I grumbled unhappily before sinking farther back in my seat, my arms crossed. My mother continued driving, ignoring my fussing until we were at a stop light. She tapped her finger to the beat of the song on the radio. Supernova, by Liz Phair.
"Come on Somni, this move will be great for us, I got us a house by the beach, the beautiful weather here, and I heard the schools here are amazing. Your going to love it." She said excitedly. I turned to look out the window. My arms were still crossed. I watched as the trees rushed by and the small cracks between each trunk revealing a small slip of the sandy beach. I shuddered quickly before turning away to face my mom.
" Did you know one of the three main reasons tsunamis occur is because of earthquakes? That means we have a 33% chance of being stuck in one." I said.
"God forbid." She said as she continued driving.
"And to remind you, I cannot swim? If we do get caught in a tsunami-
"God forbid."
"The chances of me dying is 100%!" I said to her. She kept her eyes on the road.
"Somni, not everyone dies because of a tsunami." She said.
"Everyone who lives on a peninsula does." I muttered. She sighed.
"Dear, I know you liked Colorado, and so did I. But you and I both know this job offer changes everything. You'll warm up to this place, I know you will."
"Hmp, we'll see." I said quietly. I pulled out my phone.
"Did you know theft and pickpocketing are common here?" I said. My mom chuckled before continuing to drive. I glanced at her.
"Is that a yes?"
***
After about 20 more minutes of driving, we finally pulled up to our beach house, a three level house that had a deck out to the beach. My mom got out of the car smiling brightly.
"Not bad, right?" She said. I didn't answer. Instead, I got out of the car and towards the truck. After sitting in a car for about two days, I couldn't wait to finally collapse on an actual bed. I pulled my four suitcases out before following behind my mom who was already at the door.
"The furniture should be here, I hope.." she said. Unlocking the door, a dull but fully furnished living room was revealed to us. Taking a short tour around, I slowly made my way up the stairs -with all four suitcases- and claimed to room with the biggest window facing the beach. After collapsing on the floor panting, my mom walked in.
"I thought you didn't want to be anywhere near the beach?" She said smirking. I sat up on the grey carpet and frowned at her.
"If I'm gonna die by a tsunami, I at least want to see it coming." I said. She rolled her eyes before going to look at the other rooms.
"Somni, go check the third floor will you?" She yelled. I sighed loud enough for her to hear before making my way up the white carpeted stairs with black railings. There was a door to the rooftop. Opening it I slowly moved closer to the railing, my eyes in awe of what I saw.
"Somni! Did you see the third floor-" my mom came up behind be before stoping in her tracks, she looked up. There was a hazy line dividing the vivid orange sky with the dark blue sea, the sunlight shinning on the sea was blinding as the waves rocked back and forth softly. The sound of an occasional seal flying by made the vein even more breathtaking. We stood there for a moment before the sun got dark. My mom snapping out of her trance.
"Would you look at that, see, another great reason why this move was just what we needed." She said happily. I groaned before turning back downstairs.
"You just had to bring that up didn't you." I said walking down the stairs. But somehow, I thought entering my room. I knew this move would be good for us. No matter how much I hated tsunamis.
***
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the very first chapter of "The Secrets Below". Please support this story!