~Just My Luck~

-Violet-

"Right hand to blue!" My little sister, Rosie, squealed. I shot a look at the nearest blue, which was on my left side.

Really? Why, of all colors, did it have to be blue?

We were playing the game Twister with my twin younger brothers, Ryan and Jordan.

At the moment, we were tangled up in one giant mess of arms and legs. Ryan was on top of me, my left leg was under Jordan, and Jordan's right arm was over me. I slyly reached over to the closest blue one and slapped my right hand down on it.

Ha! Take that boys.

Sadly, Ryan and Jordan managed to stay in the game as well.

Ugh!

My arms were seriously starting to hurt. I've never had much arm strength, I've always been more of a runner type of person. Push-ups and handstands were definitely not my forte. Ryan must have sensed my frustration because he turned his head and stuck his tongue out at me.

"Hey!" I cried, causing Rosie and Jordan to giggle. Rosie was about to spin the black arrow again, when my mom walked in on us.

"Children, I need you guys to-" She stopped short when she saw us. Her warm, soft brown eyes looked absolutely bewildered at the sight of us all piled on top of one another.

Rosie giggled.

"Hey, Mom." Ryan and Jordan said simultaneously. She was staring at us like we had just dropped from the moon, which we might as well have. I think she was more shocked that we were actually playing with each other instead of arguing and fighting, like usual. There was an awkward pause.

Not knowing what else to do, I looked up and said, "S-so...how's the weather?"

She blinked at me, then shook her head, "Um...Listen, I need you guys to come with me. I need to tell you something important."

Uh oh.

When Mom has to tell us something "important" it's never good. The last time she had to tell us something "important" was when she had to give a very teary explanation about our father, who was no longer with us.

Ryan tried to flip his jet black hair out of his brown eyes, Justin Bieber style, but failed miserably. "You can tell us right now."

She looked a little uncomfortable. "Well...you seem sort of busy."

Jordan rolled his chocolate brown eyes at her. "Mom, we're fine. Now go on."

She sighed. "I don't know..."

Rosie bounced up and down making her bright red curls bounce. Her brown eyes were filled with pleading. "Pleeeeeeeaaaaase, Mommy?"

My mother tried to hide her smile. "Nevermind. Why don't we just forget I said anything."

She was almost to the door when we all chorused, "Mom!"

My mother laughed. "Alright, alright!" Her face turned serious. "I...I"m going on a four-year art tour to learn how to become an artist!"

Our pile fell to the ground.

It took a while for us to untangle ourselves. With the occasional, "Ow!" and "GET OFF OF ME BEFORE I LOOSE THE CIRCULATION IN MY LEG!" we finally managed to separate from each other. Jordan got up and brushed off his jeans. What a neat freak. "What?"

My mother sighed and cupped his face. "You know I've always wanted to be an artist, sweetie. This is my big chance, and I know you kids are old enough to take care of Rosie now so-"

Ryan got up. "Four years? Do you know how long that is?"

I could see the anger in his eyes. This was not good. Ryan has a little trouble controlling his temper. It never got to the pint where he hurt anyone-thankfully-but his face would start to turn red, and he'd start to get goosebumps. It was actually kind of gross.

My mother sighed, "Ryan, honey, I know this is hard for you to process, but-"

"Process?" Ryan balled his fists, "Where are we going to go? We can't go with you, can we?"

Mom bit her lip.

"Exactly," Ryan huffed, "You're going to leave us just like Dad did."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air. No one liked to talk about Dad. He died on a cruise ship. Mom had given him that ticket because every day he had been getting more and more stressed. She thought he needed a break, and what better way to relax, then to go on a cruise? The last thing I ever said to him before he got on the boat was, "I'll see you soon."

Just thinking about seeing the ship turned on its side on the news the next day made my insides churn. He was one of the forty-two people to not make it back to shore safely.

Everyone says Rosie got his red hair, and I got his baby blue eyes. I got Mom's black wavy hair, though, which really doesn't surprise me. The twins got Mom's chocolate brown eyes, and black hair.

My mother placed her hands on Ryan's shoulders, "Honey, you're not losing me. I'll just be away for a little while." She ruffled Ryan's hair gently and kissed him on the top of the head. "I'll be back to visit you before you know it. I promise."

Not knowing what else to do, I stood up and said, "Well. I'm glad you're going."

