Chapter 1: A real wild child

I twisted the volume knob on the control panel of my white pickup truck, blasting Iggy Pop vibes through the windows and all around the empty road. It almost felt rebellious to play “Real Wild Child” in a so very un-wild town. Nope. Plain old Earltown. A bakery, an elementary school, a high school, Foodland, a bookstore and just the odd stores around town that aren’t too necessary. In Earltown, we only had what we needed. Simple, small Earltown.
“Well, I’m just out of school. Like I’m really cool, cool, cool.” Zoe hummed softly in the passenger seat, watching the road in the corner of her eye.
“Gotta dance like a fool, got the message that I got to be a wild one... Ooh, yeah, I’m a wild one.” I joined in softly, smiling toothily as I held the steering wheel firmly. I pressed down on the gas pedal and the truck rattled quickly along the gravel road. Little stones banged the bottom of my truck rhythmically. A loud bang on the passenger side door forced me to lose control and I stomped on the brakes.
“Oh my god!” Zoe cried, as we came to a screeching hault in the middle of the road. I swung open my car door and hurried to Zoe’s side of the truck. My mouth folded into a frown as I peered upon the Summers’ mailbox smashed onto the road. I ran back to my side and climbed into the front seat. My eyes bulged in disbelief.
“Go, go!” Zoe yelled, and giggles broke through her angry tone. She covered her mouth as she laughed and I slammed on the gas pedal. We went speeding up the hill just after the Summers’ house.
“I’m a real wild child!” I sang loudly out the open car window. I glanced over at Zoe. Her soft pink tank top hung off her body like a cloth, and I was almost a little jealous. One year? One year she had to wait. Totally flat-chested, and then she grows these huge melons. What the hell. I had to wait three years. Three agonizing, long years to get, yippee, some little itty-bitties. Wasn’t that an accomplishment?
“You’re baaaaaad. Bad to the bone.” She taunted, giggling softly. The tips of her long, wavy blonde hair rested on her bony collarbone.
“Don’t you forget it.” I replied, narrowing my glare towards her. She hiccuped, and covered her mouth in amusement. She was so ditzy and immature. My sweet little Zoe. The wheels of my truck bumped up and down, and our teeth chattered as we watched little pebbles and puffs of smoke fill the air. I turned left, and straight into our long driveway. I pulled back the clutch, and lifted my foot from the gas pedal. We came to a quick hault, and I swung open the car door. I stepped one foot out and slammed it behind me. I ran around the back of the house, and carefully slipped in the back door, closing it silently behind me. I stepped into the small empty laundry room, carefully placing my cropped jean jacket on one of the many coat hooks. It left me feeling sort of... naked, in just a baby blue lace tank top. Naked, like everyone could see my body the way it was. Thin, gangly, itty-bitties Alyssa. I wondered if Zoe was even half as embarrassed about her body as I was. Fat chance. Who’d want to hide what she had? Maybe that was why she’d begun buying small tank tops and v-necks, to embrace.
“Girls?” My mother’s panicked voice echoed from the next room. The kitchen. I snickered. She was always so worried, just like Grandma. She was fine when she was happy, but when she gost the slightest bit afraid, she made you want to stab her in the eye with a fork. Except, no, because, ick. She made you want to do angry things, in a very un-blood-and-guts kind of way.
“Your first born and favourite.” I called back. I heard her breath a long sigh of relief.
“No favourites! This household is full of equal amounts of love. A cornucopia of love!” She emphasized. I was teasing her, because once Zoe and I had come inside from the backyard when I was six and she was four.
“Is that my favourite little girl?” My mom had cooed, and she’d come scurrying down the hall.
“Yup!” I’d exclaimed. She’d pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head.
“See, you always like Lissy better!” Zoe had burst into tears, and I remember looking over and seeing her distraught expression and feeling so guilty. I’d made my poor little four year old sister cry, and she just wanted our mother to love her as much as me. And she did. Mom didn’t really like me better, it was just, you know, expression. But Zoe had taken it to heart, because that was her personality, and she was completely heartbroken.
