I own my characters and Jenny Carol/Meg Cabot owns hers.
It's bad enough that I have nothing to listen to. Its worse that I have to be on a plane that is showing the movie The Babysitter's Club. Euugh. Bad movie. And I can't sleep at all. Who would think that a plane flight from New York to California would be so bad? Not me, that's for sure. That's why I didn't bring my books (though I probably wouldn't be able to read it on account that I get motion sickness when I read in a moving vehicle) or my music (I thought I would be able to sleep).
I wasn't really looking forward to moving to California, but my mom just happened to marry a guy who worked out there. He also had three sons. I guess it's easier to move to people instead of four. Plus, he's a carpenter, and there is no need for carpenters in New York. However, being the news anchorwoman that my mom was, getting a news job in Carmel-Bye-The- Sea, California isn't that hard.
The plane finally landed. As I was walking out of the terminal with one of my bags (I had four others that I needed to pick up), I saw an enormous sign reading Welcome Loki. That's me. Loki Simon (originally Brian Simon, but there were already three other Brian Simons at my old school in Brooklyn, and it was a pain getting called into the principals office when one of the other Brian's' got in trouble). I saw that the sign was held up by David, the youngest, who I dubbed Brain, and Brad, the middle, who I dubbed Pinky (from the show Pinky and the Brain). The third, and oldest brother, Jake, was, for all I could tell, asleep on his feet. I hadn't dubbed him anything, because I couldn't tell about his intelligence, 'cause he hadn't said anything to me (then again, we only met once, and that was at the wedding). Brian was small-ish with bright red hair. Kind of cute for a kid, though you could tell he wouldn't be a looker when he grew up. Brad was more my height, about six feet, and slightly muscled. From what I know, he was on the wrestling team. Pretty good looking, for a wrestler. The last one was Jake. He was about six" one', with blond hair and blue eyes. The hottest one of the bunch, if I do say so myself (if you hadn't guessed, I'm bi).
'Could you please lower the sign? Its nice and all, but I do know who you people are and I know were to find you. There's really no need for the sign, though it was a nice gesture.' I said. Brain and Pinky lowered the sign. Both were smiling, but only Pinky looked stupid while he smiled. How he managed that, only the dead know.
'You have any more baggage you need to get?' asked my new stepfather, Andy Ackerman. God, that sounds as if my mom goes from husband to husband, collecting the inheritance once she kills them off. To be honest, this is her second husband. My real dad died of a heart attack while jogging in Central Park when I was nine.
'Four more bags.' As we were walking to the baggage claim, Brain started talking about my name.
'Did you know that the name Loki comes from Norse mythology? He is said to be the trickster god.'
'Actually, the most common guise for him is the god of fire and the spirit of evil, brother of Thor and son of Odin. But there are other aspects to him also, as are with most ancient deities. Some say his parents were actually Laufey and Farbauti, mother and father respectively.' I new all about the ancient deities. It was a hobby of mine to get books on mythology. I currently have twenty six books about ancient deities, my favorite being the Dictionary of Ancient Deities. Unbeknownst to me, the others had all stopped to stare at me. When I turned around, all had their mouths hanging open, save Jake, who still looked asleep on his feet.
'What?' I asked.
'How do you know all that?' Brain looked like he had met a dijin who would grant him three wishes.
'From a book I have. I'll lend it to you when I get unpacked.' I smiled at the kid.
Turning back to the baggage claim, I could see my bags already arrived. I picked up one while Andy got one and ordered Jake and Pinky to get the others.
'What's in these things? A body?' Mom tolled me that Andy was funny that way, always joking. Too bad his jokes stunk.
'Nope, just pieces of bodies.' As we headed outside, everybody pulled out sunglasses and put them on. I would have laughed at the scene had the glare from the sun not hit my eyes at that moment. I recited a simple spell under the breath, and the glare lessened.
'I'm driving.' Called out Pinky.
'Not while I'm here.' Said Andy, getting to the drivers seat before Pinky could.
'But how am I supposed to practice if u never let me drive?' somehow, him complaining made him sound all the more stupid. Amazing.
'That's for you to work out. Do you have a driver's license Loki?'
'Yep, though I haven't driven much. New York's a pain to drive in. Too much traffic.' Driving in New York will give even the mildest driver a headache in under fifteen minutes.
'Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get plenty of practice here.'
When finally we got to the car, I had to sit between Pinky and Jake, while Brain got to sit in the back on the luggage. My mom asked me the usual questions: how was grandma, did I have a good flight, etc, etc.
'Oh, wait until you see the house. And your room. There's a nice window seat that goes over the porch, and it faces the ocean. And there are enough bookshelves for your entire books.'
