Okay guys, I am starting something new. I will be continuing Fate as time goes on once I formulate more ideas for it. Anyways, read and review.
Nicole sighed and looked out the window of her mother's beat up Chevrolet. It had been a long drive, but they were almost to their new home. Though Santa Carla was a much needed change for her, she did not want to move to the Murder Capital of the World. The last year had been hard, with the remarriage of her mother dumping her with a new step sister and the death of her father just the previous year (not to mention how quickly her mom was able to get over the whole ordeal), things had been altered quite a bit.
She looked over at her sleeping younger step sister, Gillian. Her red hair shined in the light of the sun and her pale skin an interesting contrast to her darker hair. How anyone is born with genes like that she would never figure out. Only 15, she tried to keep up with Nicole in a tireless effort to seem older than she really was. One day Nicole hoped she would realize that getting older is not all that great. Before her father, John, had married Nicole's mother, Molly, Gilli was having issues with coping with the divorce of her parents. According to Nicole's mother, she had violent outbursts and reeked havoc on the town her and her father used to live in. Their parents met each other when Gilli's father was selling vacuum cleaners door to door. Nicole imagined that John didn't only make a sale that day.
After the death of her father, Nicole lost respect for her mother, who began to date many men, she wasn't sure if it was some midlife crises or she was just trying to cope. Nicole stopped calling her mother and instead called her by her first name. This was merely a sign of defiance, but it bothered Molly to no end.
The changing scenery outside of the car window was an interesting transformation to watch. Going from the dry and barren environment of Tucson, Arizona, to the slightly more green ecosystem of southern California, all the way up to the close-to-the-peninsula hills and greenery of Santa Cruz.
A few moments of silence in the car passed, only the faint sound of Quiet Riot on the radio.
The silence was then shattered by a high pitched squeal of excitement from Nicole's mother. "We're here!" she exclaimed, taking her hands off of the steering wheel for a moment and then slamming them back down to regain control of the car.
I peered outside of the window at the bright, ostentatious sign signifying "WELCOME TO SANTA CARLA." Knowing what the sign said on the back of it from weekends spent on vacation, she did not look back. She was going to try and make this work for the better.
About ten minutes later the car took a sharp right turn onto an uphill dirt road. The car bounced and the passengers inside were getting tossed around like rag dolls. The trees made a canopy above the car, only letting small streams of light in. Another turn was taken and the canopy opened up to a wide field with two houses, one on either side of the tall grasses. Horses grazed the area. Nicole could not lie, the area was gorgeous.
Finally the car stopped and all of the passengers stumbled out with full arms of things ready to be brought into the house. Molly went and swung open the front door, struggling to keep a hold of the large box containing lamps and other random articles.
Right as the box was about to fall, a hand caught it. We all looked up to see a boy- no older than 17- grasping the box in an awkward position. He had brown curly hair and wide shoulders.
"That was a close one," the boy exasperated with a smile. Gilli, who had gotten out of the car and still had messy hair and a sleepy look on her face, perked up immediately and walked toward the boy.
"Well thank goodness you were here," she began to get a little too close to the boy for comfort. This was another thing that Nicole did not like about her step sister, she was all about the guys. She would be a better consideration for a daughter to Molly than herself. Nicole could tell that Gilli was making the boy nervous and pulled her away.
"Let's go and unpack," she said. Gilli was not amused.
"I'm Michael," the boy said while Gilli and Nicole were unpacking the car, their arms filled with boxes. They walked into the house and set them down in the front room. The empty house had promise. They then went back outside where Molly and John were still talking to Michael, but now there were others with him. A boy about Gilli's age with sandy blonde hair and an older woman who Nicole assumed was the Michael boy's mother.
"Gillian, Nikki, come over here and meet our neighbors," called Molly, waving her arm in their direction. Nicole realized that they must live in the house across the field, she glanced over at it. The house was...interesting to say the least. There were different decorations all over the front of the house. Totem poles and other things made the area interesting.
