I stepped into the refurbished L.A. mansion with my family. My brother Max looked around with a nice scowl on his face.
"Lighten up would you? This house is killer" I whispered as the real estate agent toured us through the beginning of the house.
"Not everyone likes that vintage hippie shit," he grumbled.
"This thing is the least bit hippie, I'll give you vintage," I said as my parents chatted with the Realtor. Max and I sat in the foyer on the floor chatting after abandoning the house tour.
"Emily, don't you get it? I shouldn't be here. This wasn't worth leaving all of my friends and Amy for," he hissed at me.
"Max, I know it's rough but this is what mom and dad want, and there's nothing we can do about it so I suggest you make the best of it while you can," I hissed quietly, but his attention wasn't on me. He looked behind me,"What?" I said turning as I watched him look at the half-open door leading to the basement, he slowly rose and walked to it, peering down the wooden stairs when he got there.
"I hope you're happy with you new home!" My mother said cheering as she walked into the room, upon seeing max she said,"Come on Max! leave some adventure for when we move in, we have to go back to the hotel now!"
"I promise it'll get better," I said as we got in the Land Rover.
My long bleach blond hair was neatly french braided on moving day. I wore cuffed shorts and a Grateful Dead t-shirt. I stood at exactly 5'7 with off-grey eyes. I picked up boxes for my room and carried them upstairs. I bounced into my room. My large bed was already in there, I took sheets out of the last boxes I had carried up and made the bed.
An old woman stood in the doorway," Do you need help ma'am?" she asked as I set a box on my dresser.
"Who are you?" I asked coming over to her.
"I'm Moira, your housemaid I've been with the house for years," she said crossing her arms slowly.
"Well nice to meet you Moira, I'm Emily," I said sticking out my hand to shake hers.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," She said quietly before walking away. I didn't really think much of the exchange, so I kept unpacking.
The rest of the day was pretty quiet, I finished unpacking around five and sat reading for about an hour on my bed while Junk of The Heart by The Kooks played on the record player. I finally shut the book and decided to get Max to look around with me. I knocked on his bed room door lightly before entering," Max, are you finished packing?" I asked as I stepped inside, but he wasn't alone. A girl about my age was sitting with him she looked around sixteen,"Oh sorry to interrupt," I said as she looked up at me. She was pretty, long brown hair parted in the middle, and appeared to be on the shorter side.
"No it's fine, I'm Violet," she said with a wave and a small smile," I live down the street,"
"Well it's nice to meet you Violet, I'm Emily," I said with a wave," Max I guess we can do it later, I'll leave you guys to it," I said before hurrying back to my room. Upon entering my room I was surprised to see a tall blond boy, he was flipping through records.
"Do you have any Cobain?" he asked, not looking up at me.
"I think I have some Nirvana on my laptop," I said grabbing it off of the dark brown dresser. I sat on my bed with the Mac Book Pro and thumbed through ITunes. The shaggy headed boy took the needle off of the record player and sat on the other end of my bed as I hit play.
"I'm Tate by the way," He said sticking out his hand.
"Emily," I said taking his hand,"So what are you doing up here," I asked as I pulled away.
He cracked a small smile," I live next door, I was looking for Violet,"
"Is Violet your sister?" I asked as he laid propped up on his elbow.
"Friend, I just assumed she'd be here," He said with a small chuckle.
"Oh no, she's in Max's room if you need her," I said crossing my legs. and leaning back on both elbows. Since i had been Reading my long straight hair had been taken down and was now thrown over my shoulder.
"Where are you from?" he asked me as About a Girl played in the background.
"We just moved from Newport, a really cute town," I said quietly," In the North East,"
"I know where Newport is," he said with a small chuckle. To Lay me Down by the Grateful Dead filled the small silence after his words. He got up and came over to me on the other side of the bed,"Stand up," he said taking my hand. I did as told and he put a hand on my waist. We swayed to the music in tune together, a dip here a spin there. I couldn't help but laugh as our silly dance continued on at the end of the song he spun me around I landed back into position, his head moved a little closer to mine and my breath stopped. I heard some slow clapping and looked up to Violet.
"I think it's time to go Tate," She said through her teeth. He nodded and gave my hand a squeeze goodbye. I watched as he and Violet left together. My phone buzzed from my bed. I answered the texts from my old friends as I fell asleep.