Authors: Annie Brewer
About 6:30, I pull up to a house that’s set just off the highway, surrounded by a hell a lot of land. It’s a small farmhouse, white with a wraparound porch, lounging chairs and a little table that sits in the middle. I’ve seen a house like this on TV but never up close. It’s cute and quaint.
“Noah.” My aunt seizes the porch steps, greeting me as I get out of the car. She’s shorter than I remember, probably no more than 5’5. Or I’m just tall. I’m exhausted, hungry and I’ve got to piss so badly, I worry I won’t make it inside. I wonder if she’d be offended if I did it in her bushes.
“Hi Aunt Linda.” She grabs me in a hug, startling me. I awkwardly wrap my arms around her back. I don’t really know this woman that well, so it’s going to take some time to warm up to her. Or I’m just so tired that I’m just weirded out easily.
“Uh, please don’t squeeze me. I’ve had to pee for a while and I’m in need of a bathroom. Unless you don’t mind me going right here.” She steps back and smiles.
“I’m sorry, I got carried away. It’s good to see you. My how you’ve grown into a nice looking young man.” I can’t help but notice how pretty she is, short brown hair and big brown eyes. She’s big-boned and it compliments her small skinny frame.
“Come on inside.” I follow her up the porch steps and into the house. Her kitchen is to the right of the front door, followed by the hall that leads into the bedrooms. The living room is on the other side of the house with another bedroom and bathroom, which I’m guessing is hers. She shows me the bathroom so I walk inside and close the door.
As I unzip my pants, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and check the number, making a mental note to call Spencer back, tomorrow. The bathroom is very foo foo, girly with pastel color walls, flowery towels, rugs, and soap dish and shower curtains.
“I was going to help unload your stuff but didn’t see much. Did you bring anything with you?” I enter the kitchen, dazed. It’s been a long ass day, I just want to find a bed and crash…for a week.
“I only brought a few boxes, just the essentials. I figure new life, new everything.” We walk to the car and bring in my belongings to the room I’m staying in and set them down, stacked. The walls are blue, only a TV/stand, dresser, bed and end table fill the space. It’s good enough for me.
“Thanks.” I tell my aunt right before my body falls forward, onto the bed and blackness envelopes me.
Noah
The drive took a lot out of me. I’m not used to doing so much driving, especially three days’ worth. I probably slept a whole day; I don’t know what time it is. Hell, I don’t even know what day it is either. All I know is I was a goner once I hit that bed.
I stir when I hear voices outside the door somewhere. I sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Without thinking, I throw the covers off me and pad out of the room. Derrick’s laughter reaches my ears and I stop short when I reach the kitchen. “What the hell?”
“Look who finally woke up.” My aunt sets a plate of bacon on the table. Gathered around are my cousin, a blonde guy and two girls (one blonde, one brunette-both hot) and my aunt.
“Look who just drove almost three days across country. Give me a break.” I snatch a piece of bacon, shove it into my mouth and grin. My eyes drift over the girls, both of which are fixed on my cousin as if he’s the most interesting person in the world. I don’t know him that well, but I doubt he’s really that interesting. Finally, the brunette catches me looking, I quickly look away.
“So, Derrick…are you going to introduce me to your friends or what?” The blonde chick looks disgusted with me but the blonde is just staring at me now.
He stops talking as if he just noticed me standing here. “Hey Noah good to see you. I wasn’t sure you were ever going to wake up.” He pats me on the back. “Guys, this is Noah. My cousin I told you about.”
“Oh so you’ve been talking about me, huh? I’m sure it’s all great stuff, right?”
“If by great, you mean trouble and bad and player, then sure, it’s all great.” The blonde arrogant ass sneers at me. I already wanna punch him and show him who he’s messing with. “So Derrick, you were saying? Before your cousin rudely interrupted.” Derrick looks back and forth between us, stunned. My cousin sure knows how to pick his friends. “By the way, you should put some friggin’ clothes on. You’re not at home anymore.” I look down at my boxers and bare chest, hiding my red face with a sly smile. Whoops, so that’s why they’re staring at me. I catch the brunette staring at me again. As soon as she sees me watching her, her cheeks redden, I wink at her and walk away.
