Everything Is Blue

I step out of the moving van and slam the door shut behind me. My dads head whips around and he glares at me. I shrink further down into my sweatshirt and take in my surroundings. The small cabin sits in a small quaint neighborhood with a few other houses here and there. I look behind the cabin to see some woods and I scoul. If it wasn’t for me we could’ve stayed at the old house where we actually had a neighborhood.

I grab my MP3 player and headphones out of my box and start playing soothing music to try and calm my nerves. I was so lost in the music I almost forgot that I needed to help my dad haul in his belongings. I looked over with the corner of my eye and see my father gathering boxes. I bet he will be ok with me gone just for a little bit. I take my headphones out of my ears and stuff my MP3 into my pocket.

I turn around and walk into the woods until I come upon a small clearing with a big oak tree with a treehouse in it. The tree itself looks older than my dad and moms age combined and the treehouse looks like it was made by someone with excellent craftsmanship. I go to take a step forward but my blood runs cold when I hear a twig snap.

A boy with the cutest baby face and the brightest blue eyes peeks out one of windows on high alert. I notice his face is covered with acne and acne scars and I go to cover my own.

“You must be the new neighbors’ kid! The Eastwoods’ right? I’m Ethan Nestor, nice to meet you!” I clamp my lips closed and stare at the leaves that are just now beginning to fall.

“Allison Faith!” My head jerks up and my senses go on high alert. I recognize the voice as my dads and he’s mad. I quickly glance between the way I came and the blue haired boy. I mumble out a quick apology and race back home.

“Get your shit out of the van.” I grab the one box I own and race inside the small house and into my room. After I get the few items I own unpacked my dad throws in my comforter and tells me to go get my dresser.

I sigh and go back to the moving van and grab the end of the dresser and start to haul it off. It isn’t until a few minutes later that I feel the dresser start to lean and before I know it, it’s falling off the side of the trailer.

"Shit shit shit!” I go to grab it only to fall with it. I hit my side and groan the pain was unbearable but I needed to get moving. I was about to pick myself up until I heard the sound of footsteps. I expected to see my father, but instead I was greeted by the same blue haired boy as before leaning over me.

My cheeks immediately catch on fire and I try to get up only to grab my side as he grabs me and settles me down to where I’m sitting up. “Are you okay?! Oh geeze oh geeze umm..” he starts babbling and I just groan and pick myself up and go to pick the dresser up until he grabs the other end and helps me get it in the house and in my room. Once we’re done I keep looking at the ground until he clears his throat. I jump and look up at him until I mumble a quick apology. “I see you’ve already made friends Allison. Oh and I’m guessing you’re the Nestors’ boy?” My dad appears at the doorway with a sickeningly sweet smile. Ethan smiles and nods, taking my dads hand and shaking it. I see my dad send me a glare over Ethan’s shoulder and I shudder. “Yessir that’s me. My sister should be coming over here soon too, so expect her.” My dad nods and leads him to the front door and lets him out before he turns on me, his smile sickeningly sweet. “So? Sweet Allison is already making friends? Oh no no no. That just can’t do.” He mumbles and takes a step closer to me he smiles a wicked smile. “Don’t you dare leave this room unless you want to get the beating of your lifetime.” He takes a fistful of my short hair pulling as hard as he could manage.

“You will be going to school tomorrow and I don’t want you embarrassing me like last time do you hear me?” I do my best to nod my head and he let’s go of my hair.

“Your nothing but a bitch in heat...I better not catch you around that boy again.” He turns around looks at me one last time and leaves. Leaving me with silence.

I grudgingly walk over to my box of clothes and grab a sweater and some shorts. I peel my shirt off and quickly slip my sweater on over my head and strip my pants off before sliding on my shorts.

“How am I gonna get through this year without causing trouble?” I whisper to myself. What was up with that Ethan boy? His innocent act? And now that my father knows this boy and knows he’s interested in me. Not in that way but… what if my dad hurts him? I don’t want nobody else to get hurt because of my idiocy. I groan and run my hands through my hair, wincing when I come across the part my dad yanked on.

Why me? Out of all people, why me? I eventually fall asleep around one in the morning.

