Persecution

Coast to coast

It's just a normal old wooden house, with a normal old brick sidewalk, on a normal old road, in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. That's where we're heading- good ol' South Carolina. As I sit shotgun next to my 17 year old brother Grant, our parents aren't far behind us, with our step-dad Steve driving our stuff in the moving truck and our 3 year old half-Brother Drew sitting next to him. Our Mom isn't far behind the moving truck, with our ten year old identical twin step-sisters Hannah and Hailey, who are likely fighting over who sits where, as I start drifting off to sleep.

I can't say I won't miss Miami, but the coast of Charleston will definitely be nice, and our new house is pretty big, and I love the white painted wood exterior. By new, I mean 1860's plantation home new. So really, it isn't new at all. Our grandmother died last month, and the house was left to my family. My parents thought it would be a good opportunity to get away from Florida, since that's something they've been wanting to do for years. My parents both grew up on the outskirts of Charleston, but they went to Florida for college 20 years ago, and just never moved back. I've been visiting Charleston my whole life though, and Grants and my best friends, twins Cate and Colby Hampton live there.

When we finally got there, Cate and Colby were laying down on the front porch waiting for us. Their matching blonde hair was kind of matted, so I could tell they'd been here awhile. They jumped up, with Cate not even bothering to fix her long blond hair, which was in its normal side braid-bun updo. Cate and Colby came running over to me and Grant, and I limped over to give them a hug.

"Franklin Grant Patton, how are you doing?" Cate teasingly asked my brother as she gave him a hug. "I'm doing well. How about yourself miss Caitlyn Grace Hampton?" Grant asked her laughing. Cate rolled her eyes. "I'm doing well, thank you. If you ever call me by my full name again though, I will personally see to it that the rest of your life is miserable." "First off, you started it. Second of all, how are you going to do that? By voting for Crowe? You would never do that, you're mad at me, not the country! You aren't 18 yet anyway! You still have 2 years." Cate glared at him, and now I was starting to get mad. I stepped in-between them. "I know you two are just teasing each other, but seriously, knock it off. I want my hugs now!" I gave Cate a giant hug, just for Colby to pull her off and fully embrace me. "Hey, Butterfly." Colby told me smiling, as he looked down at me and made eye contact. "Hey, Moth." I said looking up into his pretty brown eyes as I smiled back at him. Those have been our nicknames for each other since like, kindergarten. When I came to visit that summer, Colby had a caterpillar kit that came with all different kinds of what would become butterflies and moths. We would watch them and watch them all the time. Colby liked the Moths better, and I really liked the Butterflies. My mom told me that if we kept watching them, we would turn into a moth and butterfly. The nicknames might be pathetic, but it's still special.

We all walked on to the porch, Colby's arm still around my waist. "So Les, how's those bones of yours?" I smiled. Not only did he call me by my nickname, Les, but he was referencing to my osteoporosis, just one of my many medical problems. "Well, I haven't broken a bone this year. That's a plus. I am having some trouble with my foot today though." I told him chuckling.

Cate sighed, as she was getting frustrated. "Okay, we got it. You missed Leslie. I missed Leslie too. Now get off of her please." Cate said as she glared at Colby. I laughed. "I'm honored that y'all missed me so much, and I'm glad to see you. You're both my best friends though, and I'm not leaving till college. In the meantime, I see Steve pulling in, so let's go get the keys." We put the sibling rivalry behind us, and raced to the moving truck. "Hey Mr. Patton! Hey Drew!" Colby greeted my step-dad and little brother as they got out of the car. "Hi Colby!" Steve replied giving him a smile. Just then my mom pulled up with the twins. I laughed when both the twins got out from the back seats of our SUV, knowing that apparently they had been fighting so much about who got the front seat that my mom just made them sit back there together.