So this place blows. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but seriously. I’m out in the country, without a damn thing to do. City life is miles different. I’ve been to most states in the US to visit and I’ve seen a lot. But I get bored easily. I have to be doing something to stimulate my mind or I’ll go apeshit. I’m starting to wonder if moving here was a mistake. How’s a city boy going to acclimate to country life?
“Noah!” The brunette catches up to me, running and out of breath. I stop to gawk at her. “Sorry about Landon. He doesn’t filter.”
“Neither do I.” I’m assuming she means the blonde. We walk along the edge of the highway that meets wide yard in front of the house. She’s quiet. I don’t even know why she followed me. As soon as I open my mouth to ask her, she turns to me and smile. “I’m Maddy, by the way.” As if I was wondering who she was. Was I?
“Cool.” I roll my eyes at my attempt at nonchalance. She giggles.
“Well, I better get back to my friends. I guess I’ll see you around.” Before I can say anything, she runs back toward the house. She’s a pretty quick runner, graceful even. Well, that was…weird.
I kick rocks around, sorting out my thoughts. I don’t belong here. It’s too country; and I’m not. It’s too quiet and I hate quiet. It allows me to think too much and that leads to trouble. My feet pick up speed, before I know it, I’m running. I glance at my surrounds, more houses to the right of me, though they’re spread far and wide.
Across the highway is a Dollar General store. God, where’s the civilization? I jog across the street, though I could just walk to it if I wanted since there are no cars in sight. But running feels good and it’s been awhile since my feet have had the exercise. They slow down when I get onto the property and I allow my breath to catch up and pulse to slow down.
Walking through the store with no money to buy anything, I look at the snacks and food. My stomach growls quietly, reminding me I haven’t eaten in days. Not good food anyway, just mainly the junk at the gas stations. I continue my walk-thru of the store-because it’s been the highlight of my day so far.
“Sir.” I turn around to see a cute old lady looking right at me, but she’s a distance away. I look behind me thinking that she was talking to someone else but see no one in the aisle I’m in. I face her again and she waves her hand, gesturing to herself.
I approach her. “Did you need something?”
“Yes, I’m sorry to bother you but I injured my back and I have trouble bending over.” She grunts in frustration of the fact that she’s asking for help, “Could you help me? I’ve dropped some stuff over here.” I follow her to find glass all over the floor from a bowl she must have dropped.
“Oh, shit. Let me get someone to clean that up. Stay back, I’ll be right back. Be careful.”
“I’m such a klutz, it sucks being old.” She starts to cry and my first instinct is to run away. I hate crying women, they freak me out. I don’t know how to console them. I was never good at that shit.
“I’ll be right back. It’s okay. This stuff happens.” I power walk to the front where a lady, a chick my age is chatting on her phone. Are you kidding me? “Excuse me.” She’s still talking away as if I’m not here and my impatience is increasing. I walk to the other side so I’m standing in front of her. I grit my teeth and force a smile. “Excuse me.” She finally looks at me.
“Can I help you?” She doesn’t bother hiding her annoyance at my interruption from her phone conversation. She covers the phone with one hand.
“Yes, there was an accident on the floor. There’s glass everywhere and it needs to be cleaned up before someone gets cut.” She’s not paying attention. I blow out a puff of air, pissed off now. “Shouldn’t you be working instead of ignoring your customers?”
“I’ll get someone to clean it up, thanks.” She goes back to her conversation and at this point, I’ve had enough. I storm off in search of a broom and dust pan to clean it myself and then I plan to tell the manager and have this bitch fired.
I find the household appliances aisle and grab a broom from its hook as well as the pan. I walk back and the lady is still there, appearing frazzled. I feel bad for her. If I wasn’t around, she’d probably be shit out of luck with being helped. I shovel all the glass in one area and get on my knees before shoveling it all in the pan. “Thank you for helping. I’d probably slip on it. Being an old lady, my eye sight is not what it used to be.” I smile up at her, getting the remains of the glass together. She reminds me of the old lady in the Wedding Singer. I always liked that lady.
