’s credit card (He claimed it was a company card) and showed us to our room.

“The showers are down the hall and we have a back deck as the dining area. See you around you two. Oh and girly, I wouldn’t use shower five if I were you, gets backed up all too often. See you tomorrow.” She winked at Riley, smiled at me and sashayed down the hall, turned and went out of sight.

“I guess we can go get cleaned up, and met back at the dining area” His tone was very nonchalant as if he was use to being flirted with, which with his looks I didn’t doubt.

“Ok.”

   I left my stuff in the room, all except for the bathing essentials and my glasses case. I took a nice, long, hot, shower, (30 minutes is long when you live in a house full of 37 other kids) and took my time drying my hair. It finally dried out wavy and healthy looking; thank the inventors of conditioner and brushes. I put on my contacts and I slipped on my sweat pants and t-shirt (sports bra under it for sleeping) and walked briskly to two doors leading outside. The moon was full and the stars shone brighter then I’d ever seen them.

I gaped at the beauty of it all. The back deck had a few tables littering around, and random people sitting and eating. There was music in the background playing softly. A few people were swaying to the soft pulsing beat on an open dance floor. “Wow it’s gorgeous”

“Yea it’s even better on the island, especially when it’s just me and a bonfire”

 I jumped from the sound of his voice and turned to stare at Riley.

“Holy, you just scared me half to death.”

“Sorry. What happened to your glasses?” His apology didn’t seem sincere but his question was.

“Oh, I have to wear contacts at night, so I can see during the next day without my glasses getting in the way.”

He nodded his head to show he was listening and stared past me at the lake expanding beyond the deck.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to just float on your back and drift off?”

I turned and followed his gaze to the lake. The water looked calm, and deadly.

“No, I hate the water, I can’t swim.” My comment seemed to startle him because he averted his gaze and stared at me.

“Why do you hate the water? Is it just because you can’t swim.”

“I had some troublesome things happen to me when I was a little girl while in the water, and I don’t feel comfortable being in it for to long.” I ended the current conversation by heading over to an empty table closest to the lake. Riley followed and sat across from me, still staring at the lake.

“So why kinds of things am I supposed to do at the lodge?”

The question seemed to drag him from his daydream long enough to answer. He turned and shrugged.

“What ever Ms. Holly tells you to I guess. Mainly just cleaning, cooking, and preparing things the guests need. Just to forewarn you, the people coming-”

“Are a bunch of cheerleaders, I know I read the pamphlet and everything before coming. I dealt with them on a regular basis at school. Just tell me their a bunch of really nice people.” I said with a sigh, my school had the bitchy class of cheerleaders.

“Most of them are nice and fun to be around which makes working a lot easier, but a few are, how should I say it. Difficult.”

There went having a good time.

“Great.” My tone was completely sarcaststic.

“After a while you learn to ignore it.” His tone was reassuring but I didn’t buy it.

 

Author's Note

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