12 February 2013
Everyone is dead silent as we drive down abandoned allies. Gabby pokes my shoulder. "Hello. Hello Kiela." This girl is a freak. "Hi." I snap, then turn to Maicy. "What did you pack?" Maicy shrugs, her bag laying on her lap. "Not much." "Me too." I look down at my bag, which is underneath my legs. Just some clothes, hairbrush, hair ties, toothbrush... You know, the essentials. "I packed all my belongings. Would you care to see?" Gabby makes her eyes wide, for some reason or another. She always has weird facal expressions. "No. No one wants to see your creepy stuff." I scoot closer to Maicy, hoping Gabby will get the message. Of course, she doesn't. "Let's see..." she mumbles while unzipping her tote. "I have my precious Barney blanket, my amazing friendship braclet from Sofee, my perfect gray t-shirt..." Gabby rattles off everything. Absolutley everything. Why hasn't Tawn or Vynn told her to stop yet? I look at Maicy and roll my eyes. She laughs. "So, what was the orphanage that you lived at?" I ask as Gabby ticks off what she brought. "Seemin Town Orphans." Maicy says. I cringe. Seemin Town Orphans is supposed to be worse than Miss Evinich's Home for Girls. The orphans there supposidly have to go to work in town 12 hours a day. With no breaks. They get punished if they don't make enough products in a day. "Ouch. And I thought my orphanage was bad." Maicy closes her eyes. "Not even close. One time, a girl got her finger stuck in a machine. She tried to pull it out, but it got more stuck. The finger came off in the machine." I stare at Maicy. "You've got to be kidding." Maicy shakes her head. "I was in the station next to her." Ew. Gross. That's just wrong. And I thought Laynie had gone through a lot. "How did you end up in there?" "I was abandoned as a baby. My parents aparantly just set me on a swing at Seemin Park and left. They never came back. The doctors think I was sitting there for 2 days." I close my eyes and shake my head slowly. It's amazing that Maicy isn't scarred. "I'm so sorry." I whisper. "...And my fluffy, lime green, stuffed bunny!" Gabby yells, finishing off her list. Tawn swerves the car. "QUIET!!" she screams. My eyes open wide. Gabby gets tears in her eyes. "But... But..." Gabby sniffs. "SHUT UP!" Tawn screeches. The car gets deadly silent. I can only hear the occasional sound of Gabby sniffing and the sound of new tires scratching against old, worn tar.
. . . . . . .
After a while, we finally turn to a street in one of the rich suburbs of Seemin, Flotown. I look out the windows as we pass by huge, towering mansions and perfectly manicured lawns. Cute little lap dogs strut by on studded leashes, pulling butlers and maids along. Sparkling turquoise pools lay next to houses, untouched. I can't believe I'm going to live here! Laynie and Tayla would be so jealous. "Are we actually going to live here?" Gabby gasps, face plastered against the window. "What do you think?" I snap, but the starkiness is gone and replaced with awe instead. I was seriously thinking that exact same question. Maicy laughs. "3 houses down, on the right. Don't get too excited." How can I not get excited? My face falls as I see the house. It's a little house. Little! In the middle of Flotown! What kind of house is that? Tawn pulls into the 'driveway'. Gabby stares out the window. "Are you actually going to make us live in a miniature shack next to a towering mansion?" she asks. Vynn glares at Gabby. "What do you think? When we get inside, Gabby can clean the kitchen, Kiela can clean the living room, and Macin can clean our room. Understood?" Gabby nods weakly. I roll my eyes. Maicy doesn't respond. "Good." Vynn and Tawn open their doors and leave the car. Maicy, Gabby, and me all stay in the back seat. "Is this what life is like for you?" I whisper to Maicy. Maicy turns her head to me and nods slowly. I sigh and unbuckle. "Well, the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can settle in." Gabby nods her head vigorously. "Not exactly..." Maicy interjects. "When I get one thing done, they just give me another thing to do. 'Fold the laundry!' 'Wash the dishes!' 'Mow the lawn!'" "Not fun..." "Yeah... And the weird thing is, Tawn and Vynn are practically rich. At least, I've heard them talking about a bunch of money." "Then if they're rich, why are they living here? Without servants?" I ask. "I don't know. We're technically their servants, though." "But we aren't payed. Do they have enough to pay for servants?" "Yeah. Definatly. They could easily live in one of those houses across the street." "Huh. Has anything weird ever happened?" Maicy stares off into space, thinking. "I think... Vynn is always on the phone with this guy named Logan." I nod, remembering what Maicy told us earlier that day. "Vynn's always telling Logan stuff about antiques. And house property..." "Wait- how long have you lived with the Pillets?" "3 weeks." "This is an odd situation for reasons I can't acknowledge." Gabby inturrupts our conversation. "No dip!" I roll my eyes. Gabby cocks her head. "What does that mean? I want some dip!" "Oh my gosh." I shake my head and ignore Gabby. "AS I was saying... Do you know where the Pillets lived before you moved here?" "Um, no. I mean, maybe. I think they moved around a lot, based on what I've heard from the conversations with Logan." "Oh." "But the weird thing is-" "GIRLS! INSIDE! NOW!" Tawn screeches from the doorway. Gabby eagerly hops out of the SUV. Maicy and I exchange glances. "It's not that bad..." Maicy shrugs. We walk into the shack together. Maicy lied. And that's an underestamate.
Grandfather's Clock Chapter 5 • Opuss № I