Nepeta stared out the window of her family's silver mini van as it drove down a busy highway of southern California. Out of everyone in her family, she was the most excited for this trip. Her short, dark brown hair was tied into a small ponytail and her dark olive skin's freckles had began to pop out over her face and shoulders. She was wearing an indigo colored tank top with matching sneakers and black jean shorts.
Her mother was sitting up next to her stepfather who was driving. Next to Nepeta sat her older sister, Meulin, who, on the other hand, had her long dark hair loose and messy as usual. Behind them in the back row of the van were Nepeta's stepbrothers; Karkat and Kankri. When her mother got married three years ago, along with her loving stepfather came his annoying sons.
Karkat wasn't too bad except when he was legitimately pissed off. However, Kankri could talk for hours about nonsense once you get him on a topic he considered "offensive". Both of their appearances were unusual to a normal person. Karkat was born an albino but has since dyed his hair black. Kankri on the other hand, had a overbite that wasn't very noticeable when his mouth was open. Nepeta liked to think he talked a lot to hide it from others.
"How much longer 'til we get there?!" Karkat questioned in his usual loud voice.
"In a few minutes, dear. Just be patient." His stepmother assured him.
Karkat grumbled and leaned back in his car seat. Kankri was too busy reading one of his speech books to add anything to the conversation as he usually did. "Calm down, Karkles; if anyone's excited for this vacation, it's me." Nepeta teased him with one of her many nicknames.
"Really? You don't seem like a swimmer!" Karkat retorted.
"You know people go to the beach for more then just swimming." She replied. Nepeta knew what it was she was going to do once she got to the beach. But she kept it to herself, there's no way anyone (especially Karkat) would believe there was a mermaid there waiting for her.
A sudden meow came from the seat between the two sisters and Karkat groaned, "Why did we bring Pounce De Leon again?!" The white cat meowed again and looked around her carrier.
"Because we didn't have anyone to babysit her. I asked Equius but he said he was going to be busy with something he couldn't tell me." Nepeta answered.
"First of all, did you really just say babysit? Second, please don't tell me anything about your fucking weird and somehow ripped friend."
"Hey, I'm the only one who can make fun of him." Nepeta grinned and stuck her tongue out at Karkat.
"Children don't start arguing again please, the house is just up the street here." Nepeta's mother said to them and turned back to the front to look up ahead at the vacation home.
Nepeta gasped with excitement and nudged Meulin who managed to fall asleep while the rest of the family wasn't paying attention. Her older sister woke up quickly and turned to her sister. "We're here, we're here!" Nepeta signed. Meulin gave her younger sister a huge smile and the two of them bounced up and down in place.
The mini van came to a stop and was parked right in front of the large light blue house. Nepeta was the first to hop out and took Pounce De Leon with her. The rest of her family got out a bit slower than her and their parents began to unload the luggage they brought with them. Nepeta took her olive suitcase and rolled it behind her as she headed up the stairs to the front door of the house. Even after five years she remembered where the keys the owners of this house were kept. She kneeled down and lifted the welcome mat to retrieve the gold colored keys. "Looks like you're one step ahead of us, dear." Her mother laughed as she and the others reached the house.
Nepeta smiled back to her mom and turned to the door again to unlock it. One turn of the key and the door was easily pushed open by her. She entered the house and had a look around.
Not much had changed since the last time they were here. Same furniture, wall colors, and circle shaped windows to look out at the Pacific. Nepeta turned around, "Soooo, when can we go swimming?" She got straight to the point .
Her stepfather laughed, "We just got here! I'm afraid the sun's gonna start going down in an hour or so anyway." He informed her. Nepeta sighed, she supposed it was a bit unrealistic to be able to start her search for Feferi so soon. Although she still felt a bit disappointed about it. "In the meantime, we could order a pizza for dinner. Does anchovy sound good to you?" Her mother asked.
"Duh! Anchovy is always good for me." Nepeta grinned.
At least she had something to occupy her time until the next day.