I open the white wardrobe and look in the mirror. It is way too hot to wear a dress. Or anything for that matter. Sadly, my aunt decided on a white, off-the-shoulder dress for me.
Whenever I cannot find something to wear, she will come into my room and throw anything down on the bed.
She always dares me to protest. "You have five minutes, Emery!" Alice yells from behind, causing me to jump. "I'm not kidding! Let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am!" I match the dress with golden sandals and put my freshly washed hair in a ponytail. I was going for simple—nothing more, nothing less.
As I head downstairs, I look for my aunt. I find her sitting on the porch with my father. They were bickering about him being out in the heat. I just stood there and crossed my arms, smiling. They were always going at it.
Whenever daddy puts his foot in front of the other, my aunt always corrects his footing. They fight about anything and everything. It's harmless, though. I know deep down, my dad loves it. His sister is babying him the same way his wife did.
I sit on the porch rocking chair and look around the property. We own about forty acres, maybe more. I sigh as I think about summer being over in two months and probably never waking to these beautiful sunrises again. School is important, but my family comes before anything.
As I look back towards the road, I see a black car approaching. I look at my aunt, who is still going at it with my dad. She sits on the steps and places the pie on her lap.
"I wonder who that is," I say, standing and taking a step down. Alice and daddy look at me and then at the car. As it approaches, it slows down to a crawl a couple of feet from the house. It's a black Mercedes Benz.
"Whoever they are, they certainly have money." Auntie looks at the car cautiously. She stands and hands me the pie, smoothing her dress as she walks down the steps. When she gets close to the vehicle, the driver and passenger side doors open.
A beautiful woman and a handsome man stepped out. The woman looks a little older than my aunt, and she is gorgeous. She's tan with emerald green eyes. She also has fiery red, short hair with hot pink lipstick. She wore a pink dress and matching heels.
The drive side door opens a man steps out. He looks older, but it's apparent that he works out. Daddy gives him an unconfident look, trying to suck in his stomach and stand tall.
While the man has fair skin and dark brown hair, he proudly wears khaki and a plain, white t-shirt. I can't tell the color of his eyes cause he's wearing dark-colored sunglasses.
When Alice clears her throat, Daddy makes his way towards them. Alice reaches for my arm. With a pep in my aunt's step, she giddily reaches for my arm, and we close the gap where my dad and the couple are standing.
"It's so great to meet you! We were actually on our way to say hi," Daddy says with a forced smile on his face. "Oh! I'm so rude! This is my sister, Alice, and Alice; these are the Castors. Our new neighbors!"
Daddy limps aside, and Alice excitedly shakes their hands. They both greeted us with warm smiles.
"And this here is my beautiful daughter, Emery." Daddy grabs my hand. I take a step forward and smile.
I hate meeting new people because it's always awkward. Everyone stands around with fake smiles, while I want to turn away and run in the opposite direction, but that won't be polite of me.
"I am Sandy," the woman begins. "My husband Rick and I have been living at the old Miller place for a week now. We didn't know if anyone else was living out here, so we decided to check it out."
Wow! She has fantastic, white teeth.
"One week ?" Alice asks, surprisingly. I am also shocked that my aunt sounds so surprised. As I said, she always had the four-one-one on any news around here. Guess someone dropped the ball on giving her this rather extensive information.
"Yes! We are actually from New York. Trading the city life for the country life," the husband says enthusiastically.
I detect a hint of sarcasm, but I can be wrong.
"Why would you want to do that?" I ask rather sharply as my family looks at me in shock.
I could tell my aunt and daddy weren't happy with me, so I put my head down. I think it's a reasonable question.
I look over at Alice. A look of panic is written all over her face. She isn't saying it, but I can hear her thoughts telling me to mind my own business.
"Change of scenery, I guess," the wife states. "We've done good for ourselves, so we decided to make a lifestyle change." Sandy's face turns, looking over at her husband, annoyed. "Honey, tell Levi to come here. He's being rude!"
"Sure, sweetheart." Mr. Castor nods and walks toward the car.
