Welcome Home

Ivy sat on the bench at the park with her notebook out, she had been locked up for days inside the house. The weather had been rainy all week, as it usually was in Surrey that time of year. Ivy crossed her legs, as rested her sketch book on her knee, as she took her sketching pencil and began the outline of the tree and fend behind her. It was an interesting tree, it had begun to grown after the fence had to been put up, so it had grown up and around the fence.

She quickly pushed her crimson red bangs behind her ears again, it did no good because they feel limply again in front of her eyes. She hated her hair color, she really did. She could be seen for blocks away. She tried to dye her hair brown all the time, sometimes even black. But it never did any use, it wasn't worth it. Because every morning, the bright crimson red hair would return. She didn't understand why though, nobody in her family looked like her. Although, her little brother did. He was only five, his hair was the same color. That was about it.

She never fit in though, no matter how much she tried. Fitting in just wasn't always her area for success. She was good at a lot of things, but mingling wasn't one of them. At school she was pretty, she couldn't deny that. She got perfect grades, she never even received a B on anything. She was athletic too, she was on the basket-ball team, cheer team, girls-football team (better known as soccer). She was in the chess club as well. It seemed like she would do anything to keep away from the house.

See, ever since she was little, whenever she would get really upset about something, anything at all, something bad would happen. For example, when she was eleven, on Christmas day, her little brother had made it his goal for the day to make her holiday miserable. To do so, he poked her, tripped her, and pinched her. She remembered how angry she had been very clearly, her stomach twisting, and lurching pushing anger all throughout her body. Every light, and decoration on the Christmas tree, they she, her brother, and her mother had put so much effort in to decorating, exploded in to little pieces.

"Well, if it isn't Ivy-Jane..."Ivy looked up, looking through her loose bangs. She looked up and met the gaze of Emily Shawn. She had a short brown pixie cut with long bangs, she had bright green eyes as well. She was on the shorter side, and was a little thicker then most of the girls their age, but she was still one of the nicest, and most real girl who Ivy knew.

"Hey, Em."Ivy sighed, as she looked back down at her sketch book as Emily sat down next to her.

"Do you ever put that stuff away?"Emily asked, watching Ivy sketch away.

Ivy shook her head no, because she never really did. She could never just think of something to draw, however. She had to see it, then put it on paper. "What have you been up to this summer?"

"Working, today I had to call in sick...it is way to nice to be locked up inside."She sighed, laying on the remaining on the bench, her feet hanging off the other side. Her head was by Ivy, you get good grades in Fine Arts already, no need to keep practicing."She sighed, putting on her sunglasses.

"Who said I was practicing?"Ivy smirked, looking down at Emily. "Besides, I just love to sketch."

"Have you ever thought of adding color?"She asked, "They are really good already, but some colored pencil would top it all off."

Ivy rolled her eyes, "Can you believe that we are going to only have one more year at the High School?"

"I choose not to believe it actually." Emily sighed, "It's to depressing." She paused, staring up at the sky. "I mean, think about it...everyone, as much as I hate some of them, will be going their own way...I still plan on going to America. What do you want to do with your life after High School?"

Ivy thought for a moment, she had never really thought about that. "I'm not very sure..."Ivy sighed, barley listening to Emily go on about her plans to go to America. She had heard it all before, already. She would move to LA, and go to school to be a photographer.

"Ivy, didn't you dye your hair last night?"Emily asked, Ivy sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, but as always, it just won't stay. I even get it professionally done! They bleach it, and then dye it. Then, every morning I wake up and my hair is like it never was even touched." Ivy exclaimed, in an annoyed tone. "I don't even know where I get the hair color from in the first place."

"That is really weird, you have made sure it is permanent dye, right? And not the cheap temporary stuff?" Ivy glared at Emily. "Right, of course you have."

"I need to get going, Em."Ivy said, sliding her notebook and pencil back in her small bag. "I still have to clean my room."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later, Ivy."Emily smiled, as Ivy stood up and began walking back to her house.

The house was not very big, but it wasn't very small either. It was a light blue color, while every other house was white. The house had red rose bushes that lined the front of it, which was what she spent most of her time to draw. She would occasionally pick a few roses off her mothers bushes and bring them upstairs and pose them together in different positions with different objects then take their picture and then draw it. Her mother hated it when she picked the roses, the bushes were her prized item.

"Mother? I'm home!"She shouted in to the house, dropping her bag by the door as she picked out her notebook.

"Sweetie, you are just in time!"She smiled, "I need you to bring Matt to Alex Huens house."

"But mom-"

"No buts. When you get home, we can have dinner, alright?"Her mom asked, standing in the archway to the kitchen. She had brown hair, that was slightly graying, and then bright blue eyes.

