Surreal

two

•eve•

I've been in this car for hours now, blankly staring out the windshield in silence. My mother was following my step-dad Dan with some of our belongings. The rest were in his car. Being the rich son-of-a-gun he is, he bought a brand new house full of all new furniture and appliances. God knows he probably couldn't stand to use the same furniture that brought about reminders of his sins.

The sign comes rushing at us.

"Welcome to Hayesville! A great place to call home."

A strange feeling comes over me when we pass by it and enter the town. I can't pinpoint an exact word to describe it but it's very empty.

I want to cry and scream for I know what is ahead. My future is full of the past repeating itself. Same crap just a different place. I've read so many novels and each one always has hope, even if its just a sliver. I sadly don't even have a sliver at this point.

I see so many people laughing and smiling on the streets we pass. I wish I could have a piece of what they are feeling. A couple turn and watch us go down the street. I guess we are quite the spectacle.

Finally we pull up to our new house. It is definitely more extravagant than our last one. Dan must be proud.

My mother gets out first to go cling to Dan and gush over the new house I'm sure. I take my time, gingerly grabbing the only box of items I own. They have already entered the front door by the time I'm ready. I walk slowly up the steps and take a deep breath before going inside.

It's something straight out of a magazine, and I hate it. I clutch my box a little harder.

"Isn't it the most beautiful thing Eve?!" my mother gapes still clinging to Dan.

I do a small nod even though she isn't even watching.

"It's the perfect place for our perfect family." she nuzzles into his neck and grabs both of his hands. I want to hurl. If only she knew where those hands have been.

"It's also the perfect place to start anew." Dan says grinning at me. "Eve, why don't you go to your room and get acquainted. Cheryl and I have some business to attend to."

I hurry up the steps to save my eyes from what would unfold in just moments. My mother was never this way before she met Dan. She was a very reserved women until my dad died on my 13th birthday. She met Dan shortly after and everything went down hill from there.

I open the last door on the right in the hallway upstairs to discover it was yet another set of more raggedy stairs. I take them one by one, creaking every step. When I reach the top, I discover that the steps led to the attic. A floor all to myself sounded nice so I set box down on the floor and claimed it mine. I would need to take some furniture from one of the bedrooms to fill up the space a little but I knew I could make it work.

I open my box to put up my favorite decoration. My string of lights. I dig and dig until I can finally feel them. Upon pulling them out, I find out that most of the bulbs were broke during the trip and the already frayed cord was completely broken now. The lights were a present from my father and seeing this made me distressed. I sat on my knees just staring at them.

I wiped my eyes and looked around. I would need a lot more lights then even just this one strand. I grab my stash of money and dash down my stairs and eventually out the back door avoiding the living room at all costs.

The air is chilly since fall is just around the corner and I regret not grabbing a jacket before I left. I have absolutely no clue where I am going but I hope to run into some store that sells lights at least.

When I reach downtown I notice that its very busy for some reason. I duck into the nearest store and realize it was a Marcs. They have off the wall things so hopefully they have what im looking for.

As I wonder through the store, lots of people my age walk around filling carts full of chips, pop, and any junk food in sight. I silently laugh at two girls who are arguing about which kind of jello they should get for shots.

When I get to the miscellaneous section I start to look for my lights. The hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I stop. I get the feeling that I am being watched. I turn to look over my shoulder, but no one is there.

This goes on for a few more minutes until I finally decide to give up my search and leave.

I rush quickly past everyone and walk out the automatic doors with my head down. Something caches the corner of my eye. I turn my head quickly to see a tall guy with jet black hair just staring at me, not moving an inch like a statue. I put my head back down and continued to speed walk down the street.

When I turned to look back again, he had disappeared.

---

I found my way back home just in time for dinner. Apparently I came home with no lights and paranoia. I had enough anxiety being in the house let alone outside of it. I brush it off as I walk through the back door and a delicious smell hits my nostrils. My mother may have lost her lack of judgment but she definitely hasn't lost her cooking skills.

"Eve! Time for dinner!" She yells over her shoulder as I walk into the kitchen.

"I'm right here Mom."

"Oh, sorry I didn't notice," she says with a giggle. "Where have you been?"

"Oh I was just going for a walk." I quietly answer. I don't bring up the lights or the paranoia I had. We don't speak of my Dad and she wouldn't understand how I feel. She didn't before.

"Well you need to be careful, Dan doesn't want anything happening to you."

"And on that note, I'm implementing a new curfew for you Eve." Dan interjects as he walks in the kitchen. "10 o'clock every night you must be home or there will be consequences."

He says this all in a light voice like he actually cares. My mother smiles at me as I nod and say okay. It will never fail to amaze me how blinded she is.

"This weekend we are settling in and unpacking but Monday you start at Hayesville High! Aren't you excited?!" My mother exclaims this to me while I look at her blankly. Yay. I'm enthused.

After we eat, Dan pulls me into the living room while my mom is cleaning up.

"Now Eve, I know we had a bit of a...rough patch at the old house. But I want is to come to an agreement of sorts. This fresh start is important to your mom and me. I don't want anything spoiling it for us. We nearly lost everything because of you and I won't let that happen again. If you keep your mouth shut and obey our rules, I'll give you a monthly allowance-"

"You're bribing me to stay quiet?" I want to scream inside but I remain calm.

"You don't have much choice in this. It's more like a reward for doing what you are supposed to. No repeats of last time and you get money, am I clear?" He glares at me.

I nod my head. I hate this place and this life. I don't want his dirty money but I don't have much of a choice in the matter.

Walking up my steps, I pray inside that this year will go by quickly and that I'll gain a sliver of hope like those novels show.