Terra's War

Meeting

I walked into the kitchen, the tile cold under my bare feet. We all walked to the table and began to eat.

"So, how are your grades, Ida? Doing good, I'm pretty sure," Grandpa asked between bites.

"Straight A's, Grandpa. As always. I can't let them dip below that," Both of my grandparents nodded, understanding immediately. After that it was just small talk, asking me how my first week of vacation was, who my friends were in school. Anything to avoid the topic of my parents.

After I washed my dishes, dried them and put them away I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. I slipped into my sneakers, zipped up a black sweater and walked out the door with a quick goodbye to my grandparents.

The cool dusk air greeted me immediately when I opened the door as I put my hands in my sweater's pockets. The slight breeze lifted my straight, black hair as the sky was being painted vibrant colors with the sun beginning to set. The leaves on the oak trees rustled and the birds chirped, creating a soft melody, giving me peace that I was never able to find back at home.

On my way back, I noticed a girl in the neighboring house. Her blonde hair stood out as she was tending to the flowers in the house's front yard garden. Her grass green eyes caught my hazel eyes as she waved at me with a smile. I returned it with my own.

When I got back to the house, Grandma was already at the doorway.

"Oh... are we going somewhere?" I asked. She looked at me smiling.

"Would you like to visit our neighbors? They have a graduated sophomore. One year above you," she said smiling. "Her name's Juniper. You two could be friends," she suggested.

I couldn't say no. Besides, I needed a friend. It would soon start to get lonely if I didn't have one over the summer. I took one of the three hair ties on my right wrist and tied my hair up in a quick ponytail and both of us walked out to the house next door.

The night had already started to settle in as Grandma rang the doorbell. When the door opened it revealed a woman and the girl that I saw out in the garden on my stroll around the neighborhood.

"Ah, Catherine. This is Idaline, my granddaughter. Ida, this is Juniper," Grandma Abby introduced me to the blonde haired girl.

"I remember you taking a walk outside here a few minutes before," Her kind green eyes held a brightness I haven't seen in a week.

"And same to you," I smiled. The girl turned to who I assumed to be was her mother.

"Hey, Mom. Do you think we can bring them inside?" the girl, Juniper, asked.

"If it's okay with Grandma Abby," She answered, warmly.

"Of course! I do need to talk to you Catherine. The topic from yesterday," Grandma Abby said vaguely.

"Right, of course! Come in, come in!"

***

The house was big and bright. There were white walls everywhere I turned. Juniper brought me up the stairs, her hand having a good grip on my wrist. She led me to her room. It was filled with lots of things. The walls were a soft green and I saw pictures of animals everywhere. She seemed to be a nature-y girl and then seeing a few plants on her balcony proved it.

I gawked at her room.

"Wow. I see we have a hardcore naturalist," I commented and sat on her bed.

"Yeah. I've been given a lot of awards for my science projects. And I've volunteered in a lot of community service and stuff like that. I'm a busy girl. But this summer, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to hangout sometime," She collapsed next to me.