Ivy nodded, "Alright."She paused, "Matt! Come on!"She shouted towards the stairs as she grabbed the car keys off the hook by the door and went out and got in to the blue convertible that was hers. "No, you are sitting in the back." She stated coldly as she got in, and Matt went to get in the passenger seat.

"Ivy, I'm not five. I can sit up here if I want."He stated, glaring at her. "I am fourteen now, ya'know."

"I don't give a rats arse how old you are. You are not sitting up here." Ivy stated again, refusing to put the keys in the ignition to start the car. "You either get back there, or you don't go at all."

Matt thought for a moment, his ice blue eyes glaring at her. His messy crimson hair falling messily every which way. He frowned, as he cussed under his breath as he got out and got in the back. "There. Happy?"

"No, you are still here, twerp."She frowned, pulling out of the drive way and going towards Alex Huens house. She knew where he lived, because one of her old friends used to live in the same house until they moved.

"You call that music?"Matt asked, Ivy raised her eyebrows and looked at him through the rearview mirror. It still amazed her that Matt was popular, and that girls liked him. Her little brother. She wasn't even used to his voice any more.

"Ok, this ride is short. We can listen to what I listen to alright?"Ivy snapped, waiting for the red light to turn green. Matt's arm reached up past her towards the radio, she slapped his hand away. "Matt! What did I just say!?"

"Lay off, Ivy. It's just a radio!"Matt retorted, sitting back in his seat.

"Don't tell me to just 'lay off', Matt. It's my car. Its bad enough you have to be in it."She frowned, just then, when she looked up at the red light, expecting it to turn green. Instead, sat an owl. A small one at that, but he was all black. It was one like the ones she had seen almost six years ago when there were shooting stars everywhere, and flocks of owls of all sorts flying around Surrey. It seemed to be looking right at her, its large yellow eyes watching her every move,

"Ivy, the light is green." Matt groaned from the backseat, Ivy's eyes snapped from the owl, to the actual road, as she pulled forward.

Once she dropped him off at the Huens, she sped home. Glancing for the owl when she went by the same like. She shrugged it off, it was nothing. It was always nothing. She sighed, tapping her fingers along with the hip-hop music. She put her sunglasses on because she was driving towards the sun, her hair blowing all around from the wind. She would try to dye her hair again. If she absolutely had to, she would resort to a wig.

Ivy sighed, as she turned off her car. Her stomach rumbling with hunger as she opened her door. She glanced up at the rickety old basketball hoop that was above their garage, which was where she never parked. To her surprise, the basketball hoop was good as new. As if they had just bought it, it looked like it had eight years ago.

"Hey, mom, did you get a new basketball hoop?" Ivy asked that night at dinner, it was just the two of them. Her dad had died from a car accident two years earlier.

"No, why?"She asked, taking a sip of her water.

"Well, the basketball hoop is good as new. I mean, I'm not complaining. It's just strange..."Ivy shrugged, "Oh, do you want to see my newest sketch?"She asked, her mother nodded. "Emily gave me the idea to maybe add some colored pencil to do it. I might do monochrome..."She explained as she picked up her book from the couch, and sat back down at the table.

"You never disappoint me, Ivy." She grinned, "This is amazing, and forgive me, but what is monochrome?"

"One color, but in different shades. I'll probably use purple or somethin'."Ivy explained briefly, "So you really think it's good?"

"Ivy Jane, all of your sketches are amazing."She smiled, closing the book and handing it back to Ivy. "Speaking of which, I told that summer daycare down the street you would give a small art lesson tomorrow."Her mother explained.

Ivys jaw dropped, "But I don't have anything planned."Ivy groaned.

"Ivy, they are preschoolers, help them make those little hand turkeys you taught Matt to make when you two were little." Her mother explained, Ivy sighed.

"Sounds easy enough..."Ivy nodded, glancing at the clock. "Well, I'm off to bed, mom."She sighed, setting her plate in the sink.

"Good night sweetie, and you need to be there by ten. Ok?" Ivy moaned, that meant she would have to get up at eight. "What's that?" Her mother asked, not liking the wordless complaining.

"Sounds great..."Ivy sighed as she dragged herself up the stairs. When she had something to do the next day, it was always harder to even get to bed. "...night." She called downstairs as she shut the door, she changed in to her P.J's and put her hair back in a ponytail and went in a brushed her teeth, then, she went in and laid down in bed.

She was expecting it to be even more difficult to fall asleep, but it was strangely easy. But it wasn't a relaxing sleep. She had felt uneasy about everything since she saw that owl. Sure, Surrey had owls. But they never just came out and basked in the sun for no good reason. She had also come to the conclusion that her mother had bought a new basketball hoop. Because there was no way that it could look so new, just like that. But the one question she kept asking herself, was how her mom got it up so fast. She was only gone twenty-five or so minutes. Almost six years ago, the streets of Surrey were full of strange people, and strange events. There couldn't possibly be more strange happenings on the streets of Surrey again...could there?