Nomads

Chapter 10

When they got to Clara's house, Mara was surprised to find out that it was a quaint little two-story cottage on the edge of town.

Clara led the way up the creaky wooden steps of the front porch and into the house, throwing her keys in a bowl on the side table by the front door and walking into what seemed to be the living room.

There was an array of mismatched furniture splayed about the room. A worn blue couch sat across from the television and a scratched up coffee table was situated directly in front of it. There was a gray loveseat beside it with a few decorative pillows scattered about. A few pictures of aunt Clara and her son hung on the walls, and a ceiling fan swung lazily above them.

"Home sweet home." Clara mumbled, flopping onto the couch. "I'll give you the grand tour in a minute, but before that I wanted to lay down a few ground rules."

Mara nodded slowly, carefully perching on the arm of the couch.

"So, I'm sure you don't want to be told what to do all the time, considering you're seventeen and you've been pretty independent for as long as I've known you." Clara grinned, stretching. "So it might please you to know that I don't really have a whole lot of rules and expectations. Just do your best in school, and try to stay out of trouble. If you do get into trouble, just don't get caught." Clara winked at the girl with a cheeky grin.

Mara blinked. "I- What?"

"That's all I can think of, honestly. Oh, I do want you home by 6 on Mondays so we can have dinner together and I can somewhat stay in the loop with you. Other than that, be home by ten thirty on school nights and no curfew on weekends. It's your senior year. I want you to enjoy it as best you can."

Mara was baffled. Those weren't even ground rules. They were more like friendly suggestions. "That's it?" she mumbled, furrowing her brows.

Clara smiled warmly. "You're a good kid, and you've been through a lot this year. You had to move here with me when I know you wanted to stay in Greece, and good ol' Fallston, Rhode Island isn't exactly a hot spot for kids your age. Jay was miserable when we moved here, and I can see that you're not too thrilled to be here yourself. I don't plan on stressing you out or putting more on your plate by imposing a bunch of ridiculous rules and expectations on you."

"So, you're just gonna let me do my thing..?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Um, okay then." Mara mumbled, biting her lip. "Where, uh, am I staying?"

"Oh!" Clara jumped up with an excited smile. "I almost forgot about that. Come on, you're gonna love your new room."

Mara grabbed her suitcase and followed aunt Clara up the worn carpet steps to the second floor, turning right at the top of the steps and coming to a halt beside her on the first door on the right.

"I remembered your dad saying how much you love sunrises, so I thought you'd love this room."

Clara opened the door to a modest sized room with light green walls, and the first thing that caught Mara's eye was the beautiful bay window decorated with green and white pillows on the far left wall. There was a queen sized bed across from it with a light green duvet. A white nightstand sat to the right of the bed, and a white desk with a swivel chair sat next to a dark brown dresser on the wall to the right. There was a full length mirror situated between two white doors across from the dresser and desk.

"Do you like it? There's an ensuite bathroom and a small closet behind those two doors. If there's anything you don't like or if there's something missing, let me know and we can go shopping for decorations and such."