“Wake up!” I’m pulled out of bed and I groan when I hit my head on the hardwood floors. I open my eyes to see my dad slamming my door shut again. I groan and push myself up and walking over to the bathroom to take a look at myself. I always hated the way I Looked. I looked a lot like my mother… but not enough.

I looked like my mother through a fish tank. Rounder softer. Slurred. Where my mother was statuesque, I was heavy. Where my mother was finely drawn I was smudged. I had to much of everything and too little height to hide it. I put my hand on top of my head and ran my fingers through my short hair. I scowled at the image in the mirror. I did my best to look decent and was out the door before my father could say a word about not getting myself up this morning.

I walk through the crisp fall air until I come to the bus stop. It was peaceful all alone this early in the morning. The sun was just rising and all you could hear was the sounds of shuffling leaves in the distance. But the peaceful silence didn’t last long out of the corner of my eye I see Ethan talking to a short pudgy girl with bright pink hair and baby blue eyes. I cast my head down and try to avoid eye contact.

“Oh, Allison! This is my sister Nicole!” My head shoots up when I hear the word sister and my eyes immediately land on the girls stomach. No doubt pregnant.

“Hey, eyes are up here hun.” Her voice is snappy. Cold, almost. I shoot my head up and notice the bags under her eyes and the fresh bruise on her cheek. Her breathing is irregular and she’s clenching and unclenching her fist.

“Nicole, calm down.” Ethan goes to rub her arm and she flinches and almost pulls herself away from him.

“I am calm!” She snaps, almost yelling. I back up a little bit and Ethan wraps his arms around her shoulders and tries to calm her down.

Ethan looks at me apologetically and faces his sister again trying his best to comfort her. And after a while it did but it didn’t last as long as one would have hoped.

The sound of the screeching bus is heard in the distance and then it was stopped in front of us. I was first to get on it was fairly easy to find a seat. And almost immediately I put my headphones in turning on my favorite song.

Nicole was second to get on sitting behind me with another girl that looked to be my age. When Ethan got on he was standing at the front of the bus next to the first available seat. There was a kid sitting there by himself a freshman. He put his bag down on the seat beside him then looked the other way. All down the aisle anybody who was sitting alone moved to the edge of their seats.

Ethan took a deep breath and stepped farther down the aisle. Nobody would look at him. I tried not to but it was kind of a train wreck/ eclipse situation. Ethan just looked like exactly the sort of person this would happen to.

And he was dressed like.... like he wanted people to look at him. Or maybe like he didn’t get what kinda mess he was. He reminded Me of a scarecrow or one of the troubled dolls my mom kept on her dresser before dad took them down a month ago. Like something that would survive the wild.

The bus stopped again and a bunch of kids got on. They pushed past Ethan knocking into him and dropped into their own seats. I looked up at Ethan. He was just standing there.

“Hey you! Sit down!” Ethan started towards the back of the bus and spotted a seat an empty seat just across from me. His face lit with relief and he hurried to it.

“Hey.” A girl said sharply. Ethan kept moving.

“Hey.” The girl said again. She shoved past him into the empty seat

“Bozo.” The girl and two other sophomores started laughing. Her friends fell in a few seconds behind her.

“Sit down!” The driver bellowed from the front.

“I have to sit somewhere.” Ethan told to the now smirking popular girl.

“Not my problem.” she snapped.

The bus lurched and Ethan rocked back and forth to keep from falling. I tried to turn the volume up on my MP3 but it was already all the way up. I looked back at Ethan it looked like he was about to cry. Before I even decided to do it I scooted towards the window.

“Sit down” I said. It came out dull. Ethan turned to me starstruck, “please.” I said softer nodding to the space next to me. “just sit down.” Ethan sat down this time .

He didn’t say anything and he left six inches of space on the seat between us. I turned toward the plexiglas window and waited for a world of suck to hit the fan.

“Thanks for letting me sit here.” I turned to look at his face but Ethan wasn’t looking at me he had his nose in a book. I didn’t respond just turned away.

“You don’t talk much huh?” He asked. Ha, I thought to myself, you have no idea.