Becoming the Luna

I'm floating in between the dreamworld and the waking one, that point when you're still asleep but you're aware that you're asleep without waking up.

"Hayden!" Shana's voice shatters it, her voice is close to my ears and I wonder if she has gotten back in the backseat with me. "Hayden! We're here! Oh my God! It's so huge, you're like the height of a spoon, why would your grandmother buy you a literal mansion just for a beach house…"

I just place both hands over my eyes and suppress a small groan, I think I'm still sitting on Virgil because well, it's pretty obvious.

"Sleep well?" Virgil's raspy voice makes my eyes fly open, my head is still resting on his chest so I open my eyes to see Apple rolling around on her blankets.

"Yeah." I mumble, closing my eyes briefly when he kisses my curls, I actually did because somehow I slept through the entire journey without even waking up once.

"Well are you coming out or not?" Shana comes to our side of the window to say, she's dressed in a breezy white sundress and gigantic designer sunglasses on her face and I'm grateful for the amount of spacing in between each beach house because she looks ridiculous.

"We are." I murmur, rubbing my eyes. How do legs work again?

Somehow, I get off Virgil and remember to carry my cat too, the interior of the beach house is as impressive as the exterior and even though I've been here before, the novelty of the place still hits hard, maybe it's because I come to find Dale and Shana frozen at the door with their mouths hanging low.

The entire far wall of the living room is made of glass to give a clear view of the beach but this isn't the main beach because people rarely ever wander this far so it's sort of like a private beach.

The view from the living area is amazing with 180 degree vistas of  fields and also lets you enjoy the view of the beach.

"I call dibs on the master bedroom!" Shana exclaims as soon as Virgil makes it inside too and shuts the door.

I roll my eyes as she starts flying up the stairs. "It's a vacation house, Shana, every bedroom is a master bedroom."

She stops so suddenly that I'm scared she'll lose her footing and come tumbling down. "Oh wow, really!?" She leans over the banister, her pink hair hanging down.

I smile at her excitement. "Yes, really."

We all make our way up the stairs, the summer break was finally here and I couldn't help the excitement streaking through me.

Settling down took was less time than I had expected, maybe because Shana kept insisting that we didn't need too many clothes because we would be going shopping and barely half an hour later, I'm just standing and staring at my way too large room and wondering what to do with myself, I didn't need to think too hard though.

"Hayden." My door swings open and I turn around to see Dale grinning at me, we're all wearing shorts and t-shirts and I had a feeling that would be the dress theme of our entire vacation. "Shana said to come out to the patio for drinks."

I blink at this. "Um, sure? I'll be right down."

I shake my head at Shana's antics, going to the bathroom to wash my face.

I try to ignore the too much space and too many mirrors but it's not that easy, I'm grateful I don't have a phobia for bathrooms, at least not private ones because there's no way I'm entering another public bathroom all by myself.

I make my way down the stairs and loud laughter filters in. "What's so funny?" I ask curiously, stepping into the lavish patio.

Lounge chairs are scattered everywhere, all done in shades of white and soft cream in harmony with the house's paint job.

Shana is lying down on one of the lounge chairs in a bikini and another pair of oversized sunglasses, a silk robe to protect her skin.

I just settle down on a chair in between Dale and Virgil, a suspicious drink in front of me. "Is there alcohol in this?" I ask, already taking a tentative sip.

Dale is just staring at me in confusion. "But you've already tasted it."

"Well is there?" I insist, taking another careful sip.

"No." Virgil replies, laughter evident in his voice. "We're going to the beach soon."

I pause my drink on its way to my mouth. "The main beach?"

"Not yet, there's no way we're going to the main beach without shopping first." Shana says importantly, getting up and taking her robe and sunglasses off. "I hope you're all wearing your swim trunks under your clothes because the last person to get to the beach is cooking lunch!" She announces, taking off across the patio and running down the stairs that lead to a small garden.

