Alexia and the Beast

Chapter 1: Home Sweet... Home?

I used to love travelling. Being on a plane was always so thrilling for me. But ever since World War 3 started, I've never hated the very fact of just seeing a plane. We were escaping every chaos possible back then and chaos was everywhere, so that means we were fleeing basically all the time. We were always near the airport just in case there was another attack. Planes were the fastest ways to escape and tickets usually ran out fast. We were ALWAYS on planes. Sometimes they would have to move so fast when they go up that it felt as if you could literally throw up your heart. The war didn't really much affect me except for the whole traveling with"planes" thing. That's why I wasn't very enthusiastic about going back to Roya Springs. I made it through the flight and now we were on our way to our new house.

As we drove past town, surprisingly, a lot of things were still familiar. But they all seem weird to me for some reason. Of course most of it is still the same but it's also just different in a way. I felt uncomfortable as we passed more familiar places. I didn't feel welcomed. I thought that since I was born here, studied here, and basically lived most of my life here, I should feel more relaxed and calm now that I'm back. But I felt like a complete stranger in my own town.

We finally arrived to our house. It's a two story house completely made of fine grey bricks. It had a dark brown roof made of wood I think. Most of the houses in the area resembled ours in some way. It wasn't exactly the same house, but it was the same style. My dad parked outside the house on the street.

"Why aren't you putting the car inside the garage?", my mom asked confused.

"Well, I don't exactly have the keys to the garage", my dad responded with a nervous smile.

"What do you mean you don't 'EXACTLY' have the keys to the garage?", my mom asked again with slight tone of anger in her voice.

"What he means is that he doesn't have the keys at all.", I responded so that we can just get straight to the point.
"So you expect us to just leave the car outside at night?", mom asked a bit more angrier this time. I could tell she also didn't enjoy the flight too.
"Well, not really", he said.
"Then what really?!", my mom shouted. She was definitely annoyed of my dad's response.
"We can just ask someone with an empty garage space if they can let keep our car for the night until I get the keys", he responded.
"Who the hell do we know in Roya Springs with an empty garage space?", my mom asked.
"Who the hell do we even just know in Roya Springs?", I added rhetorically.
"Well I had a few friends back when we used to live here. Maybe they can help us. We're not completely lost.", he said.
"And you think they can still help us?!", my mom snapped back." That was five years ago, David! No offense, but those people might not even still be alive!"
The car went dead silent. I know mom did say no offense but dad was definitely offended. I think she also realized that she might of crossed the line.
"I'm sorry", she said, calmer this time."I'm just stressed from all of this.
It's true. Maybe we were all a bit stressed and mom a little more than us but she shouldn't have pointed that out.
"Starting a new life is hard", she added.
"Especially restarting one that you lost five years ago because of the stupid war. I just want everything to feel like it was before. I want it to be normal. But so far, I feel weird now that I'm back. And it's annoying because I've been here before and I know this place better than anywhere else. I should feel relaxed now that I'm back but I'm just even more stressed. I really didn't mean to offend anyone." She sighed and just stared out the window.

I'm so relieved that someone felt the same way I did. But mom just made me realize something too. What if dad's friends were really dead? What if my friends were dead? I started to think about Ava. She was my best ever since I was 3 years old. We were so close before we left. But I couldn't keep in touch with her because electronics were just blowing up for no reason during the war at that time. Now, president Katherine Luon has ordered that no American citizen is allowed to have an electronic of any sorts. Only a few hundred people were certified to touch an electronic. It's been so long that I don't even know if I remember how to use one. But having one would of kept me in touch with Ava. Now I don't even know where in the world she is. Or if she's even alive. I didn't want to start thinking about sad things because I'm notorious for not being able to control my tears. I broke down the long dreadful silence in the car and went to the back of the car to fetch my stuff. My parents followed my lead and helped me unload stuff.

We thankfully had the house keys and got inside. We dumped everything in the large empty space where I think the living room is supposed to be. I then went upstairs and picked the second largest room and dumped my stuff on the floor. I stood in the middle of the room and admired it for a minute. It was actually kind of nice. The walls were painted a very light peach color, and I had a really large window near the place where I was going to put my bed. The was also a glass door which led to small balcony. I walked into the balcony and took a look around it. The balcony was kind of nice but it was so close to the neighbors balcony that I could literally just jump over into theirs. It would definitely be weird if we both came out for fresh air some time and just awkwardly noticed how close we are to each other. Either ways, I didn't really care much. The sun was starting to set now. The view was so beautiful from my balcony. I smiled as I stared at it. It was nice to smile for the first time since we arrived here. I walked back into the room and just arranged my stuff in a way I'll find them until I get a drawer for them. I arranged my sleeping mat on the floor so that I can get ready for sleeping. I was definitely going to sleep at that moment if mom hadn't call me to come and eat. I don't know why but I just didn't think we'd eat before going to sleep. But I still went downstairs either ways. I can't say no to food.

Apparently my dad found a way to get pizza. I had like six slices before I my stomach almost burst. I was about to call it a day but then my mom stopped me. She said she wanted to talk to me about something.
"You know", she started, "When your dad went to find pizza he managed to stop by your old school and check if he could enroll you. Apparently there's still a lot of kids there that he thinks you'll recognize . They said if you want you can start tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?", I asked.
"Yeah.", she said. "I know it's very fast. But you don't mind right?"
"Of course I don't.", I said. I really want to start school as soon as possible. I really want to know if Ava is still around. After what mom told me, a lot of kids are still around that means I might have luck finding her.
"Great!", she said."You'll start tomorrow then."
"Great!", I said.

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So Alexia is starting school tomorrow. Will she find her best friend Ava? What challenges will she face?
Find out in the 2nd chapter of "Alexia and the Beast"

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