1 Chapter I
CHAPTER 1:
Red is such an interesting color to correlate with emotion because it's on both ends of the spectrum. On one end you have happiness, falling in love, infatuation with someone, passion, all that. On the other end, you've got obsession, jealousy, anger, fear, anger, and frustration.
- Taylor Swift
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ALINA
As you rode the airplane you could see the pan over the city through the window.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to South Carolina. Local time is 8:32 PM, and the condition is 87." The airplane lady spoke in the intercom as the sound of her voice filled the plane.
The intercom went off again, "For your security and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Commander turns off the fasten seat belt sign."
The aircraft had finally begun to aim closer and closer to the ground to land. Alina was ecstatic that she was already getting off the plane because she is very apprehensive of heights. It took her a lot to even get on here. Alina peered to her left and observed her mother lying next to her leaning her head on the airline seat, she was snoozing deeply.
The plane eventually landed properly and reached the ground.
Alina gently knocked on her mother to wake her up from her slumber, she's an absolute light sleeper, so she woke up almost instantaneously.
"Wait, what happened? Why'd you wake me up?" Her mom answered, stretching her arms and her mouth, making a yawn.
I turn my body to face her direction a bit, "Well, we're here mother. We need to get off the plane. People are leaving."
"Oh." She paused still tired from her sleep. "We'll then come on, let's get our things from the compartment." Her mother said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled herself up from the seat.
For Alina, it would be hard to adjust to the differences in where she is living now. She is a city girl indeed, the reason why she and her mom are on a plane is that they got evicted from their house in New York. Unfortunately, her mother lost her job and couldn't pay the month's rent. Alina's parents obtained a divorce six years ago and he moved to South Carolina. Luckily for the two of them, their dad allowed them to stay with him for a bit for Alina's sake. He agreed to allow them to stay for a bit of time because he still cares for Alina so much since she is his daughter still, and here they are. In the center of South Carolina.
A city girl in a southern state. How fascinating isn't it?
Alina's mother and she ultimately got off the airplane with their things in their hands. Alina's father is supposed to meet them here to take them to his place.
As her mom and Alina wandered inside the airport, they spot the sight of a man sitting down. That man was the father of Alina, and next to him who was also sitting down was a woman.
Alina and her mother silently approach, although it wasn't too silent as he instantly jumped up from his chair as he saw them walking towards him.
"Alina..." He said as he stared at his daughter. His eyes looked like they were going to burst with tears. Then abruptly a tear dripped down on his face, then they kept running like a waterfall.
"Hey dad..", Alina responded with this sentence awkwardly towards him. Could you criticize her, she hadn't seen her dad in six years and has only talked to him with a couple of phones calls per year. He looked so different, like a completely different person. His hand was dyed a different color and he grew a beard out now. Which, Alina hated.
He suddenly held his arms out and gave her a big hug.
Alina just stood there looking at him, not knowing what to do next. Then she instantly realized that if she didn't hug back it would be even more awkward, so she hugged him back.
Then the two were interrupted by the mother as she tapped on her ex-husband's shoulder.
"Hey, Derek.." Alina's mother said trilling off her words in the same way as the same way Alina did earlier before.
"Oh, Susan... " He put his hand out for her to shake it.
Susan then put her hand out and they shook hands. They just held it there, hand in hand, no words. You could sense the tension and awkwardness between them.
A cough interrupted everyone again, this time it was from the woman that sat next to Alina's dad earlier. She got up from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to the family that reunited after long years.
"Derek, aren't you uh, gonna introduce me? " The woman spoke and looked oddly at them.
She was very beautiful. She had long crimson hair that ran all the way down her back, emerald-colored eyes, and full lips that were covered with red lipstick.
"Oh, uh right. Callie this is Susan, my uh ex-wife. Susan this is Callie. " Alina's dad paused before he spoke up again.
"My wife. " He continued and started to fidget with his fingers, trying to look everywhere except my mother and me.
"Nice to meet you." Alina's mother said after she flinched from the words of wife and put her hand out for a handshake.
Callie just stood there and stared at her hand, glaring at it.
The tension was getting even stronger.
"Well, uh let's just get to my place, shall we?" My dad said trying to break the silence and grabbing some of our things.
South Carolina really wasn't anything like the city.
Alina's hair was blowing in the wind like crazy and she had a very hard time getting it out of her face.
They all put our things in the truck and Alina's mom and she got in the back of the car seat, while Callie and her father were in the front, her father was driving.
"You're just not gonna say anything about dad finding someone else?" Alina whispered towards her mother trying to talk over the wind.
She ignored Alina, clearly not in the mood to talk about it, and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, you'll be going to you're new school tomorrow. Once you get there you'll need to go to the office for your schedule."
"Alright, whatever. " Alina stated, wiping off the point that she's not talking about my dad when she asked her.
Insight, you could see a bunch of cows, horses, pigs, and more that played in the view of the window as the car traveled its way down the dirt road.
About 10 minutes later the family reached the house.
***
"Oh, this is it? " Alina spoke to herself only audible enough for her to hear and the car finally stops.
Derek and Callie both get out of the car and Susan and Alina jump out of the back and follow them.
"Welp, we're here! Lovely isn't it?" Alina's dad said as he began to get everyone's suitcases that lied in the trunk.
Susan and Alina just gave each other the look and they have begun to take the rest of their things out the back of the truck car.
We walk inside the house and to her surprise, it wasn't that bad looking. It definitely didn't look like her old house.
"Lemme shows you both to your room," Derek said walking into another room. They still felt quite uncomfortable because of Callie and again they haven't seen him in years.
He showed them a room and it had two beds in it.
You can assume it's for Alina's mother and her, one for her and one for Alina.
"Alright, here is your room. Dinner is being made here now. If y'all want some you could come down and eat with Callie and me." Derek said before placing their things down and closing the door, leaving Alina and Susan in their own thoughts.
Alina's mother and her both sigh and look at each other.
"We'll are we gonna eat dinner with them? " Alina asked her mom.
"Yeah, I don't know about that. It's gonna be really awkward so I'm just gonna go and wash up and try to look for a job tomorrow," Susan said getting some clothes from her suitcase.
"Okay, I'll do the same and wash up after you're done then," She told her mom and she gave her a short smile and headed into the bathroom.
Alina just lied on one of the beds thinking about everything. Then she sighed.
Well, this is my new life then. Alina thought to herself. Now, she will have to adjust to everything. At least she's a senior in high school, so it should be easy to adjust to the new leave for a year. Or, that's what she thought.
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"Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing."
― Elie Wiesel
