The trip to Albuquerque was quick and easy, but I was still quite annoyed that Evey ignored me the entire way. She didn't even rub my hand during landing, which left me with soon-to-become calluses on my palms from gripping the handles. Once we landed though, I continuously poked her side to get her to stop reading to let the man out. She put down her book and looked around with shock, "Are we already here?" Without warning, the man shoved his way past us, not bothering to say sorry or anything. His knee collided with mine and I winced as he trampled down the walkway and out the plane. Evey huffed and unbuckled herself to search for her book. The commotion caused her book to leave her grasp, and I saw it slightly open beside my foot. Picking it up, I caught a glance of a few words before she snatched it away from me.
"Jeez," I responded as she bookmarked the page and stuffed it into her bag. "What's with you and that book?"
She gave me a look that said to stay out of it, but I couldn't help it. "Evey..." I whined, wanting to know. She shook her head and some strands fell from her ponytail, framing her face perfectly.
"I'd rather not tell you..." she muttered like she was hiding something. I wanted to ask more, but I couldn't think of a least-annoying question for her. We were offered free water, and I casually sipped it as they cleaned the cabin. I stared at my ice cubes and thought about the words I managed to read:
"Our enemies are the cold ones."
That didn't make any sense whatsoever. As much as I wanted to believe she was reading an intense, fantasy novel, there was something off about that one phrase. It may have been just a ruling character proclaiming a speech, but to call an enemy a "cold one" was weird. I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew she would just ignore me more. I glanced at her as people started to file onto the plane. She was tense and, if I couldn't be any more weird, keeping something from me. It was clear in her movements. I couldn't help it and again tried to get her attention by poking her.
"What?" she said in a growl. Sheesh, harsh... and random.
"What are you not telling me?" I asked. She was about to respond when her cellphone rang. Answering, she replied in a happy tone. She mouthed to me it was her cousin. I could hear bits and pieces of conversation as the plane filled up quickly. People were in coats and wearing scarves, like it was cold outside. Glancing out the window, it seemed like a typical summer day even though it was fall. The sun was setting, casting a glow on nearby planes which nearly blinded me. We were headed north, and I wished I grabbed a jacket for the plane ride there. Evey was still talking up to the point the flight attendants repeated the safety procedures. I elbowed her until she put her phone away. She held my hand this time as we took off, which made me a bit sicker than usual.
"Don't worry," Evey told me when we got to cruising altitude again, pulling out her book.
I didn't know I was worrying about anything, so I dismissed her comment. She explained to me that her cousin was going to pick us up at the airport. He was going to have jackets for us as well. I was worried that he might not like me, but she reassured me that he doesn't bite. She smiled at me like our conversation about that book never happened, and she leaned her seat back to sleep. It was getting dark outside; all I could see was the blinking light on the end of the wing. A lot of other people around me were slipping off into dreamland and I yawned. No, I can't fall asleep. I grabbed my iPhone and started to play some upbeat music. I adjusted myself against my seat to get comfortable so I could daydream.
I wondered how Seattle would be like, how the little town of Forks was. I wondered about what her cousin looks like, and how he acts. Hopefully he's nice to me and doesn't tease me a lot like Evey. I wondered if kids there were nice to me and wouldn't make fun of me. I wondered if the classes at school were going to be hard. I also wondered about the man I saw. Ever since we left Mexico though, I haven't seen him. Well, probably because I'm on a plane. But still.
Before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep.
What a great idea that was. I was falling, screaming, grappling the air for something to catch myself. Nothing, there was nothing to hold. The earth was far below me, and I heard an explosion which accelerated my descent. Glancing up, I dodged a piece of metal that hurtled to the earth. The plane had exploded above me, and bits and pieces of it were aimed straight at me. I screamed, wanting to catch myself, but if I did, I would be ripped to pieces from flying debris. The ground was closing fast, and I was losing control in the air. I was falling side to side, getting a whiplash, like somebody was shaking me…
"ALAINA!" I heard a voice shout and I flared my eyes open. Evey's worried face stared at me, and I could feel something wet roll down my neck. Sweat.
"Dear god," I breathed heavily as I came back to reality. I rubbed my temples and a flight attendant stopped by and offered me some water. I happily obliged and downed the little cup quickly. The ladies were cleaning; that means we've landed. I shakily stood up and let Evey out so she could grab her carry-on from the overhead bin.