Everyone turned to stare at me. Gosh, I hate it when people stare at me, "I think it's a great opportunity." Everyone looked at me expectantly, waiting for something else, but nothing came out. There was nothing left for me to say. The words got caught in my throat, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get them out.

My mother looked grateful. "Thank you, Violet. You all will be staying with your uncle Tom , so I suggest you get packing. I leave in three days."

Rosie jumped up and down. "Yay! Artist! Yay!"

Ryan on the other hand wasn't too thrilled. "Uncle Tom? As in, Australia? Mom, we're in California!"

She nodded her head slowly. "Yes."

Ryan crossed his arms. "There goes my reputation." And stomped out. Even though he's 9, he still acts like a 5-year-old. It's sad, really. Besides, he doesn't even have a reputation.

My mother smiled. It had been so long since I'd seen her this happy, and seeing her happy made me feel even sicker to the stomach. I wanted to be happy for her, but for some reason I just felt...I don't know. Angry, confused, and annoyed all wrapped into one.

I clomped up the stairs into my bedroom, and flopped onto my purple and green, cotton blanket. My mind was reeling. Mom was going to be away for four entire years. Never, in my fourteen years of living, would I have thought that my mom would leave us, too. I was five when Dad died. That was probably one of the hardest things to ever happen in my life. Sure, I didn't fully understand what was going on then, but as I grew older, I started to fully understand. He's gone.

Now, mom was leaving. I knew we'd be able to handle ourselves, but still. This was a pretty big shock. Not to mention that it was all so sudden.

I dragged out my big lime green suitcase from under my bed and started to pack my clothes, my teddy bear named Marvin (Don't ask), my hairbrush, and my toothbrush. It took me a full two hours to finish packing, but I managed to do it anyway. Sighing, I took a look out of the window. Bright green grass was staring back at me. It looked so inviting, and so...well...green.

We're staying with Uncle Tom, huh? Great. Fantastic. Please note the sarcasm. Don't get me wrong I love him and everything, it's just, well, he's Uncle Tom. Last time I saw him, he had a huge mustache, and a tattoo that said, 'My True Home: Tennessee'

See, Uncle Tom and my mom, were born and raised in Tennessee. My mom moved to California only a few years after college. My uncle, however, stayed there for most of his life, until disaster struck.

Uncle Tom met a nasty, old witch who just wanted to use him for his money. Her name was Flushana. They eventually got married, but, oh no, that wasn't enough for Flushana. She wanted to travel the world and see everything there was to imagine and loved the thought of seeing different sights. Together, they moved across to Queensland, Australia where they stayed for two years.

Next, Flushana wanted to move to Paris, but Uncle Tom, of course, could not afford that, so Flushana left him. No one really cared because she was a jerk, anyway. Uncle Tom decided to just stay in Queensland since he couldn't afford to go back to Tennessee, and that's where he's been for the past six years.

It's just my luck, he lives near a beach. I hate the water. Since my dad was killed, I've been deathly afraid of it. Even taking a bath for me is twenty minutes of almost drowning.

I flopped down on my bed, and sighed. I'll sure miss the bright green grass.

"Let me get this straight." Lola, my best friend in the entire world, said holding up a finger. "Australia?"

I nodded grimly. We were sitting on my bed the next day, each of us eating out of a bag of Skittles, trying to make our last moment together last. Since it was Saturday, she was allowed to come over. Even though, her parents are very strict about her school work. The warm January sun cast a golden ray of light through my window.

She looked a me with her caramel brown eyes. "You gotta be kidding me?"

I shook my head. "Not kidding."

Lola stood there staring at me, obviously hoping that I was joking. Finally, she seemed to get the vibe that I was not. "Your really leaving?" She whispered. Lola shook her chestnut brown hair back and forth. "This can't be happening. Who am I gonna talk to now?"

I was Lola's only friend. It was sad, but true. The only reason we even became friends in the first place was because we both forgot to wear sneakers to gym, so we were told to sit out. This made me feel even worse about leaving. I wrapped an arm around her and said, "I'll keep in touch. Besides it's only four years. We'll see each other again."

Lola smiled. "Maybe."

I sighed, and leaned back on my hands, "You know I wish some things could just be permanent. Forever. You know what I mean?"

"I guess I can kind of relate, but..." Leaving her thought unfinished, she snapped her fingers, walked over to my desk, and pulled a permanent marker from my drawer. "What are you doing?" I asked.

