Houdini Blues

The rain hitting the windshield sounded like little gun shots.

"Well," my mother sighed as she turned and looked at me, "I'll back in." She pressed a controller that had been placed in her hand and the garage door opened. I lifted up the hood of my sweater as I pushed open the car door without responding.

This house was a lot bigger than our last.

The lawn looked well kept, the bushes and trees were placed in a decorative manner. I stood in the garage as my mom ran to the back of the small trailer. She had backed up as far as she could without being in the garage, preventing our boxes from getting wet. The trailer screeched as the back was pulled down and placed on the ground like a ramp. "I'll get the first few," Mom said to me before pulling out a key. "You can go look inside. I've already seen it." A small smile crossed her lips; I grabbed the key and walked out of the garage to the porch.

It was nice and covered with a porch swing in the far corner and hooks for hanging plants. A black kitten ran from a bush up to my feet. I smiled and softly pushed it away, "not today sweet heart." Pushing the key into the lock, I turned the knob.

I walked into a large unfurnished living room; the house was two stories tall. We have never lived in something this nice.

My mind raced as I walked up the staircase. The second floor overlooked a portion of the downstairs living room and had a small one of its own. An arm wrapped around my shoulders, "Let me show you my room."

My mother guided me towards the door on our left. She opened it as we walked into the big area. It was nice, with a restroom and walk-in closet. I knew she was excited over this. She had always talked about living somewhere like this.

We were never really poor, but we could never really afford a house as nice. For as long as I remember we had lived in a small two bedroom apartment. That was all we really needed for the two of us. Mom had gotten pregnant when she was around fifteen, and since then has been saving half of all her income for a house like the one we now had. Sixteen years later she owned it.

There were two other rooms up here, and mom led me to the one she decided would be mine.

I smiled when I saw it. The room was directly across from hers and like a second master room. As a matter of fact it looked almost exactly like hers except with a nice little balcony. Instead of white walls they were a deep maroon color. She patted my back, "You like it?"

"Yeah," I looked back up at her. We walked out and halfway down the stairs before a thought accrued to me. "What about the other room?"

Mom shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. There's another master downstairs that your aunt will be living in. But I don't know what will go here."

I wasn't surprised Aunt Donna would be living here. Her and mom where very close and Donna had a hard time keeping enough of an income to afford a place of her own. She would crash on our couch a lot after getting evicted. Mom was only making her pay for groceries as 'rent' so we figured this would help her out enough to save up and finally settle. And if she didn't mom would probably just keep her here. It's not like we didn't have room.

"We only bought some furniture in this trailer so we'll have to deal until everything else gets dropped off later." I followed my mom into the humid garage and grabbed the end of a coffee table. Although we had lived in a cheap apartment, mom had always kept it nicely furnished.

Soon we had the whole living room set up along with a few small tables to decorate the hallway.

"We'll have to buy a nice dinner table to put in the dining room," I said as I walked around the empty space. She had her hand pulled up to her lip with a nail between her teeth, "and a lovely rug to go under it."

There was a knock on the door before it opened and a tall skinny woman walked though. "Oh, it's so nice!" My aunt walked over to us and held her arms out. Her blonde hair just touched the tips of her ears.

My mother wrapped her arms around Donna, "Let me show you your room!" We all walked further back in the house, passing the kitchen and a small restroom before stopping at a door. The room was much like my mothers, with the same style restroom and closet, but instead had a small door leading to the back. Donna gasped and put one hand to her mouth and the other around me. "This is so much nicer than any room I have ever had."

I hugged her and looked up, "Do you need help unloading?" She nodded and led my mother and I out of the room. By this time the rain had nearly stopped.

All of Donna's stuff was crammed into about eight boxes, making it fairly fast to unload. Mom and Donna carried in her furniture by themselves while I was setting it up as it came. After about an hour we had finished and were lounging in the living room.

Donna sat in the small loveseat while Mom and I were on opposite ends of the couch. "I don't know when the moving van will be here," Mom looked up from the ground and over at us, "But we need to go get groceries before the stores close tonight."

Donna nodded, "I'm sure Ashley can stay here and wait for them." My mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'd hate to do that but we really need to," she said looking over at me. Shrugging my shoulders I responded, "I'll be fine."

Donna stood up and grabbed her keys as my mom walked over to me. "When they come just tell them where to put the boxes upstairs. They're all labeled," she kissed my forehead before walking towards the door.

Not soon after they had left the movers showed up. I was thankful mom had paid extra for them to unload the boxes for us because it was starting to rain again, and there was no way I would survive carrying everything upstairs.

My room was the first to be unloaded because it was the last to be packed up. While they were putting all the other boxes in mom's room, I made myself busy by unpacking and setting up my room. It was nice to finally have extra space and a colored wall. I knew mom had saved this room for me because the walls matched my black furniture.

