Chapter Text
I looked out the car window as I stared out to see all the passing trees while my father drives past them. The long tall trees that had a small amount of leaves left on them as they fall down to touch the ground. I could hear my mother and father chat as I stare out listening to the radio on whatever song was playing. My mind began to zone out as I looked out the car window seeing all the trees we past by and all the cars who drive past us. As I continued to zone out I heard my father call out to me to try to get my attention.
"Are you excited to go live with your aunt and uncle" my father asked me while having an enormous smile printed in his face as he tried to start a conversation with me.
My eyes slightly shot up as I finally went back to paying attention to him and his question.
"Yeah I'm excited" I muttered under my breath as I leaned back into the car seat while I looked down to my hands as I fidget with my fingers out of boredom and not knowing what to do at this situation since my tone showed that I wasn't looking forward on being forced to stay with them the whole summer
"I bet your excited to go see your cousins again especially lyra" I heard my mom chimed in while she looked back on me as she sat in the passenger seat next to my father
My head shot up at the mention of lyra I completely forgot that I would be spending the whole summer with lyra. I felt my lips curl from the excitement that came over my body. I was to busy thinking about being forced to stay with my aunt connie and my aunt frank that my mind went blank causing me to forgot that I will be staying at the same household with my favorite cousin lyra.
"Looks like someone is excited now" I heard them both chuckle as they teased me for my sudden excitement that showed in my face
I blushed out of embarrassment as I continued to have a smile on my face as they continued to tease me for my change of behavior. The once uncomfortable slient car ride was now filled with boisterousness
"Yeah I'm excited to see lyra" my eyes were filled with enthusiasm and eagerness to being able to see lyra again. It's been so long since I've last seen her the last time I saw her was a few months ago during new years when my parents unexpectedly visited them to lit up the fireworks that they brought with them. I remember having to beg my parents into buying sparklers so that me and lyra can be able to play with them as we watch them light up the fireworks into the gloomy pitch black sky.
"What about your cousin toby are you excited to see him again" I felt the conversation swiftly turn awkward as the car was now loaded with an uncomfortable atmosphere that almost felt like it could suffocate you by how quiet it went by the mention of his name. My once exuberance attitude changed by the mention of his name how can I forgot about him he was the main reason why I first didn't want to go. The slight mention of his name was able to change my expression so quickly like the same effect when I hear lyra's name except his had a negative reaction unlike lyra's. I've never talked to toby that much if I'm being completely honest I've always found him rather strange and weird. Even as a child I never liked being in the same room with him and always wanted to be with lyra instead. Despite the 4 year age gap between me and lyra i always stayed close to her while even though me and toby were closer in age i never once hanged out with him or attempted to get closer to him, he was just sorta there. I remember when I was younger i would always follow lyra around until the end of the world since I always admired her facial features and because i saw her as a older sister rather then some older cousin that I had. Toby also was always there following lyra too since she was his older sister so it made semse that he would also follow her around. Looking back i recall being upset ober that because he was practically stuck against her hip by following her around like a lost puppy who was following a random stranger that showed them the slightest bit of kindness. It made me frustrated because everytime when I visited them to see lyra, toby was always there with her making it difficult for me to only interact with lyra. Those forced, simple and polite acknowledgments I gave to toby whenever I saw him. We were never close but I always acknowledged him since i didn't want to be seen as rather rude for not saying a simple "hello" or "how are you" to him. I've never understood the disorders that toby had when I was younger since i just thought he was a freak who's body jerked every once of a while. Even though I saw him as a freak I never told him that in front of his face since I knew it was offensive to say that to him also my relationship with him was already strain and i didnt wnat it to be even worse. Now that I'm older I can somewhat understand the disorders that he has and was slightly intrigued by the one he had I think it was called CIPA or something like that? Either way i found it interesting that he wasn't able to feel physical pain because of that. I sighed as I looked at my parents while having the same smile printed in my face expect it was slightly stiff. "Yeah I'm also excited to see him too" my tone was muffled from how low my voice was as I mumbled my words. My mother just looked at me as she turned her head back to see the road that my father was driving us to. The conversation died down so rapidly that it felt like we weren't actually interacting before. My father continued to drive through the road as his eyes were glued to the road not even batting an eye to me or my mother like he was pretending that the only thing that existed was him and the road and we were just ghosts that he couldn't see or hear. The only sounds that you can hear was the other cars passing by and the radio continuing to play some cheesy and tacky top 100 songs this year. I was also able to hear the noises that the car was making as my father continued to operate the car the rattling noise from underneath the car the grinding and slapping sound that the car proceeded to produce while my father operatedthe car..
As my father drove through the road started to get bumpy causing the car to slight shake as he continued to steer the vehicle. Under his breath I heard him curse for how difficult it was to drive through the rocky road. Despite being slightly annoyed by it he soon began to calm down since I saw his expression changed from irritated to equanimity. The unstable,knobby only showed that we were only a few minutes away from reaching my aunts house.i watched as my father drove through the neighborhood my aunt connie lives in. Through the car window I saw children as young as four playing around with the other neighborhood children they seemed to be chasing each other around maybe they were playing a game of tag or something like that. I pressed my hand through the window as i stared out to the other houses that my father passed by they all sorta looked alike just the decorations outside made it able for you to tell the difference between them and by the vehicle that was parked outside in their driveways.
As I stared out the window I felt the car finally come to a stop as I noticed my parents unbuckleing their seat belts and the radio was finally off which was a slight relief for me since my head felt like it was gonna explode if I heard another boring, out of date song that the radio station seems to play every single day. I opened the car door open as I slid out from my seat my body was aching from the amount of hours I've spent just sitting while my father drove. I slammed the car door causing it to make a loud thump which made my mother slightly angry by the look she gave me the second she heard me slam the door. I stretched my body trying to get rid of the tension and force that I had around my figure.
My eyes glanced to the house that my aunt and uncle lived at as I observed it. There it was the place that I will be staying at for the whole summer as my parents go around the country traveling around doing god knows what but at least this will be a good summer...right?