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FORKS WASHINGTON STILL DIDN'T SCREAM INTERESTING. From what she could gather, staring out the passenger seat window of her aunt's old rust-bucket of a car, the town was still small, quaint, quiet. It wasn't the big booming city she was used to back home, but it wasn't the 'town in the middle of nowhere' type either. It still seemed like a town where the most exciting weekly news was who caught the biggest fish down at the lake, and from the multiple trailered-boats stretching along the length of the quiet highway, she gathered she was right. The buildings were still plain, paint still worn down from all the rain, windows foggy. There were piles of muddy slush from the passing winter holed up in the corners of the sidewalks, leaving the sidewalks empty for the patrons walking by.
But it felt like home, distant memories of her younger self climbing to the top of the mounds with her friends, declaring she was the queen. Playing king-of-the-mountain until her nose and cheeks were tinged red, her eyelashes freezing in the cold snowy air, and her fingers tightening in the restraints of her puffy white gloves. She remembered her cousin and how much fun they would have exploring (and totally conquering) the woods behind her house. The long nights and cozy mornings. Pancakes for breakfast and roasting marshmellows after dinner. New York wasn't like Forks. Even from her most faded memories, the town was always peaceful. She remembered going to the diner with her friends, spending all her allowance on their classic chocolate milkshakes. She remembered her mom.
The town really hadn't changed all that much. Apart from the new little shops here and there, destined to become just as indebt as a lot of the shops in Forks. The radio sparked to life the second they made it to town, and the pale hand of her aunt adjusting the dial caught her attention. Her tired eyes shifted from the window to the elder lady.
"Thank you for picking me up, auntie. I know it was quite the drive," she attempted small talk, saying as the majority of the long car ride had been silent to neither of their faults. Olivia was tired from the flight to Port Angeles, and her aunt was always a quiet person. Even in her most distant memories, Ollie couldn't remember having many conversations with the lady. Not that she minded much. The quiet was enough for her to try and piece her mind together. A lot had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and she was still taking it in. Her heart pinched painfully at a thought of her dad. She wondered if her aunt had been torn up about it. From the years between visits, Ollie guessed they weren't the closest. But even she had to feel something about the loss of her brother. At least she hoped. Knowing her dad might have been more alone in the world than she originally thought was upset to her heart.
"It's no problem, Olivia. I know Angela is excited to see you." Her lips twitched the slightest, and her hand flicked the turn signal, the car rolling to a slow halt at a red light. Olivia found the small smile contagious as she thought of her cousin. They hadn't seen each other in years, but somehow, she knew that Angela was all the same. A book nerd who craved adventure and was too scared to seek it out. Ollie was much more of a troublemaker with a goal to take on the world head first. That was a part of the reason they got along so well.
