#dani ird

Crisp and clean, with the windows rolled down the air was perfect. Summer was ending and it was quickly heading into Fall. The ruckus from the U-haul, attached to her Uncle Fred's Ram Truck, stirred her out of her daydreaming. Soon it would be Halloween, she couldn't wait, she'd been planning her costume for a few months now and was ready to get it going.

“So...a step-dad and a step-sister? You must be ready to rocket out of here, huh?” He tried to make conversation, disturbing her daydreaming once again.

“It won't be so bad, I like the idea of having a younger sibling!”

“You are her older sibling by two weeks, kid, she's going to be just as bossy as you are.”

“Rude, Uncle Fred, rude!” She returned her gaze outward, the window down, the breeze fluttering through her blonde hair...she was ready. This was a new city, only one town over from her old city, so she could still see her friends. But she had already given up hope on that. She was going to turn over a new leaf, be a great daughter, a great sister.

“I mean, you are a little...” Fred let his wrist fall limp and made a face, and she shoved him, which probably wasn't safe while driving. “We don't need a video about you and your step-sister getting too close, Y'know?”

“No, Uncle Fred, I don't know, what are you talking about?”

“Y'know...I'm stuck step-bro?”

“I don't understand, does that mean something?” She liked watching him get flustered, because she completely knew what he was referring to, but refused to fall into his weird games.

“N-nevermind! You're like, what, fourteen now? You probably don't even know what I'm talking about, forget about it, kiddo.” She watched as his face grew redder and redder, she knew his blood pressure was probably through the roof, but she didn't really care. Uncle Fred was always weird with her, it made her uncomfortable, but her mom was at the Studio today, so all the moving was being done by Fred. She had no choice but to ride with him, but if he thought he could make her seem uncomfortable? Well, he was in for a long ride.

No, no, no, Macie May...you said you were a changed woman, new city new life! Remember?!

They drove in silence for the next hour, they got stuck in accident traffic, and she glanced over at the wreckage and wondered if her new step-sister and step-father were in that car. She loved the idea of a big family, but she had already lived too much “family life” to really get too excited. Her mom moving in with her fiance had been a shock, and a relief that Macie May was coming along too. But what if she didn't like her new step-father?

“He better not act all superior and fathery when I get there, I'm not down for that.” She didn't realize she'd said it, but her uncle hummed in agreement.

“I hear he's a good man, I've met him a few times, but not enough time to get to know him, see if he's even a good match for Dawn -I mean, your mom.”

“You can call her by her name, you know. She's not gonna be mad that you used her name...” Macie hated how her uncle always had to correct himself and state that she was her mother. She knew that already!

“Still, it's impolite, you know?” He smiled and side glanced at her, before the GPS chimed in and let them know it was one turn until they were at the new house. New house, new family, new school, new Macie May. She was like a puppy, giddy and fidgety. The house coming into view was way nicer than the trailer her mom, dad, and her had lived in. And then that hope was shattered because he drove right by that house and all the way down to the end of the cul-de-sac. There stood a plain gray house, a few bushes out front.

It was pretty small, honestly, and she couldn't hide the disappointment in her disgruntled sighs.

“I know kiddo, but hey! At least you're out of that awful city and into a nice suburb?”

“Sure, whatever.” She glanced out the window as Fred exited the car and a man walked out of the house, beaming. They shook hands, bumped shoulders, and then Fred put his arm around her new step-father and led him to the truck. Macie May slunk down in her seat, not ready to really see him yet. She'd really not met him that much in the time that her mom had been dating him, she hoped he wasn't a creep.

“Come on out, Mace! Say hi to your new dad.” Fred was making things so much worse. She begrudgingly exited the truck, slamming the door so hard Fred cringed.

“You must be miss Macie May, it's nice to have you here, welcome home! I hope you love it here!” John was really nice, no weird jokes, but something felt false about him, the urge to needle and nitpick was rising, but she swore she was a new person!

“I'm excited to see my room, and get set up!” She beamed at him, something she practiced in the mirror for weeks before coming here. She had to be polite, good mannered.

“We're excited too! Just got here an hour ago! Frederick and I will start unloading the U-haul, why don't you go up to your room, get a scope of the place!” John, again, was really too nice. This had to be a trick, he was being nice and then after he let her get comfortable around him he'd turn mean, It always happened that way. She gave a small curtsy and grabbed her backpack, heading inside. Small was an understatement, The kitchen had one counter top to work with, a single sink, and bar stools pulled up to the counter. There was no room for an actual table, and come to think of it, that's probably why her mother sold it before the move. Her mother had loved that table, it was an antique, and she ended up letting it go for $20 final sale at the garage sale they'd had last week.

The living room was a bit better, a large couch and two recliners faced a glorious tv, it was huge! She smiled, and turned a corner in the living room to find an empty room. So cool! Was this her room?! Right off the living room so she could sneak out and watch cryptid documentaries at 3 am! The room was spacious, with a few boxes on a lone desk. Were these gifts from John? She opened one of the boxes and found a modem for internet, strange. She opened another and found multiple engineering textbooks. Curious.

“This isn't your room.” She nearly screamed and jumped out of her skin. How had she gotten behind her so quietly?!

