We pulled into the cracked driveway of the house that was apparently our new one. My heart fell. I'd imagined a magnificent beachside house with a blast of colours. But the house I was staring at was none of that at all. We are one kilometre from the nearest ocean. The house looked outdated and ancient with a style like a home from the 70s. Benny seems to think otherwise. He hopped in excitement with his hands pressed against the window. I rolled my eyes.
"It looks so cool!" Benny chirped.
"Yeah, right. It's so old it's probably haunted. Make sure to watch your back at night." I hissed at him. He shrunk back against the seat.
"Jaelyn Blackwell! Don't scare your brother like that!" Dad snapped at me.
"I wasn't scared!" Benny whined. "I'm 8! I can handle it." I flicked Benny in the shoulder.
"Then maybe stop acting like a baby and act like a normal 8 year old." I muttered. Dad gave me a warning glare but stayed silent. The car came to a halt and we stepped out. It was 80°F with a slight breeze that whipped my black hair into my face. Brushing it aside, I let our Pekingese, Willy out of his carrier and he trotted out with his tongue lolling off to the side. He stopped and squatted to pee. Yeah, you and me both, Willy. It must of felt great considering that we were in the car for like...a million hours. At least we stopped at gas stations for bathroom breaks. The keys jingled as Dad unlocked the door and we stepped inside. I breathed in and was greeted to the awful smell of must and wet wood. I gagged.
"I think you've got the wrong address....." I told dad. He shook his head.
"No. This is definitely the house! Isn't it awesome?" He cheered. I shrunk down and shoved my hands in my pocket.
Benny dropped his stuff and ran to explore the house.
"What room is mine?" I asked.
"Second room on the left upstairs." Dad replied. I marched up the stairs and found my room, which was filled with dust and cobwebs. Gross. I stumbled out of the room over the door stopper and prayed as I opened a musty, creaky closet. A broken broom slouched against the wall inside and I hastily grabbed it and headed back to the room. Flailing the head of the broom in the air, I tore all the cobwebs and fanned the layer of dust out into the hallway. Once that was over with, I went back outside where the moving truck was, and began to grab my stuff. I started with the pieces of my bed, then struggled with my dresser and stuff like that. After an hour and a half, I had all my stuff in my room. Now to set up. I designed my room as it used to look like back home in Yellow Knife. I started to feel a twinge of homesickness. I heard Benny whining as he pulled a heavy box of action figures up. I rolled my eyes. I brought up an entire dresser but my scrawny brother couldn't carry a box of stupid toys. Looking into the mirror that is hung next to my door, I stared at my reflection. I had dark cemi-circles on my cheeks from lack of sleep in the car. My hair was messy and uncombed. Even my mascara was smeared all over my face. I looked like a zombie. Then I looked directly into my eyes. They are usually a shining silvery-grey. But as I leaned in and focused on my pupils and my irises, I realized my eyes were a shocking, cyan blue. Almost like a Cuban ocean. I squinted and blinked. As I refocused, my eyes were back to their original grey. Strange. I stepped away and went downstairs for dinner.
