Mornings have always been my worst nightmares. Even worse than normal mornings is the crick in my neck due to the uncomfortable position on the bean bag.
But, once I sat up, the day almost seemed to brighten.
Recalling last night's events, I decided to get ready for the brilliant journey to find my brother!
Only on reaching the living room, did I discover that the time was 7 in the morning. This was the first time I woke up before Trish. Sighing happily, I realized that Trish had collapsed on the couch, snoring soundly.
Looking at the date on my phone made me realize that it had been six days since I woke up and three days since I moved into Trish's. I realized that I never really got a chance to explore her abode.
As a 'thank you' to Trish, I decided to cook breakfast. I wasn't that great a chef, but I could cook for survival. After quickly searing the pan, I put in chopped vegetables and all the necessary ingredients, I made my special veggie fried rice that dad used to make for me. Speaking of dad, I realized that I was so intent on recalling Austin that I forgot I hardly remembered my dad and brother. Vowing to exercise my mind more, I ate breakfast and left Trish's portion on the table.
Trish's place was a simple two-bedroom apartment. There were two rooms, one master bedroom, where I was staying and one smaller one, that she used, each with an attached bathroom. The apartment also had a living room, furnished with a comfy couch and beanbag. The colour palette made it clear that this was Trish's territory.
While the master bedroom was furnished in orange, including the accent wall, the bedsheets and the tablecloth, the living room and kitchen was an array of purple and it's hues.
The couch and beanbag in front of the TV were all about animal prints. The house overall was very neat and homely. It was very inviting and I'm glad Trish kept it clean because I am a very OCD person and even the simplest of messes could tick me off. I often wondered how Austin survived with me. He is the messiest guy out there, yet people say we balanced each other out perfectly. I wouldn't say that we balanced each other, if all he did was create messes and all I did was clear them! Living together at 18 was such a painstaking experience!
As my train of thoughts left the station, I heard the sound of greedy gulping of water.
"Morning Trish," I chirped cheerily.
"'Ning girl," she greeted back.
And boy oh boy, did her hair look like a bird's nest!
"Thanks," she replied sarcastically.
"Oops," I replied sheepishly.
She shook her head and smiled, "OK, so it is 10 right now and we should reach the airport by 12 atleast. Did you pack? Don't you need a bag to pack? Oh my God, we-"
I cut off her rambling with a laugh, "I'm so rubbing off on you!"
She laughed along, "I have an extra bag, let's get packing!"
That's how I spent the rest of my morning, packing. Sorting clothes by colour and style, I was ready with a well organized bag by 11:30.
I immediately slipped on a comfortable sweater dress with my converse and belt. Grabbing a matching purse, from Trish's closet, I slipped in some necessities and my journal. I vowed to read it in the flight. All set for the flight, I sat in the living room, surfing the channels on TV for about twenty minutes.
Sighing in boredom, Í decided to check on Trish, who I found sprawled across her bed and the room was a mess with clothes scattered into piles covering the carpeted floor. In a haste, I shook awake the obviously tired girl.
"It's 12 already!" I exclaimed, "We are going to miss the flight!"
She shot up from bed, grabbed a random dress and rushed into the bathroom.
I knew I was on clean-up duty; I always was.
Picking up her T-shirts from the floor, a funny piece of memory came to my mind.
"Great!" I grimaced, "Leave your T-shirts on the floor for poor little Ally to clean up. She will do it anyways, right?"
"Wrong!" I heard from the doorway, "I'm the trouble-maker and you are the problem solver, that's how our relationship works."
"God! I'm such a pushover," I mumbled to myself, not paying heed to a word he said.
"Ally," Austin tried.
"Oh, don't you 'Ally' me!" I exclaimed, "This is just not done. You are never on clean up duty!"
"Oh please," he said, now getting slightly furious, even his angry face looked cute, "It's bad enough to live with you with all those darn rules taped on the fridge."
"Well," I argued, "You're a singer, right? Your life is meant to revolve around rules!"
"No, it's not!" he argued back, "All I do is sing for them, the rest of my life is my own. So my life, my rules!"
I was so frustrated at that moment, I snapped. Holding out my fingers, I counted, "Number one, you are legally bound to the contract you signed with Starr Records. Number two, any sign of your misconduct would allow your record label to drop you or even worse, stop you from making music based on the information in your contract page three, paragraph six, point twenty-five. Thirdly, sweetheart, the medical condition of the client is a priority, so you even have rules to not overtrain your voice as per page six paragraph four," I finished.
