Winding Roads {A Creative Writing Journal}

Adrian (Part 2)

MARIA

They hadn't even moved in yet, and Maria already hated her new island home. After eleven hours crammed into a minivan filled to the brim with her family's belongings, she'd lost the feeling in her cramped legs by hour three. And her favorite Spotify playlist ended by hour five. So now she was stuck staring through the tiny peephole that once was her window before the twins chattering in the middle seat chucked their pillows and blankets back at her.

The blur of concrete bridge railings and a line of endless blue ocean greeted her, and she quickly closed her eyes at the boring sight. With no rain trailing down her window, she couldn't even pretend to be one of those main characters in her favorite chic flicks.

Maria sighed and scrolled down her phone to pick one of her lesser played playlists. Modern country music soothed her ears, Sam Hunt's voice reminding her of the feelings of her North Carolina home. Not even a full day and she missed her life back in the small mountain town of Keirwood Heights.

She texted Clarisse-her "sister from another mister"-thirty minutes ago, but she wouldn't be able to reply until after her shift at the diner ended. Agisili, the ancient woman as old as the town, owned the restaurant and was a stickler for no phones during work hours. But with the endless stretch of boredom ahead of her, Maria wished her best friend would break the rule and cheer her up, telling her how much fun the beach would be and how there would be no Wulfe brothers to egg her house now that her dad was no longer their chemistry teacher.

"There it is! I see it!" Max, the older of the ten-year-old twins, exclaimed, pointing at some speck in the corner of his window.

Maria leaned over the headrest and squinted at the dot of land barely getting larger by the minute. Her brothers cheered excitedly, and Maria plopped back into her seat as Mason scrambled over his brother to get a better look. She was vaguely aware of her mother saying something, but she had already plugged her earbuds back in.

Compared to the rest of the trip, the final hour moved past in a blur. Soon palm trees and faded, yet still colorful, buildings replaced the stretches of endless blue.

"Welcome to Unda Blanc, everyone!" her dad cheered, loud enough to break through the music in her earbuds.

"Yay," Maria moaned sarcastically but not loud enough to warrant any disapproving looks. Perks of spending the last eleven hours in the backseat.

It took less than five minutes to drive through the heart of town and reach the suburbs, and with the lack of anything exciting to catch her attention, Maria easily figured that her summer would turn out to be a boring one. She could see it now-going to the same two or three restaurants every other week, going to the same stores-ugh. What was there even to do around here?

The van slowed to a stop in front of a plain cream-colored house. Maria's eyes roamed over the exterior, noting the white trim and the burgundy wooden shutters and matching door. With the large windows, second floor, and mocha-brown roof, the house would have looked almost cozy if it weren't for the massive, ugly shrubs littering the front yard.

As the van door swung open, Maria pulled out her earbuds and placed them back in their case. Max and Mason raced out of the van and clambered up to the house.

"Boys! Come help unload!" their mom called back.

Maria stumbled out of the car, stretching her legs, and promptly began to grab her suitcase and duffel bag. The rest of their possessions would arrive by U-Haul in the next week, so she could only bring what she couldn't live without and whatever else they could squish into the trunk.

Arms full, she trekked across the tiny front law and skirted around the wide fronds clawing out over the wooden steps up to the deck. The door remained opened from the rest of the family rushing in, and a set of narrow stairs greeted her. She'd have to lug her bags up that? Lovely.

Her bedroom held an admittedly good view of the street; she could see anyone coming and going, and since the window faced the East, she'd get a nice, natural wake up call from the rising sun. A cobbled path across the road weaved through the oaks and out of sight, and she reasoned that it was a footpath to the beach less than a mile away.

Then again, the beach seemed to always be nearby. As a born mountain girl, Maria knew this had to be some sort of torture.

"Maria! You almost done setting up in there?" Mom called from downstairs.

Maria eyed her sparse wardrobe and the few tubes of makeup on her small white dresser. Even with the framed selfies of her with either her family or Clarisse hanging up, the room still felt bare.

"Yeah!" she called back, "Coming!"

Maria retied her dirty blonde hair back into a ponytail and stretched her five-foot-seven frame one more time. Being cramped in the car hadn't done her back any favors, and all she wanted to do was sprawl out on her twin sized bed and scroll through Instagram for a few hours.

Sadly, Mom had other ideas.

Maria climbed back down the stairs just as someone called from the street. Hoping whoever it was wasn't trying to contact her, she turned towards the kitchen. Apparently, she wasn't that lucky, as a teenager girl waved at her and scampered up the steps.

"Hullo, neighbor!" she greeted far too enthusiastically, "I'm Emily, but everyone calls me 'Emmy.' I live in the blue house next door."

"Uh, hi?" she replied, "I'm Maria." Mom, come save me from this social interaction.

At first glance, Emmy looked like the type of girl Maria would avoid at school. Five-foot-fourish with chestnut hair, a round, pretty face dotted with freckles, and a curvy body-she was everything Maria wasn't. Right off she could tell that Emmy had one of those infectious smiles and a bubbly, extroverted personality.

As if she could read her daughter's mind, Maria's mom sidled in from the kitchen. She wore a welcoming, if slightly confused, smile.

"Who's this?"

" I'm Emmy Summerdale," she replied and stuck out a hand, "Welcome to the island! Saw you guys settling in from my house. It's the blue one right beside ya on the right."

"Nice to meet you, Emmy. We're the Clarke family."

Emmy's doe eyes lit up. "Say, Mrs. Clarke, some friends of mine are meeting up at the boardwalk in a few minutes. Would it be all right for Maria to tag along? Meet some of the locals?"

Maria met her mother's eyes from behind their guest and made a cutting motion. She only smiled coyly in reply.

"Of course, Emmy. I'm sure Maria would love to get out and about for a bit after being stuck in a car half the day."

Maria almost scowled but caught herself when Emmy turned around to smile brightly.

"Great! Come on, Maria! You'll love it!"

Emmy continued to ramble about how "great" the boardwalk was as she dragged her new neighbor out the door. Maria could only grimace and nod.

"Do you have a car, or do I need to grab our keys?" she asked instead.

Emmy brushed her off. "It's close enough to walk. Unless you're some sort of big city girl," she added with a mischievous wink.

"I'm country through and through," Maria smarted, remembering the dozens of hikes she'd gone on back home in just the past year.

"We'll then come on!" Emmy chirped and started jogging down the street.

"Hey!"

When the boardwalk came into view, both girls were panting with their hands on their knees. A small fist came into Maria's view.

"Good run," Emmy huffed. Maria pounded the fist.

"Thanks."

"Well, who do we have here?" a third voice interrupted.