How I See You

Chapter 2 - Alyssa now.

So this chapter has also been edited, and the edited version was put up on 9 September 2013.

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Chapter 2 – Alyssa now.

It isn’t until I quickly slam my front door behind me and stare around at the cardboard boxes all over the hallway that I realise my hands are shaking and my heart is pounding in my ears. I also remember that other people exist in this world too, all of a sudden, apart from Will Palmer and I.

I feel stupid as I walk into the kitchen and my dad looks up from some sort of document he is holding in his hand – he is sitting on the arm of our sofa (God knows why it’s in this room) and scratching his head. My face burns; would he be able to tell I’ve been walking with Will? That I can’t stop thinking about him? I hope he can’t see how flustered I am.

“Alyssa. Hi, love.” He gives a tired smile and looks too distracted to notice the highly probable pinkness of my cheeks. I hate that about myself, how I blush so easily.

“Hi.” I try to not sound breathless. Suddenly my brother’s exasperated voice floats down from above, shouting about his missing Lego pieces, and the soft consoling tones of my mother come right after it.

“Was the bus okay and everything? School alright?” Dad looks at me over the tops of his rimless glasses with concern.

I quickly nod, still standing awkwardly in the doorway. There is only a slight path been made in the midst of all the boxes which goes from the door to where my dad is sitting.

I would just die if other people at my school – my friends – knew my dad was all worked up about me going on the bus. It was the last thing my parents wanted to do, but it had to be done. I think they think I might get kidnapped or stalked or I might be influenced by other kids who go on public transport who swear and beat each other up. Even though I told them countless times that my friends ride the bus every day, like Reina, who was there, and . . . Will.

I am back to thinking about him again, about those melted brown eyes that kept grabbing onto mine, and I am in such a trance that when my brother Phillip comes rushing past, greeting me, I don’t acknowledge him at first.

“Alyssa? You gonna say hello, or what!” He yells.

I quickly snap to attention and look at him, before reaching down to ruffle his dark blond curls. He’s eight, and staring at me with his eyes so wide they’re almost circular. “Hey.”

“Why’s your face all red?”

I’m sure I flush even darker at that. Quickly, I open my mouth to let some stupid reply fall out, but my mother’s voice comes from behind, sparing me.

“Alyssa, darling. Come and help me sort out all these boxes, will you? You don’t have much homework, do you?”

I turn around to look at her, with various furnishings in her arms that belong in the sitting room. I think about all the maths and French and geography I got set today, but quickly shake my head.

“I don’t have much homework.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking boxes. My dad manages to get the sofa and other furniture into the sitting room, and the kitchen starts to look less like a warehouse, while Philip and I help my mum unpack smaller things and get the house looking more homely.

Later on, my mother and I get to work on my room – it turns out I have a fairly large room with white washed walls and a built in wardrobe, and I’m overjoyed that there is a balcony with vintage style doors and railings, a table and two chairs left outside.