The Impression That I Get

Chapter 1

First impressions are crucial.  

And my new family, well. Something is off, I don’t know what it is but it couldn’t be anything to big….could it?

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Today is the second day of living in my new house with my new step mum and two new step brothers. It hasn't been too bad so far; I met Carol my new step mum 6 months before my dad and I moved in, she lived pretty far away so I only saw her 3-4 times a month after that, but I got to know her pretty well and as far as step mums go I think she has to be one of the better ones. She has two sons Lucas and John they’re twins and the same age as me, 17 and they although they are little immature they’re still nice guys, so it wasn't completely awkward living with them. They all seem like really nice people but yet-- I can't say what it is but they give me this feeling like they aren't what they seem, that or I'm super paranoid!

I understood they didn’t need to tell me their life story but it wasn’t even that, a slip up with a word that seemed common to me or my dad seemed forbidden for them to say like ‘mate’, ‘alpha’ or ‘pack’. Understandably some were not your average words for everyday use but still a reaction like theirs; freezing up, stuttering and the classic eyes bulging out of their heads, wasn’t that just a tad extreme? I had only brought it up on the very odd occasion to my dad, not wanting to ruin his relationship with my crazy paranoid antics. Not that it really made a difference, he was too smitten to notice anything strange happening, I let it pass thinking maybe they were nervous and just wanted to not say or do anything that would make us feel uncomfortable.

So here I was, just unpacked my last box of nick knack’s from my old house and I was officially pooped! I flopped on my super comfy queen sized bed and rested my limbs. I was pretty happy with myself; I had unpacked what had seemed to be an endless amount of boxes. My new room was a pretty decent size, one of the added perks of being in this new house was that my room was on the second floor, which meant I had small balcony overlooking the most beautiful forest I've ever seen. One of the reasons it took me so long to unpack my things was because I would find myself just staring out of my balcony window in awe and would be lost in the beautiful green sea of trees, the scent of pine and bark over took me and I was lost to the world.

My relaxation was interrupted when I heard knocking at my door. I turned around to see my dad poking his head through.

"Hey dad" My dad, shaggy brown hair, tall and bright blue eyes that were hidden behind thick rimmed glasses and he was one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

"Hey sweetie, I just came up to see where you were up to with your room, looks pretty good"

"Yeah not too shabby I suppose"

"Well dinner is nearly ready, be down soon yeah?"

"Will do." 

I washed up and headed down stairs. I was hit with the delicious smell of Carols amazing cooking as I left my room. She had just set down our dinner as I was sitting down and it looked even more delectable than it smelled.

"It all looks amazing Carol, thank you" I smiled genuinely.

"Oh its really no problem Sarah hope you two enjoy, I do really wish the boys were here for our first family dinner I don't know why they needed to go to that pack party?! And on a school night too" she started to mumble to herself.

"Pack party?" I asked curiously. Carols eyes all of a sudden enlarged and her face became frozen. She quickly regained her composure and said.

"Ah sorry that's just what I call their group of friends" and she started laughing to herself and started to munch down on her dinner so we didn't have to go on with the conversation. I looked at my dad but he didn't seem to pick up on the awkwardness.

This was my point, ‘pack’ could be a normal word for a group of boys I guess but it seemed like it was a cover up. My first impression of Carol was good she seemed to really love my dad and she had this ability to make you feel calm in the most stressful situations. But subtle little things would come up now and again that made me wonder, is she everything she seems to be? What could she be hiding? Should I be on some sort of medications for all my crazy analysing? Is it me? Or is it her?

Dinner flew past pretty fast, I thanked Carol again for the amazing dinner. I offered to help her clean up but she wouldn’t have any of it and told me to leave it to her. I looked at the clock on my phone and saw that it was only 7:30, it would have been nice to of seen a message from an friend back in my old town but I never really made any solid friends back home, my old town never really felt like home and what was stranger than Carol and her families little quirks was as soon as my dad and I entered this town I finally felt like I belonged somewhere.

I had quick showered and got into my comfy pj’s. I told myself that I would go to bed early tonight to so I would be ready for tomorrow, my first day at my new high school but I couldn’t calm the nervous butterflies that flapped inside of me. I picked up a book and tried reading it but I found myself reading the same paragraph over and over again for about 20 minutes. I knocked my book on my head when I realized how stupid I was, I put my book back on my shelf and walked over to balcony. I had my own personal sanctuary just outside my window, I walked out onto my balcony, leaned over the railing and breathed in. I could feel all my butterflies dissolving with each wave of pine and bark, it only took 3 long deep breaths to calm me completely and out of nowhere, surprisingly I yawned. My eyelids felt heavy and I took this opportunity to quickly slip into bed and fall sleep, not knowing what was in store for me on my first day at my new high school.