Little Miss Sunshine

Avery: Hello friends (: Guess who got the flu. Yeah, I did ): So I decided to make myself feel better by eating some popcorn and watching a marathon of The Big Bang Theory. And now I'm writing this chapter, so I hope that you like it!

-Christina-

I've been awake for exactly twenty-eight hours, my eyes are bloodshot and feel heavy but when I close them they refuse to rest. Its like there's a drum banging in my body, keeping me up at night. If that wasn't bad enough my brother was asleep on my left shoulder, and I had Moxie asleep on my right shoulder, it was a rather uncomfortable position, especially with the noxious smell of Mouth overusing Axe and Moxie's nail polish remover which I accidentally spilled while trying to fix the French manicure I attempted. Kick and Kendall were pretty pissed off about that. Kick, Kendall, and I were the only ones that hadn't fallen asleep. While everyone else dozed off we were still conscious, well Kick and Kendall were barely conscious, I could tell that they both just wanted to sleep. But we haven't seen a hotel for three hours. Then I had an idea.

"Park at Wal-Mart." I said, Kick and Kendall both looked at me like I was insane.

"Why?" Kick asked, he looked about ready to pass out, there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Wal-Mart lets you sleep in their parking lot," I explained, my fatigue beginning to take over. "We used to sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots when my dad was too cheap for hotel rooms, they don't mind."

"Wal-Mart actually lets you sleep in their parking lot?" Kendall asked in disbelief, I nodded.

She shrugged and turned into the first Wal-Mart she saw, obviously she was too tired to argue. She turned off the engine and lay back in her seat, the silence of the night washed over the car, I could hear nothing but the slow and calm breathing of my friends and the crickets outside. I closed my eyes in an attempt to drift away into sleep but every time I tried I found it completely useless. Carefully I unbuckled my seatbelt and skilfully manoeuvred my way around my sleeping friends, and quietly pushed open the door into the calm and cool night. I sat on the hard pavement against a lamppost, the yellow light leaving a glow on my skin. It was well past midnight and the crescent moon was high in the sky along with a vast, star-covered, sky. I always thought that the universe was amazing, how perfect and intricate that it all was, my brothers and dad never understood how I could believe in both a higher power and science at the same time. I looked around the almost empty lot, there was only car, and it was attached to a trailer. I wondered if there was a family inside that trailer, probably sleeping on something much comfier than a car seat, Kendall would be jealous. Maybe they were on a long cross-country road trip like us, maybe their close to their destination, or miles away. That's when I noticed a shadow creep through the parking lot, and I choked my breath to keep from screaming. I was too scared to even move, I couldn't see the face of what, or whoever, it was but I was in the light of a lamppost, I was completely exposed. The shadow creeped closer to me and just thought This is it, I'm going to die now, tell Ronaldo I love him… Then a soft voice spoke out to me.

"Hello," A soft feminine voice whispered. "You can't sleep either?"

The owner of the shadow slowly stepped into the light and I could see that it was clearly a girl, and she was probably thirteen or fourteen years old.

"My names Alessia," The girl whispered as she plopped down beside me, staring at me with her big brown eyes. "What's yours?"

"Christina." I replied flatly.

"That's a pretty name," Alessia said, she talked fast, like a motor mouth. "Were you named after Christina Aguilera? Is she your mom? Can you sing? What are you doing at Wal-Mart after midnight anyways? You must be on a road trip like me. Where are you going? I'm going to Florida with my parents and little sister, she's nine and her name is Sophia-Rose…"

Alessia kept rambling on and on, it was getting to the point where I wasn't even listening anymore. When I was younger I used to sit in the Wal-Mart parking lots after midnight alone while my dad and brothers were asleep. I liked being alone in the parking lot, I just counted stars and daydreamed until I was ready to go back into the car. I'm sure Mouth knew, he somehow always knew these things, I guess it's a twin thing. I know that he would never tell dad, because although dad believes every word that comes out of Mouth's mouth he doesn't have the advantage that I do. I'm the only girl in a family of boys, I'll always be daddy's little princess. That's what little sisters are, the princesses that daddy would do anything for.

"-I think it has something to do with my brain." Alessia's voice shook me from my thoughts.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty that I hadn't been listening to what she was saying.