I stopped listening to her once I got sight of the ocean. I hadn't seen the ocean much when I was in Brooklyn, and what I had seen was sad and dismal. This was like a field of blue grass, rolling in the wind. The occasional shot of light reflecting off the water made it all the more mystical. Jake had fallen asleep, and was using my shoulder as his pillow. I didn't mind, since it was funny and very cliché somehow, but if he started to drool, I would have to wake him up. My mom had started to talk about the school, I think, when she mentioned that it was based in a mission.
'WHAT. I'll be going to a private religious school?' I do not like religions very much. Apparently, my outburst started everyone, including Jake, who woke up from his nap.
'Now Loki, we talked about this.' Started my mother.
'When?'
'Now wait a second, what's wrong with private catholic schools?' Andy intervened.
'Just the fact that I don't like private schools and I that I just happen to be a witch, which doesn't please most religions.' The look of surprise on everybody's faces, besides my mothers and mine, of course, was worth announcing that I'm a witch.
'A what?' said Jake finally. Wow. The boy can speak. And here I though he just happened to be mute.
'A witch, though I prefer sage. Got a problem with that?' I added the say- yes-and-you'll-be-in-pain sound into my voice, which seemed to work. Everybody shock their head. My mother just crossed her arms and look out the window. She never really liked the though of me being a witch, particularly since she didn't believe in magic. Oh well. Too bad for her.
The car was pretty silent after that. Good thing too, for if anybody had been talking, I would have missed the view. Fields of grass, fruit trees and vegetables. That's all. I thought California would be all about excitement and acceptance. Guess I was wrong. At least, for now I was.
My first view of the house was when Andy announced we were there. The house was atop a fairly large hill, but it was worth the climb just to see the view. Off in the distance, the dome of what I thought would be a church stood. Behind it was the sea in its entire splendor. Later I learned, from my mom no less, that the dome was part of the mission school I would be attending. Lucky me.
My mom led the way up to my room, me following her, and then Pinky, Jake and Brain following, in that order. Andy had gone up while the rest of us were gathering suitcases. When we entered the room, I looked around. The walls were painted a soft sage green. A bed was positioned in one corner, while a dresser and desk were placed slightly opposite the bed. Next to the bed was a nightstand and, beyond the nightstand, stood a six foot tall cherry wood bookshelf. There were other, small bookshelves strewn about the room, but the cherry wood one stood out as the largest. Boxes containing what I knew would be my books were placed next to the bookshelves. On the window seat across the room sat a person who shouldn't have been there. I knew he shouldn't have been there because he, for what I knew for certain, was dead.
It's bad enough that I have nothing to listen to. Its worse that I have to be on a plane that is showing the movie The Babysitter's Club. Euugh. Bad movie. And I can't sleep at all. Who would think that a plane flight from New York to California would be so bad? Not me, that's for sure. That's why I didn't bring my books (though I probably wouldn't be able to read it on account that I get motion sickness when I read in a moving vehicle) or my music (I thought I would be able to sleep).
I wasn't really looking forward to moving to California, but my mom just happened to marry a guy who worked out there. He also had three sons. I guess it's easier to move to people instead of four. Plus, he's a carpenter, and there is no need for carpenters in New York. However, being the news anchorwoman that my mom was, getting a news job in Carmel-Bye-The- Sea, California isn't that hard.
The plane finally landed. As I was walking out of the terminal with one of my bags (I had four others that I needed to pick up), I saw an enormous sign reading Welcome Loki. That's me. Loki Simon (originally Brian Simon, but there were already three other Brian Simons at my old school in Brooklyn, and it was a pain getting called into the principals office when one of the other Brian's' got in trouble). I saw that the sign was held up by David, the youngest, who I dubbed Brain, and Brad, the middle, who I dubbed Pinky (from the show Pinky and the Brain). The third, and oldest brother, Jake, was, for all I could tell, asleep on his feet. I hadn't dubbed him anything, because I couldn't tell about his intelligence, 'cause he hadn't said anything to me (then again, we only met once, and that was at the wedding). Brian was small-ish with bright red hair. Kind of cute for a kid, though you could tell he wouldn't be a looker when he grew up. Brad was more my height, about six feet, and slightly muscled. From what I know, he was on the wrestling team. Pretty good looking, for a wrestler. The last one was Jake. He was about six" one', with blond hair and blue eyes. The hottest one of the bunch, if I do say so myself (if you hadn't guessed, I'm bi).
'Could you please lower the sign? Its nice and all, but I do know who you people are and I know were to find you. There's really no need for the sign, though it was a nice gesture.' I said. Brain and Pinky lowered the sign. Both were smiling, but only Pinky looked stupid while he smiled. How he managed that, only the dead know.
'You have any more baggage you need to get?' asked my new stepfather, Andy Ackerman. God, that sounds as if my mom goes from husband to husband, collecting the inheritance once she kills them off. To be honest, this is her second husband. My real dad died of a heart attack while jogging in Central Park when I was nine.