Lola smiled. "I'm gonna make something permanent."

"Lola what-" But before I could finish, or even had time to protest, she grabbed my bright green converse. On the once clean, rubber toe of the sneaker she wrote, 'B.F.F.L's are permanent.'

I smiled warmly at her. "You know, I'm going to really miss you, Lola."

She nodded you too. And with that we tackled each other in one giant bear hug.

Here we are three days later at the airport, kissing our mother goodbye. It is currently 5 A.M. and I am not happy. Especially since we're leaving in the middle of the school year! Mom had tears in her eyes, and was trying to frantically wipe them away so she wouldn't smudge her make-up.

"Now you be good for your uncle, okay? Don't give him any trouble."

Jordan nodded, "I will." I could tell he was trying to be the responsible one, even though that's my job, since I'm the oldest. But I guess he can take over for a while.

Ryan stared at the ground and said nothing.

Rosie's lip was trembling. "Mommy?"

My mother knelt down and scooped her up into one massive hug. "I'll miss you. All of you."

My stomach twisted into knots, half from sadness, and the other half from nerves. Above us, a crackly voice was saying something about Australia boarding.

Jordan sighed. "Well, we better get moving. Love you, Mom."

"Love you too, Sweetie." She engulfed both of the twins in one massive hug.

My stomach felt queasy. I didn't want to leave. This was the only real home I knew. My dad was born and raised here; this place was the only one that reminded me of him. I can't just get up and go. My eyes stung from the tears that were about to form in my eyes. I was fighting them. I, Violet Rose Reeves, never ever cried. When died died I cried so hard that I couldn't cry anymore. So finally, I just stopped. I haven't cried ever since, and I was not going to cry now.

Jordan helped Rosie up the plane's stairs, while Ryan stomped on without a word. I was about to follow his example when Mom stopped me.

"Violet?" My mother asked. I looked up and tried to wipe my face of emotions. Even though I wanted to say something, my throat was tight, and I knew any minute the tears would fall.

"This isn't the last time you'll see me, Vi."

You don't know that, Mom. I thought to myself. But I knew if I said that out loud, I'd ruin the moment.

I sniffled, still trying to hold back the flow of tears. "I know."

My mother brushed a loose strand of hair that had come out of my ponytail. "Remember, I put you and your brothers and sister on a program. It makes sure that the flight attendants watch you the entire time you're on that plane."

I took a deep, shaky breath. "They watch over us?"

She nodded, causing her long curly black hair to move up and down. "Yes. They'll take good care of you. I'm sure of it."

I fidgeted, trying to straighten out my simple dark green top. I looked down at it. The shirt was once dark green and had the words 'I :( Mondays' as a design on it. But now it was all just one green blob. The tears building in my eyes were making everything blurry. I was sure my eyes were this disgusting color red that always happened when I cried. I was also wearing the bright green converse that Lola had scribbled all over. I could barely make out the words 'B.F.F.L's'.

All of a sudden, my mother squeezed me into a tight hug. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

We stood there for what seemed like forever. I honestly didn't want to let go.

A peppy voice came over the intercom that practically ruined the entire moment. "Last call for passengers leaving for Australia! Last call!"

My mom let go, wiping away her tears that I didn't notice two seconds ago. "Time for you to leave."

"Yup." I nodded. I looked away because I knew if I took one look at her I would start crying too, and it'd turn into this huge crying fest.

She helped me with my carry-on bags as I boarded the giant white airplane. Since we were part of that weird program my mother was talking about, we got to sit up front closer to the captain; for safety precautions I guess. After we settled down the giant plane slowly, but surely began to take flight.

The last sight of California, was what I saw out of the tiny airplane window and the last image of my mother. Jordan, Ryan, Rosie and I all sat together in a row. I saw flight attendants pointing at us, and whispering. Honestly, I was getting kind of nervous. As the plane took off, Rosie's eyes began to water. "Mommy...gone?"

'Great. What has Ryan been telling her THIS time?' I thought as I gently explained to her that we'd see her again. Normally, I enjoy heights, I mean, you're free, absolutely free, but this particular ride, I was not too thrilled about. Rosie began to cry not even five minutes after we took lift off. Ryan was yelling at her to shut up, and Jordan was yelling at him to stop yelling at her.

