Terry Simon's view on California
Chapter 1
What if Suze had a younger sister and she could see ghost but wasn't a mediator?
I do not own mediator as much as I wish I did.
Palm trees, seriously palm trees. Not that I didn't know there was going to be palm trees in California, but I really didn't think there would be a lot of them when my mom told me not to throw out my sweaters.
"Oh, no," my mom had said. "You'll need them. Your coats, too. It can get cold there. Not as cold as New York, maybe, but pretty chilly."
You would think there wouldn't be any palm trees but there are. Not that I have any problems with palm trees, but having lived in New York all my life I have never actually seen one and the fact that the only reason I am seeing one now is because me, my older sister Suze and mom are moving to California.
The reason as to why I moved from the most exciting city in the world would be because of my mom. My mom had recently gotten remarried after being single for about 10 years. Not that that's a bad thing, I mean my new step dad Andy is really nice to me and my sis and makes mom really happy, it's just the fact that we had to move all the way to California with it being easier for my mom to move with her having 2 kids and working as a reporter where as Andy having 3 kids and having a show, oh and the fact that we have to actually live with his 3 sons. That's right me and my sister Suze have to live with three of Andy's kids who frankly are each a little weird.
So as I looked out of the window of the airplane, I was a little surprised to see palm trees even though I was told there would be some.
After the plane landed me and Suze off the plane and headed out to meet our mom and new family. When we got out of the plane, the first thing I saw was a sign saying in big bold letters, "Welcome home Terrence and Susannah!". You could probably tell what the other passengers were thinking just by their faces which were a mixture of amusement and disgust. I even heard a couple of people say," Aww, how cute!" I looked up at Suze and from the look on her face I could tell she was thinking the same thing as me: punch the person holding the sign then rip that sign to shreds.
Before I could even see my mom I heard her squeal "Suze! Terry!" As we walked closer to my mom's voice, I saw our new family. My mom, my step-dad Andy, and my new step-brothers Jake, Brad, and David. Or how my sister likes to call them sleepy, dopey, and doc.
I can see why my sis calls them that, with David being a living encyclopaedia, Brad who seams really dumb from the conversation I had with him at my mom and Andy's wedding- I had to sit on the left side of David and Suze had to sit between David and Brad- and from what I can tell he probably only thinks about girls and wrestling, and Jake who looks like he's sleeping while he's standing.
So as me and Suze walked up to them Suze said," Ok you can put the sign down now."
My mom was too busy hugging us squalled," Oh, Susie, Terry I missed you!"
Over her shoulder I could see Suze give the boys a glare when mom said her nickname so they don't ever use it. She really doesn't like that nickname and only lets mom say it. If anyone else ever said it, they are digging their own grave and had better wrote their will before they said.
All they did was smile after she glared at them; I kind of understand David, who might actually be happy that Suze and I had come, Jake, who just look sleepy, and Brad, who probably was too scared to do anything else.
"How was your flight?" Andy took Suze shoulder bag and put on his shoulder. He seemed pretty shocked at how heavy it was and said, "Whoa, what've you got in here, anyway? You know it's a felony to smuggle New York City fire hydrants across state lines."
I rolled my eyes but cracked a small smile. Andy wouldn't know a felony in New York cause of the fact that he has only been to New York a handful of times. Which, coincidently, was how long it took to convince mom into marrying him and moving to California.
"It's not a fire hydrant," Suze said. "It's a parking meter. And we have 6 more bags."
"6?" Andy pretended he was shocked. "What do you think you're doing, moving in, or something?"
I rolled my eyes. Did I happen to mention he thinks he's funny? Apparently no one told him that being a carpenter doesn't mean you can be a comedian on the side.
"Suze," Doc said, all enthusiastically. "Terry, did you notice that as you were landing, the tail of the plane kicked up a little? That was from an updraft. It's caused when a mass moving at a considerable rate of speed encounters a counter-blowing wind velocity of equal or greater strength."
David, who is only 12 years old which is 2 years older than me, but his brain exceeds his age. He spent almost the entire wedding reception telling me and Suze about alien cattle mutilation, and how Area 51 is just this big cover-up by the American government, which doesn't want us to know that We Are Not Alone.
"Oh, Suzie, Terry," my mom kept saying. "I'm so glad you're both here. You're just going to love the house. It just didn't feel like home at first, but now that you're both here … Oh, and wait until you've seen your rooms. Andy's fixed it up so nice..."
Mom and Andy searched for a house for weeks before the wedding so each kid can get their own room. They finally settled on this huge house in Carmel, and the only way they could afford it was that they bought in this broken up state, and this construction company that Andy does a lot of work for fixed it up at this huge discount rate. Mom had been going on and on about me and Suze's room, swearing they were the nicest ones in the whole house.
