Rejected At First Sight (Spinoff Series)

2

Ashlyn Jesse

I abruptly wake up, jolting awake in the car seat. "What?" I mumble to myself.

My mom briefly looks back at me. "We just entered town. Nice to see you awake." She says with a quiet smile.

I wipe the slight bit of drool off my face and smoothe down my hair in an attempt to settle my nerves, which had suddenly jumped into an anxious frenzy. Frowning, I look around at the dense forest. "Are you sure we're in town?" There was nothing but the wide expanse of trees stretching for miles. I look up into the branches. "Do they live in trees?"

My mom lets out a short chirp of laughter. "No they don't live in the trees. This is just the outskirts of the town territory. The actual town is still up ahead a little bit." Damn. I shook the thoughts of how cool it would be to live in a treehouse out of my head. My stomach stirred again.

I place my hands down on my thighs and rub back and forth, realizing I woke up because of something. My body was suddenly alert and restless. I move my hands to my arms and begin to knead the lean muscle of my biceps, trying to work the unexplained tension out of them. It must have been the long car ride.

"Is everything alright, hun?" My mom asks as she looks back at me once more.

I nod immiedately. "Everything's fine. Just the anticipation. My body is restless." I look forward again, catching the sideways glance my parents give each other. "So..." I draw out. "How far is ahead a little bit?"

My mom frowns a bit. "Well it should be here somewhere..."

As she trails off, the first building comes into view. I find myself smiling as I see actual modern facilities rather than the wooden shacks and stone cobbles I was picturing in my head.

My jaw drops as decorated iron gates come into view. A massive mansion hides behind the fence. My dad does not slow down the car so I only get a short glance, but what I see sticks in my head.

Majestic doric columns line each side of the door, the white stone intricately chiseled with the classic greek style. Behind the columns are two 7 feet tall cherry wood doors, each adorned with a heavy golden knocker, that seem to glint as the sun touches them. The intense creme color of the house clashes with the vibrancy of the green forest. Hundreds of windows line the sides of the house, each with a sleek white curtain drawn over them.

I thought this town was supposed to be full of nowhere nobodies. Apparently I was wrong. There was somebody very rich living here. Great. Rich kids. I worry if I have to go to school with them briefly before the house disappears from my view completely. Trees were densely covering up the sides of the house, like they were forming a tight knit curtain of privacy.

It was about 20 minutes before we reached the middle town of Lupus Harbor. I take note of what seems to be the very small selections of the shopping district. How much was shipping out here anyway? I figured if I had access to online outlet stores I wouldn't need to worry about relying only on family owned business. It would be nice to keep up with trends from this decade.

The people on the sidewalks are oblivious to us passing, unaware of the new car on the street. They were absorbed in their own worlds and caught in their conversations as they enjoyed the warmth of the early evening.

My dad keeps driving past town and into a more residential area. The stores turned into houses and the forest thickened around us.

We pull into the driveway and I stare up at my new house. The sun had begun to set, sending a light wash of oranges and yellows across the trees. The outside is painted a light blue that is extremely chipped in some areas. There's a small front porch next to the garage, completely vacant of any furniture.