Romance
Chapter One
Tally was ranting about the world again.
As her fist made contact with the kitchen table, it shook forcefully, sending ripples through the milk in my cereal bowl. Already soggy flakes of cereal drowned in waves of dirty milk, each one a miniature typhoon. I sighed, my throat dry, calloused. The air that passed my lips was stale.
“Damn it all! ” Tally screeched. Her amber eyes were alight with a mixture of annoyance and concentrated hatred. Thrusting a slightly damp newspaper, she continued her tirade. “Look at that, Ellie. They can start a whole new war, kill thousands of people, spend millions of dollars, and can’t even spare a couple hundred on starving countries ravaged by AIDS.” Scoffing, Tally crumpled the newspaper into a compact ball, and literally threw it into the trash can.
I shrugged simply. What was the use of articulating with her? All it would result in was a three hour long discussion on how the world is one giant wastepaper basket and how Tally Hale is a superior human being, because She, like every other overzealous wannabe hippie would say, ‘Recycles, does her part as a good citizen, pays a monthly fee to give children in Cambodia vaccines, and helps out at every animal shelter in the Tri - State area.’ Why would anyone want to go through that, let alone a sleep deprived, bored out of her mind and craggy teenager?
Tally bore her angry eyes into mine. “Ellie, you agree with me, right?”
“Mmmmhmmm”
“Be literate, please ” Tally begged, playing with a strand of her dark hair. “Let’s be adults in the conversation, shall we?”
She annoys me to no end at times.
I huffed. “I agree with you”
“Thank you, dear”
I rolled my eyes, averting my sight from my lovely sister, to the window. The sky had been stripped of it’s usual brilliance, and was smeared with a dull gray. In a strange, strange way, the foggy atmosphere was a bit more welcoming than the expected vibrant blue background dotted with fluffy cotton ball clouds. I found myself taking a new fondness to the angry purple clouds, the metallic rain that beat against the rooftop shingles, and the menacing hidden sun tucked neatly behind the storm, just waiting to return once more. Sixteen years old, and I had only experienced about three handfuls of rain showers. Sad, I know.
My father had warned us upon arriving in Eastport, that it rained. And rained. And rained. His eyes twinkled as he said this at the airport, waiting for our airplane. My skin itched and my hands couldn‘t seem to stop ringing themselves, almost as though it too was longing for some moisture after six grueling years stuck in the sun.
The cold glass stung my palm as I pressed it against the window. Rain kept falling, each droplet of water a cynical tear from a heartbroken sky. Tally had retreated to her room, disappointed that she had no one to debate with. Smiling, my heart skipped a beat with excitement as I realized that it was only three more weeks of this. Three more weeks until Spring Break is over.
As her fist made contact with the kitchen table, it shook forcefully, sending ripples through the milk in my cereal bowl. Already soggy flakes of cereal drowned in waves of dirty milk, each one a miniature typhoon. I sighed, my throat dry, calloused. The air that passed my lips was stale.
“Damn it all! ” Tally screeched. Her amber eyes were alight with a mixture of annoyance and concentrated hatred. Thrusting a slightly damp newspaper, she continued her tirade. “Look at that, Ellie. They can start a whole new war, kill thousands of people, spend millions of dollars, and can’t even spare a couple hundred on starving countries ravaged by AIDS.” Scoffing, Tally crumpled the newspaper into a compact ball, and literally threw it into the trash can.
I shrugged simply. What was the use of articulating with her? All it would result in was a three hour long discussion on how the world is one giant wastepaper basket and how Tally Hale is a superior human being, because She, like every other overzealous wannabe hippie would say, ‘Recycles, does her part as a good citizen, pays a monthly fee to give children in Cambodia vaccines, and helps out at every animal shelter in the Tri - State area.’ Why would anyone want to go through that, let alone a sleep deprived, bored out of her mind and craggy teenager?
Tally bore her angry eyes into mine. “Ellie, you agree with me, right?”
“Mmmmhmmm”
“Be literate, please ” Tally begged, playing with a strand of her dark hair. “Let’s be adults in the conversation, shall we?”
She annoys me to no end at times.
I huffed. “I agree with you”
“Thank you, dear”
I rolled my eyes, averting my sight from my lovely sister, to the window. The sky had been stripped of it’s usual brilliance, and was smeared with a dull gray. In a strange, strange way, the foggy atmosphere was a bit more welcoming than the expected vibrant blue background dotted with fluffy cotton ball clouds. I found myself taking a new fondness to the angry purple clouds, the metallic rain that beat against the rooftop shingles, and the menacing hidden sun tucked neatly behind the storm, just waiting to return once more. Sixteen years old, and I had only experienced about three handfuls of rain showers. Sad, I know.
My father had warned us upon arriving in Eastport, that it rained. And rained. And rained. His eyes twinkled as he said this at the airport, waiting for our airplane. My skin itched and my hands couldn‘t seem to stop ringing themselves, almost as though it too was longing for some moisture after six grueling years stuck in the sun.
The cold glass stung my palm as I pressed it against the window. Rain kept falling, each droplet of water a cynical tear from a heartbroken sky. Tally had retreated to her room, disappointed that she had no one to debate with. Smiling, my heart skipped a beat with excitement as I realized that it was only three more weeks of this. Three more weeks until Spring Break is over.