Believers

Chapter 1-Let's go to a pool instead

"Aunt Ally!" My little sister, Milli, and I threw our arms around our aunt for the first time in nearly a year.

"Emma! Milli! It is so great to see you girls!" Ally was a beautiful young woman. Her hair was blond, and nearly always in a different style. Her blue eyes glittered and shined, always surrounded by the perfect amount of makeup. Three months prior to her visit, she lost her job, as well as broke up with her fiancé. She was crushed. Since then, she had been living in hotels and with relatives, until my mother insisted she moved in here until she found an apartment.

"Ally? Is that you?" My mom walked around the corner, drying her hands on a dish towel. When she saw Ally, she looked as though she was going to cry. She reached out her arms to hug her. "Ally! I am so sorry about you and Ethan. Are you okay?"

"Yes... It just came as sort of a... a shock, you know what I mean?" Her voice was shaking. Mom had clearly reopened a wound that had had a hard time healing the first time.

"Of course. It always is. So, I was just about to take the girls to that new zoo down town. It has been open for nearly a mounth, so I was hoping that the crouds had died down a bit." Mom walked back into the kitchion, and the three of us followed. I sat at the bar, and Milli sat down next to me. I ruffled my two year old sister's short chocolate brown hair. She picked up a saltine cracker and shoved it into her mouth.

"You know Jen, I was thinking we didnt go to the zoo... it will be awfuly busy, and animals stink. Dont you think we should go to the pool instead?" Ally looked as though she were walking on uncharted teretory, and at any moment she was going to step on a bomb.

"Ally, I have already got the tickets. I have one for you too, but you dont have to use it if you dont want to. I am taking Emma and Milli though."

"No... no, I'll come. I would just, really really rather go to the pool, or the park, or... or to the mall or something."

"Ally..." My mother rolled her eyes and smiled. It was shocking how similar my mom and Aunt Ally looked. The only differance was that my mom was five years older than Ally. "Emma, go get ready, we are leaving in five minutes, whether Ally comes or not." Mom grinned at Ally, and Ally smiled back.

I walked down the hall to my bedroom, trying not to look too eager. I put on a pair of raspberry red flats, and looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a black ruffled blouse, and a cream skirt that had red robins on it that matched my flats. My brown hair was curled, and my makeup was done. When my mom said we were going to the zoo, I knew I had to dress up nice. Of course, my outfit might get dirty, but it was worth the price, to look good in front of Erik. I had had a crush on him for two years, but as far as I knew, he didnt even know I exist. I stared at myself in the mirror for the rest of my five minuts, and followed Ally out the door.