“What are you doing?” The bitch from the front squeals. I stand up straight and glare at her.
“This gentleman is helping, I accidentally dropped a bowl and it shattered. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want anyone slipping on it and get hurt.”
“Yeah, and no one was helping her, so I used this to clean it up.” I show her the broom and pan that I have not purchased and will not be purchasing, but more just to piss her off. I search for a trash can to dump the glass in. When I spot one, I practically push her out of the way to get to it and roll the trash towards me.
She says directly to the old lady as she pulls her away. “Oh Mrs. Freeman, you must be careful. You could really hurt yourself, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She looks back at me with a glare. I finish cleaning so I can get the hell out of here.
When I get back to the house, no one is there. “Hey Noah.” Except my aunt. I raid the cupboard and find cereal.
“This town is fucking boring.” She hands me the milk but says nothing. She sits down with her cup of coffee, gazing at me suspiciously. Finally tired of her scrutiny, I sit down across from her and begin eating. “Are you always so pleasant to your guests?” I finally ask to break the silence.
“Are you always so sarcastic with people you don’t know well?”
“Yes, I am.” I answer honestly.
“You know Noah, there will be some rules for you staying here.” I look at her with a raised brow, over my bowl.
“Rules? What am I like twelve? I’ve never followed rules but my own.”
“Let’s get a few things straight. Rule number one, show me respect in my house. I know where you come from, I wasn’t a fan of your father’s and if you’re anything like him, well, we
need to fix that. I will not tolerate disrespect or filthy mouth. I want you to feel at home as long as you’re here but you need to understand me and where I come from.”
“Anymore rules?” I interrupt.
“No drinking and driving. I’ll leave your ass in jail if you get pulled over.” She’s a hard ass. I can deal with that. Finished with my cereal, I push the bowl aside and wait for her to finish. “You don’t have to like everyone and not everyone will like you. Fine. Just don’t start fights in my house. I don’t tolerate that petty crap. And it’s not just you, it’s anyone. Derrick knows this but he doesn’t fight with people. I will have a talk with Landon as well. He can be very arrogant. But your purpose for being here is to get away from New York and your old lifestyle and habits. Be the person you want to be, Noah.” I don’t even know who that person is.
“So what do you know about my life in New York? “
“I know enough; let’s just leave it at that.”
“Is there anything my mom didn’t blab about? Do you know about all the men she brought home? All the alcohol she paid more attention to than her own son? Or was it all just about me and what a fuck up I am?”
“Noah, I know a lot more than you think. And I need you to watch your mouth, please.” She sets her cup in the sink and turns to look at me. “One day you’ll understand.” She leaves the kitchen. I rinse my bowl out and put it in the dishwasher, stroll back to the room. I don’t bother unpacking because I don’t plan on staying here that long. I look around, feeling out of place and search through one of my boxes for my current read. When I find my book, I lie on my stomach and get lost in the world of dragons.
I’m a closet reader. I became a reader when my parents really started their arguments and constant childish tantrums. It was my escape from my reality. It was either that or cry myself to sleep every night. I wasn’t into the whole emotional bull shit. I numbed my feelings so I felt nothing, turned it off like a faucet with no switch to turn back on. Reading helped me cope. I just never told anyone, not that it should matter what others thought but I wanted to maintain my image. Even now it sounds stupid. I kept everyone at arm’s length, except for two people, one of which I’ve already lost.
My room is right behind the kitchen so I can hear a lot through the wall. Doors closing and slamming gets my attention and I put my book down. I walk out of the room and find Derrick fixing a bowl of cereal. “It’s really loud. I can hear everything in the bedroom.”
“Sorry, the walls here are a little thin.” I imagine sex would be hard to accomplish without the house hearing. Not that I’ll have to worry about that. I sit down, watching him eat. “So, this place is lame. What’s there for people to do?”