Cherry Tree Drive

Returning Home.

~Alyssa~

Well, here I am. Back home. Damn it's cold. I stepped out of the plane and took a deep breath in. Ahh, the sea. How I longed for the seaside smell back by my side again. It had been eight years. And in those eight years I had seen my dad, Charlie, and my brother, Ashley twice. Both was them coming to NY and staying for a couple of nights.

My brother is two years older than me. He's tall, brown haired and a complete dork. But, according to all my friends, he is attractive. I can't really decipher that myself as, well, I'm his sister. He wears these hipster-framed glasses that, I guess, suit him. His hair is all messy and wavy and I love to mess it up when we play fight. But I guess that's different now, seeing as he's about two foot taller since I last saw him and now is a 'gym lad'. He's muscular, sure, but I won't give him the benefit of the doubt, because to me, he's still the short, geeky, weedy little boy he always used to be.

Myself, well, what can I say? Yeah I'll admit I've changed since everyone saw me. I'm three cup sizes bigger and I now understand why my mum always had a problem putting on jeans. People have always said that Ashley and I look exactly the same. What a disappointment. Is that meant to be a compliment? Well, I guess it could be. He does have a killer jawline and I'd kill for his eyelashes. But I only know this because I'd always do his makeup and threaten to tear them off and stick them to my own eyes. I have blonde hair, though, and that is why I never saw how we were the same. I love my hair, it's wavy and not too hard to handle. I can do whatever and I'd still rock it, but whatever.

I shot a smile towards the orange cabin crew, smiles plastered across their made-up faces and a robotic wave being shown towards me. I'd best get out of here before one of them rubs their orange-ness all over me. I slowly walked down the stairs of the aeroplane, desperately scanning a small crowd at the bottom for my family. Surely enough, there they were. They were hard to miss really, a huge banner saying WELCOME HOME LYSSA was being held up by my brother and Charlie. My friends were there too, pointing phones towards me and taking snaps. I felt like a movie star. I copied the flight attendant's wave and struck a pose. But, at the back, the only one not pointing a camera towards me, but to himself. Who...

Of course. Joe.

He's always been a good friend of Ashley's, since primary school, maybe even nursery. I watched him grow into the completely unfunny little... Oh.. Wait. He's.... Hot! Hot damn!

We made eye contact and I felt myself blush. Somehow, my body had formed heat, seeing as it was 30mph winds and I was in shorts, a cropped, lacy overshirt and sunglasses. I stumbled down the remaining steps and sauntered towards my extended family. I heard them through the crowd even before I saw them. Suddenly, I was attacked by a warm bear hug from both sides. Obviously my brother and Charlie, as they both had to lean down to grasp anything that wasn't just my head.
"Lyssa! We've missed you so much! My, you've grown!" Charlie cooed. I turned to my brother and he gave me a little punch on the arm and muttered,
"Welcome back, kiddo. "
And over came the girls. We'll, that sounds like there were a lot. There were only two. Georgia and Vanessa. My best friends since, definitely, nursery. They spoke about how they missed me and how we'd have a lot of catching up to do, even though they'd Skype me at least twice a month to tell me the hot gossip. But I couldn't take my eyes off Joe. He was so... Different. I couldn't believe it! Last time I saw him he was a chubby, cheeky, loud, obnoxious..you get my point. But he was just different. An arm grasped mine and pulled a little, braking my stare.
"C'mon Lyss, we'd best get you into warm clothes." an unknown voice spoke. Joe saluted towards his camera and put it back into his pocket. We caught eyes as I was guided away from the cold, and a shiver went through me as he smiled.

What was this feeling? I'd always hated Joe. Why, now that he's so deliciously attractive, would I be feeling this way?

I finally broke my gaze with him and stepped into the car I was being guided to.
"Home we go!" Ashley smiled at me from the rear-view mirror.