pluviophile

chapter two

I stay in my bedroom for a long time. It’s not very pleasant (in fact, I’m bored out of my mind; I wouldn’t be, of course, if I could communicate with my friends or watch an inspirational video on how to make your cat famous), but I decide I just have to grin and bear it. I mean, how else am I supposed to make Mom and Dad feel bad for me?

Okay, I know. That sounds like a really bad excuse for staying in my bedroom. I guess I’m just mad, too, so I shouldn’t go by Mom and Dad. Then they’ll say something like “That’s not fair, Talia,” or “Just because you’re angry doesn’t mean you can be angry at us! We didn’t do anything to you!”

But they did! They really did! They were the ones that brought me here. And yet…

There’s a knock at my door and I sigh. I knew one of them would come to try to cheer me up sooner or later.

I know, I know. I shouldn’t act like a spoiled brat about one of them coming to cheer me up. But the thing is, I just don’t want to be cheered up- Because it’s not going to work! They can try and be optimistic, but I’m telling you right now, it’s useless. I’ll still be in this Internet-free, isolated, rainy mountain… Place.

Nevertheless, I say, “Come in.”

Mom pops her head in. “Hi, honey!”

“Hi.”

“How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

“What book are you reading?”

Luckily, I don’t really have to tell Mom what book I’m reading or talk more than I want to, because she just picks up the book and reads it out loud to herself.

“‘The Night of the Evil Clown.’” Mom looks at me. “Talia, don’t you think this is a bit…” She looks at the cover of the book, depicting a moon with eyes of a clown, its mouth turned up in an evil grin. “...Scary for you?” Mom finishes.

“Mom,” I say, “it’s not really scary. I really like it! Besides, I'm twelve."

Mom sighs and sets the book down. “Well, alright. Anyways, honey, Dad and I have noticed that you aren’t very comfortable here where we’re living right now.”

I scoff. “Yeah.”

“Well, we were thinking…”

My eyes grow wide with possibility and I sit up, just a little bit. Maybe we’ll move back to Chicago!

“Yeah?”

Mom smiles at my enthusiasm and says, “We were thinking… You should explore the mountains more! You know, get a feel for where we’re living. Your dad was hiking around a little bit while you were in your room, and he…”

I stop listening. What’s the point? I thought for once Mom would just change her mind, but I guess not. She just wants to make me like the mountains, even though it’s perfectly clear that I’m never going to like them, so why won’t she just bring me home?!

“...And so, you should just check it out a little, Talia! You might end up loving it.”

I sigh and flop onto my back. “I don’t think so.”

Mom sighs too and pets Gigi. “Well, I want you to think about it.”

I look at Mom and try to figure out what’s going on in her brain. I peer into her eyes. She just smiles at me and says, “I’m going to go get some chives for dinner, alright, hon?”

I nod and smile a little, but inside I’m thinking, Oh, great! Now they’re going to start making their own food with plants from outside- Basically the wilderness, where coyotes prowl and birds poop. There's no way I'm eating dinner tonight. What’s next, a dead deer for breakfast? What happened to frozen pizzas at the store? I liked those!

Then I think, Although, even if Mom and Dad wanted to get frozen pizzas, they probably couldn’t even find a store to get one. I groan and flip over onto my side to look out the window. Then I notice something.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!” I cry and jump up and down on my bed. Gigi leaps up. “MROW!” I look down at him. “Oh, sorry, Gigi. I didn’t mean to… Er… Disturb your cat nap.” Gigi forgives me and arches his back, straightening his legs so much that I think his back is going to crack, lays down, yawns so wide I think his head is going to split in half, and then goes to bed.

I stand back up and look out the window, pressing my face against it. I jump off my bed and run to the kitchen, completely forgetting I was supposed to be cross with my parents.

“Mom! Dad! The rain stopped!!”

Then it’s my turn to stop. I look around. Where is everybody? “Uh… Mom? Dad?”

Silence.

“Where are you guys?”

I think about this for a while. Before I stormed off up to my room, did Mom and Dad mention anything about going anywhere? No. And with a new house, I don’t think they would leave without telling me right away.

