Don't Text Back

Chapter 3

Two girls dropped the welcoming sign, leaving who I seemed to believe was Rebecca alone. They ran up to me, both giving me a tight hug that locked my arms together.

"Please tell me you don't snore," one girl said. She wore shorts and a loose shirt, revealing more of her amazing skin color that resembled art. When she finally let go of me, I was able to look at her face. Her dark frizzy hair was tightly pulled back into a ponytail. Her face was flawless aside from the one pimple resting below her lip.

I smiled at her. "I don't snore."

She stuck out her hand for me to shake. "I guess that makes you better than our last roommate," she chuckled, her voice as soft as her skin. "I'm Dakota. Alex, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," I said with a smile.

The other girl slid in between us, pushing Dakota away and sticking out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Amanda," she said, giving me a rather goofy grin. Her teeth are not so white in color and each one looks a bit crooked. She wore casual, comfortable clothes that people would usually wear indoors and not outside. Amanda wasn't as pale as the other girl who was holding the sign.

"I do have one question myself." Amanda studied me.

I let go of her hand. "Sure. What is it?"

"Can you cook?" She asked.

The questions they had asked weren't very welcoming, but least they tried getting to know me. I nodded at her question. "I cooked almost every night back home," I replied.

She nodded her head in an 'oh yeah' kind of way. Looking at me if I had the answer to all their food problems. "I like you already, too. You're going to love it here. Welcome again."

The pale girl with the blonde wavy hair didn't introduce herself. Instead, she studied me the same way I was studying her. There was no show of happiness or any emotion of her face. She just stared at me like I had told a bad joke or something. Not wanting to be rude, I walked up to her myself and stuck out my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Rebbeca," I smiled.

She glared at my hand, squinting her eyes down at it as if I had poison all over me. I pulled my hand back in, not wanting to start anything. She looked at me, then shifted her face towards Amanda. "We shouldn't have brought her here. Not another person."

Before I could react, she ran into the house, slamming the garage door that led into another room other than the entrance room. Amanda and Dakota both ran after her, leaving me alone with Ameira. She slid my suitcase next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"She'll get used to you," Ameira said, then told me to stand by the front door while she parked her car.

I stood by the front door having a mini panic attack. The last thing I wanted to do was upset anyone. I started thinking about the worst. What if Rebecca didn't like me and eventually, all of them didn't. Here I was, thinking everything would go smoothly and already one girl doesn't want me there. I could only wonder why and what she meant by, 'we shouldn't have brought her here. Not another person.'

What had the last person done?

Trying to erase my thoughts and look past what had happened, I moved out of the way for Ameira. She opened the door then let me inside first. The place looked nothing like the outside. The inside was modern, a shade of light blue floors with white and black furniture. The floor was so smooth and shiny that I saw my reflection in it. Before I could go further, Ameira instructed me to take off my shoes and place them on a shoe stand that was against the wall by the door. After doing what I was told, she showed me the three bathrooms that they had, which all looked the same. All had walk-in showers, except one. One had a tub and a sink. The kitchen, which was close to the living room, was also painted baby blue. The whole downstairs reminded me of houses that were meant for the future. It was so fancy and decorated with time and expertise.

Ameira led me upstairs, telling me that Dakota and her room were downstairs, Amanda and Rebbeca bunked together, and my room was on the far left of the hallway opposite Amanda's. I walked inside, welcomed by a new aroma of incense and scented leaves on a desk by the small bed. There was a blue furry carpet on the ground, and I couldn't resist running my hands through it. There was a bookshelf against the wall with only two books I had never read before, both in the romance genre. A book called After by Anna Todd caught my attention more than the other. There was a walk-in closet, empty except for a few hangers. Finally, there was the window.

The window.

I slowly walked closer to it and peered out. One house over was that dark house followed by a clear view of a messy backyard that consisted of massive piles of brown dirt and trash. I didn't like that it was there and that its twisted view made me feel uneasy. "That house is creepy," I said, facing Ameira.

She waved it off. "Ignore it," she merely stated.

I let out a faint laugh. "It doesn't give you the creeps?"

Her hands dropped to her side. "Can you just stop," she said in a harsh tone, then quickly looked away. I saw the instant amount of regret on her face when she looked back at me. She quickly walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Please don't talk about that place. It's creepy and ugly and I just-" She paused in mid-sentence. "Ignore it," she gave me a smile that was obviously fake.

I nodded my head and looked at my suitcase, trying to avoid eye contact. I felt like I had messed up already, but it was too late to do anything.

"I'll give you time to unpack," Ameira said, walking towards the door. "You like coffee and crackers? I can set us up with some. We'll chat downstairs and talk about the neighborhood and the things around here you can get into. There's much to explore."

"Sounds great," I said.

She closed the door behind herself, leaving me alone. The first thing I did was let down the blinds, close the curtains, and turned on the light. I figured I could just ignore the house; besides, it sounded like she was scared of it or something. Perhaps it frightened her as much as it did to me.

Reaching into my pocket, I took out my phone and texted Sarah.

"Made it :)"

She immediately texted back. "Good! How is it? :p"

"Good, except for the creepy house."

"Oh GOD! Run! Before it's too late D;"

"It's one house down. I should be all right, as long as I stay away."

"I don't know about that, our people are known to explore haunted places."

I rolled my eyes. "Hey! I hate race jokes, Sarah. Be a good girl."

"Love you too ;) I hope you have a good time. Have fun, okay? You missed out on all the right things in life. Don't let anything screw over your adulthood."

I put down the phone and played music by All Time Low. I made sure the volume was low while I unpacked my little bit of clothes. I started thinking about what Sarah had said. It was true, my parents didn't allow me to have a childhood. I had never done sports, had my first kiss, became an honor roll student, went to prom, had a dance or anything like other kids and teenagers had done. I missed it all. Now, I had a chance to live as an adult without them. I just didn't know what to do first.

What did adults do? I had no idea.