I didn't really want to spend my summer break at my grandma's house by the pier in a whole 'nother state, but here I was.
June 1st, 2016
The air smelled like a combination of dead fish and sea water, truly not the best scent around if you asked me.
I stood in front of the old door, debating if I should just run away or man up.
I decided on the latter and knocked on the old wooden door, standing there awkwardly before it creaked open. (It sounded like all those doors you'd see in a crappy horror movie.)
"Hey, Nana," I said, forcing my voice to be cheerful.
“Owen! My sweet baby, come here and let me see you!”
My grandmother Vivian was like those nice old women you'd see in a retirement home commercial, not the most understanding person on the planet, but still nice in her own way.
She grabbed my face with her dry hands and squished my cheeks like I was still five.
“It’s so good to see you, baby boy.”
“Yeah. You too, Nana.”
God, why did I have to get sent here?
---
“Pack your stuff, you're going to spend the summer at your grandma's house.”
“What? Why!?”
I had just been lazing around in my room when she barged in without knocking.
“Why, why!?” My mom threw her hands up in an exasperated manner. “Owen, I cannot with you anymore. You barely passed any of your classes, and you keep causing trouble even in summer, so pack your bags.”
She made her way across my room, slamming my wardrobe doors open before shoving clothes into my blue traveling bag.
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“So what? I'm just going to be exiled to spend the whole summer in the middle of nowhere!”
She didn't even look up, just kept shoving clothes into the bag.
“It's not nowhere, Owen. It's your grandmother's house.”
“Same thing. She lives in the middle of fucking nowhere!”
“Don't you dare raise your voice at me, young man!”
She looked tired, like she hadn't slept in the last couple of days. The tension between us was thick before she let out a deep sigh, running her hands over her face.
“Look, I get it. You really don't want to be moved from where you spent summer your entire life,” she said, placing her hand on my cheek, using her other hand to brush away the hair covering my eyes.
“But please, Owen, I haven't yet healed from the C-section. I really don't need any stress right now.”
Maybe it was the way she sounded like she was about to cry or the tired look in her eyes, but I agreed and decided to leave for the Pier, and that's how I found myself here, sitting in my grandma's outdated kitchen.
“So, did you eat anything before leaving?” Her voice sounded so cheerful. How great must it be living here as an old person for her to be this cheerful.
“No, Nana.”
“Perfect! I got a fish pie in the oven right now. Oh, you'll absolutely love it.”
A fish what?
Humming sweetly, she brought out what looked to be a pie made with fish and potatoes. Blegh. Absolutely not!
“I think I'm good, Nana. I'll just order a pizza or something.”
She had this look in her eyes that was basically saying, sit back down and eat the damn pie.
She placed a plate in front of me and I held my fork, looking at the mushy concoction on the table, contemplating if I should eat it and move on with my life or just reject it completely.
My survival instincts won over, so fish pie is not happening. Not now nor ever.
“Thanks, Nana, but I really think I'd go for a pizza right now.”
She looked a bit disappointed, which made me feel a bit bad, but still, she was planning an attempted murder with that dish. What did she expect me to do?
She gave me her phone and a 20 to order a pizza, and their most popular topping was anchovies. Anchovies!? Can you believe that?
What's with this town and fish?
The pizza guy showed up twenty minutes later, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. I paid him, grabbed the box, and escaped to the backyard before Nana could try convincing me to “just taste a little bite” of her fish concoction.
I laid down in the backyard with 2 slices on my plate, watching the clouds and picking off the anchovies before eating the pizza.
And that's when I noticed her.
A black-haired girl with wide eyes watching me over the fence. A little creepy, but whatever.
“Hey, you”
She flinched and before I could finish she ducked behind the fence. I didn't see her pop up again, so she must have gone home.
So this town did have other kids, huh?
What a weird girl.
I waited a bit to see if she'd pop back up, but she didn't.
Great. On top of being in an unknown town, I'm now haunted by creepy backyard girls.
I picked off another anchovy from the pizza before biting into it, cringing at the fishy taste, but seriously, what kind of town makes anchovies their most popular topping on a pizza?
Just another thing to hate about this town.
