Hannah hoisted the final box from the back of her mum's truck, closing the door with a bump of her hip and turned to face the house in front of her. 'Our new home' she thought, finding it weird to call it that.
In front of her stood a sizeable but modest double story house with what was once a white outside slightly yellowed by the sun and rain, a decent sized wrap around porch with white fencing and dark brown floors. The numerous windows were fogged with the damp air of rainy Forks and the lawn was both overgrown in some patches and muddy and slick where rainwater pooled and made it impossible for grass to grow where it squelched into the ground.
Hannah just moved to Forks with her mum, Beth, for a new start. Her dad had left her mum just months ago, abandoning his family to chase tail of one his college students, leaving Hannah without her dad and her mum without her husband. She would feel sad if he hadn't already emotionally checked out from the family a year ago. 'Good riddance' she snarked mentally. It was hard to see her mum so down but her work had offered her a transfer to a sister location in butt-fuck nowhere Forks that she jumped on. A fresh start with all moving costs and accomodating paid for? Yes please!
Hannah marched up the squishy path to the porch steps, re-energised by the thought of it being the last box and that she can finally start to unbox her room decor and clothes and put them away into her furniture that had been moved from their old place. She walked up through the front door, mindful to slip off her muddy shoes at the door before entering and passed down the short corridor at the front of the house to the staircase, seeing through the doorway into the kitchen where her mother swayed to 'Linger' by the Cranberries that floated over the radio as she unpacked boxes for the kitchen.
So why were you holding her hand?
Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time?
Was it just a game to you?
Hannah looked sadly upon her mother and wondered how her father could hurt someone like her who gave him the world. Those thought quickly dissipated when she saw the smile upon her lips and that she seemed lighter, freer. 'She is already so much happier here'.
Shaking those thoughts away Hannah turned back to the task at hand and eagerly climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor, floating into her new room. It was bare other than her furniture that already sat assembled within. The walls were a pale cream colour with white skirting boards lining the bottom of them, and the floor dark brown floorboards similar to the colour of the porch flooring. 'A blank canvas' she thought wistfully. The greatest part of the room lay at the wall farthest from the door... a wide bay window with three panels of glass and a deep seat that will make the perfect cozy spot when it inevitably rains in Forks. Now she just needed to make the room her own.
Hannah spent the next couple hours unboxing her clothes and room decor, organising them into piles and putting what clothes she could put away into her drawers and wardrobe. Music filled the room silencing her thoughts as she automatically organised her room, War Pigs currently playing in the background and occasionally jamming out on her air guitar. Band posters littered the bedrooms walls and fairy lights lined the edges of the ceiling, providing a faint glow to the top of the walls and allowing the lower parts to have a faint hue, making it feel cozy. Her dark brown furniture hugged the bedrooms walls with a sage green rug covering the centre of the wood floor. Hannah kept her bed pulled away from the wall to allow easy access to paint a feature wall at a later date, the final piece to tie the bedroom together.
The bay window area had forest green curtains covering the glass that slid along gold curtain rods. For now the seat just had some spare cushions and blankets to fill the space and have it ready for use.
With all that could be done completed, Hannah joined her mum downstairs to finish unpacking some of the remaining boxes for the living area and kitchen. Before long they grew hungry and ordered a pizza and sat on the living room floor, open pizza box between them and shared stories from Hannah's childhood and recalled funny memories. They talked about their plans for the next few days and things that they needed from the store. Hannah threw the empty pizza box into the trash can outside before brushing her teeth and throwing on a pair of pyjamas and crawling underneath her dark green bed covers. Sleep came quickly and she fell slipped into a deep sleep, faintly aware of the rain that had started to fall and pitter - pattered on the roof above her.
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
Hannah opened her eyes blearily, awoken by the blaring of her alarm clock. She rolled over and through squinted eyes could make out 07:30 in a blurry red glow. She groaned in annoyance cursing the early morning cold before throwing the duvet back and jumping out before she could convince herself to stay in bed longer. Sunlight barely trickled in through the windows so the house still remained fairly dim so Hannah flicked lights on as she made her way through the house and grabbed a hoodie and tried to retain any body heat she could.
"Morning sweetie, ready for a busy day?" Beth chirped from the kitchen where she nursed a warm mug of coffee between her hands.
"Morning" Hannah grumbled back, still half asleep. She poured herself some coffee from the pot and hugged it to her, taking occasional sips and trying to absorb heat like a lizard from the cup.
"Are you still up to heading to the store today to grab some things we need? We can get the paint for your feature wall?" Beth asked, peeking over the edge of the mug. At the last part Hannah perked up and a smiled appeared on her face, envisioning the colour on the wall behind her headboard.
"Yes! Let's go as soon as possible, I'll go get ready!" Hannah exclaimed gulping down the last of her scalding coffee and placing the mug in the sink. She raced up the stairs, sock clad feet creating muffled stomps as she skipped every second step. Hannah threw on a pair of dark straight-legged jeans, a dark plum tank and a grey-black flannel over the top. She wasn't bothered to deal with her long brown hair so opted for a low ponytail with a baseball cap over the top. Hannah quickly brushed her teeth, grabbed her chapstick and earphones, tucking them and her phone into her pockets.
Hannah raced down the stairs where her mum was waiting already dressed in light denim skinny jeans and a dark blue hoodie, a similar baseball cap on her own head. The two exited the house, Beth locking the door behind them and heading towards the truck and jumping in the front seats. From their research the closest hardware store was located in La Push, the next town over, and they headed towards their destination.
Hannah watched out the car window at the expanse of forest and the fog that settled among the town. Water droplets raced down the car window and Hannah mentally bet which one would win the race to the bottom. While watching the water droplets she thought she caught a blur of movement in the tree line next to the road but when she focused her eyes there she couldn't see anything. She shook her head, ridding herself of the thought and before long they had arrived at the hardware store, the carpark scarce with vehicles due to how early it was. ABBA stopped playing when they opened the doors and they made their way to the entrance, Hannah almost bouncing with excitement at the prospect of perusing paint colours.
The automatic doors slid open and the two made their way inside, ready to start their shopping spree.