Yay! My first fanfic! Please please please comment and review! I should be making updates about once a week so please check back! And thanks so much to my best buds: Peter, Lizard and Rosanna, for who The Story would't be so far or amazing without. 3

2. Taxicab Road Kill and Cold Water

I wake up Sunday morning with a splitting headache. The early sunlight shines through the window, burning the inside of my skull. I close my eyes, the light burning red on the backs of my eyelids.

Knowing I won't fall back to sleep I carefully get up, trying not to move my head too much as I sit down in the window seat, folding my legs beneath me. I close my eyes against the sun and lay my head against the glass.

It feels like heaven on my throbbing head.

I watch the people hurry by on the street beneath me. They all have cell phones in their hands, briefcases under their arms, trying in vain to catch a cab. Only a few walk at a leisurely pace: a couple with a dog, an old woman with a large handbag, and a family of five, craning their necks, looking at everything around them.

Hurriedly, I reach for my sketchbook and flip to a new page.

I've always wanted to sketch the people walking by on the street, but they're all in such a rush that it's impossible to do.

There's something special about this family though, and it's not the fact that they're tourists.

The mother and father lead the little group, holding hands. She has flaming red hair, as does the girl, clinging to her forearm. The two boys behind him are having a silent fight, pushing and shoving each other.

I hold my pencil to the empty page, waiting for the moment when I could copy the scene onto the paper.

The taller of the two, the one with auburn hair, pushes his brother. The brother loses his balance and stumbles into the street. It would have been quite comical if there hadn't been a cab speeding past at that exact moment.

The breath catches in my throat as the cabdriver slams on the breaks and screeches to a halt three inches from the boy. He holds out his hand, as if he could hold the cab away from him.

I realize that this is my moment. Quickly, I sketch him, trying to memorize the way he stands with his hand held out, the angry look of the cabbie, the way his hair sticks up at the sides.

I press my hand to the window, willing him to stay still until I can finish, but he's already hopped back onto the sidewalk. He smiles then, giving the cabdriver a little wave.

He's pretty cocky for a guy who almost got run over, but I like his smile.

I sit frozen as he gives his brother another shove and runs a hand through his dark hair, making it stick up in all directions.

I almost like it better that way.

He nods to his mother, who looks to be scolding him and his brother. The little sister wags a finger at them, but she's grinning and giggling. After the excitement dies down, the family turns and starts walking again.

I tilt my head to keep the family in my view as long as possible. But then they turn the corner and disappear.

I wish I could follow them.

Calling up the image in my mind, I try to finish the drawing as best I can. When I'm satisfied, I rip it out of the sketchbook and tape it up next to the other pictures around the border where the mirror used to be.

[[[[]]]

I try to avoid the looks my parents and Luke are giving me today by staying in my room.

It isn't working so well.

By 11:30 my headache is gone, but I'm so hungry I could die.

I close my sketchbook and set it back on the dresser.

No one else interesting has walked by my window in the time I've been sitting here.

I wander down the hall to the kitchen, glad to see that I'm the only one there. I pour myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and race back to my room before anyone can talk to me.

How pathetic I am.

I decide to start reading Jules Verne for the twenty-seventh time.

Literally.

I was just getting to the part when they get to the center of the earth when Luke comes barging into my room.

"You know I have a door right?" I ask by way of greeting. "Knock next time."

"Well good morning to you too." Luke looks at the clock on the dresser. "Actually, afternoon is more like it. Are you going to sulk in here the whole summer?"

"I don't see why it matters to you." I say, turning the page. "You're going to be at summer camp."

This shuts him up for a moment. I see his mouth set into a thin line out of the corner of my eye as he turns to look at my drawings mounted to the mirror. Or where the mirror used to be.

"Why don't you ever color them?" He asks, pointing to the sketches, still not looking at me.

"I might mess them up." I say sulkily.

He whirls around to look at me then. "What is your problem? It's just a move Thalia, not the end of the world."

I snap my book shut.

"Maybe it would be fine if it was just one move Luke. But it's not. This is the fourteenth move, big difference. I don't know about you, but I had friends back in Maine, and back in New Hampshire, and back in Delaware, just to name a few. Don't you get tired of leaving? Of going somewhere new, just when you're starting to get settled? Because I do. But no one ever seems to be worried about what I think of anything, do they?"

I glare at Luke, willing him to challenge me. I think this is the longest thing I've ever said to him.

Luke frowns, "Maybe they're doing it for a reason, Thalia. Think about that the next time you fly off the handle."

I hate the look he's giving me. Luke may only be twelve, but from the way he looks at me sometimes, you'd think he was two years older than me rather than younger.

I try to ignore the unsettling feeling in my stomach as I point to the door. "Out. I don't need any of your high and mighty talk today. Have a great time at camp. And that door better be closed when you leave like it was before you walked in here."

With that, I flop back on my bed and open my book back up to a random page, trying to control the color of my face.

I see Luke give a last calculating glance before he turns towards the door.

"It's the thought that counts Thalia, just remember, it's the thought that counts."

And with that, he closes the door tightly behind him.

Lying back, I stare up at the ceiling, again.

It appears as if there is a new crack in the yellow paint.

I sigh.

Family.

You've got to love them.

[[[[]]]

I stand under the steaming stream of water.

For such a crappy place, the shower's actually pretty nice.

The water has always helped to calm me, so that's why whenever things get rough I take a shower.

It's like I can almost feel the worries and doubts washing down the drain as the scalding water cascades down my back.

Almost.

I think back to the conversations I had, first with my parents, and then with Luke.

It's obvious they're hiding something.

I start to feel like I'm standing on the other side a glass wall.

I can see Luke and my parents, but I'm not with them. Something, as thick or thin as that glass wall, has separated us.

For the life of me, I cannot think what that something could be.

I stand in the shower.

I stand.

And stand.

And stand.

As long as I'm not thinking about the temperature of the water, it gets colder. But as soon as I accept the fact that I've used all the hot water, it steams up again.

Finally, Luke starts banging on the door. "An hour long shower? Really Thalia? C'mon! The fish are calling! You've used up all the water in the ocean!"

I roll my eyes, reluctantly shutting of the water. Saying goodbye to the last streams of water rushing past my toes, I grab my towel and wrap it around myself.

Opening the door, I move to push past Luke, but he catches my arm. At first, I think he's going to apologize for our "discussion" earlier, but he says instead, "How is your hair dry already?"

Self-consciously, I reach up to run my fingers through my… dry… hair.

Question mark to show confusion.

I think back to our argument this morning. I remember that look of superiority in Luke's grey eyes only too well. I won't give him the satisfaction now. "You mean your hair doesn't dry this fast?"

Before I can get a clear look at the reaction on his face, I spin around and hurry back down the hall to my room. The bathroom door clicks behind me, and I hear the water turn on.

I feel the beginnings of Luke's scream, racing down the hall and slamming me in the back.

"THALIA!"