Two;

Meeting my aunt at the bus station wasn't nearly as awkward as I had expected it to be.

She was actually really nice, and wore a friendly smile on her weathered face. Being rather small in stature, she had to stand on her tippy toes in order to hug me properly, an action that I chuckled at lightly. Usually, I didn't feel comfortable hugging anyone, let alone a complete stranger, but there was just something about her that made it seem okay. She wore her wavy dark hair in a single braid, plaited to halfway down her back. Turquoise earrings decorated her earlobes, and she wore no makeup on her tan skin. Reading glasses hung low on a golden chain wrapped around her neck. Aunt Rosa was definitely not what I expected a typical northerner to look or act like, but I guess that was a good thing.

We didn't exchange many words during the short walk to her forest green SUV, and that was perfectly fine with me, as I wasn't much for talking.

I rested my head against the frosted glass of the passenger seat window as the vehicle made it's way slowly through the winding roads. The night sky was such an inky black hue that the headlights of the car barely managed to illuminate our path. Vaguely, I sensed that Rosa was glancing at me every now and then, most likely mulling over the idea of starting up a conversation. Inwardly, I hoped she didn't bother with the task. I didn't want to f**k anything up with this lady by letting my sarcasm get the better of me.

"So, Alex."

F**k my life. Seriously.

I grunted in response, not trusting my late night irritability.

"You're really tall, dear. I assume you inherited that from your father's side of the family?"

I wasn't dumb enough to not catch the hidden meaning buried in her inquiry. Rosa was my mother's sister, and had never liked my father much. I remembered my mom telling me that she had refused to attend their wedding, and my father had never forgiven her for the action. Rosa thought that my father was too controlling, and that my mom was throwing her life away at such a young age. She didn't want my mother to inherit the lifestyle their mother had chosen by being married off to a domineering Spanish man that could barely speak English and demanded everything in sight. Now, I wasn't the biggest fan of my parents at that moment, but I knew that my father wasn't a bad man. The fact that he had carted me off to live with Rosa was proof enough. There was nothing but ancient family prejudices echoing in my aunt's current words, and I silently cursed my parents for throwing me in the middle of this.

"Uh, yeah. He's...pretty tall." I answered, banging my head against the window lightly with my words.

I hope she didn't notice that.

Her sudden laugh caught me off guard; I jumped in my seat and ended up hitting my head against the roof of the car. I cursed under my breath and rubbed the sore spot lightly, trying to figure out what the f**k made her do that in the first place.

I looked over in her direction to find her staring at me, no doubt because of the incredulous expression that I'm sure was painted across my features.

"Alex, I was just kidding." She laughed again. "I talked to your dad before you boarded the bus to come here. We worked everything out, and they're even thinking about coming to visit you here during Christmas break. I just wanted to see the look on your face when I said that."

I glared at her darkly in the moonlight for a moment, before bursting out into a fit of laughter. God, this woman's sense of humor was just like mine.

I think I'm going to like living with her.

The rest of the ride back to her house was fairly silent. We exchanged a few short words about the landscape, and how I was feeling. I think she sensed my reluctance to talk a lot, and she kept quiet after that. Thank f*****g god.

I lost track of the time after thirty or so minutes had passed, and just continued to rest my head against the seat and close my eyes. After I had just managed to drift away, hanging feebly onto the fringe of sleep, I felt my left arm being shaken gently, and a soft voice murmuring in my ear. I blinked furiously and swept my large hand across my eyes to wipe away the exhaustion gluing them shut.

"We're home."

I surveyed my surroundings blearily with my aunt's words, trying to ignore the fact that she had just called this place my "home", and craned my neck in order to take all of the scenery in. A rather small, quaint stone cottage sat before me, resting quietly on an acre or so of plush grass. The dark outlines of massive trees could be seen faintly in the distance, hugging the perimeters of Rosa's house almost protectively. There were a few bushes scattered around here and there, but overall not much was to be seen.

"I'm not much of a gardener." Rosa said to me almost apologetically, and I just shrugged vaguely in her direction. The "great outdoors" was never much of my thing, either. "Just wait until you see the inside, though. I find it to be pretty cozy."

I grunted once again in response (I told you I wasn't much of a talker), and followed her slowly through the heavy wooden front door of her modest house. I found myself to be standing at the beginning of a narrow hallway, and my nose was abruptly filled with the scent of lilacs. The air inside was nice and warm; it provided the perfect contrast to the wintry chill coating the crisp air outside. I put my bags down by the front door and followed Rosa down the hallway and up a small staircase, shrugging off the jacket she had lent me in the process. We came to a stop in front of the first door on the right, and she opened it slowly, a loud creak sounding with the action.

"This will be your room, as long as you'd like to stay with me." She smiled as she spoke, opening her small arms into a wide arc, gesturing around the space enthusiastically.

I looked around the small space, taking in what was going to be my new home for the time being. The walls were bare and white, and the floor was hardwood. There was a circular red carpet covering a large space directly by the twin bed resting in the corner of the room. I was pleased to see a television sitting on a mahogany dresser, and a mirror was propped up against the wall. It was fairly sterile, but it would do.

"I'll go get your bags while you settle in, okay?"

I nodded my head slowly and took a seat on the springy mattress as I waited for her to return.

Living in Rhode Island was definitely going to be a different experience, and I was not looking forward to starting school the next Monday. Thankfully I would have the weekend to explore the town a little bit, and to get familiar with my new surroundings before I had to worry about my "priceless" education. A flare of resentment shot down my spine with that thought; my f*****g education was the whole reason I was stuck in this stupid town. I missed California already. The bright, steady glow of the sun, walking the streets of Chino at night and just daring anyone to start s**t with me, hanging out at he corner store with all of my friends on the weekends, goofing off and acting stupid as f**k. I knew that life here was going to be extremely different, and I would be lucky to find even one friend in this stringent atmosphere.

My brooding was interrupted by Rosa shuffling into the room once more, this time lugging my black duffel bag behind her. I stood up to assist her, and she shooed me away immediately.

"Don't be silly, Alex. You're my guest."

I rolled my brown eyes at her words, scoffing slightly as I took a seat on the bed once more. Rosa flitted about the room like an ancient butterfly, fixing this and that and sighing in contentment at her handiwork.

"Well, I guess I'll let you get to sleep, then."

I nodded at her, suddenly too exhausted to manage even a brief "thanks." She closed the door tightly behind her, and I settled in under the covers of my new bed. Sleep overtook me soon enough, and I found myself drifting off to the vividly colored dreams of my childhood home.

I'll miss you, Chino.

Reviews

[chaffy]

I would suck to be where he is... my parents sending me off to somewhere else that i dont even know... on my BRITHDAY too.. well, a kinda good thing i dont have them.. I like where the story is going and i hope you keep writing! :) good job