Post 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDDD

This post will officially be my 13th post!!!!! And yes, that is my lucky number. How did you know? ;D So, I guess I should put something special here, right? Well, here I go, something special. This is me, being brave. VERY brave. I am going to post part of a new book I am writing. I hope you like it. I am still not very sure of what will happen, of even what all of the characters' names should be. This is all, you know, a draft, so I promise you it won't be perfect.

    I looked out the foggy window at the trees that seemed to whiz past me.  I had been riding silently in the back of the van for hours, and my legs were cramped and achy. I had no idea where or why we were going where we were going, but it seemed to be much farther than I had anticipated. I sighed, blinking my eyes to try and stay awake.  May was still driving, just as she had been the whole morning. I admired her stamina, but I didn’t see why. Why would my aunt say we were “just going for a nice Sunday afternoon drive” and then driven for several hours straight? I was bored out of my mind, not having planned this ‘weekend special’, and I fiddled my thumbs impatiently. 

    At last I gathered enough courage to ask. “Where are we going, May?” May looked in the rear-view mirror at me, but said nothing.  I grimaced. May was usually like this, but why did she have to keep her mouth shut now? I lay back in my seat. Maybe sleep was a better idea than I thought. I closed my eyes, willing for sleep to come…

I sat up suddenly. Where was I? The sky was dark, and muddled with gray clouds. I heard voices outside of May’s van. Groggily I sat up straighter and strained my ears.

“Listen, you have to take care of her. I don’t have time to play games. If she finds out…” That was May, I was sure of it. But why…

“I’m not playing games!”  The other voice hissed. I was pretty sure it was a woman, but I had never before heard it, so I wasn’t super sure. “I said I don’t know. I have my own life now, and I can’t stay behind you to clean up your messes anymore. I have Bailey to think of now, and I don’t want her getting caught up in this mess, even if you insist on dragging me in. I can’t keep doing this, May. I just…can’t” Her voice faltered at the end, like she felt extremely guilt.

“Jane!” May said, exasperated. “Phyllis was your sister too, and I don’t see anything wrong with you helping out once in a while. “

Jane spoke quietly, like she knew I was listening, and didn’t want me to hear anything, “I wouldn’t mind, if you weren’t her guardian and had so many…” She paused, trying to find the right word, I assumed, “…issues with the…” I couldn’t make out the last word, because she had said it so quietly, as if she was afraid to even say it.  I sighed. I felt like a package with a bomb in it at the moment. May was trying to get rid of me, and Jane refused to take me.

Tension filled the air after Jane accusing statement. I felt May’s hairs bristle, and then…calm. “Please?” May begged. Obviously it wasn’t the time for May to lose her temper. “It is only for a little while. They really need me, and I promise Lani won’t be any trouble. And Bailey could use a friend.” I could tell she was trying to sweeten the pot. 

“Well,” Jane’s voice said at last, “maybe.” Then (I supposed May was giving her a hard look, like she always did when things didn’t go her way at first, because Jane’s voice seemed to quiver slightly, a little unsurely), “Can we give it a test run? I don’t want Bailey befriending a heathen.”

I rolled my eyes. What did she think I was, a girl or a monster? 

“Fine.” May said, “ I’ll give you two weeks.”

I thought I heard Jane protest that it wasn’t long enough for me to show my true colors, but May’s mind could not be changed. I thought Jane was actually pretty lucky that what she had previously said to May hadn’t made her as angry as she could get. And if I were her, I wouldn’t keep trying to push May’s buttons. I heard footsteps crunch against the gravel, probably heading towards my door. I slipped back into the sleeping position I had been in and closed my eyes, pretending to have been sleeping the whole time. I assumed that since they had been whispering, they hadn’t wanted to be heard, and I had a feeling I was the last person they would have chosen to hear it.

When the door creaked open, I half fell out of the van. 

“Time to get up sleepy-head!”  May used to say this to me all of the time, except now, she didn’t say it in her bright, sing-song-y voice.  It was odd, but May sure seemed different than the night before. I also noted that she seemed to think I had been sleeping—which was good for me. 

I looked up groggily. I still hadn’t adjusted to the dark sky, which was rapidly fading into night. “Where are we, May?” I honestly still had no idea. 

“We are at your Aunt’s house.”  Details, details. She had them, I wanted them, and she just wouldn’t give them. I rolled my eyes.