"The view!" she kept saying. "An ocean view from the big bay windows in each of your rooms! Oh, Suze, Terry, you're both going to love it."
Sure, I'm going to love living in a new city, going to a new school, making new friends, and giving up snowmen for sandcastle in the winter. Whoop tee freakin doo!
While I was thinking this, I heard Brad ask," Do you like the sign?"
I mean seriously did he expect me to say "Gee I love the sign!" Not.
Unlike me Suze answered, "Yeah, great sign." while yanking the sign from his hands, holding it so the letters faced the floor. "Can we go? I want to get our bags before someone else does." "Oh, right," my mom said. She gave us one last hug. "Oh, I'm just so glad to see you two! You both look so great..." Here we go again. "Thought I've talked to you before about that jacket, Suze. And I thought you were throwing those jeans away."
Suze was wearing her jeans with the holes in the knees, a silk black t-shirt, ankle zip-up boots, and her black leather motorcycle jacket. She looked like she came straight out of a teen-runaway movie, but in a good way. She looked really cool. Suze replayed" Mom, if you're flying for 8 hours across the country, you would want to be comfortable."
Mom just rolled her eyes and dropped it. That's what's so great about her; she doesn't keep nagging you till oblivion, she just lets it go. Andy's kids better know how lucky they are to have a mom that isn't a nagger, that's hard to come by.
"All right," she said, instead. "Let's get your bags." Then, raising her voice, she called, "Jake, come on. We're going to get Terry and Suze's bags."
Jake had looked like he was woken up by mom calling him. I wonder what would happen if she didn't call him, would he have just stayed there.
When we started walking, my mom put her arm around my shoulder and asked with a hint of worry," Terry, honey, are you o.k.?"
"Yeah mom, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked confused.
"It's just that... you haven't said a word since you got off the plane and I was starting to get worried."
Ohh, that's why she was worried, I must have forgotten to say at least a couple of words in the conversation.
"I'm fine mom; I just got distracted by the scenery and how different it was then in New York. Sorry I worried you." My mom let a sigh of relief,
"That's Ok honey, you just caught up in your own world, it happens to everyone." mom said with a smile.
I nodded. I was already used to seeing this happen. See when I was younger, I use to barley talk and that scared my mom cause I was 3 and should be talking nonstop, yet I barley spoke a word. My mom took me to tons of doctors to see what was wrong with me, and they all said they same thing that I hadn't learned how to talk properly or that I was conscience of what I said or something like that.
Funny part was, all those doctors where wrong. I could speak fine and I wasn't conscience of what I said, I just had too much in my head to say that I ended up not saying anything at all. Though when I hit the age of 5 that started to become a problem and doctors weren't saying I couldn't speak anymore, so I had to tell them what was on my mind.
I ended up coming out of the doctor's office a genius. Apparently, I was really smart and had so many things to think about that I forgot to talk. That, of course, made my mom ecstatic and totally forgot about the whole talking situation and focused on the whole 5 year old taking 6th grad courses. I still have to talk though so my mom doesn't get worried, but I don't have to talk much just a couple of sentences here and there to make my mom happy.
You would think she would be happy with me taking college courses except in science where I'm taking 12th grade class, but it just goes to show that you can't please parents.
As we walked I looked around to see everything so different. Everyone is so bright and happy. I mean everywhere I turn I saw a person smiling and actually looked like they were happy. So different from New York where frowning and fighting with people were practically laws. Maybe it was the water everyone drank or maybe it was just me.
Yet, when I look up at Suze to see if she noticed, I saw her staring in amazement at everything. Guess I wasn't the only one to notice.
Even when we went to pick up our bags, they didn't even check if our ticket stubs matched the stickers on them, no they just smiled this pod people smile and said "Have a nice day."Creepy.
As I got over the shock and went to go pick up my bags, I noticed Brad, Jake, and David had already taken 2 each. Man, when my Suze's friend Gina said that having brothers was going to have its advantages, she wasn't kidding. I mean I know what's in those bags, I helped pack them, but they looked as if they didn't weigh a thing.
When they had the bags, we headed for the parking lot. As we got to the automatic doors, everyone-except me and Suze- went into their pockets and took out a pair of sunglasses. As we walked out I found out why, it was really really bright out. I had to shield my eyes from the sun and would have fallen over if Andy hadn't caught me. Note to self: Keep sunglasses in reach at all times.
When we got to the car, I heard Brad say,"I'll drive." and headed for the driver's seat. I was confused I didn't know Brad could read let alone drive.
"I will drive."Andy said firmly.