It takes me a couple milliseconds to snap out of my shock but it takes Virgil and Dale longer so luckily I manage to make it in time.

Shana is already dancing in the sand, a wide, happy smile on her face.

"We should drown you." I pant with my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath.

Dale agrees enthusiastically, being the last to make it to the white expanse of sand, it's just early afternoon so the sun isn't unbearably hot and the ocean is still very calm.

Shana catches onto our plans quickly and darts off across the sand, giggles and taunts escaping her.

Dale was actually a really good cook which was very surprising but he just looked smug about it, we spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing, from hide and seek which everyone keeps winning but me and a mini karaoke, lucky we don't have neighbors or Shana screaming Panic at the disco's, 'High hopes' at the top of her lungs would have gotten us arrested for noise pollution.

The sun sets and we all pile up in my bedroom, watching movies. The bed is wide enough to contain everyone comfortably and it's no surprise that we all end up in my room, I guess old habits are really hard to break.

I don't remember falling asleep but I definitely remember waking up to my mom's harried voice.

I blink open my eyes slowly, frowning in confusion. What is my mom doing here? Or am I still fast asleep.

"Hayden, darling I can't believe I almost forgot."  She says with worry in her wide grey eyes, her brown hair wild like she had driven all night to get here.

"W-What?" I mumble, my brain hasn't woken up yet, hell! Most of my body is still asleep so it takes a while for me to notice that Virgil and Dale are wrapped around me again and I'm… shirtless?

I groan, falling back on the bed. "Mom? Why for heaven's sake are you here?" I pause to glance at the clock on a side table. "At five in the fucking am?"

Virgil wakes up first and also blinks myopically, none of us slept early last night. "What the fuck, Renee?" He rasps, sitting up quickly like he's worried about my mom finding him wrapped around her half naked son but my mom doesn't even act like she notices.

"We were supposed to get you checked at Doctor Rizha's." She says nervously, wringing her hands. "And I totally forgot, with so much going on I can't believe I forgot, I didn't even ask or remember, oh my goodness! I'm a horrible mother."

I just stare at her, too shocked to formulate a reply for a couple seconds. "Excuse me what?"

"What the fuck is going on?" Dale's unhappy voice grates out, he doesn't even bother to look up, content to bury his face in my bare tummy.

Shana is the only one still fast asleep and I pray she remains that way, the last thing I needed was for her to cannonball into this crazy conversation.

"Why are we meeting you at Grammy's place tomorrow then?" I ask, beyond confused.

My mom pauses like she hadn't considered that. "Because I miss you?" She says, the 'duh' obvious in her tone. "We're going to see Rizha at the hospital today, I've already placed an appointment with her by nine am." As she's talking, she goes over to the windows and flings open the curtains. 

A collective groan sweeps through the crowded bed, I thought we left your mom in Pine Creek." Dale groans, hiding his face deeper in my neck.

I just sprawl on the bed in frustration. "I thought I did too." I mumble forlornly. "Mom, it's too early for this."

She just ignores me and moves on to put on all the lights, the sun hasn't risen yet so it's still pretty dark out and this doesn't seem to serve her purpose so instead she decides to put on the one hundred and one lights in the bedroom.

Who puts so many fucking bulbs in a bedroom?

Another collective groan, this time around Shana's groan is the loudest.

"Who wants to lose their arms?" She threatens in a dark voice.

"Hi, Shana, I need you to help me get Hayden dressed for his doctor's appointment." My mom says with high doses of motivation.

"Are you drunk, Renee?" Shana asks unhappily. "It's fucking five in the morning, there's no doctor walking around so please fix this room and go paint your nails or something." She orders with her adult voice.

My mom freezes. "Oh wow, grumpy much." My mom murmurs, putting all of the lights back on. "Fine, I know none of you missed me so I'll just take my bothersome self and go paint my nails or something." She mutters.

I just shake my head with a smile, my mom was a real piece of work.