"Are you alright sweetie?" she asked as I followed her out of the plane. A large headache resided in me, but as soon as I stepped off the plane, it released much of its pressure. I shakily sighed in relief and she looked at me again. I grabbed my carry-on from her and nodded, "Just a bad dream… we're never flying again." She half-heartedly smiled and kept close to me as we walked into the airport. I took a deep breath of the cool air. Oh ground, how I have missed you. The airport was chilly and smelled like rain. I glanced out a window. The earth was damp and green surrounded the airport. My mouth hung open. It was beautiful despite the fact it was nighttime. I've never seen this much green in one place before. I heard a squeal and I glanced back to see Evey jumping into a large man's arms. That must be her cousin. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and strolled over to the two chatting happily. Once Evey noticed I was there (which honestly took a few minutes for her), she smiled.
"Alaina, this is my cousin, Sam. Sam, this is the girl I've been talking to you about," she smiled happily. I looked at Sam, who held his hand out to shake. I shook it and was responded with a near-to-death grip.
"Nice to meet you Alaina," he smiled. Evey was bouncing up and down like she was a kid. I groaned and rolled my eyes. Even though she is my guardian, sometimes I felt like the parent who was always embarrassed by their kid. I got a better look at Sam and found immediate similarities. Well they weren't really similarities, it was more like twins. They had the same skin tone (but Evey's seemed a bit lighter), near to same build, same eyes, hair, everything! I thought I was seeing double.
"I hope you like it here," Sam pronounced to both of us. "Let's get your bags then we'll be on the road to Forks." Oh yeah, forgot that we weren't staying in Seattle. I sighed, hoping that Forks was as pretty as Seattle. He handed us jackets to stay warm, and I buried my face in the soft fabric. We strolled downstairs to the luggage bay and Sam got our three bags with ease. I wanted to protest because he was handling all of them, but it struck me that he was strong enough to do so. Hell, I'm strong enough to do that, but probably with two bags instead of three. I had a theory he was on steroids. He led us out towards the parking garage, which was separated by a sheet of random rain. Evey and I sprinted, using the jackets as protection, while Sam just lightly jogged. It was like this guy didn't care that our luggage was getting wet. He led us to a blue truck, which Evey gushed over, and I just hopped in the backseat with our luggage. I'm not a car person like Evey. Sam started the truck and drove us out into the rain and towards Forks.
"So you came from Mexico? This'll be a big change for you Ev," Sam stated as I tried to get comfortable in the back. I was squished and I wanted to look out the window. I finally managed to do so and stared at the green trees that flew past. The lights from the streets made them glow against the dark sky.
"Yeah, it's going to be different. I love the sun and the heat, but I'm pretty sure Alaina is going to be fine. She loves this kind of environment," she responded. I got bored after watching the trees fly by, mostly because I couldn't see them well enough due to the time and disappearing city lights. Geez, I hope we weren't going somewhere lost in the woods. I turned my attention to cheering on raindrops racing down the window. I wasn't listening to them, and I slowly felt my eyes droop. I yawned and glanced at them in front of me. They were going on and on about something I wasn't part of. Resting my head against a suitcase, I let myself doze off briefly before I heard a car door being slammed.
I jumped up to the sound and noticed a large house in front of us. It was too dark to see its features, but the front porch gave a homey feeling to it. It reminded me of a cottage I saw when Evey and I were back in Mexico. An old lady lived in it, and she welcomed both of us in for some lunch. I can't remember her name, but again my thoughts were forced back to reality. My shoulder was shaking and I pawed at Evey's hand, "I'm awake, I'm awake." I hopped out of the vehicle and yawned again, still half asleep.
"We're here kids. This will be your new home Evelisa. The boys helped refurnish and repaint it, so it should look like new," I faintly heard Sam say. A bag was placed in my hand and I had no choice but to carry it. I dragged my feet to follow Evey into the house, my footsteps easily heard on the porch. They were speaking about the interior as soon as Evey turned on a light. I gasped and covered my eyes.
"Alaina, sweetie, why don't you go to bed? You can unpack in the morning," I heard Evey say as I rubbed my eyes. I nodded and a hand led me upstairs to a room designated for me. My feet dragged as I walked in. Sam said something about choice of color and one of my interests, but the only thing I saw was something I craved for.
I fell onto the sheets and curled up on top of them. They were soft, and I was so tired I didn't care if I froze tonight. I heard a chuckle and felt my body being lifted then covered with blankets. I clung to them and buried my face in the pillows. I didn't care about my makeup and clothes, I just wanted sleep. There were murmurs in the hallway that were clearly about me, but I was already under.
