Shooting the moon - Edward Cullen

chapter 2

Family time in the Jules residence.

As always, we gathered in the back room. My parents were squished on the large black sofa, whilst Ash was sprawled out on the floor, and I lounged legs up on the smaller couch. We were watching some melodramatic soap opera and laughing at the plot line.

"Ow, woman, watch where you put that elbow. Honestly, when you said cuddle up on the sofa, I thought that meant you would sit on the sofa, not me." Dad was ranting as usual about any affection Mum showed him.

Mum (Sandra) met my Dad (Jason) in her twenties. It took her seven years for her to get him down the aisle. Not that she ever complained. They seemed to just spend their time together travelling the world since they had no need to settle down. That was until I came along. Mum always claimed I was the one to finally tame my wild, 'rock star' father. I say rock star but that only extends to him playing guitar with a couple of guys in a band at the local pub and having his ear pierced.

Once I was born, Mum trained as a nurse after a string of casual office jobs. Dad took a little longer to figure out what he wanted to do, but he eventually went to university and became a HR manager for my uncle's company. He still complained about just doing 'hiring and firing', but we knew his complaints were just a front. It was just another mechanism he used to not reveal too much happy emotion, because he basically just liked playing the grumpy old man role.

All in all, our life was fairly average, four-bedroom house, one car, that kind of thing.

"Well, I'm off to bed," I yawned.

"Are you serious? It's only nine," Ash exclaimed as she lolled about on the fluffy, grey carpet.

"Deadly serious. Last night's late bedtime is catching up on me, so I think sleep would be a good idea." I was tired, but that wasn't the main reason for me going to bed so early. I liked the time to think. I say think but really it was dreaming.

"Getting old, Holls, losing your youthful stamina." Ash smirked and went back to watching the TV whilst I chuckled at her comment.

"Holls, darling, remember me and Dad are at work tomorrow, so could you get some dinner sorted for when we come in?" Mum said as she gave me a kiss on the head.

"Sure, but I can't promise that it'll be edible," I warned them.

They laughed; it was a known fact I wasn't the greatest cook. I mean, who manages to burn pasta?

"Night, Big Nose!" Dad shouted as I left the room. He was such a loving Dad. Sense the sarcasm. To be fair, he was always like that. I was usually Big Nose or Holly-berry, and Ash was Big Ears or Blondie.

Mum preferred to stick to more traditional pet names. The cute ones like poppet, darling, and sweetheart. She was always more conventional than Dad, and it fit the dynamic of our family well. Dad supplied the laughs, and Mum gave us more of the emotional support side of things.

I trudged upstairs towards my bedroom. I quickly turned on the bathroom light as I passed it so it wasn't as dark, because bathrooms freaked me out. The scary ghosts always lived in the bathroom, or people always got attacked in the bathroom. It was an irrational fear, but turning the bathroom light on was a habit I had gotten into from a young age. Ever since I walked into the living room whilst Dad was watching a film and accidentally saw the murder scene in Psycho.

Once I got into my room I knew it was colder than usual, but I thought nothing of it. The central heating in this house had been on the brink of breaking for the past few months now, so I had gotten used to the unreliable temperature.

Time for the beastie PJs, I thought happily.

They were the pyjamas I always wore in the winter, even if they looked ridiculous.