Aeviternal

3

'Welcome to Gregory rose town'
Population:1,785'

I zoomed past the welcoming sign of the haunting town, it was pretty small, ghostly almost. The people all woke up at the same time, went to work at the same time, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time.....creepy actually. My family had moved in when I was 6, I wasn't very excited about it but I made friends quickly and all this seemed pretty normal to me as I grew older. It wasn't until I moved out that I noticed how free I was to do whatever I wanted, I was always an outcast here, that's because I was 'normal'.

I looked around my hometown, few things had changed, some shops sold different things now and some houses changed colors but other than that, everything was left untouched, including that statue of 2 hugging kids in central road, nobody knows why it's there, it just is and for some reason nobody bothers moving it but nobody minds.

I parked my car behind my mother's blue chevy as I arrived at the familiar place, the white fenced home seemed more dull then ever, like a cloud was standing it's ground over it and claiming it, I put on my shades and stepped out, opening the trunk and grabbing my belongings. As if on queue my mother ran out with open arms towards me, I smiled in a sympathetic manner and hugged her as she gripped tightly onto me in her arms.

"Kataleah...."

Her voice was distant, not as cheerful or energetic as it had been through the phone. It wasn't till this point in my life that I realized that my mother was trying to be the strong one, the death of my father must have been the most devastating thing my mother must have gone through, see my mother was a spoiled girl when young.she had everything her way, including how our family ran and when finally something didn't go her way, she's left like this.

A fragile woman who in any other occasion would be the shinning light in a dark room. she looked up at me, I was only a few feet taller then her, getting my height and everything else from my father, robbie was more like mom, he caused a certain attention towards him, I always said it was because he was 6 feet tall with amazing blue eyes but no, he was just the perfect copy of my mother.

My mother looked down and her delicate hands played with my cardigan and then looked around the place like she had been expecting someone.

"Robbie should be here any second, let's get you inside"

She ushered me into the home as if I had forgotten where everything was but I remembered, I remembered everything.

"You'll be staying in your old room, I promise everything has been left untouched" she promised, I smiled slightly remembering how I used to go in complete rants when someone would step into my room without permission. I kissed her cheek slightly, a certain affection I have never demostrated towards my mother.

"I'll be in my room"

I picked my luggage and walked up the stairs, the walls were decorated with the typical family pictures, mom and dad sitting down while 8 year old robbie stood behind dad and 5 year old me sitting on dad's lap. That one was my favorite, it was a sence of love that lingered that made my heart warm up.

I walked down the hallway to the door painted purple with a 'keep the fuck out' sign, I was a very typical teenager. I opened the door and stepped inside, a million memories hit me once the sudden scent hit my face and mom hadn't been lying when she said nothing had been touched, everything was left the same way since the day I left. I dropped my bag and slammed the door as I fell back onto the comforters of my bed. I looked up at the ceiling and smiled slightly, this had always been my favorite place, not because it was my room or anything but because I was alone, I needed that when I was a teenager.

I heard the bell ring and I sat up quickly, my heart sped by the second as anticipation to hear robbie ' s voice. When it finally heard the chill deep voice of my brother like a rainy day in a forest, I ran down the hallway and down the steps,flying off the second to last step and into his arms.

"Robbie"

we indulged the silence, I took in his cologne, I smiled slightly, my older brother was all grown up now. I was always the mature one, always making the good decisions and having AP classes while robbie was the stupid jock who tackled for a living and yet he mastered to score a place in Princeton and I couldn't be more proud.

We pulled away at the same time and just looked at each other with a knowing smile. He set me back onto my feet, I hadn't even felt him pick me up, he fidgeted slightly back and slid to the left alittle giving me a view to a beautiful brunette, she smiled shyly.

"This is my girlfriend becca...."

Robbie explained, he looked at me anxiously, I never really approved of robbie ' s girlfriends in high school, they always turned out to be bad bloods but I could see becca would build a future for my brother other than the one he had apart from her. I smiled sweetly and pulled her into my arms "welcome to the family, becca". My mother whimpered loudly in the back ground and seconds later we found ourselves in the dinning room munching on strawberries with chocolate and white wine, having shy conversations with each other as the empty seat at the end of the family table dawned on us.

I excused myself once all my strawberries were gone and I walked up the steps and into my room once again, I unpacked my clothing and looked out the window to the houses that stood near by, some people had moved out of town like me but ofcourse for a diversity of reasons but I didn't know these people anymore, they had became complete strangers for me.

I fell back onto my bed and I heard robbie and becca entering robbie old bedroom. I sighted and I slowly fell into restless sleep.

I woke up to the slight knock on my door, I groaned slightly, sitting up. It finally hit me that this had been the best sleep I had gotten in this past week and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Kataleah?"
I heard my mothers voice call from the other side of the door.

"I'll be out in a minute!"

I responded, the fact I was here was a little bit surreal, I stepped off my old bed and cringed slightly at the dark purple walls around me, I had a unique taste in high school. I stepped into my bathroom and washed my face, I grabbed a towel and undressed, entering the warm shower.

I ran down the steps of the house, there were several strangers in my house, they were moving pots of flowers all around and many chairs were being moved into the living room in orderly fashion. I looked around like a lost puppy.

"Oh, there you are! Go back into your room and dress into something formal, guest are arriving any minute!" My mother demanded while she zoomed past. I looked down at my jeans and blue sweater and shrugged. Robbie stepped into the house looking as bewildered as me.

"What the fuck?" I asked.

He chuckled "mom is having a father memorial reunion, where all our neighbors and both close and far family come and snoop around about our business" he informed, I nodded. "Mom loves herself the spotlight and that means we get brought into it" I sighted "I'll go and change" I groaned, Robbie nodded slightly and disappeared through the living room.

I ran back up the steps and into my room. I pulled one of the drawer out and pulled out a maxi dress, it was cute and simple, i undressed and draped it on, I edited my make up to match the dress and put on some jewelry to match. I descended the steps to find the house empty, only Robbie sitting in one of the many chairs of the living room eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a dress shirt.

Mom was going to go buck shit crazy.