He stared at me wide-eyed. By now at least he should have known better than to get into arguments with me.
I smirked at his silence, "Want to hear more? You have travel rules as well, like no getting media attention on airplanes or -"
My perfect explanation crashed, when I felt a pair of lips against mine. As usual, the sparks flew, the world seemed brighter, even though my eyes were closed and my heart beat a mile a minute.
As soon as he pulled away, I continued, "Nice try, Moon, but I am not that easy, there is more evidence I can provide you as to why your life revolves around rules, everywhere but here."
In his eyes, I could see his defeat. I knew he had surrendered. "I'm sorry, Ally," he said, "I don't know why, but sorry."
The smile that had formed when he apologized shrunk into non-existence the second he said he didn't know why. Whacking his T-shirts on the floor onto his chest, I walked away from his room.
"Ally," he called out, "Stop being so snobby and uptight. Let loose a little!"
"OK fine!" I yelled back.
His smirk widened but before he could speak I beat him to it, "I'm going to let loose. As a matter of fact, I'm going to let loose so much that I will not clean your room for the next whole month. Let's see how you'd survive."
He waved it off, knowing that my OCD instincts would kick in at some point. But, a month of self-control, later, I found him buried under a pile of clothes on the floor, his eyes wide open with red rims around them. A stack of empty water bottles next to the door, a pizza box, probably from a week ago, trash scattered in various parts of the room and lots of paper on the floor. It took every ounce of strength in me to not rush in for a cleaning spree.
"Hey there rocker!" I commented, "Nice room you've got here."
He immediately kicked off the clothes and rushed towards me for a tight hug, "Please get me out of her, Al," he whispered into my hair, "This place is blocking my creativity."
"Oh! I'm sorry I'm kind of on vacation right now, you know letting loose and all," I stated, still not ready to give up my pride and started walking away.
As I walked away, I felt a hand curl around my wrist, "Ally, please don't give up yet," he said slowly, "I'm so sorry, I just..just didn't realize what a dirty room can do. And I realized I just don't appreciate you enough. And you are an amazing person for doing everything for me, while sometimes I take you for granted. So all I'm saying is I'm so sorry!"
"Does this mean that we get to share cleaning duty?" I asked sternly. He nodded his head enthusiastically.
Then immediately letting go of my stern posture, I pulled him in for a kiss, "That's all I wanted to hear. You are forgiven," I said against his lips. I could feel his lips curve upwards and almost naturally, mine did too.
I was snapped out of my trance by a voice, a familiar one might I add yelled into my ear, "ALLYSON!"
"We are already late, leave the clothes, I'll clean them later," the same heavy voice said.
Blinking back to reality, I sighed, "Sorry Trish. There's just a lot on my mind."
Waving it off, Trish and I found ourselves in the New York City International Airport within an hour. We then rushed to the baggage counter, just in time, before it closed.
Once all the problems were settled, Trish and I settled in the Boarding Gate with our purses in hand.
"So Trish -"
I was cut off by her, "Hey, you don't call me Pat anymore. That means we are getting closer!"
"We obviously are closer," I assured her, then realized what she was trying to do.
"Oo, You're good," I admitted, "But, you can't escape from answering my questions."
"Okay," she sighed, "Fire away."
"Fine, where did I stay, before my accident? I'm guessing it was with Austin?"
"The both of you had an apartment here in New York, the same one you lived in for university. Though you were both from Miami, Austin didn't want to face what was back 'home'. So to see you guys, Dez and I, after passing out from the university, decided to transfer here."
Suddenly I remembered something, "Didn't Austin call Miami his 'heartbeat'? Why wouldn't he- "
"Look Ally, to be frank, Austin is an escapist, he can't handle much pain and you know his brother and him weren't on good terms, regarding his career or something. I don't know much about it, he never really mentioned his family much."
I tried to recall what the issue with his brother was, but in vain, I felt like a blank sheet of paper. Satisfied with her answers, I continued.
"Tell me about Sonic Boom," I smiled remembering my father's music store. I didn't see many flashes of the place, but whatever I saw had the DATA in them, duh!
