Not So Perfect

Chapter 1 - Moving Back

I stood looking at the house before me. It all looked so familiar, yet so strange. The house was beautiful. It was painted white and had huge windows. I squinted my eyes trying to look through the windows. Maybe it was too far, I couldn’t see a thing. The roof was peaked, slanting at an angle. The lawn was unkempt and the grass had grown unevenly. I wondered if the swing set was still there, if it was rusted.

I watched my sister walking up the driveway. She turned around and looked at me. She stared at my face. Quite intently, I might add. Perhaps she was looking for a reaction.

“Chloe, come on,” she finally says.

I drag my suitcase along the driveway. I look around. It all looked exactly like it did three years ago. The street lamp across the street was still broken. I smile a sad smile thinking that nothing can be perfect.

I look at my sister standing in front of the door and fishing for her keys. I put my hand in my pockets making sure I had my keys with me. I walk towards my sister and she pushes the key in and turns the knob. She turns around to look at me to make sure I was still there. Where else would I go? She smiles at me and pushes the door wide in. I trail in behind her.

The house looked so empty. But it was familiar, something I knew all my life. I could walk around with my eyes closed. It was quite dusty I noticed. We would have a lot of cleaning to do before the packers came with the furniture tomorrow.

I watched my sister walking in and out of all the rooms. I’m not sure what she was looking for or if she was even looking for something. Maybe she was just making sure it was all the same just like three years ago. However, nothing was left here. Not an inkling left to remind us that we once lived here. And that it was perfect. Not as perfect as I thought it to be though.

“Are you hungry?” she asks. When I don’t respond she stops on the stairs and stares at me. I nod.

“Okay, shall we go to Subway? We don’t have any appliances or anything to cook here anyway.”

“Yeah, okay,” I respond.

She makes her way upstairs. I follow her not wanting to be left standing at the door. I see her walking into what used to be her room. I consider following her but decide against it. I move towards my room and push open the door.

It looked just like it did back then, before we moved away. Though it was empty, I could picture the double bed at the far end of my room, the curtains flitting about because I always forgot to close the windows, and the white table in the corner. I should have brought up my suitcase.

I walk out of the room and see my sister walk out of hers too. Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. She rushes to me and envelopes me in one of her bear hugs.

Aly was always the strong, calm and composed one. She could handle any situation brilliantly. I always envied how she did it. I could never show so much composure. Watching her cry made me break down too.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “But all this was so overwhelming.”

“I know,” was all I could say.

We stayed like that for some more time. Aly pulled away and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

“Come on. Let’s go grab something to eat.”

I step out with Aly following closely behind to lock the door. I looked up at the night sky. There were not many stars. I, however, don’t think even if there were I would be able to see them considering we were in the middle of the city.

We walked in silence to Subway. It was not silent though. I could hear people talking on their phones, people talking to each other. The city was alive. The traffic sounds were deafening. I missed this. I had grown accustomed to a different life for the past three years where all I could hear was the crashing waves. I looked around and it truly felt good to be back.

Subway was always bustling with people. Today was no exception. I looked for a table while Aly went to order. I saw an empty table and started walking over. I reached the table and at the same time a boy reached the table from the opposite direction. I only saw him now standing next to the table. We both looked at the table and at each other. I sat down before he could and looked up at him smiling triumphantly. He glared at me muttering the word bugger and stalked off. I don’t know what I was so happy about. It was only a table. But I felt a sense of victory coursing through me.

I looked over at the counter and saw my sister searching for me. I waved at her trying to catch her attention. My wave, however, caught somebody else’s attention. It was the same boy who was at the table earlier. He gave me a strange look probably wondering why I was waving at him.

Aly saw me waving, thankfully, and began making her way to the table. I was considering standing and screaming her name. From the corner of my eye, I could still see the boy looking at me. Aly set down the tray and took a bite of her sub.

I reached for mine when she said, “He’s cute. No scratch that. He’s hot!” My jaw dropped open at that and I couldn’t help but stare at her.

“What? It’s true. Look at him!” she exclaimed. I just shook my head and took a bite of my sub.

“Come on. Don’t you honestly think he’s hot? Plus he looks like he’s your age. Maybe you guys could—"

“No!” I stopped her. “Aly, just eat. I’m not hooking up with some random guy even if he is hot.”

“See. I knew it! I know that you think he’s hot too,” she said, winking at me. Oh dear, what did I just say?

I focused on finishing my sub while Aly kept saying how I should go over and talk to him and that we could at least be friends. I gave her a pointed look and asked her to finish eating so we could leave. I could say she was not too pleased.

As I pushed open the door, she said, “It’s your last chance to talk to him.” I chose to ignore her and walked out. The humid air hit me right in the face. I wanted to walk right back in so I could sit in the a/c for a little longer. No, not because I wanted to see him.

“Hot, isn’t it?” Aly said.

“Yes. I hope the air conditioner still works at home.”

“It does. I checked it.”

I was surprised. “I didn’t think it was in working condition or that you would check it,” I said to her.

“Well why do I think I checked all the rooms? It’s not like I was touring the house. I wanted to make sure at least something was in working condition. I don’t think I could sleep if the air conditioner wasn’t working.”

We had reached home by now. I wanted to sleep. I pulled out my sleeping bag and laid it in the living room. Aly had gone to wash up and I laid out her sleeping bag too. I can be nice if I wanted to.

I was tired. I wanted to sleep. But I couldn’t. I looked at Aly who was fast asleep. My thoughts kept drifting back to three years ago.

Aly and I were watching soccer and screaming like a bunch of crazy people. It was not like any of the players could hear us. But it was our thing. Our dad was a crazy soccer fan. He got us into it. And the three of us used to huddle in front of the television watching every match. Our mom hated soccer. But she would still watch it with us. It was on soccer night that we received that phone call. That one call changed everything.

That call ruined my definition of perfect. I always thought we were the perfect family. I always thought everything was and would remain perfect. 

Thinking of that night, I drifted off to sleep.

A/N: So here is my new story. Tell me what you think of it.

Much Love.