Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (2 page)

I jumped at least a foot in the air, sloshing coffee all over my hand
.
“
Ahh
! Dad
,
jeeze
don’t sneak up on me
.
You
’
r
e
like a ninja.”

“Michelle
,
I can’t remember th
e last time I saw you awake at
six
a
.
m
.
Even the day you were born you refused to
make an appearance till
ten thirty
in the morning
.
You were the only newborn to sleep through the night
.
The only kid to sleep till eleven
on Ch
ristmas morning,
”
Dad teased
.

“Enough of the theatrics, Dad
.
What’s your point?
” I grumbled as I wiped the coffee up off the counter with a dishtowel
.

“My point is I fear aliens have replaced my daughter with a pod person
.
Please say it
ain’t
so!
Michelle
,
if you’re in the
r
e
blink twice to
let me know you’re alright!
”
Dad exclaimed
,
while dramatically shaking my shoulders with mock concern
.

“Mr. Wright was cutting
h
is grass outside my bedroom window
.
Trust m
e
,
I have no desire to ever see six
a
.
m
.
in person again.”

“Cutting his grass at six
a
.
m
.
?
Retirement is not sitting well with that man
.
I caught him spray-painting a brown spot on his lawn green yesterday
.
Poor guy nee
ds a hobby other than his grass,
” Dad
joked.

I snorted in amusement, as I refilled my coffee mug
.
Cup two got two teaspoons of sugar and a splash of milk. “Why aren’t you at work yet?”

“The building inspector couldn’t make it to the constructi
on site until
8
.
I’m leaving now
.
What are your plans for the day?
”

“
I’m headed to the mall for back-to-
school shopping with Cami this afternoon
.
The
n a riveting evening of nothing,
”
I teased
.

“Alright, w
ell have fun and leave your Mother some coffee
.
I’m off.
”
Dad kissed me on the forehead and grabbed his lunch and thermos on his way out the door
.

As the door quickly clicked shut behind him
,
I stared into my coffee mug
.
“Well
,
looks
like it
’
s just you and me, buddy,
” I mumbled
.
Mom wouldn’t be up for hours yet
.
My m
other was not an early riser, one of the few things I’ll admit I inherited from her
.
I stumbled back to my bedroom and rummaged through my closet looking for something to wear
.
It was already hot and humid this early in the morning
and i
t was only going to get worse
.
Gotta
love August in Jersey
.
I settled on a pair of denim shorts and a green tank top with a pair of brown leather
sandals
.
I laid the outfit on the bed and went into the bathroom
.
After showering, brushing my teeth,
getting dressed, and pulling my wet hair back into a ponytail only twenty minutes had passed
.
I looked at the clock and groaned
.
I contemplated drying and styling my hair, but in this humidity it was a futile effort
.
Instead
,
I decided to go for a walk
.
I shoved my book and cell phone into my purse and dug out my sunglasses
.
After checking my wallet to make sure I had money, I headed out
.

I expected the sun to blind me
,
and was
even
prepared with my sunglasses, but apparently
it was
not an issue this early in the morning
.
The sun was barely shining over the tree line
.
I pushed the glasses on to the top of my head and started out with no particular destination in mind
.
Shady Lane was a small town
.
The town itself was one square mile and as soon as you left that square mile it opened into rural country and farms
.
I lived in town
,
a couple of block
s
away from Cami, but there was no way she would be awake yet
.

I strolled along the street, nodding politely to the early morning dog walkers and joggers
.
I headed onto Main Street and looked in the windows of the shops
.
Off Main I turned
down Elm
.
I pa
used outside the school
.
The sign out front proclaimed “Welcome Back Shady Lane Devils!
”

“Let’s not rush it,
”
I groaned to myself
and resumed my walk
.

Across the street from the cemetery a large moving van had pulled into one of the many white Victorian’s driveways and was being unloaded
.
“Looks like new neighbors,
” I mused and crossed
the street staying on Elm
.
Two more blocks
down and I was at Cami’s house
.
I pulled out my
cell phone and checked the time;
only nine
o’clock
.
I sighed
and figured I might
as well see if she’s up yet
.
I dialed her cell phone rather than knocking on the door.