Trish smiled, thankful that she didn't need to turn down the question, "Sonic Boom is actually being run by Ethan, you know the French guy? " Trish answered carefully.
"My ex? Why would he do that?" I asked now, curious. I suddenly recalled how Ethan changed from a sweet gentleman to a stuck up snob when he moved back. Being rich had ruined his personality and I remembered how I slapped him, when he tried to kiss me in some Halloween party.
"Well, after your dad passed away, your brother decided to sell the place. And before you get angry at him, you have to understand that Sonic Boom was running on loans. So Ethan offered to buy the place to keep your memories alive." she finished.
"Wait, so couldn't they have used my money? I mean, wasn't I a famous novelist? And why didn't Austin buy the place? Or anyone else-you?" suddenly sad at how all the others chickened out.
Trish sighed, "You see, your dad had a will written, where he refused to use your money. Austin had disappeared at that time and Dez and I were struggling to keep up with our own expenses. Ethan is a successful businessman, you know- Le Bonheur Groups - you know the perfume, Emu and the purses and the cosmetics and the-"
"Ya, I get it, continue."
"So, he is a billionaire and when he told your brother that he wouldn't change a thing about the store to remember you, your brother didn't hesitate to sell it."
"What do you mean by 'remember me'?" I asked, confused at the way she talked about me.
She gulped before answering, "It was a tough time, you know. It was about six months after your accident. Austin was shattered. He was so banged up that we were all scared he would commit suicide or something, but luckily Nic- I mean he didn't. He did however vanish into thin air."
I knew she purposely changed her sentence. There is something big, she's hiding. But, I kept silent.
She continued, "It was about that time that the doctors declared that you had no hope to live. They actually came to us and asked if we were willing to donate your organs. Hearing this, he cried for the first time in years. Truthfully, we all did. Austin, Dez and I all huddled up in the hug of the 'Fearsome Foursome' with our very important fourth member lying on her deathbed," tears were now silently flowing down her face.
In the many years, I had known Trish, she hardly ever cried. This meant that she was really emotional at that time and though, she'll never admit it, she was afraid that I was dead.
I hugged her tightly, as she let the sorrow out, "At that time, we all threw in our money to keep the life support on you. All we had was hope. And after that, well, he just left due to some..reasons. And a year later, you finally showed signs of waking up, but you didn't. And I..I...I cried for days. You were my best friend and I was so afraid to lose you," she sobbed as her grip on me tightened.
I don't know for how long we held each other, crying into each other's shoulders. I couldn't believe how much pain I had caused all my loved ones, because of a stupid accident, which was probably my fault as well.
Our sob session was interrupted by the staff calling us to board the plane.
Wiping off the tears, we boarded the flight.
Through the four-hour journey, Trish simply snored, while I opened my journal, to encrypt the coded stories.
As I read the songs and story excerpts, I could feel every emotion that this teenage girl felt.
There were about six snippets that reminded me of being bullied, a few of them about me missing me mom. The journal was mostly set during my age of ten to eighteen. I started writing more after my age of fourteen or the time when the bullying started.
There were a few entries about me having a crush and me dating a boy. The entries point to Ethan.
Another set of entries described my relationship with Austin, how we went from enemies to friends to besties to lovers.
Among these were some entries that described how awesome my brother was and how dad tried to cook.
There were few entries on how I missed my brother, who had to join the rehab for about a year to get rid of his addiction.
But between the entry about missing my brother and the teasing of the populars was a weird piece of fiction.
While most of my writings were filled with emotions, there was one poem that seemed as if I had lost all sense of hope or comfort. It seemed like I was scared and vulnerable while writing it, but I couldn't decipher what it meant. There was one particular stanza in the poem that actually caught my attention:
She was but a sweet and innocent girl
Who once had hope and happiness
But put her through misery-oh poor girl!
You better run into the wilderness
For who you thought would never hurt
The one you trusted, the one who was home
Was the one to treat you like dirt,
Will be the reason, you'll lose your sense of home.
I decided to ask Trish about this and yawning in exhaustion, closed the book and decided to sleep.
I awoke to the sound of Trish's whinings.
We had landed in Houston and I had a total of fifteen minutes of sleep because of the child kicking my seat behind me.
Uh children! Suddenly, my heart sank, I have no idea why, but it did.
