Life's a Party

Chapter 4

It was dusk when Steve turned into a long driveway lined with all kinds of beautiful flowers.

The driveway led up to a large chrome door, as bright as the sun. The rest of the wooden house was a sky blue colour; the only interruptions in the shade were the startlingly red shutters. The sloping roof was a chocolate brown and had two tiny white windows on it.

The thing that caught my attention though, was the wooden verandah that ran around the whole house. It was about two feet high and five feet wide. The wood had a worn look to it, like it had been used for years.

Steve opened the door and said, "Welcome to our humble abode," with a deep British accent and a grand flourish of his arm, bowing down low like a butler.

Chuckling at his antics, we walked past him and into the house, dropping our bags at the front door.

Despite my exhaustion, I couldn't help looking around in fascination at the interior of the house. Directly opposite the front door, there was a set of French Windows that led to the verandah at the back and further out onto the beach.
Next to them, an elegant white staircase led upstairs. At the back of the room, on the left of the front door and tucked next to the stairs, there was a comfy looking leather couch with the television across it on the wall and two grandpa chairs on either side. A small coffee table sat on the hand-woven rug in the middle of the room.

It suddenly struck me, "It's a beach property?!" I ran to the doors and flung them open, inhaling the fresh, salty air. About five hundred metres away, the waves crashed on the white sand while the wind danced freely on the water.

"Yes honey, it's a beach property, but you can go out there only tomorrow, the tide is too high right now. Go freshen up; I'll whip you up something to eat."

Groaning I followed Steve up the stairs, dragging my suitcase behind me. The stairs opened out into a hallway with doors on either side.

Steve pointed out the rooms as we went and stopped at one, telling Taylor that it was her room. She flounced onto the bed and squealed, Steve and I flinching at the sound and hurrying off, strongly assuming that she liked her new room.

Turning around, Steve led me back in the direction of the staircase, but when we got to it, he climbed up another flight of steep stairs I hadn't seen in the gloom. It was very narrow and smelled kind of musty, like it hadn't been used for a long time.

"Are you taking me to the torture room?" I jokingly asked.

"Ha-ha, no I'm not. We thought you'd like to use the attic room. It hasn't been used before, but it's a very cozy room. Not too big, not too small. It also has the best view of the beach."

They wanted me to stay in the attic room? That meant I could be a little away from the common din of the house when I wanted some time to myself, and I always wanted an attic room. The idea of having a sloping roof as the top of my room was something I always found very appealing. The best view of the beach was just the cherry on the top.

"Of course that's okay with me! I've always wanted to stay in an attic room!"

"Oh, that's great then."

Steve turned the knob and pushed the door open. The door that sounded like an old man's bones grating together.

He cringed. "Sorry about that. It hasn't been used much before, so it needs to be oiled." Then he handed me my room key and made his exit, leaving me with my new room.

The first thing I did was dump my bags down and stride towards the large windows on the left wall before throwing them open, letting in some light and revealing the beach. It truly was breathtaking. After that, I went back and stood in front of the closed door and surveyed my new room.

Opposite the large windows, on the right wall, there was a medium sized bed covered with a bright patchwork quilt and fluffy, white pillows. There were two more windows on the wall opposite the door and a simple, wooden desk and chair tucked into the corner opposite the bed. Next to the bed sat a polished chest of drawers with a cute lamp on it. There was another door on the same wall as the room door, which I assumed led to the bathroom. On the other side of the bed was a full length mirror with a wooden frame.

Hmm...I loved it!
It was scarcely decorated, so I could set it up the way I pleased.

I removed a soft pair of pyjamas from my suitcase, deciding it was not worth the trouble to unpack now. Why do it now if I could just do it tomorrow?

                                              ***************
Dinner was a simple affair. Aunt Becky had made spinach and cheese lasagna with garlic bread.

The kitchen was lively as the four of us ardently spoke across the table.

After we were all full and the dishes were done, we migrated to the living room and switched on the TV for a while.

That's when the debates started. There was a football match going on, and as I learnt, Aunt Becky and Steve were also hardcore football fans like Taylor and I. As it turned out, Steve's and my favourite team was playing against Aunt Becky's and Taylor's favourite team.
We teamed up and pointed out why our team was better than the other. Soon everyone was engaged in a friendly argument, throwing mild insults at the opponent team.

After that calmed down, we settled back in our seats to watch the game but soon I could feel my eyelids drooping. As tempting as it was to stay up and see who wins, the game seemed to be dragging and I couldn't deny that I was absolutely and thoroughly exhausted.

I excused myself and half walked, half crawled up the stairs to my room and dropped onto the soft mattress.

Soon I entered a world that was entirely my own, where I flew over the highest cloud and swam in the deepest ocean.
*
Hi guys!
So that was chapter four! I know, I know, it was kind of boring, but it had to be done. Hey, y'all had to know what the house looked like!

Did anyone notice that the last part is similar to what Dumbledore says to Snape about Harry in Prisoner of Azkaban? Comment if you did! ;)

Vote, comment, and make my day!
-Mishi