She answered on the third ring
.
“Hello?” s
he croaked into the phone
.

“Sorry
,
Cam
. I
t’s
Chell
. D
id I wake you?” I asked sheepishly
.

“
Chell
? Didn’t expect to hear from you for a couple of more hours
.
What’s up?” she asked
.

“Well actually I’m outside your house
. C
an you come let me in?”

“Outside…w
hat
,
did you sleep walk here?
”
She
giggled
.

“
Haha
, very funny
.
Please let me in,
”
I begged as I leaned against t
he railing to her front porch.
God, only
nine
and the heat was already becoming oppressive.

“Be right down,” she chirped a
nd
hung up
.
Just like Cami to be woken out of a sound sleep by a phone call and still be in a great mood
.
A second later she swung open the front door in her
red plaid boxer shorts and black tank top with her blond
e
hair in a tangled disarray
.
“Come in, Mom and Dad already left for work
.
There’s cereal in the kitchen,
”
s
he called over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs back to her bedroom
.

“I’m not hungry,” I told her
,
as I followed her into her bedroom
.
I sat down on the edge of her neon swirled bedspread and watched her dart around her room
.
She excitedly prattled on and on as she brushed her hair and got dressed.

“This year is going to be different
!
’” Cami proclaimed
.
“We are going to get invited to a party, we are going to go to that party, we are going to find boyfriends, and take them to prom.
”

“Sounds like you have your mission statement all figured out for senior year, and shockingly no mention of college applications or community service
,
’” I teased
.

She glanced over her sho
ulder and rolled her eyes at me.
 
“Yeah
,
I know that stuff
’
s important too, but I want this year to be memorable
.
I don’t want to look back one day and feel like I missed out,
ya
know?”

“I know
…
I know
…
”
I
muttered
.

“I’m glad you came over early,” Cami chirped
.
“Now we have more time for shopping!
”

Admittedly I didn
’
t hate shopping, but I didn
’
t think it was the marathon sport that Cami did
.
The girl could spend three consecutive hours in a shoe store
.
I put on my happy face.
“Fine, but remember some of us have to take breaks from shopping for
,
like
,
food and water and bathroom breaks.
”

“Poor
Chell
her friend is going to tor
ture her to death with shopping,
”
Cami mocked
,
throwing her hand to her forehead
and
pretending to swoon
.

The day turned out to be nice
.
Cami drove to the mall
, since she had a car
and I didn’t
.
Granted her car was an old station wagon with wood paneling, but hey it got us where we needed to go
.
The mall was
air-conditioned
and a safe haven
from the scorching outside heat
.
I managed to find some cute jeans on sale, and a pair of new sneakers
.
Cami teased me that I would go
to my first job interview in jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt, but hey you find something you like
and
stick with it
.
She bought some cute strappy sandals
,
skirts
,
and tops
.
The skirts were dangerously short, but Cami had the legs for them
.
We
finished the day in the beauty salon
.
Cami had gotten this crazy idea to put hot pink streaks in her blonde hair
.
She attempted to get me to do the same, but I held her at bay
.
I ended up getting my shoulder length auburn hair cut with long layers
. R
ebellious
,
I know
.
Cami went through with the hot pink highlights, and I have to admit she pulled it off
.
Gotta
give it to the girl
,
she’s not afraid of color.

After stopping at the pizzeria for a slice. Cami dropped me off at home and I stumbled inside with my bags
.
Dad wasn’t home from work yet, and
since it didn’t get dark till eight
, he probably wouldn’t be back
unti
l then
.
I walked through the living room, pass
ing
my mother on the couch
.
She was watching some ridiculous reality show and had it turned up far t
o
o loud
.
If she noticed me she didn’t say anything
.
I dropped my bags onto my bed and began to put my treasures away
.
Nothing like some new clothes to make going back to school
seem
not so bad
.