"are we close?" corrine asked as she rested her head on ansel's shoulder, "i haven't peed since we left the airport."
"i picked you all up from the airport thirty-two minutes ago!" dad said, looking down at his wrist-watch to be exact. "we're almost there, patience bambina."
mom smiled at my dad from the passenger seat before turning to smile at us, "look familiar yet?"
it would if we were forty-three hours away from here, mom.
"are we still staying in pines?" i asked, watching outside the car window. pines is where we lived previously, five minutes down the road from mattia.
"yep!" mom said giddily, "it's a surprise for all of us. your dad wanted to keep us in the dark so we can feel better about the move."
dad nodded in agreement and exited off the highway, he began to drive towards our old neighborhood. we all watched out the windows attentively, except dad of course. dad took a final turn into the entrance of the neighborhood, trees towering over us as we drove.
"that's where mattia lives." ansel said pointing to the two storied house, as we drove by. my heart dropped. thankfully, the driveway was empty so mom didn't suggest stopping by. we continued driving to the back end of the quarter, where the nicer houses were located. mom had a wide grin on her face as she watched the houses go along. before we left to california, mom and i would drive around the quarter often to look at the houses she wished we lived in - one house in particular always stood out to her. the car came to a halt in front of a lush green lawn in which a "SOLD" sign stood.
"elio," she began "you didn't!" dad handed the house key to her before she motioned everyone in the car to get out.
i opened the car door, and watched as mom happily ran up to the black front door. the house stood up two stories, with tall white exterior walls with large windows. ansel and i walked up the front steps and entered the house - it was beautiful. the house was partially furnished, besides the bedrooms upstairs and the couple of boxes scattered around the foyer. dad came out a week before we (mom, ansel, corrine, and i) did in order to meet the moving company and to set the house up so mom didn't have to.
"its beautiful, dad." i said, looking out the backyard windows.
"why don't you all go pick your rooms? three bedrooms upstairs, two down here." dad said.
"and where is your room?" ansel asked, laughing softly as he pointed at mom and dad.
"downstairs." dad raised an eyebrow at him.
"i'm going upstairs." ansel and i said in unison as we bolted upstairs, pushing each other along the way.
upstairs there were three en-suit bedrooms, one of the bedrooms had a balcony connected to it - of course i had to argue with ansel to get it, and of course i won. the room i chose was painted white, with a high ceiling and black glossed wood floors. after unpacking our furniture and the rest of our belongings in our new rooms, i decided to take a seat on my bed to wind down a bit after all that work. i sat scrolling on my phone when i heard the door bell ring. i sat up quickly before ansel came into my room, his face red and sweaty, with his large shirt tied on bottom.
"who's here?" he asked, placing his hand over his forehead, resting on the door frame. i shrugged before we both crept downstairs.
"myrna!" mom yelped as she opened her arms out, hiding the person at the front door.
"myrna?" ansel whispered to me with a confused look.