"Aw, Dad," Brad said. "How am I ever going to pass the test if you never let me practice?"
"You can practice in the Rambler," Andy said. He opened up the back of his Land Rover, and started putting our bags into it. "That goes for you, too, Suze."
What goes for Suze? "What goes for me, too?" Suze asked as if she had telepathy.
"You can practice driving in the Rambler." He wagged a finger jokingly in Suze's direction. "But only if there's someone with a valid license in the passenger seat."
Hold the phone, last time I checked, Suze can't drive. Suze just blinked at him and said, "I can't drive,"
Brad let out this big horse laugh. "You can't drive?" He elbowed Jake, who was leaning against the side of the truck, his face turned toward the sun. "Hey, Jake, she can't drive!"
"It isn't at all uncommon, Brad," David said, "for a native New Yorker to lack a driver's license. Don't you know that New York City boasts the largest mass transit system in North America, serving a population of thirteen point two million people in a four thousand square mile radius fanning out from New York City through Long Island all the way to Connecticut? And that one point seven billion riders take advantage of their extensive fleet of subways, buses, and railroads every year?"
Everybody looked at David.
Then my mother said, carefully, "I never kept a car in the city." Andy closed the doors to the back of the Land Rover.
"Don't worry, Suze," he said. "We'll get you enrolled in a driver's ed course right away. You can take it and catch up to Brad in no time."
I looked at Suze and say that she was processing what she was just told and didn't like the sound of it. I would have to agree with her, I mean who would ever think that Suze needed to catch up to Brad in anything, but hey there is a first for everything right
After that we all got in the car- with Andy driving, mom in the passenger's seat, Suze sitting in between Brad and Jake, and me and David in the back sitting on our luggage with David still talking about New York transit system. David is nice and all and he's the smartest boy I have ever met, but you have got to wonder where he gets this stuff from, I mean I am really smart but I don't really go around reading about New York transit systems.
As David kept talking, I looked out the window and saw tons of different things. Stands selling things for cheap prices, fields of grape-vines, and green plants going on for days. What had caught my attention, though, was the ocean. Not that I was surprised at seeing the ocean- it was common knowledge to know that California had an ocean- I just wasn't expecting to see it so soon. It looked like a painting to me, as if the painter had forgotten to paint the grass and just painted the sky. A gasp interrupted my thinking and made me look at a now embarrassed Suze.
"What?" my mother asked alarmed. "What is it?"
"Nothing," She said. "Just the ocean."
"Oh," said my mother. "Yes, isn't it beautiful?"
Brad went, "Good curl on those waves. Might have to hit the beach before dinner."
"Not," his father said, "until you've finished that term paper."
"Aw, Dad!"
My mom started talking about the school me and Suze will be attending- Mission Academy- , which to be honest would be only Suze attending since I'm only taking 1 class in that school and will be attending afternoon college classes and they had to probably pay a lot of cash just to get me and Suze in, on Monday. It's a catholic school named after Junipero
Serra who forced natives to practiced Christianity instead of their own religion.
The reason we hadn't gone to this school earlier was because they didn't have enough room for Suze and I didn't want to leave without her so we both stayed till there was room for Suze. I didn't mind cause we got to live with our grandma till the beginning of 2nd semester when they had space for Suze.
Suze seemed to try to see the ocean more when she said," Wait a minute. When was this school built?"
"The eighteenth century," Doc replied. "The mission system, implemented by the Franciscans under the guidelines of the Catholic Church and the Spanish government, was set up not only to Christianize the Native Americans, but also to train them to become successful trades people in the new Spanish society. Originally, the mission served as a – "
"Eighteenth century?" she said in a panicked voice, leaning forward. "Eighteenth century?"
My mother must have heard the panic in her voice, since she turned in her seat and said, soothingly, "Now, Suze, we discussed this. I told you there's a year's waiting list at Robert
Louis Stevenson, and you told me you didn't want to go to an all-girls school, so Sacred Heart is out, and Andy's heard some awful stories about drug abuse and gang violence in the public schools around here – "
"Eighteenth century?" she repeated in a high pitched voice. She looked like she was going to pass out. "That's like three hundred years old!"
"I don't get it." We were driving through the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea now, all picturesque cottages – some with thatched roofs, even – and beautiful little restaurants and art galleries.
Andy had to drive carefully because the traffic was thick with people in cars with out-of-state licenses, and there weren't any stoplights. "What's so bad," he wanted to know, "about the eighteenth century?"
Mom said in her- what Suze liked to call - "bad news voice", "Suze has never been very wild about old buildings."
Man does she ever, I thought.
"Oh," Andy said. "Then I guess she isn't going to like the house."