I sit down at the kitchen table to think.

What about when Mom came in to “cheer me up”? She didn’t mention anything then, did she? No, she didn’t. So really, where could they be?

I realize that I have to go look for them around the house. I don’t even want to, but I’m not about to sit around without my parents in some creepy house I’m not even familiar with!

I know, I know. It’s crazy. Sit or look? Looking is more dangerous, but sitting around in this house makes me uneasy. I suppose I'll get used to it over time. I scoff at the thought of getting used to this house. I've been told to get used to so much these days. Nearly everything revolves around me getting used to things.

“I know it’s hard to adapt to this new house. But you’re just going to have to get used to it!” (That’s my dad.)

“I’m very sorry, Talia. You’re just going to have to get used to it.” (That’s my mom.)

Anyhow, I really have to stop daydreaming, so I use this as my excuse to get up and start searching for my parents, because I don’t want to admit, even to myself, that I’m scared without them in this new house.

“Mom! Dad!” First I search the kitchen, where I’m actually sitting right now. I know; it’s stupid. I mean, if I’m calling their names and they’re in the same room (if they even could hide in the same room without me noticing them), they’d jump out right away. Just to make sure, though, I check the kitchen.

“Nope, not here,” I mutter under my breath, as if I was expecting to find them right away. Which I wasn’t. So don’t think I’m stupid or anything. Or a coward, or a scaredy-cat. Yes, yes, I know those are the same things- I said before, when I’m nervous I repeat myself! I mean, I’m not nervous now. What I mean is, when I was little, I got nervous and used to repeat myself. Just not now, when I’m so much older and more mature.

“Mom! Dad!” I keep calling their names as I cautiously make my way into a living room area- Not that I’m scared. I just want to be more on the safe side today. I mean, you never know when there’s going to be a loose floorboard and you step on it, fall in, and get stuck underground for the rest of your life. This is an old house, after all.

Once I’m in the living room, which is a noticeable amount bigger than the kitchen, which is already bigger than my old kitchen, I check on the couch. Huh. So Mom and Dad really did buy new furniture for our new house. Then I actually realize how long I must have been in my room, because none of this furniture was here. So it must’ve taken a couple hours to get all the furniture in here, and another couple hours for Mom to decide on where to put everything (trust me, this takes a long time!) and for both of them to move it to where Mom wants it.

Just because I’m curious, I sit down on the couch to test it out and find with delight that it’s made with velvet and silk. Weird materials for a couch, in my opinion, but I like it.

I stand up and survey the room. It looks so different from this morning, when I was reading in here with Mom. The silky-velvety couch is pushed up next to a double window with velvety curtains to match. On each side of the couch, there’s a small square table made out of smooth wood that has a matching lamp on it. There’s a pale brown rocking chair in the other corner of the room, and a dark brown plushy chair in the corner of the room across from it. No TV, I think. But even though I’m still in a grumpy mood, I’m not really mad about that. I don’t watch TV that much anyways. (Plus, I still have a bit of hope that there’s a TV in a different room.)

Once I check the whole living room, I move on to a different room, and I have to admit, it’s fun to explore this house. Especially since I’m pretty sure all the furniture is already moved in.

In the next room, it looks like a half-study room, half-computer room. I don’t really like that, because I hate thinking about school. Even if I’m homeschooled. Yet there is something I’m proud of- Even though I’m only in seventh grade, I started school early, meaning I’m actually doing ninth grade stuff. Yay for over-achieving, right?

“Mom. Dad. Come on! If you’re just hiding on me, it’s not funny.” Then I realize something: I sound like a total coward! Why am I so nervous, anyways? I continue to the next room, not even bothering to get a better look at the study-computer room. It’s just a big wooden table with Mom and Dad’s laptops and my chromebook on it, a little phone charging place on the table with Mom and Dad’s phone (mine is charging in my room), a desk on the other side of the room with a chair and a buffet-sort thing with two cabinets and three drawers on the backside of the room. Big deal.

I back out of there. I don’t like searching for my parents. Why can’t they just come find me?