The official welcome sign to my town should read, "Welcome to Dullsville bigger than a cave, but small enough to feel claustrophobic!" A population of 8,000 look-a-likes, a weather forecast that's perfectly miserable all year round, sunny fenced in cookie-cutter houses, and sprawling farmland that's Dullsville.
I think the town has it backward. How can land that grows corn and wheat be worth-less than land filled with sand traps? The hundred-year-old courthouse sits on the town square. I haven't gotten into enough trouble to be dragged thereyet. Boutiques, a travel agent, a computer store, a florist, and a second-run movie theater all sit happily around the square.
The only exciting place is an abandoned mansion an exiled baroness built on top of Benson Hill, where she died in isolation. Also, the band meets in an abandoned factory close to my house. It's where we practice three times a week and sometimes we hold concerts in a park or at the theater. You'd be surprised at how many people come to see our shows, even though I'm not close to being popular. Thank god. Even cheerleaders from school go see us sometimes.
Anyways...school...ugh. Sure I have awesome grades, but I don't like school. Only music and advanced biology. Believe me, if the band thing doesn't work out I want to become a scientist. Or maybe an engineer...
Dad stopped the car in front of school and kissed us goodbye. Dad waved as he drove off.
"Oi Max! Igster!" shouted a familiar voice. I turned around and saw Sam running towards us. Sam has chestnut hair that sort of falls over his forehead and hazel colored, kind of tortoise shell eyes. He has a nice attitude, smart guy but don't get on his bad side. Sam is the band's drummer and he's bad-ass at it.
"Hey dude," he and Iggy slapped high fives. I saw Ari walking towards us. Ari has brown hair that's always covered by a hoodie, his brown eyes are covered over sunglasses and he's got a smirk on his face. He plays bass. I noticed Gazzy trailing behind him, his blue eyes shining with excitement and his blonde hair all over the place from running...or a bomb he made. Yeah, not going into detail. Anyways, Gaz plays keyboard and piano (sometimes). Oh and I forgot to mention, I'm the band's lead singer, we call ourselves The Franchise.
"Hey guys" I greeted them. These guys are like my brothers, I trust them with my life. We've known each other since kindergarten. But someone was missing...
As if right on cue I heard someone squeal my name.
"Maxie!" Nudge called. I smiled as I saw her. Nudge is like my sister, sure we have different tastes but we're very close, since I protected her from getting bullied in first grade. She wears colorful skirts and dresses, but not as short like most girls here at school. She's got mocha colored skin and curly dark brown hair with dark brown eyes, she is absolutely beautiful. She's smart too and her real name is Monique but sometimes we have to nudge her to shut her mouth, since she talks too much. But she's an amazing band manager. She manages our gigs and stuff like that.
"Hey Nudge," I smiled. We all started walking towards our first class. Nudge and I had advanced biology first while the guys had P.E. or World History.
"Guess what!? Guess what!?" said Nudge.
"What?" I asked.
"I saw a moving van last night outside the Mansion!" she whispered as two of the popular guys walked past.
"No way! Someone finally moved in?" I asked, curious and maybe a bit excited.
"Guess so. But all I saw were the movers carrying in oak desks, grandfather clocks, and huge crates marked 'Soil.' And they have a teenage son."
"He was probably born wearing khaki pants. And I'm sure his parents are some boring Ivy Leaguers, " I replied. "I hope they don't remodel it and chase out all the spiders. "
"Yeah. And tear down the gate and put up a white picket fence. "
"And a plastic goose on the front lawn. " We both giggled like mad as we entered the class. We sat in our table in the middle ten minutes before class...
Dylan Batchelder, my kindergarten nemesis, and his shuffling sidekick, Jason Wells, walked in two minutes later. They were perfectly combed,conservative, rich football snobs. They knew they were great looking, and it made me sick that they were so cocky.
