FLATLINE

Chapter One; The New Old House

The new house was old.

The port had been closed when we first got there. It was beautiful, but everything in me already hated it. I had decided that.

Red flowers clung to the brick fence that sheltered this house from the rest of the rural houses on the street. Who knew that once we came back here, everything, including our economy, would have changed. The black port was the only obstacle standing between our new, old house, and our car. My mom fiddled with a piece of pink paper in her right hand as her window slowly rolled down. From the backseat I couldn't see what she was doing, but the sound of a four-digit number being pressed into a machine was enough of an indicator. Well that, and the fact that the port started slowly parting at the middle when the machine gave away two beeps.

"Wow, just look at this place! I can play football here mom!" Kevin exclaimed jumping up and down in his seat as he inched himself closer to the front through the mid-section of the car. Had the car been big enough for a growing eight-year-old to do that, I wouldn't have taken a hold of the back of his t-shirt only to drag him back into his seat. His lower lip was suddenly pulled out by the time his gaze met mine, a frown covering the entirety of his face. "You're no fun."

"At least I've seen a port before, Kev. Jeez, we're not even in yet. Calm down."

I didn't know if it was everything that had happened before we had made the decision of moving, or if it was the fact that we were moving at all that had me all grumpy. But what I already did know was that I hated this place. I hated it as much as I hated it when we left the last time.

"Jenny," Mom gave me a warning look in the mirror. I simply sighed and turned my head to look out the window as the car moved into the vast round-about with a fountain in the middle. The aesthetics of this place made this at least a little bit more bearable. Not that it was bearable at all, though.

"Hey Jenny! You could have a huge party in this house! Like the ones you used to have back home!" Kevin shook my arm in excitement.

My stepdad in the front seat laughed. "Preferably not, for neither of you," he said, looking particularly at Kevin this time.

That is when the car comes to a sudden halt. I hastily rip off my seatbelt and is the first one to step out of the car after a 4-hour-long car ride. The September-sun shone right on my face, and despite the cold I felt heat spread through my body. I pushed my jacket closer around my torso, and fixing the cap back on my head.

"I cannot believe my own eyes. Jenny?" a voice spoke up when I had safely brought out my bag from the backseat and shut the door.

I should have just stayed in the car.

I turned around only to be faced with four very familiar faces, in which one of them looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. I guess we were on the same boat at that. "Mrs Romeo, how are you?" I sent her one of the fake smiles I could muster after the usage of them the past week as I waited for her to approach me. Her hands enclosed around me in a warm hug that made me feel like a stuffed animal.

"Oh good, good! Look at how you've grown! You guys should have come to visit more often. I swear, I can't keep up with the rate of your height!" She laughed, her hands going up and down soothingly on my back before retracting from the hug. Her eyes soon enough zeroed in on my little brother. We had moved away before he was born, but we had come to visit once or twice, however not enough for him to remember who they were. "Oh! Little Kevin, too! Look at you!"

Kevin's eyes found mine in a panicked fashion, and for the first time this week I found myself mildly amused at the situation. "He loves kisses, just thought you should know. In fact, he can't get enough of them."