I was halfway finished unpacking before a man walked through the door. He was tall and dark skinned with short black hair, "We're all done." I nodded and followed the men down the stairs and out the front door, locking it behind them.

Mom and Donna had been gone for about two hours now, and with everything in my room set up I had nothing to do. Cable was not going to be on until tomorrow so I sprawled out on my bed and looked up at the ceiling.

I wasn't mad at my mom for moving me ten hours away from our old town. The summer was about to end and I had done nothing but stay home throughout it. I wasn't friendless, I just didn't like being around people. It wasn't hard for me to find out that everyone talks about everyone, so I ended up separating myself from that. I had hopped the move here would help me meet some decent people. This would be my last year of high school and I wanted the typical great senior year.

The next day I woke up from the sun shining through my windows. Making a mental note to get curtains, I walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"Hey Ash," Donna said looking up from her plate at the bar in the kitchen. I smiled and sat down beside her. Mom was standing in front of the stove, cooking eggs. She turned around and faced me, "I'm glad you went to sleep at a decent time last night. I'm sorry we got home so late."

I took the plate from her and nodded, "Yea, I see you unpacked everything though."

"Girl we did not get any sleep. You may as well consider us nocturnal now, "Donna laughed as she sat her fork down. Mom joined her in laughter and put dishes in the sink. "I'm about to head up and finally get some sleep. I'm exhausted!"

"I bet."

Donna walked to her room and shut the door behind her. Mom looked at me and smiled, "school here starts tomorrow."

^o^

"Ashley," My mother looked over at me from the driver seat. Her eyes were a light blue and her hair a soft brown. She was dressed in a casual dress with natural makeup covering her eyes. I was proud of her for coming as far as she had. It had always been her dream to open a bakery, and today she was meeting with her relator. "Good luck today."

I smiled back at her as I pushed open the car door. The humid air hit my face as I gulped it in. My mind raced as I looked around at the tall walls. The school looked very well kept and fairly new. No one was outside so I assumed class had already started. I relaxed for a minute before taking a few steps. It seemed as though the nerves were just beginning to arrive, when they should have a few days ago. I quickly brushed a hand through my black hair as I walked through the heavy doors.

The office was to the left of the entrance and quite large. A tiny blonde woman sitting behind the counter looked up at me, "Hello there!" Her accent was almost as strong as her perfume. I gave a small wave before walking closer to her, "My name is Ashley Jac-"

"Oh yes," she nodded and stood up quickly, working her way over to a file cabinet. Slowly closing my mouth, I moved backwards. "We've been expecting you for a while now, figured you just weren't going to show today. School started about two hours ago." She turned to me with a hateful gaze.

I shook my head, "I'm sorry my old school started at nine." She put her hand in the air and walked back to her seat with a file in her hand. My palms were wet with sweat as I tugged on the sleeves of my hoodie. So far, my first day at Dullsville High was not going too great.

Her nose scrunched as she looked me up and down, "Here is your schedule." The petite woman handed me a piece of paper before turning back to her computer. "Thank you," I bit my lip. The woman turned back around to me and kept her eyes closed as she spoke, "Please just get to class, you're already tardy. "

I huffed and turned around to walk out the door before she spoke again, "We're in second period."

My second period was AP English, which was not too bad considering it was my favorite subject. Yet, I couldn't find the strength in me to open the door then walk in. I slowly reached out my hand and turned the handle before pulling it back.

An old man, possibly in his sixties stood in front of a class room. He smiled as I walked over to him, holding out my schedule. He quickly took it to make sure I was where I needed to be. Handing it back he spoke to me, "Hello Ashley. What a pretty name, I've been waiting to meet you for about a week now. I see you will be perfect for this project." Confusion swarmed my thoughts as someone in the room spoke out.

"What project?"

The old man laughed and turned to his desk, "Well hold on now we need to get Ms. Ashley settled." His back was hunched over as he walked around. I couldn't help but think about how easily it seemed he would break. He handed me a stack of paper then spoke again.

"Class, Ashley will hand you all a sheet of paper explaining the project." He turned around quickly and spread his arms out wide, "Then we discuss." I grinned at the old man as I passed a stack of paper down each row. When I was done, a hand touched my back. "You can just find a seat now, you did great." There were two empty seats, both in the back corner. I chose one and looked down at the paper on my desk.

"Assuming you all can read," The man started, "this project will be about a famous poet. You will be assigned a partner-". Groans erupted and hands slammed on desk. The old man did not seem to be affected by this. He laughed and continued talking, "I have already chosen so you can all just be quiet and accept your fates. Now you do get to choose who your project will be on. But Katy Perry is not a poet and to prevent a project on the current pop artist you will choose out of a hat. You will turn in an essay no less than ten pages on the poet's life and work. Along with that you will be required to present some kind of visual. This will be due at the end of the month."