“But I don’t have an aunt.” I insisted. At least, I didn’t think I did. Besides that, I needed answers, and if acting stupid would give me them- hey, I could go that route. 

“Of course you do!” She sounded exasperated, but I could tell by her expression that I had hit a raw nerve, and probably offend Jane, who was now giving May two looks; I told you she was a heathen! and You mean you never told her? Either way, I could see May and Jane now had a lot more tension in their relationship. And I wasn’t sorry at all. 

May glared at me, but not near as hard as Jane was glaring at her. May tried to yank me out of the van. “No!” Jane shouted. May looked up, surprised. 

“But you said…”

Jane held up her hand. “ I changed my mind. She can find her own way without my help. I can’t have Bailey hanging around a girl like her.” But I had a feeling it had nothing to do with me, hence the glaring contest that was now taking place between the two of them. Apparently, Jane wasn’t such a very good secret to keep from me. According to May, I didn’t have a single relative in the world besides her. Which wasn’t very fun when I was growing up with a boring, pan-faced adult who seemed to hate anything even remotely cheerful. But by now, I had learned to live with it, and it was kind of odd that my childhood dreams of family were actually coming true, just not in the way I had imagined. 

May shook her head, seemingly to have broken the trance of anger with Jane she had previously been caught in. “I don’t have time for this!” May declared. She looked at Jane. Hard. “Listen, you will take Lani, like it or not. She is, after all, not just mine.” Jane bit her lip. Her face seemed to soften a little bit, almost as if being known now as an aunt made it important for her to look a little softer and nicer. I glowered at her. I wasn’t going to be deceived by any icing she tried to put on the cake. I already knew she didn’t want me, so how could I suddenly think of her as nice? 

May whirled back to face me, staring daggers. For a moment this startled me, but that didn’t stop her from saying her mind. “And Lani, don’t you dare misbehave!” She said through gritted teeth. Was this pay back for the discord I had just caused? Probably. 

And that was it. No good-byes, no hugs, no worries, not even baggage laws left behind, and May just drove away in her green van, leaving me all alone with Jane. I’d call that good parenting if May happened to be my mother. Jane didn’t even know what to say. She just stood there, lips pursed and standing with a teenage girl attitude. Exactly the way I should be standing right now. Five minutes later, she turned to me. “Well, that was fun.” I didn’t at all like the sarcastic way she said that. It sounded too much like me for comfort. Ignoring her, I stood there. Hey, a little rebellion can go a long way. She waited, like what she said was a cue for me to go inside, and submit to what May had done to me. Well, she could just dream on.

I sat down on the ground, which turned out to be a little damp. Obviously it had rained. The dark sky should have told me that, but I didn’t even care about wet right now. I was thinking, planning. What could I do? I didn’t want to stay her with this Jane and her stupid daughter Bailey. I could hear Jane shifting uncomfortably. Was I supposed to feel sympathy because I had inconvenienced her? I think not. Jane’s patience seemed to be wearing thin. “Time to come inside.” She said, her voice high and trill. 

I shook my head. “I’m fine.” I said. And I was. Bailey would be safe from me, Jane wouldn’t have to worry, and I could enjoy the solitude of the outdoors. 

I suppose it had been too much to ask, because Jane insisted. So, unwillingly, I trudged up her porch steps into her house.  It was a house. I mean, it wasn’t fantastic, like something out of a film. It was neither of the extremes, and very ordinary. It kinda reminded me of the house May and I (had) lived in. It wasn’t spick and span, it was used but it didn’t look like a tornado had hit it (except for May’s study, which definitely had to have met at least one tornado in its existence).  Thinking of May hurt surprisingly little. I mean, yeah, I knew her, but I wouldn’t go so far as love. Okay, so I cared for her, but it wasn’t like a mom-daughter relationship. It was more like we were roommates than anything else, and people get new roommates all of the time, right? All right, I admit it; I was worried. May wasn’t behaving like her usual self (except for her anger spats). What if something was happening to her? And me, helplessly standing in a living room, watching Bailey, a ten-year-old girl play dress up. It just didn’t feel right, or ethical. 

Bailey, noticing me for the first time, stood up with a stupid grin on her face. “Hi, I’m Bailey!” I felt as if I had already been recruited to her best friend list. Let’s face it; she already adored her older cousin.

“Hi.” I said, shyly. This may sound weird, but anyone who is the youngest or an only child will understand. Younger kids, with their cuteness, and bright cheery selves? They terrify me. I mean, what do you do with a little ball of fun who just wants to play and be friends? I felt completely awkward. 

Jane smiled. Maybe the adorable Bailey and I could get along after all. “Bay-Bay, this is…”

I couldn’t believe her! She didn’t even know my name. I admit it; I am a killjoy. I could have taken a big advantage over this and had tons of fun. Stupid me. “I’m Lani.” I smiled. That’s when I hit my head. Well, that blew idea.

“Whatcha doin’? Wanna play?” Bailey offered. I admit I was extremely tempted. May hated dolls. She thought they were stupid, but I thought they were magical. I had used sticks as a child in place of the plastic figurines and had enjoyed myself immensely. But, wasn’t I fourteen? I should have to grow up someday, right? But Bailey looked so hopeful and excited. Hang growing up! I think I did enough of that much sooner than any child should ever have to. 

“Sure.” I smiled. Bailey looked as if I had just given her the world. I could tell that even though Jane was a loving mother, it took a lot to coax out a few hours of barbies. It was awkward at first, but Bailey and I got into it. It was fun, too. Bailey wasn’t such a bad kid, and she had the idea of barbies right. It was like a play, or a book being played out. It was tons of fun, and she had a great imagination.  If we had bothered to write it all down in a book, I bet anything that it would have been one of the New York Bestsellers. But despite this loss, Bailey seemed to have had the time of her life. I wished I could be carefree again. I missed the feeling of security that had once blanketed me. Now, all I had left was tatters. 

After about an hour, Bailey’s bedtime had come around. I remembered when I had been forced to retire to bed at eight every night.  I actually kind of missed it. It meant that somebody cared enough to protect you from unhealthy habits, which I had slowly begun to pick up. I was, however, extremely relieved when eight did come. I still didn’t have much practice when it came to kids. 

Now that Bailey was out of the way, Jane began fixing me something to eat. And now that I thought about it, I was hungry. Make that ravenous. All right, I was practically starving. But I wasn’t sure if I trusted Jane’s food. No, I’m not insinuating that her food was poisonous; it just wasn’t the food I was used. I hoped her strange food wouldn’t taste gross to me; I may be living here a while. 

It actually turned out to be pretty good. It was leftover macaroni, but not the cheap stuff you buy in the store, it was the kind with real cheese, all over it. The only problem was, cheese and I aren’t friends. So despite my big appetite, I only managed a piece. My stomach grumbled unhappily when Jane took away the rest of the food. I shook my head. Was that all? No vegetables? No juice? I had supposed that most families were a lot different from May and me, which meant eating healthy meals together. So why wasn’t Jane doing what I expected? I shook my head. Nobody said everybody else had to be the same, I reminded myself. It was just a little weird, stepping back into society after all this time of May forcing me to avoid it. It didn’t seem like I had actually missed that much. Maybe it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Jane showed me to a room near the back of the house. It was only 8:30, but I didn’t feel like hanging around in the living room where that awkward silence would linger heavily between Jane and me. The room was small and had a big bed in the center with a polka dot bedspread. The whole room was brightly colored and altogether extraordinarily cheery. Exactly what May hated. But I liked it. 

      “This is were you will be staying.” Jane said, gesturing around her. She didn’t bother to mention just how long. As soon as Jane left me, I sat down stiffly on the bed in a daze, sighing noisily. I wondered when May would come back. Would she ever? My lower lip quivered. Just a titch.  Alright, furiously. I didn’t want to be abandoned again. Hugging a pillow tightly to my chest, I bit down hard on my lip, trying to keep the quivering contained. Despite my desperate attempts to hold my emotions in, I felt tears trickle down my face. “Oh no.” I moaned. “No, please let her be alright. Let her be okay.” I rocked myself back and forth on the bed. My throat was tight and sore, and I just wanted to let it all go. But Jane already disapproved of me. What would she think if of me if she realized I was a crybaby? 

     All night long I stayed up, wondering what the future held. I kept saying to myself that I was worried about May, but I knew better. May could take care of herself. She always could. She was the leader; she would know exactly what to do. No, the person that I was really truly concerned about was me. 

That was special, right? I thought so. ;D So I hope you liked it. I am only a little bit further than this, so it really is rough draft. Tell me if anything is wrong, or better yet, if anything is right. And if you would like me to attempt writing a certain storyline, or style, I'm game. I would love to practice more!