I decided to stop the nonsense immediately because the other passengers on board began to look back our way. But instead of solving the problem, I ended up getting sucked into it. There we were, all yelling at each other while poor little Rosie cried until l the noise she could make were these little hiccup noises. Yup, that's pretty much how we started out our first day in Australia.

After about fifteen minutes of me trying to shut them up, a flight attendant with brown hair tied into a tight ponytail. "Um, hi. I'm Cathy, and I'll be at your service today. If you need anything, or are feeling uncomfortable, just feel free to call me." She smiled brightly, then walked away.

I settled back against the soft, seat. Apparently, this woman was supposed to watch us until the plane ride was over.

Across from me, I saw a woman giving us the evil look. Apparently, we were louder than I thought. Normal people would give one nasty look, then glance away, but this woman just kept staring at us, and having someone glance in your direction every five minutes was not something I'd call fun. I absolutely despise getting stared at.

When we finally arrived at the airport, about 21 hours later, my uncle was waiting there holding a sign upside-down that read, 'Zeeves'. He looked almost exactly how I remembered him. He had sunglasses over his eyes, so I couldn't tell what his eyes looked like. He had the same tattoo scrawled on his right arm, and looked very proud of it. He was wearing an old, black, and tattered biking jacket, and dusty old blue jeans. His cowboy boots matched his jacket perfectly, and of course, he had the same bushy black mustache.

"It's 'Reeves' not 'Zeeves'" Ryan huffed. I could tell he was going to be a pain these next four years even before we get to see the house.

"Who cares?" Jordan asked. He was obviously trying to keep up his attempt of being the responsible one up. "At least he bothered to show up."

"It's our last name! How can you not care?"

I rolled my eyes. Ryan can be so dramatic. "Just deal with it, Ryan."

Rosie, being the sweet innocent 5-year-old she is, ran up to Uncle Tom and screamed, "TOMMY!"

He put his black sunglasses on the top of his, which showed off his chocolate brown eyes almost identical to ours, and laughed. When he spoke he had a country accent. "Well, that's pretty dang close."

"Hi, Uncle Tom." Ryan said through gritted teeth.

Uncle Tom didn't seem to notice, he took one look at me, then smiled."Why, Violet Rose Reeves! Look at you! You've grown so much."

I smiled politely. "Thanks, Uncle Tom."

Just then Jordan rolled up to us with all of our bags. He was wheezing slightly, "Geez, Vi, what did you put in here? A refrigerator?"

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my bag from him. I got a better look outside. I glanced down at my watch, which read, 7: 13 P.M.

Huh. It was still light enough to go outside.

Uncle Tom motioned us to follow him. "I've got a surprise for you!"

We shrugged at each other and followed him.

Uncle Tom led us out to the parking lot, where an old, red pick-up truck sat. It had clumps of dried dirt all over it and looked at least 20 years old.

"Hop on in! I just got it cleaned this morning."

The inside was worse than the outside, if that's even possible. The poor truck smelled like it had been bathed in beef jerky. It was littered with candy wrappers, McDonald's cups, some old clothes, clusters of papers, but the truck mainly consisted of beef jerky bags.

Jordan took note of this. "You JUST cleaned it?"

Uncle Tom nodded. "This ole' bad boy's been runnin' since you was a baby." Jordan's eyes were the size of baseballs. Just as Jordan is about to give one of his long cleaning lectures, Uncle Tom turns on the engine. At first, all that came out was a wheeze, then a cloud of smoke, but then the engine fired up.

"I can tell." Ryan muttered.

We drove down the long road, in our dusty, smelly truck, listening to Rosie's continuous singing of, 'Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.' Unfortunately, she only knew the first line, so it was really more like, "Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose! Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose!"

By the time we pulled into his long driveway, I was ready to bolt out of the car. But that was before I got a glimpse of our house. I was half-way out of the car when I saw it.

The house was big, I' m talking mansion type of big. It sat right on top of the beach, so that the entire backyard was a part of the ocean. Just looking at the clear sea-green water made me grimace. I looked over to the left, trying to draw my attention away from the watery death-trap. I saw a pier, lined with several shops and docking boats.

Jordan gave me a light shove, obviously dying to get out of the car himself. "Come on, Vi. Move it, or loose it!"

I turned towards him, and gave him a small smile. "I'm going to go to the pier. Want to come?"

First H2O Fanfiction EVER! So tell me what you think ;)

Rain~*