Suze tensed and gripped Andy's headrest, "Why?" she demanded, in a tight voice. "Why am I not going to like the house?"
I found out why as we pulled up to the drive way. The house itself looked very nice with its Victorian-style turrets and a widow's walk – the whole works. My mom really out did herself picking such nice colours for the house which was a blue and white and cream. It was probably the nicest house in the whole neighbourhood, but from the look on Suze's face it looked like she didn't want to go in and wanted to run in the opposite direction.
As we climbed the steps on the front porch, my mom kept glancing at Suze. I could tell she was nervous of what we were going to think especially Suze. I could also tell that Suze was sort of pissed at her for not telling her that we were going to live in a house more than a hundred years old. If she did, she knew that Suze wouldn't move in and live with grandma till it was time to go to college. Because mom had been right Suze didn't like old buildings.
I on the other hand didn't really mind going in to the house and was walking in front of Suze as we got a tour of our new home. As we walked around, I saw some things that I recognized – me and Suze's baby pictures, mom's plants, the pie safe we got from Vermont, and mom's desk- and some I didn't - a sleek white computer sitting on the desk where my mother used to write out checks to pay the bills, Brad, Jake, and David's baby pictures, a wide-screen TV incongruously rucked into a fireplace in the den, to which shift-sticks were wired for some sort of video game, surf boards leaning up against the wall by the door to the garage, a huge, slobbery dog, who thought I had food in my pocket by the way he was sniffing them.
We started heading for my room first which was next to Suze's on top of the roof of the front porch. When we got to my room, I couldn't help but feel impressed. It had a violet purple wall with baby blue roses on it that matched the one in the bathroom which was on the right side of the room, a desk where I could hook up my laptop, my achievement awards on built-in book cases on the right side of the room, a four poster bed on the left side with a small table with a lamp on it beside it, and a window seat at the far wall giving me a view that would take anyone's breath away.
"Well, what do you think?" I heard my mom say. I turned to look at her with a blank expression. I could tell mom and Andy were really nervous about what I thought about my new room. I thought about how nice the room was and how nice they were to try and make me feel welcome and happy and I just had to at least try to be happy, if I couldn't then I would have to pretend to be happy.
So I said with a small smile on my face, "I love it, you really out did your selves. It's great!"
Andy looked really happy, while my mom looked at my face closely trying to see if I was lying.
When she couldn't find anything, she started to smile too and hugged me tight and said," Thank god! When you were looking around you didn't look very happy and I thought you hated it. I guess you were just trying to process everything you were seeing, right?"
I nodded my head and my mom's smile grew more. She loved when she knew what I was thinking, but to be honest she and Suze had to play the guessing game at what I was thinking for a long time, so they would have to be good at it by now. "Really, I like it. " I said.
"It is a nice room. It goes with your image Ter. Not to girly and not to Goth." Suze said while observing the room.
Then Andy started showing me how everything works in the room- the clap on-off lights, the bathroom- which by the way is awesome having your own bathroom-, a violet dressing table that went with the wall paper, and a phone that was on the dressing table that was in the shape of a pink heart.
I really did like it and it really did go with my image. I tend to be in-between Goth and girly, especially when I dressed the way was that day. I was wearing a white t-shirt that said "B LOUD B PROUD" on it, a black vest that went to my navel, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and my black high tops that went with my leather back pack that always went down to my lower back because I like it hanging from my shoulders that way. I usually look punk and when people hear I'm a genius they make a face saying "how the hell could she be smart? She looks just like an everyday trouble making teenager". I could have told them that I was only 10 but what was the point. I would have to actually talk and I really don't like talking unless I have to.
We left my bags in the room and headed next door to Suze's. Mom looked really nervous and she had every right to be. Suze can be really stubborn when she wanted to, which was why before we got off the plane I told her to cut mom some slack and to try not to be so stubborn and try to like the new house and if she didn't pretend she did.
As we walked into the room, I saw that it was similar to my room. It had a dressing table, a phone, a private bathroom, and a four poster bed just like my new room had. It, however, had cream coloured wallpaper, dotted with blue forget-me-nots on the walls. It was really nice but didn't really suit her very well. She was more girly than me but she wasn't dressing table girly.
I looked at Suze to see her reaction and saw her staring straight at the window seat that I hadn't looked at yet. I turned to see what she was looking at and saw a man sitting on the window seat, staring out the window. Someone who looked out of place in the room.
Suze looked back at Andy and mom to see if they saw him. Their expressions hadn't changed the least bit.
When my mom saw here expression she frowned and said," Oh, Suze. Not again."
Suze turned to look at me with an expressing that said something only I would know. Ghost!