“It’s just me.” I grinned, and walked down the hall and turned into the kitchen. It was such a typical perfect-happy-family kitchen with the white and black tile floor and the yellow curtains and pink walls.
“Still. A cornucopia is a good idea, don’t you think?” She asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.
“Sure,” I smiled, “is Dad home?” I was already about eighty percent sure that he wasn’t, but I decided to humor myself.
“No, he’s still at work. It’s a gorgeous day, why don’t you take Zoe to the beach?” She asked, scrubbing a white dinner plate with her yellow rubber-gloved hand.
“It’ll be crazy crowded. But I’ll ask her if she wants to swim with me. Work on our tans.” I enunciated, smiling slyly.
“Alright. But Alyssa... as we’ve all probably noticed, Zoe’s not a child anymore. If anyone ever... harasses her, please do something. I can’t bear thinking about my baby with all those perverts out there.” She pleaded, her eyes filled with sorrow. A pang of jealousy stabbed my lower stomach. She’d never told anyone to look out for me. Of course, I wasn’t as prone to perverts as Zoe probably would become, but none the less... I was alone. No big sister to protect me.
“She can hande herself, Mom. Like you said, she’s not a child.” I gazed into her eyes hopefully, but gave up. I glanced out the window, watching Zoe twirl in circles around our large backyard full of weak, baby trees. They were small and they were innocent, just like her.
I walked back outside and into the backyard.
“You wanna tan on the front lawn with me?” I called. She stopped spinning and held her forehead still with the tips of her fingers, her eyes opening and closing slowly. She opened them finally, after a long period of keeping them shut tight.
“Whoo,” She snorted, “sure. Go put on your bikini, okay?” I nodded, and ran back inside. Our bedroom was just a screened in deck, which was totally freaking awesome. Every night, we stared up from our matching twin single beds with perfect white sheets and covers, and watched the stars soar across the night sky. But there were bad parts. As in, no sleeping au naturel even though it sometimes can be very comfortable and free. Because people drove by every few minutes, because we lived close to the local hospital, and things seemed to just go wrong in Earltown.
“Where is my bikini?” I stepped into the kitchen.
“On the doorknob.” She pointed to the door that led to the basement, where we never went. It was un-finished and ugly, full of old junk that we didn’t know what to do with. My dark orange and brown bikini hung from the doorknob. I grabbed it carefully and hurried into the bathroom. I slipped off my tank top and quickly slipped into the top, tying it clumsily behind my neck. I kicked off my old ripped blue jeans and underwear, jumping into the bottoms. I pulled them up, grabbed two towels and opened the door. Zoe stood, her hands on her hips, holding her bikini.
“Thank you.” She smiled, and slipped into the bathroom as I made my way to the kitchen.
“Can we go to Big Al’s tonight?” I asked my Mom, who was still scrubbing away at our dirty dishes.
“No, I’ve already bought corn from the farmer’s market.” She shook her head slowly, never looking away from the task at hand.
“Okay. Tomorrow, maybe?” I pouted hopefully, raising both eyebrows.
“We’ll see.” She replied, narrowing her gaze toward me. I grinned, because ‘We’ll see’ is code for ‘Probably’ in Mom language. Zoe emerged in a baby blue bikini, looking so grown-up. My little sister was curvy. She had big b***s, a thin waist and hips. It was totally crazy.
“Hey.” I smiled, pretending as if I wasn’t completely shocked. She crossed her arms over her stomach and blushed. I led her outside, and into the back yard. We had a medium-sized above ground pool, in the middle of the backyard.
“Do you think it’ll be cold?” She asked, as we scurried over to the side of the pool.
“No, it’s scorching out here. It’ll be at least warm-ish.” I replied, and scrambled up the ladder from the ground and sat on the edge of the pool.
“School starts on Monday. That’s two days.” Zoe emphasized softly, keeping her eyes locked on the turquoise water as it sparkled in the sun.
