September
"All ashore who's going ashore."
The car stops moving.
Get up, Stephen. ...Up!
...What? I'm up! I was just closing my eyes.
You were dozing off there for a moment.
I...shut up. I'm sleepy.
Because you're finally starting to chill. Up. We're here.
The new house. It's out the window. That drive felt like it took forever. It was only a couple hours from Evansville. We left at...early enough. It's just after four according to my phone clock. I...I really love how the changing leaves bring out the houses up and down the street.
Evansville never had this.
No. It was too open.
See? Positives.
Dad opens his door and gets out. I do, too, spitting my gum (it went stale an hour ago) into the other neighbor's lawn. Not my problem.
Stephen.
What?
Never mind. Look!
The house. It's my house.
Welcome to your new home. Mom must be waiting inside.
My voice pulls up a mental SMART Board listing of today's agenda. Marked off is everything I've done so far.
2. See and Say Goodbye to Peter & Jack [ x ]
3. Have Fast-food Lunch [ x ]
4. Begin "The Portersburgh Era" [ ]
5. Go to Bed [ ]
What about four?
No. Just...no. It's not the right time.
Then, when is the right time, Stephen? This is it! This is happening! It's what you've always hoped and wished would happen!
I know! Shut...shut up already!
"Come on, kiddo," I hear Dad say. "It turned out real nice inside."
My head goes quiet. I follow Dad to the front of the house, stopping at the porch. I stand amongst the quiet of the moment. A breeze hits me as I stare up at the two-story brick house, struck by a heavenly wave of light like some sort of blissful blessing from the universe.
Home...
"Come on..."
...Maybe I should just accept this. I mean, I did wish for it to happen, right? I turn to face the way we came in. A stretch of brick facades and green lawns isn't easy to ignore. Neither is the curve in the street I can see from here. I look back at the house.
I've visited here so many times. This is the time I get to stay.
"Stephen!"
Mom. She's standing by the front door, waiting for me. I take one last look around...
Come on, Stephen. Let's go inside.
...Yeah. Because...why not?
Dad and I walk up the front steps. We're supposed to use the side door. I skip over the threshold, springing into the red living room that smells of calming candle-lit honeysuckle. My old home used to smell like it. Honeysuckle's my all-time favorite scent.
YOU ARE READING
Earhart & Noonan: An "Us Club" Novel (#1)(NaNoWriMo15)
Teen FictionFor the first twelve years of Stephen Vaughn's life, just trying to get others around him to pronounce his first name the right way ("Stee-vehn Vawn") has felt like the hardest task he's had to try and cope with. That is, until his perfect life with...
