Light as a Feather

Chapter One

     Annabelle Jason sat in the large car which was headed towards her large vacation house in California. Her earbuds were inserted into her ears, turned up too loud, as usual. Her face was set in a scowl.

     Her mom turned around, her face bright with fake cheer. Annabelle could tell it was fake because when her mom was truly happy, her eyes sparkled. She should know. "Aren't you excited to go see your family?"

     Annabelle took out one earbud. "Oh, yes. I'm so excited to meet people I haven't seen in ten years."

     Her mom's face fell. "Annabelle, come on." Maybe that was too far.

     "I just don't understand why we're going to this family reunion when we haven't gone to one in forever. What's different about this year?"

     Her dad said, "Does it matter? Annabelle, stop talking back to your mother. We're going, and that's final." Her mom turned around so she was facing forward again. Annabelle rolled her eyes and stuck the earbud back in.

     Annabelle was such an odd name for her. It made her sound sweet and innocent, which were two things she wasn't. Yeah, maybe she was a rather nice person, but that didn't make her sweet. And she certainly wasn't innocent.

     The name was passed down from her grandmother on her mom's side. When she passed away, it was before Annabelle was born. She had never met her. But her mom had wept for days, crying for hours on end in her bedroom. And that's where her dad came in. It turned out that he was actually an intern for the doctor that tried to treat Annabelle's grandma. But she died before they could really do anything for it, whatever "it" was. Nobody would tell her. Her mom had told her that it was love at first sight for her dad and mom, but it sure didn't show now.

     Annabelle was an only child. Her dad was always working. He was one of the top surgeons in the state, and the best in the county. Her mom worked as a jeweler, and owned her own popular shop down the street from where they lived. Because of that, they were almost never home. And even when they were, it was like they weren't there. Like they only saw through her as if she were a ghost.

     Annabelle watched as they pulled down Cherry Street, which was where the house was. It was probably one of the biggest in the neighborhood, three floors and all. Her dad pulled into the garage, which was big enough for three large cars.

     They exited the car, retrieving the three gigantic suitcases that belonged to each family member. Annabelle kept the earbuds in even though she could tell her mom wanted her to be social for once in her life. She only had one real friend, mainly because nobody else understood her like Charla. Her name was pronounced "Carla", but everyone said her name like it was spelled. Charla said that her parents wanted to be "unique", so she spelled it differently. Annabelle knew that she hated her name though.

     But even Charla couldn't save her from this excursion. She wondered how many people would tell her how big she'd gotten and how they remembered when she was just a baby. There was one thing she did know. This was going to be really boring.