“Yup. Are you nervous?” I asked, squinting as I turned to face her. She glanced up, her eyebrows were pulled together, and her chin was trembling. She was so beautiful, and so afraid.
“Yes. Are you?” She murmured, fumbling with her fingers. I shook my head slowly.
“No. But it’s my fourth year at Harrison Bank, so it’s a piece of cake. Don’t worry. The first week is scary, but then, whatever,” I grinned and added, “Badda-bing! Forget about it!” Zoe giggled, splashing her feet lightly in the pool.
“Shall we?” She asked, holding out her dainty, thin hand.
“We shall.” I smiled and took her hand in mine, sliding into the pool and dragging Zoe down with me. She rose to the surface a few moments after me, and swung her damp hair through the air, sending droplets of chlorine-filled water all over me.
“Ahh.” I breathed in the smell of fresh water and floated around on my back.
“How does it feel to have a boyfriend?” Zoe blurted out suddenly, and bit her lip when I flipped back to my feet to meet her hopeful gaze.
“It’s not so great. Besides, Zoe, looking the way you do now, you’ll have a boyfriend the second you step into the school. I guarantee it.” I assured her. Her eyes stopped shaking. She was so sweet, she had so much to offer to a boy. I felt an aching in my heart, my poor sister wanted to be loved.
“I hope. But a good one, not just some guy.” She arched her eyebrows.
“Right. You’re way too good for just some guy.” I smiled kindly over at her.
“And speaking of boyfriends... look who’s here!” Zoe giggled, glancing past me. I turned swiftly. Matt was making his way down the gravel road beside our backyard, kicking a pinecone in front of him. He wore way-too-big skater shoes, and his shaggy blonde hair hung over his dark blue eyes.
“Well, if it isn’t Matt Morin!” I exclaimed, and he swung his head up to face me immediately.
“Hi Matt!” Zoe flung her hand up in the hair, waving it crazily, with a huge grin plastered across her face. He raised a hand calmly and carefully made his way over to our pool, avoiding the garden.
“Hi ladies.” He nodded at Zoe, and then turned to me. I floated up and down in the water, smiling at him coyly.
“Hey stranger. I haven’t seen you in, like, two weeks. You been steppin’ out on me?” I teased.
“Never!” He snorted. I swam to the edge of the pool and pushed myself up onto the side slowly. I kicked my feet over the side and landed on my tip-toes on the grass. I leaned in and kissed him quickly. His arms wrapped around my waist as he deepened the kiss. His tongue flicked at my bottom lip and I clutched his hair.
“Ick!” Zoe broke the awkward silence and I pulled away. I turned to her and stuck my tongue out.
“How’s the water?” He asked, gazing at me with longing. My sweet, perfect boyfriend, Matt. He was so gorgeous and he loved me, me of all people. He could’ve chosen Anika Stein, who bobby-pinned her gym shorts to make them shorter. Or Melissa Tracey, who wore tons of makeup and tried way too hard to be liked. Her little act personally didn’t work on me, but who knew? Maybe it worked on Matt.
“Beautiful.” I flicked a small splash toward him. He dodged it and gave me a challenging eyebrow raise.
“I just got out of work, so...” He nodded, sucking his cheeks in sheepishly.
“Ahh. Well, call me. Or you can stay.” I suggested curiously.
“I’ll call you. Maybe we can hang out later.” He winked, and gave me a sloppy kiss on my forehead.
“Bye Matt!” Zoe beamed, pushing out her chest above the water.
“See-ya, kiddo.” He ruffled her damp hair and made his way back toward the road.
“I like Matt.” Zoe remarked as we watched him fade into the distance.
“Good. He’s going to be around for a while, I think.” I replied. My stomach lurched. But having him be around wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I was so stupid, so screwed up for not wanting him. What kind of a stupid girl doesn’t fall for a gorgeous boy who loves them more then the sun and the skies? Like, really, answer me that. Zoe floated backwards, inhaling deeply.