Laconic » a.i

Epilogue

//cooper//

"Maybe you should go get some air," my mom suggested with a painted on smile. "Explore the neighborhood, make some friends."

"So I can turn into a Hollywood cliche?" I questioned.

"What's wrong with meeting a cute boy?" she winked.

The fact she was actually trying to relate to me made me suppress a groan. "Mom, please stop. I'll leave if it makes you stop trying to act like a teenager."

With my parents now satisfied and acting slightly less embarrassing, I grabbed a light jacket and headed out the door to take a walk down the street. The air was warm, but a bit breezy. It was probably because the sun was beginning to go down.

About three houses down from mine was a small, yellow house with white trim and shutters. There was a giant tree in the front yard and there were three kids running around, kicking a ball between them. There were two boys and a girl. One of the boys was around my age and the other was much younger while the girl looked somewhere in between their ages.

"No fair, that's a penalty!" the younger boy whined but was still laughing.

"You're a damn penalty!" the older boy laughed loudly, picking the kid up upside-down and spinning around with him.

"Ash, you'll make him throw up!" the girl squealed, trying to get this "Ash" guy to put him down.

"Good, maybe it'll be on you." he teased before falling to the ground with the smaller boy on him and the girl stuck under him.

"God, you guys are so fat!" she giggled.

None of them looked up at me as I passed but I figured that was better considering my plans to avoid being the stereotypical new girl on the street. Besides, I didn't want to interrupt their sibling bonding -- I assumed they were siblings.

I continued walking down the sidewalk until I reached a four-way intersection so I decided to turn back around and go home. As I passed by the yellow house with the tree, I saw that the yard was now empty. However, I could hear something but it was coming from the house across the street where only a motorcycle was parked in the driveway. Loud music played, probably to cover up the moaning and cussing that also emitted from the house, but it didn't do anything at all. I picked up the pace and quickly tried to make it back home.

When I got to the driveway, however, I saw there were five people standing at the door. My mom was standing with the door open, smiling and talking with them. When she noticed me, she looked up and smiled.

"That's my daughter, Bridgette." she told them as they turned to face me.

Three of them looked like they could be related while the other two only looked slightly similar to each other but didn't look anything like the other three. One was way older than the others and I assumed she was the mom. Then there was a boy with tanned skin and dark hair and a girl that looked just like him. The girl was holding onto the hand of the older boy I had seen in the yard of that cute house about fifteen minutes ago. And the last boy was tall, lanky, and blond. His blue eyes were dull and he had a lip ring that he never stopped toying with.

"Bridgette, this is Joy Hood and her son, Calum and her daughter, Mali-Koa," she said, gesturing to the three that actually looked like a family.

"This is my husband, Ashton." Mali-Koa said with a polite smile.

"And that's Luke Hemmings, Mrs. Hood's adopted son." my mom added.