LIMINAL || 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙚 [1]

𝟚 | 𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝

Last night's sunset had blazed across the sky in a fury of orange and red. This morning, the sunrise sheepishly crept over the horizon. The color changed from deep blue to orange and yellow in the span of an hour. Now, the bright blue almost hurt to look at, it was so dazzling. The white fluffy clouds looked like perfect tuffs of cotton candy. I kind of liked driving at this time of day. Hardly anyone was on the road, giving me time to think through all the different scenarios of what I'd find in roughly twelve hours. I'd seen pictures of Cara's house, so it wasn't too hard to imagine. But the image of my sister and I living there together made it dissolve. I couldn't make it stay in my mind very long.

At some point during the night, Cara had propped herself against the window, her face pressed up onto the glass. Her breath fogged it up in little puffs every few seconds. Good to know she was still alive. I thought about waking her once the sun was up, but decided not to. If she could stay asleep in that position for that long, then she really needed the rest. Now that the light shone brightly into the silent car, it was a matter of time before she awoke completely.

"Collins."

Cara's voice always sounded softer in the morning, right after getting up. It was like she was too out of it to be angry or upset with anything. Or anyone.

"Still right here, drivin' fine," I smiled. She groaned in response. We didn't have much farther to go, if my estimate was correct.

"Pull on over at the next gas station so I can grab some coffee and we'll switch places."

I'd had my fill of driving. My adrenaline rush had completely worn off about an hour ago, and it was my turn to crash in the passenger seat for a while. Thankfully, the next gas station was only a few miles out. We'd be there in no time.

☽●☾

Dad wasn't going to get the promotion, I just knew it. Not because he wasn't a competent engineer or a hard worker, but because things like that just didn't happen to our family. Other people, but not us. Nothing that exciting ever happened.

My phone had beeped loudly in the middle of history class, my least favorite. Mr. Garner had a no tolerance policy for cell phones, no exceptions. It was only a matter of time before he would find the culprit and exact punishment. I reached for my phone and hastily opened it to see the one sentence I was sure wouldn't reach my phone.

Promo went thru! Moving 2 Euro!

I couldn't believe it. They were going to Europe, and I was being shipped off to live with a sister I'd hardly seen in ten years. The walls of the school could have tumbled down on all sides and I probably wouldn't have noticed. I sure didn't notice Mr. Garner asking for my phone until he grabbed it from my hand.

"Is...everything okay?" I must have looked like my best friend just died, because Mr. Garner NEVER showed mercy when it came to phones. He thought they were the downfall of civilization and the bane of his existence. I only imagined what my face looked like as I slowly nodded.

"Then you can sit in after school detention this afternoon. See me after the last bell."

It was a blessing in disguise to receive detention that day. Weird, I know, but without it, I probably wouldn't have had time to formulate the appropriate response to my father's success. Of course I was happy for him and my mother. This was precisely the position he'd been working twenty years to land. And with the starting bonus, they could retire peacefully and still have a little left over. Mom probably wouldn't have to work when they hopped across the pond.

But Europe? And Forks?

They were suited for France about as well as I was suited for Washington: not.