New Home

Chapter 1

"Why the hell are we even doing this?" I asked again, for about the millionth time.

"Because I said so," my mom irritatedly replied. "Besides, it's not your decision to make."

I let out an exasperated sigh, tired of the seemingly endless bickering that always ensued any time my family was around each other for more than five minutes. My mom, dad, older sister, and I were driving down an old and desolate road, trying to find our soon-to-be new house. My parents, out of nowhere, decided to move our family from the busy streets of Pittsburgh all the way down to the middle of nowhere, Texas.

Neither me nor my sister wanted to move; we had lived in the same place all our lives, and we didn't want to get a new home whatsoever, especially not one in an entirely different state. My parents couldn't care less about what we wanted. We heard "It'll be good for you!" and "You'll gain plenty of new experiences!" much too often.

"I just don't understand why though" I complained. I was tired from all the fighting in the car. I just wanted to get back home in my bed, not the cheap motel beds, and certainly not a new one in a new house.

"Cassie, for the last time," my mom said, I could feel her getting angrier by the second, "Nothing you can say will change me and your father's minds. We already bought the house, and we've spent three days driving down here! We're not going back!"

My sister, Lydia, yelled back at both of us, "Can you two just shut up already!" I could tell she was getting overwhelmed, but I didn't care. I was too annoyed at our current situation.

My dad, who was driving, was trying his best to ignore all of us. My mom and I both decided to be quiet and not fight. It was late, and we were all tired. All of us just wanted the night to be over.

The empty road seemed to be never-ending. All I could see through the window were half-barren trees and small stretches of open land.

Suddenly, something caught my eye. Along the road was a lone figure. As the car reached closer to it, I could make out the shape of a person.

My dad didn't show any signs of stopping, so I pointed the person out, "There's a hitchhiker over there."

"A hitchhiker?" my sister repeated, "We can't stop. Haven't you seen any movies? That's how you get killed."

"That's right," agreed my mom.

I scoffed at her sentence. The person, who I could see more clearly now, was a pretty-looking, blonde woman with large, curly hair. She looked completely harmless.

"C'mon, we have to help her. Who knows how long she's been standing out here." I tried to reason with the rest of my family. I just hoped our multiple fights didn't ruin my chances of getting favors.

My dad finally spoke up for the first time in hours, "Cassie's right, dear. We can't leave her out here all alone."

After a few moments of bickering, my mom and sister finally gave way, and we picked up the woman. She sat in the backseat, between my sister and me.

There were a few seconds of awkward silence between us and the newcomer. After a while, my dad asked her where she was going.

"I'm just going home, it's only a few miles up the road."

I realized we didn't get her name, and I asked her, figuring it would be nice to become acquainted with at least one person in this shithole state.

"The name's Baby!" she responded enthusiastically.

I thought it was a strange name but hey, who am I to judge? Sitting right next to her, I realized I had underestimated her beauty just from seeing her standing on the road. I mean, she was very beautiful. Probably one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen.

"Nice to meet you, Baby," I quickly responded, "My name's Cassie."

The rest of my family introduced ourselves to the hitchhiker while she gave us directions to her house.

Not too long after we picked her up, it started to rain. The rain quickly progressed into a heavy storm.

"Goddammit," sighed my dad, upset that the weather was ruining this already-shitty drive.

All of a sudden, WHAM!

The car spun out of control, nearly crashing into a tree on the side of the road. My dad was able to stop the car in time so that we weren't all either crushed or maimed by the impact.

There was silence, then "What the hell was THAT?!" yelled my mom.

We all just sat there in silence for a few seconds, breathing heavily. I looked over at Baby, to make sure she was okay. She looked considerably more calm than we did. I didn't pay much attention to it, though. I was more concerned about whatever the fuck just happened.

My dad got out of the car to try to see what happened. He got back in the car and said "Busted tire," with a defeated look on his face.

Great. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

"Oh, don't worry," Baby chimed in, "My brother has a tow truck, he can get your car and fix it up. Besides, my house is really close by."

"Oh thank God," my mom sighed in relief. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble to have the car repaired. We wouldn't wanna be too much of a bother."

"Hmmm..." Baby looked deep in thought, "I guess we can make a deal. If y'all come up to my house and have dinner with my family, we'll fix up your car, free of charge."

"That sounds perfect, thank you so much" my dad replied.

Baby climbed out of the car and started to walk to her house. I asked my parents if I could go along with her. I thought she seemed very...eccentric, which I loved.

My parents eventually caved to my begging, most likely just tired from the long day, and I proceeded through the downpour, running to catch up with Baby.