Poppy Jennings' Revenge

The Alaskan air was fresh and powerful, nothing like the air in California of which I had been breathing all of my life. The second I got off Alaska Airlines, I smelled the fresh, autumn, soon to be winter air as it permeated through the halls of Fairbanks International Airport.

Alaska; the largest state of the United States of America by area and the highest up north state in the North American continent. With Canada to my left, the Pacific Ocean to my right, and Russia above didn‘t sound so charming when my parents told me about this place.

Fairbanks, Alaska; the second largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage.

Population: 82,840

So much for the second largest city.

To be honest, I was briefly excited when my parents informed me that we were moving to a different state. New places to see and new people to meet, right? When I told my friends that I was moving, some of them were curious to where I was moving to. Some thought we were moving to Milan, England, Barcelona and even Japan.

If only.

When my parents told me where we were moving, my friend's and my excitement flew south.

My dad had gotten a undeniable job offer to work on the pipeline and oil up in Alaska and I thought he was joking when he said he accepted it. My mom thought it was perfect because my older brother, Blue, goes to college in Fairbanks and thought it as a good chance for us to all be together again. My brother was ecstatic when he heard the news.

I guess everyone was happy… Except for me.

But to be fair to Alaska, I was willing to give it a chance.

Growing up, my parents spoiled me and sometimes I wished they didn’t. Times like when I could use the excuse that they never gave me anything. That excuse would have came in handy when I begged to stay in California with my best friend’s family. But it was two late because my parents were already packing up to move. My parents arrived in Fairbanks a week before I did because they wanted to get everything situated. It was kind of bitter-sweet because I got a week to say goodbye to my friends.

As I stepped off of the last stair, I saw my mom, dad and brother waiting for me by the exit doorway through a clear glass window. I saw my mom’s round face and small figure standing beside my tall and lanky dad. Blue was standing next to my dad with a cheeky grin. The last time I saw my brother was around last Christmas when he came back home for the Holidays. Blue and I didn’t always get along, actually, we never got along. But a few months after he left for college two years ago, I realized how much I actually missed him around the house. After that, we never really argued anymore.

“Crymson!” I heard my mom exclaim as I stepped passed the automatic door,

“Hey mom!” I replied as I went over to her and gave her a hug,

“How was your flight honey?” I heard my dad’s warm yet deep voice ask as I moved on and gave him a hug as well.

“It was alright, a lot of business men coming to Fairbanks from Anchorage.” I stated as I released him.

“Hey you little rodent, long time no see!” Blue exclaimed as I felt him tackle me into an aggressive hug. I used to miss him calling me a rodent all the time and now I don’t have to.

“I missed you, too!” I replied, “I haven’t seen you in… a year!” I said while gasping for air.

I felt my feet lift off of the ground as Blue picked me up, I giggled as I felt myself twirl in a three-sixty turn. “Did you gain weight?” He asked as he placed my down on the ground again.

I balled my hands up into a fist and punched him in his muscular arm, “Shut up you, whale! I see your Freshman 15 have come into play!” I threw back, “Oh wait, you’re a sophomore!”

“Shut the f-”

Saving my brother from cussing in front of our parents, I lifted up his shirt, “Where’s that six pack you always bragged about?” I came to see that his used to be defined six pack turned into a less defined four pack.

He swatted my hand away, “Ay! It’s still there, there’s just a small layer of fat covering it! The ladies still dig me!”

“Good lord,” I rolled my eyes, “remind me again why I ever missed you?”

Blue slung his arm around my shoulders and we began to walk towards baggage claim, “The real question is, is that if I should remind you who was the better looking one in the family?”

“That’s so irrelevant!” I said,

“You’re irrelevant!”

“Your face is irrelevant!” I returned,

“Your mom’s irrelevant!”

“We have the same mom, stupid!”

“Hey kids,” Our dad chimed in,

“Yeah dad?” Blue and I asked in unison,

“Shut up!” and we did.

After grabbing my bags, the four of us all walked over to the parking lot. As we were trying to find our car, I got a chance to observe my surroundings. Trees surrounded the airport with leaves that created an ombre effect of yellow, orange, red, and green colors. It was kind of beautiful. I looked down at my wristwatch and saw that it was 6:59 PM and I was surprised to see that it was almost seven because the sun was just setting.

I recently read a book about Alaska before I departed San Francisco. It said that by four in the afternoon it would be entirely dark out. But maybe that was during the winter time? I mean, it was only September and I was bound to find out soon anyways.

I sat in the back seat with Blue while mom and dad were seated in front. As we drove into town, I gazed over to look out my window. From the looks of it, Fairbanks seemed like a town where old folks would retire; small, quiet and peaceful.

“It might be small but you’ll learn to love Fairbanks.” Blue uttered beside me.

I turned to looked at him and shrugged,

“Yeah we’ll see.”

-----

“Well, the house doesn’t look so bad, “ I didn’t want to seem excited to see my new house, it felt like I was cheating on my old one in California, “I could probably get used to it.” but to be honest, I really was excited to live in that house. It was a lot bigger than our ‘squished together with our neighbors’ house in San Francisco.

The house was a nice, two story one, with an upstairs deck in the front. It had a wood porch and two white columns, four front windows, a walkway that connected to the driveway, and a ton yard space.

“Well, you’re gonna have to.” Dad said as he parked the car.

“I think it‘s kind of nice.” Mom said as she got out.

“It sure is.” I uttered as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door to get out.

