But I Can't Lose Her

a whole new world - 4

a dazzling place i never knew - jasmine, aladdin

I watch the rain trail down my window, making patterns and shapes out of nothing but water. My Spotify playlist is on shuffle in my ears, muffling the sounds of my family speaking. I tune them all out, focusing on the songs Harper had me add to my summer playlist.

I can't seem to get in the summer mood yet. I know it's only been a day, but I'm so ready to enjoy my summer. But it doesn't really feel like summer when the rain makes it so cold and gross out.

"Maisie?" I turn my head, looking over to Becca who points up to the front of the car. I take out my right AirPod and look in the rear-view mirror, where my mom's already staring back at me.

"Yeah?" I ask, and she just sighs at me, and I realize she must've been calling me for a while. Whoops.

"What food do you want?" Michael asks, turning around in his seat and I stare at him for a moment. I think for a few seconds, shrug and he raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to have an answer. "Any ideas?"

"Nope," I reply and he huffs, turning back around. "Where are we?" I ask, attempting to push out and extend my legs in the crammed space of the car. I feel my muscles pull in my legs and whine, stretching my arms too.

"Orlando. We're, like, three hours away," Michael fills in, loading up the map onto the screen of the car to tell mom where to go.

We stop at a Wendy's and get out to order, my back feeling like all the bones in it were crunched together from how I've been sitting. Once we finish eating we take a few minutes to walk the dogs, the rain falling down the back of my sweatshirt.

I dry off and change my shirt when we get in the car, glad I put extra stuff in my tote bag. We get right back on the road, and I go back to my own world, watching the water stream slow down and changing my playlist to my country one, falling asleep.

"Only took us thirteen hours," mom mumbles as she announces that we arrived, and I chuckle, rubbing my face, tired of sitting in the same car, in the same two positions for the whole day.

"Welcome to our summer home, Bec," I whisper to her, not even looking her way, while Michael and mom are talking about where to go. I watch out the window, the clouds cleared from the sky and the sun basically set.

The houses around here are huge, the landscaping small. Some tall apartment buildings and the fancy sea-side restaurants. The moon is almost fully out, and it brings so much light to the city we're driving through.

"You did text Aunt Maxi and tell her we were almost here, right, Michael?" mom asks, looking at him with the utmost concern and Michael just gasps, looking her way and I smile, knowing he's messing with her. "Michael!" she screeches and I smile, watching him just laugh and tell her he did.

She slaps his shoulder, turning her way into a gated community with black fencing around the whole front section. We stop at the gate, a security lady talking with my mom before picking up the phone. The conversation only lasts a few seconds before the gates open and she waves us in, telling us to have a good night.

I watch the houses we passed as they get larger and larger, and we reach close to the end of the dead-end road, finding their number.

"Holy shit," I say, looking at the house at the end of the driveway we're turning into.

"Holy shit is right, Maisie," mom sighs, and we continue our drive down the long driveway. I can see the ocean behind the house and sigh, watching the slight waves in front of the moon.

"I knew he was rich, but goddamn," Michael states and I laugh, shaking my head.

My whole family on my mom's side does pretty well for themselves. Mom has two siblings, and she's the middle child.