That certainly piqued my interest. People say when two good-looking people have a child; it's usually ugly. I am curious to see if Levi is as handsome as his father. I'm not shallow or anything, but these two look like they stepped off the runway in Milan and mistakenly ended up here.
"We are throwing a party next weekend. We want as many townspeople there, especially you all. You are our closest neighbors. I've also heard amazing things about your pies, Alice," Sandy says enthusiastically, eyeing the pie in my hands.
I smile and hand it to her. She gives me a look of shock as she holds it to her face, smells and sighs. I know that look. Sandy is in heaven.
Sandy steps towards my aunt. "Alice, I want these pies for our party. How about thirty? I want as many flavors as you can make. Okay?"
"Oh, umm..." My aunt hesitates and looks at daddy. I smile as Daddy looks around, confused.
"This should cover the ingredients, machinery, and labor." Sandra hands the pie back to me and pulls her phone out. She begins typing on her phone. She motions for my aunt to stand near her. Sandra shows her the phone, and Alice's eyes grow wide.
"Perfect! So this Saturday! Okay?" She asks Alice. My aunt nods, a creepy smile forming on her face.
Then Rick approaches us. He gives his wife a thoughtful look, to which she sucks her teeth. "My son is in his feelings today. The move here was his idea, and he doesn't want to meet with anyone." She shakes her head.
Odd. Why would a city boy want to move to the middle of nowhere? I look towards the car. The windows are heavily tinted, so I can't see inside.
"Well, it was so great to meet you all! I'm so excited that you guys didn't make us feel like aliens. Everyone else has. Rather awkward." She looks down at the dirt instead of hurt.
We look at one another. Mrs. Castor is a very animated person, but there is no reason why the town should make her feel uncomfortable.
"Anywho!" Sandra yells, making us all jump. She composes herself and smiles. "Saturday, it is! And dress casually, okay?"
As Sandy grabs the pie and walks away, Rick shakes our hands and then follows his wife. They get into their car and drive off. My aunt and dad wave at them.
"They seem like great people," I say, taking a sip of water. We are sitting at the dinner table. My aunt and dad are discussing how much she is getting paid. They completely ignore me. "So, how much is she paying you?"
They both stop and look at me. Alice begins to serve me some mashed potato. "None of your business, Missy." She passes me the plate of pork chops. I grab one while mocking her.
"Doesn't it seem odd that they want to host a party when the old miller property is a mess?" Daddy asks.
I think that's a reasonable question. I had felt the same thing. The property has been empty for years. No way will they be able to fix that up in two weeks.
Alice rolls her eyes as she reaches for the romaine lettuce. "Well, they have money. They probably have people working day and night all over that land."
Daddy shrugs his shoulders and nods.
"I'm surprised at you two!" Alice snaps at us while passing the breadbasket. "Mind your business and manners! They are nice folks. And if we walk into a mess on their property, who cares? We will treat them with respect. They might turn out to be great friends of ours. Lord knows you both need friends!"
After dinner, I sit on the porch. I love watching the sun disappear into the horizon. All the beautiful colors lighting up the night sky makes me feel like I am dreaming. I did envy the sun—such a beautiful and powerful source of light. I wondered how this fantastic occurrence happened.
How does the sun manipulate the lights in the sky? Friends tell me countless times that I can always look it up on the internet.
I won't say I like technology. Humans are slaves to it and that Facebook. Why would anyone want to post their business for others to see? What's that other application? The one with nothing but pictures. Instagram? No, thank you!
I am sitting out until all the stars are visible in the blackened sky when I catch a flash of golden light. I slowly turn my head towards the direction of the golden light. It's miles out, but I can see it. I squint as it flies around and then stops. I slowly stand. Is it just hovering in the sky? I take several steps. Is that a UFO?
I jump off the porch and look towards it. It begins to ascend higher and higher into the sky. It grows brighter as it climbs.
Maybe I can run to the shed and get my brother's old telescope if I am quick. Just when I am about the do that, the light suddenly disappears. The sky suddenly looks plain with hundreds of stars lighting it. I look around, puzzled.
Jumping off the porch, I look around to see if maybe the light flew behind the house. Disappointment washes over me when I don't see it. Did anyone else notice that?
Weird.