"The reason people don't talk to me," Alessia explained, a long frown on her face. "I have autism and that effects my brain, nobody likes me because of it."

Alessia was hugging her knees to her chest, and I slowly put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," I told her reassuringly. "If you want people to like you just be friendly."

"But that doesn't work." She loudly complained, I hushed her so that she knew to be quiet.

"Maybe you try too hard." I whispered kindly. "People respond well to kind gestures, like a smile and sometimes talking too much could be a bad thing too."

"Yeah, I need to work on that," Alessia explained, she smiled sadly. "I just wish that I had a few more friends. Florida is a new chance for me, we're taking this road trip to see our new house, we are moving at the end of the summer."

"Well then, I hope you find friends in Florida." I told her kindly with a smile. I've never lived anywhere outside of Mellowbrook, so I wouldn't understand her situation, but I still understand that moving from one state to another must be tough.

"Are those your friends?" She asked me timidly. "The ones asleep in the car?"

"Yeah, we've been best friends since middle school." I replied with a smile, looking towards the car.

"Which one of those boys do you like?" She teased, giggling quietly.

"The blonde one with glasses," I replied with a smile. "His name is Ronaldo."

Alessia walked up to the car window and put her face to the glass, I wanted to tell her that it was socially inappropriate to stare into people's cars but I think she figured it out on her own when she took a step back.

"He's cute," She said with a smile, I nodded in agreement. "That other blonde boy looks like you, you have the same face, but your nose is smaller."

"That's my brother," I explained, she sat down next to me again and stared at me like she was listening. I could tell her social skills were improving. "My brother doesn't want me to go out with Ronaldo, he really shouldn't worry."

Alessia's smile faded, I could tell she wanted to hear a story about how romantic he was or how cute he looked when he smiled or something like that. "Oh well that's-"

"Alessia!" A man called. If I squinted than I could see the silhouette of a tall Spanish man standing in the door of the trailer.

"That's my dad, I should go." Alessia said as she stood up. She began running towards the trailer, turning back for only a second to wave goodbye. Then she was gone.

()()()

"Christina?" My vision was blurry as I opened my eyes to see Fiona shaking me awake. "I woke up and didn't see you in the car, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied as I sat up, my back was hurting, did I really fall asleep on the pavement? I could tell that Fiona sensed my discomfort.

"Lie on your back and arch forward, like this." She instructed, demonstrating a yoga move. I did as she did, and after a loud crack my back began to feel better.

"Good," She said, sitting cross-legged in front of me. "We should probably get something to eat while we're here, we're driving straight through Pennsylvania today so that we can get to West Virginia by sunset."

"Great," I said sarcastically with a roll of my eyes. "More driving, I swear I'm going to be claustrophobic by the end of this trip."

Fiona smirked and chuckled, then after a short silence between us she asked, "What were you doing out here last night?"

"Talking to the girl in the trailer." I replied.

"What trailer?" She asked, looking around the parking lot.

I pointed to where the trailer had been parked but then realized that it was gone, maybe that girl and her family left early in the morning when I was still sleeping. But I couldn't have been asleep that long, right?

"What time is it?" I asked Fiona, she pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Its ten, we slept in." She explained, standing up and offering me her hand. "Come on Wal-Mart should be open by now, let's get something to eat for breakfast."

()()()

Moxie's Play List #7

"Pennsylvania has a lot of pencils" or "Smellma, Pittsburgh"

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

The Lightning Strike by Snow Patrol

Your Ex-Lover Is Dead by Stars

Impossible by Shontelle

Saviour by Lights

Love Rollercoaster by Studio 99

Dead Disco by Metric

The Technicolor Phase by Owl City

Postcards From Italy by Beirut

So What by P!nk

Losing My Religion by R.E.M

Into The Fire by Sarah McLachlan

River Below by Billy Talent

Moxie's side notes: When there's nothing left to burn you've got to set yourself on fire.

Avery: Kay I feel better now (: I hope you enjoyed I know its short but I tried to make it good. And before you ask yes, it's true Wal-Mart is okay with people sleeping in their parking lot. I dont knw why... Anyway, Review and maybe I'll give you cake.