“Oh...okay! Is my room upstairs then?” She put on her best smile.

“Yes, and don't do that, I can't stand fake people.” The girl grimaced at her, the NERVE! Her hair was black, straight, and had blunt bangs and ended abruptly below her ears.

“I'm not being fake, I'm genuinely excited to be here! So my room is upstairs! Would you mind showing me?” She held out her hand to the girl, a peace offering, a greeting. The girl slapped her hand away, her own hand with medium length stiletto nails, black of course! The old Macie May would have loved that.

“Come on then.” She said monotonously, leading the way up the stairs. Macie was so excited to have her own space to enjoy and decorate. They reached the landing and the door immediately on the right was where this strange girl led her.

Her smile immediately dropped. It was a decent sized room, two desks on opposite walls, with the center back wall displaying a bunk bed.

“Wha-”

“I've already claimed the bottom bunk, so... sorry not sorry loser.” The girl sat on her part of the bed and hit a remote, turning her speakers on and blasting emo music into the whole room...probably the whole house! She hated this girl, immediately. She stomped over and turned the volume down on the speaker manually, but every time she did, the other girl just used her remote to turn it up even louder. Macie May tried to get a word in, understand what was going on here. She was supposed to be good, be nice, be cordial! But before she knew it, in the blink of an eye, the cord for the speakers was in her hand, unplugged.

“Hold on just a second...I must be losing it...are we sharing this bedroom?” She could feel her facade cracking under the pressure. She had to hold it together!

“Yep...we are. I was just as surprised as you...and pissed...but since I got here first I already set up my desk, put up my favorite posters, and made my bed.” It was the first not-condescending statement the girl had made, so Macie May felt like she might have a chance to keep her cool. What was surprising her was how unaffected this girl was at losing her music. It's like she didn't even care. “Name's Melvadine, family name, don't worry about it. You call me Dean, got it?”

“Dean, hi! I'm Macie May! It's nice to meet you!” She held out her hand and took Dean's, forcing her into a handshake. Dean looked grossed out, and a part of Macie May was happy to see her squirm. Dean reclaimed her hand and immediately put a glob of hand sanitizer in the palm, rubbing vigorously.

“Why are you like this?! I didn't agree to any touching! If you're like this all the time we are going to have to establish a hierarchy around here.”

“And where, exactly, are you expecting to be...Melvadine?” It snuck out. She quickly stood up stock straight and just walked out of the room. On the other side, down the hall a ways, was a master bedroom, so that was where her mom and Dean's dad were going to be...gross. She looked around and realized that at the very end of the hallway was a singular bathroom. The master bedroom had a bathroom attached, but it looked as though Dean and Macie May would have to SHARE A BATHROOM?!

“YOU'VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!”

“Aha...so-” Dean started her out of her downward spiral and she snapped around so fast she thought her head would fly off. Dean smiled...darkly. “You're not all pretty princess...you can be mean as well?”

“NO I'M A PERFECTLY NORMAL TEENAGE GIRL!” Macie May was flustered, she had tried so hard to be the perfect child, no problems, no yelling...but this girl had just snatched it out of her and put it in a parade.

“Normal isn't the word to describe you...but...it's not the way to describe me either. So maybe this won't be so awful after all...” Dean smirked, and Macie May didn't know if she should feel relieved, or worried...her fight or flight was MIA.

“Thanks? I guess?”

“Hey girls! Looks like you two are getting along great!” Fred came up the stairs with an armful of boxes, and Macie May rushed over to help him, taking her most prized box off the top. “Oh wow! So spacious! And you each have your own desks! That's so fun!”

“I guess...” Both girls said under their breath, and Fred looked back and forth between them...set down the boxes gently, and backed out of the room. “Have fun decorating you guys!” She'd never heard a man retreat down the stairs so quickly. Macie Mae walked over to her side of the room, where it was just a desk and a boring desk chair. She set her box down and opened it, carefully pulling things out. The first thing was a small furby plush, and this intrigued Dean, who walked over to pick it up.

“Touch my things and you're-” She stopped herself, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then smiled. “Please don't touch my things, thank you.” She returned to her work, unboxing more furby plushies, some sensory toys, and then, her prized possession...her laptop. It was about three years old, but it was her ride or die tech. She plugged it in, running the cord behind the desk, and opened her laptop. She glared at Dean, who was merely observing her at this point, but still not keeping enough distance for Macie May's liking. She opened her laptop, glared at Dean again, and the girl sighed loudly and looked away while Macie May put in her password. She immediately opened up her music player and started playing Lo-Fi songs. She cautiously looked over at Dean, who had her eyes still closed, but was bobbing her head a bit to the beat.

“Not bad, Mary.”

“It's Macie May-”

“Or should I call you Bloody Mary...since you have a bit of spice to you.” Dean smirked again and Macie May hated it. Dean walked over to her phone, discarded on her bed. She then travelled over to her desk and pulled a pair of headphones out of the drawer. She then started really bopping and Macie May realized she had put her music on the headphones instead of her speakers. Respect. Maybe this could work out after all.

✨💫⭐️Author’s Note⭐️💫✨