'It looks homey,' Nicole thought to herself with a smirk. They walked together to the huddle of friendly conversation.
"Hello, my name is Lucy. This is my son, Sam. And you have already met Michael I see," said the woman. She had a friendly glow to her and it made Nicole feel good about herself. The blonde boy smiled at Nicole and then Gilli. His eyes seemed to linger on Gilli, Nicole felt bad for the boy. Gilli's quest for independence and to be grown up caused her to go for the older guys. A bad decision on her part in Nicole's eyes. At 15 she probably would have thought this boy was cute. Now a big bad 17 year old, she had no time for such childish things. The Michael boy was kind of interesting. He looked at Nicole for long periods of time when he thought she wasn't paying attention.
"If you would like I could show you all around the boardwalk after you are all settled," said Michael. Nicole looked at her parents for an answer. She was up for anything at this point, she knew that if she was alone in her room everything happening in her life at the moment would get to her.
"Well, John and I are somewhat tired. But if the girls want to go, it's up to them," replied Molly, breaking the awkward silence. Without a chance for Nicole to say anything else, Gilli had already accepted and was rushing to put boxes into the house.
A few bruises and bumps later from shuffling boxes around, Nicole looked at the clock. 8:15. Gilli was rushing her to get dressed in an excited fashion.
"Come on!" she yelled, pushing her upstairs and into the bathroom and throwing some clothes at her.
"Put these on!" she exclaimed. Nicole began getting dressed in ripped black skinny jeans and white crop top with a red flannel over it. Trying to tame her bleached hair that was still messy in the car, she combed it out so it fell in lazy waves down her back. She figure this was because of the change from dry desert air to the ocean air. Lining her blue eyes with makeup and slipping on her combat boots she opened the bathroom door to find Gilli standing before her.
"You are not going out like that," Nicole said with a scowl. Gilli frowned and crossed her arms. She had denim shorts on that showed off her entire leg, a crop top, and heeled demonia boots.
"You don't tell me what to do!" she replied angrily, balling her hands into fists.
"You look like a streetwalker!" said Nicole, after a while of arguing, she was at least able to coax Gilli into putting on a flannel over the shirt and shorts. A knock at the door was heard shortly after the dispute. Gilli answered the door to Michael and Sam and they all walked down the boardwalk.
The night had a slight chill to it, the ocean breeze was a new sensation to the sisters, who had come from the dry blistering desert air. The lights of the boardwalk cut through the darkness of the night like a blade. The girls were mesmerized at the sight, the county fair had nothing on this place.
"So, Nikki," Michael tried to start conversation.
"Nicole," she replied hastily, Molly called her that and it irritated her to no end. Michael shifted on his heels uncomfortably but kept walking. Gilli had kept walking closely to him, and he kept moving away, all without success. Sam was staring at Gilli but had said nothing the entire walk.
Their footsteps became more audible when they clunked onto the surface of the boardwalk from the smooth sand terrain of the beach. Smells of fried foods and the salt of the ocean filled all of their senses. The boys showed them the way around the various shops and restaurants of the area and they all went to get cotton candy.
Nicole picked large pieces of the fluffy substance off of the stick and ate them, some of it sticking to her mouth. She came to the conclusion that there was no way to eat cotton candy while looking attractive. She could feel Michael's eyes on her the entire time, and it began to bug her.
"What!" she finally shouted, looking at the taller boy with a scowl. He winced at the sudden loudness of her words and looked away.
"Sorry," he muttered and went to walk next to Sam. He and Gilli began having a conversation, Gilli trying to convince him to go on rides with her. Eventually he caved and they went with Sam to buy tickets. They had asked Nicole to go with them, but she would just sit and watch.
The sounds of engines filled the air suddenly, catching the attention of all who were around to hear their animalistic growl. Nicole whipped her head around to see the silhouettes of 4 figures in the mist of the night.