"Hey freak, you hear about the vampires moving in that old mansion you love?" sneered Dylan, his blue eyes glared down at me. He was gorgeous, no doubt about it. His blue eyes were beautiful, and his hair looked as perfect as a model's. He had a girl for every day of the week. Which was disgusting. I gave him my evil smile and saw him flinch. He knew what I was capable of, I've kicked his ass before and I am not afraid of doing it again.
"Get out of my sight before I kick your dick off," I growled.
"Oh wait...you don't have one," I said, making mos of the class laugh. He growled before stomping to his desk, Jason following. Nudge high fived me and we both laughed. For the rest of class I couldn't help but think of what Nudge told me. A family rumored to be vampires moved into the haunted Mansion on top of Benson Hill. I scoffed.
The legend of the Mansion went like this: It was built by a Romanian baroness who fled her country after a peasant revolt in which her husband and most of his family were killed. The baroness built her new home on Benson Hill to resemble her European estate in every detail, except for the corpses. She lived with her servants in complete isolation, terrified of strangers and crowds. I was a small child at the time of her death and never met her, although I used to play by her solitary monument in the cemetery. Folks said she would sit by the upstairs window in the evenings staring at the moon, and that even now, when the moon is full, if you look from just the right angle, you can see her ghost sitting in that same window gazing at the sky. But I never saw her. The Mansion has been boarded up ever since. Rumor had it there was a witch-like Romanian daughter interested in black magic. In any case, she wasn't interested in Dullsville (smart lady!) and never claimed the place. The Mansion on Benson Hill was quite gorgeous to me, but an eyesore to everyone else. It was the biggest house in town and the emptiest.
My dad says that's because it's in probate. Ari says it's because it's haunted. I think it's because women in this town are afraid of dust. The Mansion, of course, had always fascinated me. I climbed the hill many nights hoping to spot a ghost. But I actually went inside only once, when I was twelve. I was hoping I could fix it up and make it my playhouse. I was going to put up a sign that said, NO NERD BOYS ALLOWED. One night I climbed the wrought iron gate and scurried up the winding driveway. The Mansion was truly magnificent, with vines dripping down its sides like falling tears, chipped paint, shattered roof tiles, and a spooky attic window. The wooden door stood like Godzilla, tall and powerful and locked. I snuck around the back. All the windows were boarded up with long nails, but I noticed some loose boards hanging over the basement window. I was trying to pull them loose when I heard voices. I crouched behind some bushes as a gang of high-school seniors walked by.
When they left, I slithered easily through a window. Inside, it was really dark, even for me. I could barely make out the cobwebs. I loved it! There were stacks of cardboard boxes everywhere, and it smelled like a basement that had been there since the beginning of time.
I could make out the shapes of massive chairs and sofas, covered with dusty white cloth, probably once belonging to the old woman who stared at the moon.
I walked around, trying to open a door but finally, one opened when I turned the knob.
I was in a wide hallway. Moonlight was shining through cracks in the boarded windows. The Mansion seemed even bigger on the inside. I caressed the walls as I walked, the dust softly caking my hands. I turned a corner and stumbled upon a grand staircase. What treasures lay at the top of it? Is that where the ghosts of the baroness appeared? I tiptoed up the stairs, as mouse like as I could in my dirty and worn out black converse. I heard the sound of faint crying from the other side. A cold chill ran through me. I was in heaven. As I listened closer, I realized it was only the wind whistling through the boarded windows. I opened a closet, which creaked like an old coffin. Maybe I'd find a skeleton! The only thing I discovered, however, were several old hangers sporting cobwebs instead of clothes. I wondered where the ghosts were. I peered into the library.
An open book lay on a small table, as if the woman who stared at the moon had been reading it when she died. I grabbed Romanian Castles off the shelf, hoping it would open a secret passageway into a spook-filled dungeon. Nothing moved except a hairy brown spider that scooted across the dusty shelf. Startled, I dropped the book.
Then I explored some more, and after a while I slithered out the window I came through and left. I didn't have a chance to return to my that mansion.