Waiting Inside

There was an itch on the bottom of my foot, my ears were raw from the sunroof and my stomach was growling. My body and I were down right miserable in that vehicle. Amanda and I got into three arguments during the ride. Two over the choice of the radio station and most recently, where to eat. My dad punished us by not going to another fast food restaurant. So I was starving, or it felt like it anyway.

Amanda's cold blue eyes glared at me for a hour after that. Even though she was in the front seat she propped herself sideways so she could stare at me. All I wanted to do was rip out her blonde hair. It was tempting because it dangled over the seat because she grew it so long. She was a freak of nature with her very long hair and nails.

My dad tried to drive normally. Every so often he would pinch his trembles and moan. He knew Amanda was aggravating me, but he couldn't do anything about it. So like always, he gave up and let us deal with it on our own. The whole time I took turns staring back at her, then back at him. At one moment I remember I was sitting close to a box that held our pantry remains. To annoy Amanda I dug though and found a small, forgotten, single-sized-serving bag of Lays. I grinned at her evilly and opened the bag. Amanda tried not respond but I saw her nose wrinkle as I noisily moved the bag around. I hated Lays, they were disgusting excuses for a chip, but Amanda loved Lays. That is what counted. I popped one in, obviously making a face at the horrid taste.

"You bitch!" Amanda had screamed, "you don't even like them! Give them to me." I shook my head and popped some more in. Amanda leaned over the seat trying to reach for them. Luckily I was very petite so she couldn't reach me or the bag. I popped more in and noisily smacked my mouth.

"Hmmm, these are so awful." I muttered, still stuffing my face.

Amanda reached for them again. "Give me the chips. Now. Give me it, you stupid cow!"

I narrowed my eyes at her. In my peripheral vision I could see the window was still open. I smiled at her then gulped down the disgusting stuff. Very slowly I held the bag out for her to take. Amanda's face lit up and she reached for it. But within a second I instead pushed the bag through the open window and watched it fly away, cluttering the road behind us with the salted, thin potato slices. Amanda's face dropped, so I grinned even bigger.

The next thing I know I hear yelling. My dad is yelling about some ticket he can get from littering, and Amanda is yelling because she was hungry. She reached back again and attempted to go for my hair. My hair was short, like boy short. I had shaved my head last year for a fashion statement. All Amanda grabbed was air, the look on her face glorified the moment.

We stared at each other for a while after that. Amanda was just as immature as me so the fight would never end unless we either ate, got physical, or our dad would yell at us. I knew my dad would give up soon and feed us. In a way I felt extremely guilty for causing him so much grief. He always seemed to be at his wits end with us. We were eighteen and twenty-three, we shouldn't be acting like that.

"Thank God we are here!" my dad exclaimed. I looked out the window and sure enough, the welcome sign for the town was right there. It was dingy and looked like crap to be honest. There were even cartoon fish on it. It read, 'Welcome to Myth-Port!', at the very bottom it also read, 'May all your fishy needs be conquered!'. The town really needed to find a new motto, it was dumb as shit.

Amanda was forced to sit back down, so I stuck my tongue out at her. In all honesty I looked up to Amanda. She was able to finish high school and college after our mom died, she took the high road and even helped me through the years. She became my second mom. Dad never let her punish me but she cooked me dinner and helped me with my homework. Even though we fought, a lot, I still loved her dearly. Of course I couldn't tell her because it would go to her head. Her stupid blonde head.

Amanda eventually went back to her phone. I was very surprised it was still on, she was always on that thing. I pulled myself up so I could see over the window and outside at the town. It was very different than back home, this place was straight out of one of those little town movies. There was a town hall and even a town square. On the backside of the town hall I could see the small port where fishing boats were. I caught a whiff of the air and I groaned. It smelled like salt, fish and onions, for some reason. I knew I was going to hate it there.

My dad grinned. "That smell is the bay, you'll get used to it." He always knew what's was thinking.

I frowned and removed myself from the window. It wasn't much longer when the car stopped. I heard Amanda gasp suddenly. I pushed myself up and peered over the dashboard. Before me was the most beautiful house I've ever seen. It was three stories high and there were two balconies in the front. I gasped to and leaned forward. The house itself had a red hue and the trim was a brownish black. It reminded me of the gothic houses I used to read about. The grand house was on a small hill, layers of concrete and brick were placed to make pathways around the whole property. Along side us were trees, mostly dead which added to the darkness of the house. I absolutely loved the house. It was as if someone modeled my dream home out of my head and created it.

Well the old Emily's dream home anyway. She loved that gothic stuff. My dad turned around, the huge grin on his face was still there. "It needs some work, but it will be perfect. We could even keep it in the family for generations," he said excitedly.

"It's what mom always wanted," Amanda spoke up. Our dad just searched our eyes and nodded his head. It was our mom's dream to have a grand house, she wanted us to have somewhere to bring our children. Somewhere we could all gather and be happy. Tears swelled in my eyes thinking how she couldn't be there with us. I knew she was inside all of us and she was looking down from heaven smiling.

My dad had gotten out and he held the door open for me. I took his out reached arm and jumped from the vehicle. The driveway was concrete too, it was a nice change from the gravel at our other house. I searched the place with my eyes. The property was fenced in with iron and brick. There was even a gate propped up against one side. Grass had over grown the whole place but it was obvious there used to be lovely landscaping.

"The original house was built in 1795 by a Henry H. Myth. Since then it has been rebuilt after two fires and one hurricane flood. That's all I know, we should research some more. Get as much information as we can. That would be fun, huh girls?" My dad wrapped his arms around Amanda and I. We just stood there looking at the house, creating dreams in our heads.