I looked around the classroom, observing the people in it. It seemed as though half the cheer squad was here along with a few athletes and a couple of 'normal' kids sprinkled in. I could get along with everyone for the most part. I had done it at my old school.

The old man was now at his desk, calling out the groups. Everyone seemed to have been happy with their results. I looked down at my schedule to find out my teachers name. Mr. Sorenson, from what I could tell, was a nice little man who enjoyed what his job. "Ashley can you come here please," he looked down his glasses at me with a smile.

"Your partner is not here today, but she will most likely be here Wednesday. It's not like Raven to miss my class, but rather her others. Something must be wrong but I'm sure she'll be fine," Worry was evident in his voice. I gave a small smile as I took the tiny piece of paper with our names on it from him. Raven Madison. "Anyway," the old man begun, "since you're the last to come up here I can already tell you that you will be writing about Edgar Allen Poe. I have a lot of faith in Raven and now in you." He smiled up at me before the bell rung.

The thought of lunch was scary. I sat alone at the table before a plate was dropped across from me. I looked up to see a girl with short chocolate brown hair sit down. She was wearing a stripped black and white shirt and ripped skinny jeans, "My name is Becky." She picked up her milk and drank it from the carton. "I'm Ashley."

Becky nodded, "I know who you are. Everyone's talking about the new girl but no one's over here with you." I looked around the cafeteria, only to in fact find people looking at me. Resting my head on my hand I looked over at Becky.

"Why are you sitting with me? Do you not have any friends?" She laughed and quickly bought a hand to her mouth. Her eyes were dark green color that went well with her olive skin tone. "Not really, no one here is worth talking to."

A boy I noticed from my English class walked over to the table and sat beside Becky. "This is my only friend," She smiled, "Matt." He had shaggy brown hair and was kind of muscular. Matt smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose, "Who did you get paired with in Sorenson's?"

I sighed, "Someone named Raven." Matt's eyes got big and Becky coughed on her food. I looked between them, "what?" Becky shook her head with a smile, her short hair staying in place.

"Good luck working with her. She doesn't do anything but talk about Alexander," Matt answered for her. I pulled on my sleeves and looked down at my bag. Why would Mr. Sorenson be so happy to pair me up with someone who doesn't work? I had been really excited to get on the teachers good side but now I was panicking.

Becky slapped Matt and played with her meatloaf, "Raven's not mean or anything, she's my best friend. Sorenson is the only teacher that lets her sit out on presentations." I sighed and played with the ends of my hair. No wonder he was so happy about this project, I'd have to do all the work for some lazy kid the teacher was fond of.

The rest of the day went fine, no one made as much of an effort to talk to me as they did to watch me. Overall I was happy with this school so far. Although it went better than expected, I was happy it was over. My mother was waiting for me after school at the entrance.

"How was it?"

I shrugged my shoulders and looked from the window to her, "It was okay. I made two friends; I know you're going to ask that next." She laughed and put a hand on my knee, "I'm glad it was okay."

When we got home Aunt Donna was setting our dinner on the bar. Mom looked around and mumbled to herself, "We have to get a table."

The smell of pasta filled the air and I smiled, "Why are you cooking so early?"

Donna giggled and sat down across from mom and to the side of me. Her skin was nearly glowing when she spoke. "I have such good news for the both of you," she got up and danced around before kissing my forehead. "I had two job interviews today, both for receptionist." My mom screamed and hugged her sister. This was a big step for her, and we all shared the excitement.

"I have exciting news to!" I looked up at my mom as her and Donna sat back down and began to eat their food. He cheeks were flushed as she spoke again, "I think I met someone." She paused for a second before looking between Donna and me.

"Well I know I met someone," she laughed almost angelically. "But, I mean romantically. He's the real estate agent and he's just so sweet. We flirted a lot." I laughed at my mom and brought my fork to my mouth. I was happy she was finally comfortable dating. Not once since I've been born has she ever worried about her love life until now. Throughout dinner she gushed about how handsome this man was, but she never gave a name.

After dinner I got a call from an old friend, Alanna. She gushed to me about all the latest drama going on in my old town of Sotelo and asked me how it was here. "Well," I started as I looked into the mirror. My hair went down to my waist in waves. "It's good I guess. I've only been here a few days. Nothing has happened really."

"That means it's boring," She laughed. "Are there any cute boys?"

"Not that I've seen," I mumbled as I played with my bangs. She sighed on the other line. "Have you even tried to look or are you just being boring like you always are?" I walked from the restroom and threw myself on the bed, "I'm not boring."

"When you lived here you never left the house, which needs to change."