I made my way around to the trunk of the black Escalade Cadillac and popped open the door revealing my three suitcases full of clothes. I grabbed the handle on one of the bags and began to tug on it but it wouldn’t budge. “Ugh, c’mon bag!” I was now tugging on it with two hands on the handle.

Suddenly, I felt someone’s hand on top of mine helping me get the bag. “At this rate, you’ll be standing here all night.” I heard Blue say as he took my bag.

I watched him drag the suitcase up the driveway and disappear into the garage, “Blah, blah, blah, at this rate you’ll be standing here all night…” I mocked as I continued to try and get the rest of the luggage.

I reached for the second bag but Blue beat me to it, “How about I give you a hand?” I heard—not Blue—say.

With my eyes, I trailed up the stranger’s hand, up his arm all the way passed his broad shoulders, his neck, and finished at his face. This guy didn’t look too much older than me, but his slight facial hair kind of threw me off.

“Uh…” I wanted to say something but nothing seemed to have progressed out of my mouth,

The guy shook his head and laughed, “I’m PJ, Blue’s friend.” He introduced as he held his hand out for me to shake.

I smiled foolishly before I realized that I needed to shake his hand. “I’m…”

“Crymson Venus, my baby sister.” I heard Blue finish as he grabbed my hand and placed it by my side again.

I looked up at my 6’2 brother, “Yeah, what he said.” I mumbled.

Blue chuckled, “What’s up PJ, I hope you‘re not pullin‘ the moves on this rodent, are ya?” He asked as he gave PJ a knuckle pound.

PJ grinned, “It didn‘t even cross my mind, I just wanted to be a good citizen, is all.” he said as he looked at me, but then he whipped his head to look at my brother, “Oh yeah, thanks for letting me borrow your basketball.”

I didn’t even notice the basketball under his other arm.

“It’s chill, bruh.” Blue said as he caught the basketball in his right hand and swiftly placing it under his arm. “Who all went?”

PJ grabbed my suitcase and placed it on the ground, “Jerrico, Drew, Gus, Everette, and Everette’s dad.”

“Hah, I heard Everette’s dad always gave people a run for their money,” Blue said as he grabbed my last suitcase, “If only Everette was as good as his dad, eh? That could have helped the team a ton last season.”

“Amen brotha.” PJ chuckled,

As intrigued as I was with my brother and his friends’ conversation, all I wanted to do was find something to eat. I hated airplane food, so I was starving. I grabbed both of my suitcases and began walking towards my house.

As I was going through the garage door, I ran into my mom,

“I have some food on the table guys-- oh hey PJ!” She said cheerfully, “I haven’t seen you since yesterday!”

Hmph, seems like this PJ guy comes around a lot.

“Hey Mama V! Did you loose weight?”

“Not since yesterday!” She laughed,

“Well, you look great!”

Mom invited PJ into the house and offered some him some dinner, but he claimed that he already had some.

“Alright, spaghetti!” I cheered as I saw a bowl of noodles and another bowl with tomato sauce and meatballs.

“Hey ma! Where’s NBA Live!?” Blue shouted from the living room.

“I hid it! Your sister just got here and the least you can do is talk to her!”

“Too much talking, not enough NBA Live 2K11!” Blue replied,

“It’s okay mom, boys will be boys.” I said with my mouth full,

“I swear, 19 years of this is just too long.” my mom joked as she grabbed some spaghetti herself.

After I finished eating, I went into the living room to join Blue and PJ, “Can I join you guys?”

---

For the next hour Blue, PJ, and I sat in the living room talking. Actually, Blue and Poppy did most of the talking and I did the occasional ’adding in my two cents’. After their conversation died down a bit, I informed Blue that all his old friends from San Francisco said ‘hi’ and that they missed him. Soon, that was going to be me who would be missed.

“So have you ever been to San Francisco, PJ?” I asked as I shifted my position on the leather couch,

“Yeah, I used to live there.” He answered,

Intrigued, I sat up straight and scooted forward facing PJ, “Oh really? For how long?” I wonder if I ever had met him or maybe walked passed him on the streets. It’s funny how this world works.

“A while, I didn’t really like it there, so I moved up here with my dad.”

“Oh I see, so how did you guys meet anyways?” I asked, wanting to know more about this new friend of mine.

“eHarmony dot com.” Poppy answered jokingly

Blue and I both laughed, “Haha, no, seriously.” I said, shifting my position on the couch again.

Blue stopped laughing and began to talk, “Last year, I was dating Jerrico, PJ’s best friend’s older sister and we met at one of her bon fire‘s.” Blue explained,

“Oh nice.” I said, nodding my head.

Suddenly we all heard a phone vibrate on the small glass table in front of us ,

“Hello?” I heard Blue say as he answered his iPhone.“Yeah for sure, hold up.” Blue got up from the couch and ran upstairs leaving PJ and I alone… together.

For three, awkward minutes, PJ and I sat in silence.

I sighed heavily and began to fiddle with the loose string that was dangling from my white sweater.

“So… how old are you?” I asked PJ, trying to break the silence.

“Seventeen.” He answered simply, “So do you know what school you’re going to go to?” He asked, scooting closer to me.

I looked up from the bottom of my sweater and was surprised at how close we were. I moved my body away a bit and answered, “I think my parents said Lay-”

He excitedly cut me off, “Lathrop?”

I gave him a closed smile, “Yeah,”

He responded to me with a toothy grin, “This year is going to be fun, I could already tell.”

I didn’t know what he really meant by this, but I was bound to find out sooner of later.