Looking over once more to make sure I had packed everything, I quickly grabbed my brush out of the suitcase and attempted to make my unruly hair look slightly presentable. No matter how many times I straightened it, my fiery red curls never seemed to tame. At the same time though, my shoulder-length mass of messy thick red hair was honestly the only thing eye catching about me. I had bland, crap colored eyes and lacked dark eyelashes to go with them. On top of that, my eyebrows were as thick and as red as my hair. My skin was way too pale, hell- if vampires existed I'd fit right in. It was clear though, so I was acne free, which is good I suppose. Though I'd take pimples any day for a goddamn figure. I had the body of an eight year old boy, and I was already fourteen. I guess if you looked passed all that you could say I was at least somewhat attractive. Somewhat.
Huffing slightly, I tossed the worn-out brush back into my black suitcase and zipped it up. It wasn't one of the rolling ones, so I had to heave it off my bare mattress. I panted softly from the lack of air by the time I was done. So I wasn't exactly a body builder either. But it weighs like, what? Ten pounds? I'm pretty impressed with myself. Smirking triumphantly, though my version of a smirk is more like a grimace, I dragged it lazily across the floor and out into the unclean living room. My sister laughed, eyeing the bag.
"You know we're going to be on vacation for about a week, right? And that's all you brought," She shook her head, amusement in her eyes. "That's all you brought." I rolled my eyes at my sister Camille. She had pretty blonde hair and bright blue eyes, which I envied her for. Along with her further developed body. As my step-sister, she hadn't been too keen on the idea of sharing her mother with a stranger. Over time, though, we began bond, and now she was really the only friend I had besides her mom. It wasn't like I couldn't make friends, it was just that I chose not to. Okay… that's a lie. I don't talk much. I simply shrugged in reply to her smartass statement.
"Well, mom and dad are waiting in the car," As in my dad and her mom. I honestly don't know what happened to my real mother, dad was always reluctant to tell me. When I was nine he got remarried to Freya. I didn't think of her as a mom, more like another sister. She was fine with it though, so that's how it stayed. "C'mon, I'll grab your bag, you take mine." Camille giggled, knowing full well I was more capable of pulling hers than carrying mine. I smiled, grabbing the handle of her huge pink and purple suitcase, along with several other small bags. She held the door open for me and took one last look at the house we would fail to see again for the next seven days.
"Hasta la vista, house. Hola Washington!" She took one year of Spanish and thought she was a pro. Slamming the door shut excitedly, I silently followed her lead as she packed the bags in the car. We piled in, and I inhaled a deep, peaceful breath before exhaling in a sigh. It was gonna be a long drive.
It had been two days since we arrived at the hotel in Seattle. It rained constantly, or at least that's what it seemed like. It was musky and cold, unlike how we were used to. Camille always complained, and Freya said we may cut this vacation short and go somewhere else. I liked it, even though my family didn't. Dad had chuckled when I said they were whiny pussies. Then he scolded me half-heartedly about how I shouldn't say the word pussy because it sounded sexual. "You shouldn't say pussy, Laylei. Even if you are joking, it sounds too sexual to me."
Pussy, pussy, pussy.
The mention of the word sexual made me crinkle my nose slightly. I'd never had the sex talk, considering I grew up without a mother. Freya hadn't told me anything. Thank god I had Camille to catch me up. She had no doubt had sex, but she was old enough, seventeen, and it was with her steady boyfriend Jonathan. I wasn't sure about how my 'private life' would turn out exactly, though. I had no appeal per se, nor was I attracted to anyone else. I shook my head, wanting to chase the thought away. I was too young for that stuff… but I still let my mind drift from time to time…
"Laylei," Camille startled me, smiling brightly. "Let's go to Port Angeles. I need a new jacket."
"Port Angeles?" I mumbled, raising an eyebrow. I tried to think of a Port Angeles. Whatever. "M'kay," I replied, smoothing down my hair that always seemed to come to life and mess itself up when I wasn't watching it. "Freya taking us?" I assumed quietly, and she nodded in reply. I slipped on my old ugly hoodie that really didn't help protect me from the cold. Maybe I'd get a new one too. "Let's go…" I slurred in my bored tone, pulling the hood over my head to protect the people of Washington from my hair.
Port Angeles was surprisingly busy in the late-afternoon. With it being a school day and all, one would think kids would still be there. My eyebrows furrowed together. Wait, that's not right… it's summertime. I mentally kicked my own ass. How in the hell can someone forget summer? We were on vacation for god's sakes. Freya would never let us miss a day of school. Speaking of Freya, I think she said she was grabbing a bite to eat at a pizza place or something. Camille just left to meet up with her, while I was still checking out at the clothing store.
"Miss? Miss?!" A voice demanded. I snapped my head up in irritation. Who the hell was talking to me?
"That'll be twenty-nine ninety nine," The chick hissed, blowing a pink bubble and popping it right in my face. I scowled softly. Why couldn't they just say thirty dollars? That's what it adds up to anyways, minus the tax. I pulled out some crumpled dollar bills out of my jean's pocket and handed her a twenty, a ten, and a five. She snatched it up quickly, shooting me a look and cashing it in. I held my hand out for a receipt and my three dollars and twenty-two cents change as it showed up on the cash register. She placed the slip of paper into my hand and pushed the bag over towards me. I glared at the rude woman. I normally didn't speak out, but I did if and when I got pissed off.
