Ch 2: Grand Tour
"Hi, Honey!" My aunt said. "How was your flight?"
"It was fine." She pulled me into a surprising hug considering the fact I never met her before.
When she released me she started introducing. "This is your Uncle Jon," he waved awkwardly. “You can call me Ashley." She was tall and thin with long, straight, black hair and bright green eyes. She looked like the stay at home mom type. "This is Jenna." She pointed to a tall, supermodel-like girl with black, wavy hair to her elbows and slanted, green eyes. She had a long straight perfect nose. She smiled and shifted on her black high heeled boots. She looked about my age. "And this is Baby Ronnie." I waved to everyone. Turned out 'baby' Ronnie wasn't a baby.
"Hi!" She had two missing teeth in the front of her smile. She ran up and hugged me. When she stepped back I got a good look at her. Her big, round, turquoise eyes contrasted with her pouty, pink lips. She had a head of big brown loose curls. My uncle took my bags and headed toward the car.
***
The car bumped along the road. I looked out the window as Jenna looked out the other. We had Ronnie plopped in between us and she was rambling on about something. I turned when she called my name.
"Hm?"
"Mommy told me you're a dancer. Are you good?"
"Yeah. I guess so. My mom taught me when I was little. What about you?"
"No. I can dance but I'm not really good. I do gymnastics and cheerleading. We have a small room in the house that we use as a studio. I like to practice my routines in there. I love cheerleading. It's so fun to be loud and jump around and be with my friends. I’m the flyer because I'm one of the smalle-"
"Ronnie! Shut up!"
"Jenna Nicole! Do not talk to your sister like that!" Jenna rolled her eyes and turned back towards the window. Aunt Ashley turned back towards Ronnie and smiled, "Go ahead, Baby."
"As I was saying, I am a flyer. One of the girls they lift in the air, 'cause I'm one of the smallest ones and........."
This is going to suck, I thought.
When we arrived at the house a big, black dog jumped on me. I dropped my bag as it pushed me into the wall. Uncle Jon grabbed the dog and tossed it out the back door. It still scratched rapidly at the door. "That's okay. I love dogs. It just surprised me, is all."
"Sorry," Jenna said. "That's just Roxi. She's harmless."
I smiled and looked around the room. We were in the living room. A kitchen connected to the living room. It was a small conventional kitchen and was very clean. The house was small but cozy. It was unlike our house. A bathroom and two bedrooms were to the left which I guessed the big one was my aunt and uncle's.
"Come on, Adrianna! Let me show you my room!" Ronnie pulled me to the room next to the bathroom. She opened the door to a big pink room. It looked very similar to Rayna's old room. She had the same four poster pink canopy bed except it was placed against a different wall. She had a vanity mirror against the opposite wall. Her red and black cheer uniform hung on the closet door. My chest tightened. I grimaced and swallowed. Ronnie noticed. "You don't like it?" It was more an accusation than a question. Her face fell.
Jenna saved me. "Of course she does. She just wants to see our room next." She grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs. I nodded and followed. As you went up the stairs, there was a long hallway and two doors at the end of the hallway.
Jenna led me through the door on the left. There was a long rectangular room with purple walls and neon pink and green throw rugs everywhere. There were a few posters of a boy band on her wall I didn’t know. The boy in the middle with intense green eyes and curly hair caught my eye. A queen size bed sat against the right wall and a smaller bed sat next to it. Her name was painted on the wall behind the bed. She sat down on the bed and motioned for me to sit next to her. She pushed a few striped and polka dot pillows to the floor. "You okay? You seemed kind of distracted back there. I know Veronica can be a big pain."
"No, it's just Ronnie's room looked a lot like my sister's room before... you know. But I guess all little girls rooms look similar."
"Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry this must be really hard on you." She looked down at her hands and her hair fell over her face. She lifted her head and pushed the strands out of her green eyes. Dang, why did she have to be so pretty? I was jealous. "So, what I was thinking that we need to solve your little situation." A smile touched her glossed lips. "Let's go shopping."
"I don't know. Maybe that's not such a good idea. And besides I don't have a lot of money."
"I'll pay for you! I love shopping. And it's not like we have to spend a lot of money. I always find good sales and we don't have to buy a lot. Whatever you want to borrow from my closet, you can anytime." I smiled she was being really nice and she didn't have to.
"Okay," I said hesitantly. "As long as you let me borrow those." I pointed at the high heeled peep toe designer boots on her feet. "Aren't those like $1,200?! What size are you?"
"I'm a model. They let me keep all the clothes I show. And I am a 9." She made a face. "I have big feet."
"Me too!”
“I thought it was just me!" She threw her head back and laughed."
"Never!" I laughed. "Have you seen these things?" I held up my foot for her to inspect.
She leaned over and hugged me. "You’re awesome and tomorrow you will start your first day at Sarrone High School."
"Can't wait." Even though I thought I was going to be sick again.
