"Are you nervous?"
"Sort of," I admit. "Is it that obvious?"
Allison smiles at me. "Just a little," she chuckles. "Don't be. Come on, we need to introduce you to the others."
The wheels of my suitcase scrape across the wooden flooring. With a sharp yell, Allison calls up the staircase for them.
I have tried endlessly not to think about the amount of things that could go wrong (although I doubt they could be any worse than what has already happened) but somewhere within me there is a sense of true terror and I can't help but ask myself: What if they all seriously hate me?
Two of the most adorable little girls walk down the stairs, their arms linked, their blond hair falling past their shoulders. I figure they are twins due to them being exactly alike, even their outfits are the same. Hopefully I can impress them later if they let me do their hair.
"Caitlin, this is Gemma and Cassie. They are both seven. Girls, this is Caitlin."
"Hello Caitlin!" They greeted me simultaneously like I wasn't a stranger at all. Their blue eyes sparkled as they smiled brightly.
They weren't the only ones who had came to see me though. There was a series of thuds as two boys came darting down the stairs, almost tripping over their own feet as they jump down two steps at a time.
"Are you Caitlin?" the eldest of the two asks me. I nod.
"Awesome. I'm Flynn. That's Shane," he says, pointing to the brown-haired boy standing to his right. "I'm eleven, he's ten."
"Oh. That's cool." My lips curl into a smile as they walk off into the kitchen. Great, I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of kids for the summer.
Just as I go to put my luggage upstairs, I hear the doorbell go. I decide to go answer it and I am faced with a tall, slim girl, maybe my age or older standing in front of me. She's extremely gorgeous, totally shattering my self-esteem there and then.
"Oh, uh, hey," I blurt, not thinking about what to say. "Are you looking for Allison?"
"Yeah, I'm just bringing these over for my mum," she replies as she smiles, a set of white teeth sparking in my direction. "Hey, you must be Caitlin. I'm Emily." Does everyone around here know about me?
"Nice to meet you." I let her in and she sets a tray of various cakes inside.
"I live just across the street and you probably don't know anyone else around here that is your age so feel free to come over anytime you like. We can go down the pier or to Churchill Square. You name it."
I couldn't help but stop in my tracks. This stranger was inviting me to hang out with her when she had only just met me. Despite being surprised about this suggestion, I am somewhat grateful to Emily because there was no way in hell that I would last staying cooped up in this place with Allison.
"That sounds great."
"Awesome. I'll invite my friends and you can get to know more people your own age. Well, they're all seventeen, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah. Great." Honestly, I'm not one for social gatherings, especially when you're gathering with a bunch of strangers but I figure it's better than sitting here at home.
I glance sideways up at her, trying hard to not fire a death glare in her direction (she would surely hate me if she caught me doing so) and arch my brows.
"Most of my friends are just the usual group that I go to school with. You'll get along great with them. No better way to enjoy your summer than meeting new people."
Quite frankly, that's the worst possible way to not enjoy my summer because I hate hanging out with large groups of people, but, I smile politely because at least she's being nice to me and trying to make me feel welcome here.
After finding Shane playing football in the garden, Flynn offers to show me around the house (Flynn didn't want to join in on the game) and Emily decides to tag along. Despite being eleven, Flynn is rather mature for his age and near to the same height as me. He moves his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes as we walk up the stairs. His and Emily's company is better than Allison's as I've figured there isn't much point in spending time with someone that you'd rather not be around though she's probably finding this all just as strange and foreign as I am.
I begin hauling my suitcase up the staircase and I turn to follow Flynn upstairs, Emily to my right.
"You're right across from me, see," Flynn informs me as we reach the second-floor landing. "I think you have the best room."
We walk in and the only word I can use to describe the room is plain. The walls are painted white and there is a double bed in the centre of the room, two bedsides drawers and a small, wooden wardrobe against one of the four walls. There's a huge window in this room, showing the trees of the back garden.
"It's a good size." I say because there's nothing to really say about the room.
Flynn laughs. "Allison wants you to feel welcome so you're welcome to design your room however you wish."
I walk around the room, taking in the cream carpet. I'm going to have to be extra careful not to drop any of my make-up and shift my suitcase inside, leaving it at the side of the door.
We head back downstairs after Flynn shows me the bathroom and the room Gemma and Cassie share together (there was enough space in this house for them to have their own rooms but they wanted to stick together) and I thank him for showing me around.
"Do you like your room then?" Allison asks as she emerges from the kitchen. I jump at the sound of her voice and she greets me with a smile.
"Yeah, it's great," I say. It's a lot more spacious than my room back home so despite it being so basic, I can't not like it.
"I'm going to head home. I have loads of work to do but we can catch up tomorrow. Let's say," Emily pipes up, stopping for approximately three seconds before speaking again. "Eleven o'clock?"
"Sure. See you tomorr-"
My voice tapers off into silence because I'm distracted by the noise from outside. My attention is no longer on Emily but it is on the police car that has just sped up to the side of the kerb across the street.
What are you looking at?" Emily asks me as I stare out the window but I'm too busy focusing on the figure to reply to her.
Emily gasps. "Oh my god, not again."
A boy steps out the car, trying with all his strength to push this officer off him. My face contorts with disgust. It's his shoes that I notice first though for he's wearing converse like myself. His hair is falling around his face as he is pushed forward.
Emily sighs. I want to question why she sighed but I leave my curiosity out for once. What did she mean by not again though?
This guy looks super pissed as he runs his hand through his spiked hair, his emerald-green eyes reflecting off the windows of the house but before any of us can say anything, he kicks the flowerpots that decorate his path away from his reach drawing the attention of the neighbours with his fit of rage. I guess he must be that person that the whole area despises, forever getting himself into trouble with the police. He walks straight into the house across the street, slamming the door so fiercely that I can see the glass tremble in it's wake.
I'm stunned to the point where my words have failed me. I have no idea what just happened.
"Who the hell is this lunatic?" I mutter to Emily.
It is only when she turns to speak that I realise. She bits her lip before gulping.
"That's Connor. He's my brother."