"Uh, aren't you forgetting something?" I asked as politely as I could, unable to keep the annoyed tone out of my voice. She smiled- no, Jenny, her nametag read, Jenny smiled at me in a sickly sweet way.
"Nope. I don't think you deserve the change after being such a bitch and ignoring me." Jenny smirked, noticing the anger in my eyes. "Have a nice day," She batted her eyelashes and got on her phone. I crushed the receipt in my hand. Thinking better of it, I decided she wasn't worth it. I turned around storming out of the store angrily, my new bagged hoodie in my left hand. I had thrown the receipt on the ground. I stopped, pausing my steps on the concrete. People passed me, ignoring me like I wasn't there. My hood had fallen off my head, so I got a few odd glances. Other than that though, they were completely oblivious to me. Calming down some, I continued to walk until I reached the pizza place. I looked around for Freya and my sister.
"Laylei," I turned towards the voice. Camille waved to me. "Over here." I rushed over, sitting beside them and grabbing a slice of cheese pizza. I didn't like meat on pizza. It tasted weird to me. "What took you so long? We've been sitting here for like, fifteen minutes waiting for you." I shrugged.
"That Jenny girl was being a shithead." I stated simply. Freya raised an eyebrow at me, taking a bite of pizza.
"Who's this Jenny, might I ask?"
"Oh, she was the cashier at the store we went to. She did seem like kind of an um, bleep-head." Camille nodded in agreement, not daring to say the word shit.
I just shrugged again and nibbled on my pizza. We sat in an awkward silence.
"This's pretty good…" I mumbled after a few minutes, not even finished with my first piece.
"Yeah… yeah…" Camille cleared her throat, taking a swig of her Dr. Pepper. Freya nodded.
"Well, I'm gonna head to the restroom."
"Oh, I'll come with you mom." Camille smiled at me before she followed her mom into the ladies room.
I sat and swung my slender legs underneath the table. That was another good thing, I had nice legs. Or, at least I think I did. I sighed, getting ready to stand and join Freya and my sister. Until suddenly my pants were soaked in sticky coke, and there was a small russet skinned girl in my lap. I made no move, frozen in surprise.
"Ah!" The girl exclaimed, getting up quickly and apologizing, tears welling in her eyes- most likely from embarrassment. "I'm sorry!" I shook my head slightly, opening my mouth to speak but no words came out. My eyes drifted to a large, large man behind her. He was huge, at least 6'7. His well-defined chest and muscles showed from under his shirt, and you could tell from his forearms he must work out a lot. I noticed he had dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He was somewhat cute, maybe more so if he didn't have a worried expression on his face. I blushed slightly, but either he didn't notice or didn't care, and went over to the girl, concerned. Maybe they were brother and sister? The little girl, maybe about eight or so had black hair, and similar brown eyes. She brushed him off, apologizing again.
"Sorry, miss." The man turned towards me, noticing my red hair like everyone else in the world, and forced a smile.
"Sorry about that," He said, grabbing some paper towels off the table and drying my lap off.
"Oh, err, you don't need to worry about that… it's fine." I murmured, taking the paper towels from him gently.
"I'm Quil," The man said, introducing himself after knowing the little girl was okay. "This is Claire." The girl named Claire smiled sheepishly at me.
"What's your name?" She giggled, seemingly full of energy. I glanced up at her, a half smile crossing my features.
"I'm Laylei."
"Oh, that's a pretty name. You have pretty hair, too." Claire added the second sentence as an afterthought. Oh, please. I scoffed slightly, and Quil stiffened as if I were being rude to her.
"As if, my hair's a rat's nest." He visibly relaxed once he noticed the teasing in my words. Claire looked guilty.
"It is kinda messy… but the color is pretty." She sounded honest. I just nodded, allowing her to compliment me if it kept her happy. She smiled. "Wanna be friends?"
"Sure," I shrugged.
"Great! What's your phone number?" Claire asked excitedly, making me look skeptical. I told her anyways.
"Let's go Claire," Quil chuckled once the mess was cleaned up, thanks to the help of Freya and Camille with us as well. As they left the restaurant, Camille fanned herself.
"God, who was he? He was so hot," Freya nodded in agreement.
"He was…" She bit her lip.
"God mom, pedophile much? He was probably like twenty-five." Freya was forty-two.
"Just 'cause I'm old doesn't mean I can't look," She teased, tossing her blonde hair. I just stood there awkwardly with damp pants as they had their bonding moment. Freya sighed.
"Let's go back to the hotel, shall we?" We both nodded in agreement.
When we got there, I immediately got in the shower. I simply cleansed the day off, ready for bed by the time I was out, even though it was only six. I briefly wondered if I would ever see that Claire girl and her brother Quil again. Nope, I had decided.
But the very next day, Claire called me up for a tea party at her house.
A/N: So yeah, that's the introduction. I'm uploading this at 3:00 AM where I'm at, so please excuse any spelling mistakes, lol. And no, Quil and Claire aren't brother and sister, they're still imprints obviously, that's just what Laylei assumes. She'll meet Collin in the near future. Thanks for reading, and if you can review I'd appreciate it. c: