High Tide

Chapter 3 [Long Hot Summer]

Chapter 3

Long Hot Summer

Avery didn't sleep well that first night with the Tanners.

Oddly enough, it was the quietness of the night that made her feel restless and anxious. She tossed and turned, falling in and out of an uneasy sleep plagued by weird, hazy dreams. She tried to grasp at them when she awoke, but as dreams often are, they became harder and harder to remember the more she thought about them.

Finally the sky started to lighten. When the clock on her phone read 6:30, she hopped out of bed and tip-toed into the bathroom to relieve herself.

On her way back, she saw that her sister's bedroom door was ajar so she poked her head inside. The younger girl was fast asleep in the fetal position, her arms wrapped tightly around the stuffed polar bear Charlie and Lydia had gotten for her.

Running her fingers through her hair, Avery stifled a yawn and returned to her room. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she shut the door and fell rather ungracefully back onto her bed, staring up at the spinning ceiling fan...

'Round and 'round it went... never stopping... like her brain...

She tried to go back to sleep, but as the sky grew considerably lighter and the sun started poking through her half-closed blind, she decided her attempts were futile. She went and started up her lap top, figuring she could check her Facebook... not that she expected a lot of activity on her feed since she'd last checked it at around eleven last night.

She spent the next few minutes staring at her unzipped suitcase, which she had yet to unpack. She wanted to do it, she really did, but at the same time she knew that by unpacking her things, the Tanner house would start to feel more and more like home.

She couldn't feel that way about this place just yet. Things were okay now, but it wouldn't last. It never did.

It was almost twenty minutes past seven when she closed her lap top, having heard a noise coming from the hallway just outside her door. She waited a few minutes longer before sneaking towards the stairs and straining her ear. She heard the refrigerator close, and then caught the intoxicating aroma of fresh coffee. She sighed with relief.

Someone was awake. Good. She really didn't want to be the first one up and about.

She crept downstairs and made her way to the kitchen; although she knew it was irrational and stupid, she still couldn't help but feel oddly like a thief that didn't want to be seen, or an alien that didn't belong.

"Good mornin'," Charlie's voice came from out of nowhere, startling her. She whirled around in the dim light of morning and spotted his silhouette in front of the patio door, his face turned towards her. "You're up early. How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Not too bad I guess," she shrugged. He walked towards her and leaned against the marble countertop, a steaming cup of coffee in his left hand.

She noticed he was dressed in his police uniform, which only managed to make him look even bigger and more intimidating than he already was. She decided it was a good thing; the bad guys probably thought twice before messing with him.

"Are you working?" she asked, but then decided that was a really dumb question.

"Yeah, and it'll be a long one... it's supposed to hit ninety-three degrees this afternoon," he sighed. "You got any plans for today?" he asked conversationally.