The Girl Across the Street

The Girl Across the Street 10

We manage to make it upstairs without any interrogations from my mother but as we pass Cassidy's room she shouts, "Dylan!" And emerges from her room, just as I try to speed Emma up. My handle is on the door as Cassidy walks over.

She turns to Emma. "Hey, you're that girl from across the street, that just moved in, right?" Emma nods, a questioning look on her face. She has never seen my sister before in her life, yet Cassidy already knows exactly who she is."I saw you leaving your house for school yesterday and this morning." she explains briefly before sticking her hand out towards Emma. "Cassidy Barnes, pleased to finally meet you. By the way, your jeans, very cute. I should get a pair of purple jeans. I never thought that until just now you know. I've never really seen anyone else aside from the girls in fashion magazines that wear them. Around here it's mostly just boring denim. I can tell you are different. I like that." Cassidy decides, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back to reinspect Emma. She nods again, confirming her decision. Cassidy turns to me. "Don't let her end up like Kate." She instructs before spinning on her heel and striding back into her bedroom.

I open my door for Emma and show her into my room. She is trying desperately to contain her giggles. "You know, I don't think I've ever met a thirteen year old so strong minded and frank. She certainly must be a handful."

I nod. "You have no idea. And you know, most of the time, she isn't half bad." Emma nods, laughing. "Do you have any siblings?"

She sobers up quickly. "Yes. I have a half brother. He was just born last month or so. My dad left my mom officially two months ago. It's pathetic. Especially because he hid it from us until right before he left. The last thing he said to us was, 'oh, just to let you know, Rosalie is eight months pregnant. I don't need you to live a happy life.' And he sped off down the street. My mom fled inside, hysterical, but I stayed on the front lawn watching. I watched his car until it turned the corner, I watched it even after that. All that night, even after I left the sidewalk, I watched him leave over and over in my mind, almost like it was TiVo'd into my brain. To this day, I remember the back of his car, slowly getting smaller before vanishing around that corner."

"Oh wow. That must be horrible. I can't imagine having the image of someone I love leaving me for good. I'm so sorry Emma."

"I have another brother." She says, without acknowledging what I said. "His name is Charlie. He lives in Virginia, he is twenty one. I haven't seen or heard from him in a while, maybe a few months or so. He was supposed to visit all of December. He was supposed to be here for his Christmas break. He never came. He isn't here. I know he has the address. My mom sent it to him in an email last week. She told him we would be here and could certainly use his strong arms to help us move in but there was no reply."

            "Well I'm sure you will hear something soon. He wouldn't just abandon you guys." I reassure her.

            "Yeah, that's true. It's just so unlike him." She whispers. "Anyway, let's get started on homework like your mom suggested."

            "Alright, um, how about the French homework? We have to do those exercises from the textbook, right?"

            Emma nods and we work on homework for the next hour.

            At 5:45, we finish our homework and head down to go and help my mom in the kitchen. The smell of tomato sauce and garlic wafts up from downstairs.

            When we get into the kitchen, we take deep breaths, savoring the smell. My mom looks up and smiles. "Hello you two! Did you get hungry?"

            "No ma'am, we came down to help with dinner." Emma answers, washing her hands in the sink. "So what can we do for you?"

            "Well first you can drop this 'ma'am' business. Call me Melissa. And you can rinse off the lettuce from the refrigerator, bottom drawer on the right. And Dylan, grab me the salad bowl from the cabinet,you know where it is." I nod and retrieve the bowl while Emma sticks her head into the fridge and gets the lettuce from the drawer as my mom instructed. My mom is now pouring the pasta into the pot of boiling water. I put the salad bowl on the table then go over to the stove to stir the sauce.