Screaming at the Stars

Open arms

"Annora! Lucas! Andie!" The names were shouted by my aunt Rachelle, and I watched her run to us ahead of the others in the group. She had wild red hair and big hazel eyes and was dressed in a hoodie but was wearing some huge, red, hibiscus flower dangly earrings. She always wore weird earrings. These ones were particularly ugly in my opinion, but she had her own style which was something I had always admired about her. She and my mother ran to hug each other, their faces got squashed into each other's sweatshirts and all of their screechy greetings were muffled to the point where they were impossible to pick up, so I gave up on trying to understand what they were saying. Next she went to hug my dad, and then she turned towards me.

"Andie! Good lord you've grown so much!" She exclaimed and enveloped me in a hug. I didn't move. It's not that I didn't like her, I just never really got to know her very well. The times I'd seen her, she normally would go out with my mother to get their nails done or to coffee. While I was buried in her hug, I noticed she smelled like ginger and clean laundry. The combination was strange, but it wasn't bad. She awkwardly let go of me when she realized I wasn't responding, but brushed it off with a smile and a pat on my shoulder. "You're a young woman now! And so beautiful too!"

I shifted my weight and forced a smile. The compliment made me uncomfortable. I didn't see a woman when I looked in the mirror, but I thanked her regardless.

At this point, the others who came out of the house with her caught up. I saw my Uncle Carter, and my cousins, Claudia and Nicholi, who had just turned 8. My Uncle Carter was a bit round, with plump cheeks that turned pink as he smiled, and light blond hair that was beginning to turn silver, a bit like his wife's. While he went to hug my parents, my cousins and I were forced to acknowledge each other. I gave a weak smile, and received nothing in return. Nicholi was looking at me like he was trying to figure out whether not I'd be an ally. Claudia was looking me up and down with a blank expression. I could sense a twinge of annoyance though, I couldn't tell whether she was unimpressed with my basic wardrobe choice or maybe that she'd probably caught my disgusted looks towards her house. I shifted my weight again and wished I could crawl back into the truck and live in the backseat.

Claudia spoke up first, after about 30 seconds of silence between the three of us. "Hey Andie, how are you?"

"Fine," I answered.

"It's been so long!" She said with a fake smile and a tone that was too high. "How old are you again?"

"15." I replied.

"Oh, that's cool." She said brightly. I could hear the force in her voice. I knew she didn't want me here, she could tell we were too different to be compatible. The feeling was mutual.

When I couldn't bear the tension anymore and turned away, I didn't even look at her to know that she was staring me down. I turned around and walked to the side of truck to lean against the window and hoped she would look away. She didn't. I faced her and looked her in the eyes, raised my eyebrows, challenging her to keep staring. She finally looked down with a red face.

At this point, Nicholi had gotten bored and went back inside the house. Our parents were still hugging and talking about how awful the car ride had been, and Claudia had her arms crossed and was staring at the grass. I hadn't moved from the edge of the car yet. I tried to focus on anything else besides what was going on around me.

A small spider was skittering around near my foot so I stomped on it. I played with the zipper on my hoodie. I untied both of my shoes and then tied them again. I drew circles in the dirt with my shoe. Anything to keep my hands or feet busy. I knew that Claudia was staring at me again out of the corner of her eye, trying to seem casual. All I had energy left for at that point was to sit down and lean against the tire. The rubber and dirt smell of the tire made my nose twitch. The scent only added to how unwelcome I was feeling.

After Uncle Carter had greeted my parents, he came to give me a hug. He wrapped one arm around me and pulled me into his side. When he pulled away, he tugged a lock of my hair like he used to do when I was little. I remembered how he would give me gummy worms whenever he saw me, and would always tell embarrassing stories about my mother. My father and Davie and I would laugh, while my mother would get annoyed at him.

"Shut up Carter, they don't need to know about all that," she'd say with a red face and a pillow, ready to hit him.

He'd chuckle, pat his large belly, and say, "And I didn't need to eat that extra helping of chicken pot pie, but why not?" And then she'd hit him, and my dad would grab her and pull her off. The entire time, everyone would be laughing, including her. None of us had laughed like that in a long time.

When my uncle let go, I snapped out of the memory. Why was I thinking about the past so much today? I told myself to cut it out as I stepped away and went to stand by the car again.

"We've stood out here long enough," my aunt said briskly. "Let's show you around your new home! Carter, grab those bags, Claudia, help Andie with hers."

While all the adults fumbled around with suitcases and boxes and started towards the house, Claudia turned towards me with a smile resembling a grimace and tried to grab my black backpack that was lying on the ground.

"Wait!" I jumped forward to grab it before she could pick it up.

She took a step back, startled. "What?"

I slung my beloved backpack over my shoulder and uncomfortably turned to face her. "I'm sorry," I said to her confused expression. "I'll carry this one...you can...um...take the blue one."

She looked irritated and roughly grabbed my blue suitcase and began to trudge towards the house after the adults.

I swallowed as I grabbed my remaining suitcase and my duffle bag, and took one more look around me before following Claudia towards the house. I wanted nothing more than to leave.