'Four more bags.' As we were walking to the baggage claim, Brain started talking about my name.
'Did you know that the name Loki comes from Norse mythology? He is said to be the trickster god.'
'Actually, the most common guise for him is the god of fire and the spirit of evil, brother of Thor and son of Odin. But there are other aspects to him also, as are with most ancient deities. Some say his parents were actually Laufey and Farbauti, mother and father respectively.' I new all about the ancient deities. It was a hobby of mine to get books on mythology. I currently have twenty six books about ancient deities, my favorite being the Dictionary of Ancient Deities. Unbeknownst to me, the others had all stopped to stare at me. When I turned around, all had their mouths hanging open, save Jake, who still looked asleep on his feet.
'What?' I asked.
'How do you know all that?' Brain looked like he had met a dijin who would grant him three wishes.
'From a book I have. I'll lend it to you when I get unpacked.' I smiled at the kid.
Turning back to the baggage claim, I could see my bags already arrived. I picked up one while Andy got one and ordered Jake and Pinky to get the others.
'What's in these things? A body?' Mom tolled me that Andy was funny that way, always joking. Too bad his jokes stunk.
'Nope, just pieces of bodies.' As we headed outside, everybody pulled out sunglasses and put them on. I would have laughed at the scene had the glare from the sun not hit my eyes at that moment. I recited a simple spell under the breath, and the glare lessened.
'I'm driving.' Called out Pinky.
'Not while I'm here.' Said Andy, getting to the drivers seat before Pinky could.
'But how am I supposed to practice if u never let me drive?' somehow, him complaining made him sound all the more stupid. Amazing.
'That's for you to work out. Do you have a driver's license Loki?'
'Yep, though I haven't driven much. New York's a pain to drive in. Too much traffic.' Driving in New York will give even the mildest driver a headache in under fifteen minutes.
'Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get plenty of practice here.'
When finally we got to the car, I had to sit between Pinky and Jake, while Brain got to sit in the back on the luggage. My mom asked me the usual questions: how was grandma, did I have a good flight, etc, etc.
'Oh, wait until you see the house. And your room. There's a nice window seat that goes over the porch, and it faces the ocean. And there are enough bookshelves for your entire books.'
I stopped listening to her once I got sight of the ocean. I hadn't seen the ocean much when I was in Brooklyn, and what I had seen was sad and dismal. This was like a field of blue grass, rolling in the wind. The occasional shot of light reflecting off the water made it all the more mystical. Jake had fallen asleep, and was using my shoulder as his pillow. I didn't mind, since it was funny and very cliché somehow, but if he started to drool, I would have to wake him up. My mom had started to talk about the school, I think, when she mentioned that it was based in a mission.
'WHAT. I'll be going to a private religious school?' I do not like religions very much. Apparently, my outburst started everyone, including Jake, who woke up from his nap.
'Now Loki, we talked about this.' Started my mother.
'When?'
'Now wait a second, what's wrong with private catholic schools?' Andy intervened.
'Just the fact that I don't like private schools and I that I just happen to be a witch, which doesn't please most religions.' The look of surprise on everybody's faces, besides my mothers and mine, of course, was worth announcing that I'm a witch.
'A what?' said Jake finally. Wow. The boy can speak. And here I though he just happened to be mute.
'A witch, though I prefer sage. Got a problem with that?' I added the say- yes-and-you'll-be-in-pain sound into my voice, which seemed to work. Everybody shock their head. My mother just crossed her arms and look out the window. She never really liked the though of me being a witch, particularly since she didn't believe in magic. Oh well. Too bad for her.
The car was pretty silent after that. Good thing too, for if anybody had been talking, I would have missed the view. Fields of grass, fruit trees and vegetables. That's all. I thought California would be all about excitement and acceptance. Guess I was wrong. At least, for now I was.
My first view of the house was when Andy announced we were there. The house was atop a fairly large hill, but it was worth the climb just to see the view. Off in the distance, the dome of what I thought would be a church stood. Behind it was the sea in its entire splendor. Later I learned, from my mom no less, that the dome was part of the mission school I would be attending. Lucky me.
My mom led the way up to my room, me following her, and then Pinky, Jake and Brain following, in that order. Andy had gone up while the rest of us were gathering suitcases. When we entered the room, I looked around. The walls were painted a soft sage green. A bed was positioned in one corner, while a dresser and desk were placed slightly opposite the bed. Next to the bed was a nightstand and, beyond the nightstand, stood a six foot tall cherry wood bookshelf. There were other, small bookshelves strewn about the room, but the cherry wood one stood out as the largest. Boxes containing what I knew would be my books were placed next to the bookshelves. On the window seat across the room sat a person who shouldn't have been there. I knew he shouldn't have been there because he, for what I knew for certain, was dead.