After gathering our belongings and getting a taxi, we were set to find my brother. It was around 7:00 pm, when we caught the cab. Dez had tracked him down to Huckleberry Ranch, a small town in Houston.
The sun was setting when we arrived at the Ranch.
After paying the driver, Trish and I got out of the cab after collecting our luggage. It wasn't much, just two trolley bags and a purse.
We walked around the nice setting towards a vegetable cart.
There was a man, who looked about fifty, dressed in his rhomber and hat, picking up a carton full of carrots.
"Excuse me, sir," I asked politely.
"Ah, newbies, ye from York?" he asked in a country accent.
I nodded, smiling, "Yes, we're from New york."
"Here f'r some veggies?" he asked.
"No, we're here to see someone," Trish said, "Do you know an 'Alex Dawson'?"
He looked at us, "Ye family?"
I nodded, "Yes."
"What's the middle name?" he asked.
I thought for a moment before answering, "Francesca," trying to desperately stifle a giggle at our late grandmother's name he was given. The Dawsons really need to learn how to name their kids. I mean 'Edgar' for a girl and 'Francesca' for a guy, great!
"Oh, the Lodge Xander!" he exclaimed, "There's two Alex Dawsons here," he laughed, pointing to a building on the opposite side of the road.
We thanked him and rang the doorbell. It was already 8 and pretty chilly.
The door opened and there stood a thirty year old brunette, a man with broad shoulders and brown eyes, dressed in a dirty pair of jeans and a messy strip shirt. He stared for a moment before his eyes widened in shock, "Ally?"
"Hi," I squeaked as I felt a pair of arms pull me into a hug.
"God, I missed you!" he smiled with glassy eyes, "Wait, you're alive?"
"What's all the ruckus?" a voice called from inside.
And out came a blonde woman, carrying a baby in her arms.
The lady was very pretty, she had blue eyes!
"Why thank you!" she said.
My eyes widened as I smiled sheepishly. I should stop thinking out loud!
"Who are you? Wait, you look just like Lexy. Oh my God! You are Allyson!" she figured out.
I nodded, "Ally, Alex's sister," I held my hand out.
Balancing the child in one hand, she shook my hand, smiling, "I'm Siena Rogers, Alex's wife."
"So, is this?" I trailed off, looking at the adorable kid in her hand.
She nodded grinning, "Meet Milan, our son!"
I was now, beaming, "Wow! I'm an aunt! I'm a freaking aunt!"
"Let's keep this for later, can we come in? I'm super-sleepy," Trish, finally, stated.
"Hey Trish, didn't see you there," Alex stated, unable to stop the smile on his face.
"I'm short, not invisible," she stated, matter-of-factly.
We all went in. Tris and I were given a spare room. They were lodge owners and they invited us to dinner, after putting Milan to sleep.
Over dinner, I learnt quite a lot about him. Two years ago, after selling Sonic Boom, Ace had lost all hope of my recovery, just like everyone else and decided that it was best to move on in life.
We weren't all that close, I mean, we hardly spent time together, but were always there for one another. We were definitely not ideal siblings.
Anyways, he proposed to his girlfriend, who was also his colleague.
He used to work as the Personal Assistant of Ronnie Ramone of Ramone Records. So after marriage, they planned to come over to Houston for the honeymoon and liked the country atmosphere so much that they decided to settle there.
About a year later their son, Milan was born.
"So any special reason why the cutie is named Milan?" I prodded him.
He looked at me, confused, "Weren't we supposed to keep the 'city name' theme? You know cousins with similar names and all?"
"Huh?" I asked.
"Like my son's Milan and your-" he stopped, abruptly.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Trish glaring at him and shaking her head in warning.
"I mean, his cousin on Si's side was named Florence," he smoothly completed.
"What? No," Siena exclaimed and I directed my gaze towards her, "I thought that was just a coincidence. We named him that because-" I saw Alex whisper something into her ear and she continued, "Because, I'm also named after a city in Italy, ya, that's why," she said weirdly.
I lay my fork down, frowning. This was highly irritating, "What's with all the eye contact? What are you all hiding?"
The room was now silent. The trio shared glances, but didn't say a word.
"I'm going to bed. I'm tired," I said monotonously, on realizing that I wouldn't get an answer.
Standing up from the table and thanking them, I ran up the stairs to my allotted room and plunged into bed.
I shouted into the pillow and slowly, the screams were reduced to snores and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.