Chapter One

As if my mother dying isn't bad enough, now I have like her entire family staying with me. This includes my Uncle Cordell Walker, Aunt Alex Cahill-Walker, their 17 year old son, Bryan, and 13 year old daughter, Emily. I'm not certain yet, but I'm pretty sure they dropped in from Mars…

When family comes to visit, it's crucial to be very clear that, under no circumstances, will you be giving up your bedroom. To do this, you must go to any lengths possible; have no fear, lay down the law. For me, I took the liberty of assigning bedrooms to people. Fortunately for me, I assigned mine to myself. Uncle Cordell and Aunt Alex and my nerd cousins got the choice of the den or Mom's bedroom. I think they might have sensed my uneasiness at them taking my mom's bedroom, because they stuck with the den. Nice move… but I still don't like them.

I walked into my bedroom and shut the door. In times of tragedy I cope with sadness by getting sick; a quality I'm not particularly fond of. Nonetheless, I'll have to go out to the kitchen for some cough syrup. It's the only way to get rid of this damn sore throat and horrid cough; the loss of my voice is something I'll have to tackle some other time. I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. The den lights on, so Uncle Cordell and Aunt Alex are either still up or just preparing for bed; I wonder if they found the extra sheets and stuff in the linen closet… I'll ask in the morning. I reached for the refrigerator door. I hate the darn thing; I tried gluing it shut once when I was 7 and it's never been the same. It makes loud, funky noises whenever I open it now. I reached in and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol Cold and Flu cough syrup. If this stuff isn't the most disgusting thing in the world, I sure as hell don't know what is.

"Faith, is everything alright?"

I turned slowly to find my aunt gawking at me with a worried expression on her face. Nice Job auntie, make talk with what little voice I have left. I'm related to real brainiacs here…

"I'm fine Aunt Alex" Short and to the point; that's what I do best. "Goodnight" That should get rid of her.

WRONG! She walked up behind me and set her hand on my forehead. I hate when adults do that, as if they think they're walking thermometers. "You do seem to be a bit warm" She grabbed the cough syrup from my hand. "Here, let me give you some of this"

Good job genius, take what I was already going for. I snatched the bottle back and stepped back. "I can do it" I said bitterly. Stupid child locks; they always seem to drain what little energy I have left. I fiddled around with the cap for a bit before it finally popped off, and, without measuring, I took a gulp of cough syrup. Yuck! I reached for water but my aunt took it from me.

"You'll dilute the medicine like that"

I feel like shouting at her 'Who Cares! This stuff taste like shit anyways.', but I don't. "Thanks for the warning" Can't she take a hint?

"You really should measure that before you take it"

"Don't need to" I twist the cap back on and turn so I'm no longer facing her. "I know how much to take"

"Okay then. Well, get some sleep, you've had a long day." She walked forward to give me a hug but I backed away again. This is getting a little ridiculous. Was everyone from Texas so touchy feely?

It was at that very minute that my Uncle walked out of the den too. Great, now the party's getting started. Come on guys, I'll start the conga line. I rolled my eyes at the thought, but I don't think they noticed.

"What's going on here?" My uncle looked at my aunt and I as if something interesting had actually gone on between us. Ick; what a disgusting thought.

"Aunt Alex was just teaching me how to take cough syrup all on my own" Okay, so maybe that was a bit uncalled for but hey, I'm sick. My aunt looked a bit hurt though; all she'd really been trying to do was get close enough to make me feel like I could talk to her. I almost feel bad…

"Well umm, we'll leave you be. Call if you need anything" He nodded his head at me in a gentleman manner. Shouldn't it be the other way around, I thought. After all, it's my house. I rolled my eyes in that frustrated kind of manner and they turned to walk back into the den. Uncle Walker walked right into a poll and slammed his head against it. And this guy's supposed to a 'ranger'? Nice. Beware Texas; this is your one and only fair warning. My uncle and aunt finally made it back into the den and let the doors swing shut behind them.

I couldn't help but stare for a few minutes. What was my mom thinking when she willed me to these… aliens… Maybe that's just it, maybe she wasn't thinking. I wonder if it's possible to contest the will on a count of insanity. After all, my mom was ill when she made the decision, she may not have been in her right mind. Whatever, I'll have to deal with it in the morning. I'm beat and my throats starting to get that burning feeling again. I walked back into my room, shut the door behind me, put on my stereo, and changed into my sweat pants and a long shirt. Who needs pajamas when you have enormous clothes? I closed my eyes and I guess it wasn't long before I fell asleep...

"Walker" Alex leaned a bit closer into Walker.

"Yeah?" He looked down at her as best as he could, and got a deep whiff of her shampoo. God her hair smelled good.

"I'm worried about Faith. She hasn't made any attempt to connect with any of us; not even the kids." Alex had a sincere look of concern on her face.

"She'll be fine. She's just like my sister; Shelley didn't care too much to be bothered in times like these either. She'll come out of it, just give her time"

"I don't know Walker… it's not healthy"

"Alex, listen to me. It's just going to take some time. She doesn't know us too well; I should have been there more for her and her mom but I wasn't and that's my fault. She'll just have to take to us in her own time."