Choice of The Alpha

1.4

After the movers had unloaded all the boxes, we started going through and putting them where they needed to go. It was easy to find my boxes since I didn’t bother to label any of them. All the rest of the boxes were neatly labeled with what room they belonged to and what was in them. That’s my mother for you, perfectly organized no matter how much time she had to work on it.

As we started unpacking the boxes, I realized that my mom had only packed the essentials. That’s probably a good thing since the house is already fully stocked with my grandparents’ stuff. She had only packed a few kitchen items, the ones she used the most. There was only one box that was labelled for the bathroom, and that included our shower items. She didn’t pack any towels or anything. She must have thought about the fact that everything that was left in the house would be ours now. We really didn’t need much. The rest of the boxes went to our individual bedrooms.

After I brought my boxes down to my room, I started to open them to get organized. This is when I started to realize that I only made things harder for myself. Since I literally just threw everything I owned into boxes, it is just going to make it that much harder to unpack. I took my clothes into the closet and started to hang them up and organize them. As I was hanging the last of my shirts, I heard the doorbell ring again.

“Who could that be?” I wondered out loud and walked towards the stairs to go find out. As I got to the top of the steps, I heard my mom talking to someone.

“We are so sorry about your parents. I bet this is such a shock for you, finding out about the accident and then moving your whole life back here. I must say though, it is good to see you again.” I heard the stranger saying to my mom.

“Yes, it is very different being back here after all these years. Hearing about the accident was very sudden. Then I had to decide what to do with the house. Moving back here was a sudden change, but I think it will be good for me and my daughter to be back here.”

“You have a daughter? I didn’t know that. Your parents never said anything about it.” This stranger sounded excited hearing about me. That made me curious.

“That’s because they haven’t spoken to me in almost 20 years. Shortly after I left, they wrote me out of their lives. Honestly, I am surprised they left me anything. I thought they would have left it all to the town or something.” My mom sounded frustrated and upset.

“I know you and your parents didn’t get along that well, but you should know that they loved you. They always talked about how they regretted not seeing you and spending more time with you. You left so suddenly, and I can’t pretend to understand why. I know it was difficult for you, not being like the rest of us, but that didn’t mean you had to leave.” What did she mean by that? How exactly was my mom different than everyone else? Please tell me that this town isn’t like that one movie where everyone must act and look the same as everyone else.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? Now I'm back, even though I never thought I would be back here.”

“This could be good for you. What about your daughter? Does she know about us? About you?” I am really starting to get curious now. So, I walked around the corner and into full view.

“This must be your daughter. She looks just like you did when you were her age.” The look on her face said that she was worried about having been caught talking about something they shouldn’t be. Now I'm wondering what this big secret could be.

“Lexi, this is our neighbor and my old high-school friend, Amy. Amy, this is my daughter, Lexi.” My mom introduced us. “Amy just stopped over to offer her condolences and to welcome us to the neighborhood.” She seemed like she was avoiding looking at me as if she was afraid of what I might see in her expression.

“Nice to meet you, Amy.” I walked up to shake her hand.

“You know, there are plenty of kids around that are about your age. I’m sure they would love to meet you.”

“Well, after the funeral on Wednesday, I was thinking about holding an informal reception here at the house. That way we can get everything done at once. We can meet all of the neighbors and everything.” This was news to me.

“Wait, we are going to have a party here?” I asked.

“It’s not really a party. It’s more of a gathering after a funeral.” She sounded like she was ashamed to call it a party considering it was going to be after a funeral.

“Sounds like a party to me.” I turned to head back downstairs.

“Amy, it was great to see you again, but, as you can imagine, I have a lot to do.” I heard mom saying.

“I understand. If you ever need anything, I am right next door.” Amy replied as she turned to head out.

When I got back downstairs, I finished unpacking the rest of my boxes. I was almost on autopilot while unpacking. I couldn’t seem to get that conversation out of my head. What were they talking about? What don’t I know about my mom? Was there an even bigger secret than the fact that I've had grandparents this whole time?

By the time I was done unpacking, it was getting pretty late. I laid down on my bed and tried to get some sleep. I tossed and turned and just couldn’t fall asleep. It was too quiet here. I got up and walked out to the living room. I turned on the television and found something that I could listen to without keeping me up. It looked like some type of talk show. I got comfortable on the couch and hoped that I would be able to drift off. As I waited to fall asleep, I got to thinking about my old life. All of the friends I left behind. The noise and bustle of the metropolis. Before I could stop that train of thought, tears started welling up in my eyes. Yes, this house is beautiful. Yes, the scenery here is beautiful. No matter how nice, this place just wasn’t home. I missed my friends. I missed my regular schedule with daily runs. I missed everything. I let the tears fall as I laid on my new couch.

Next thing I knew it was morning, and the sun was shining through my windows. As I blinked the sleep from my eyes, I tried to remember where I was. It only took a few moments before I remembered what had happened the last few days. For as long as I could remember, I had woken up every morning in my tiny room in Minneapolis. Now, I had a massive house with my own little apartment in the basement. It was scary but also nice. This place was amazing. Thinking about my old life, I decided that I needed to go out for a jog. My normal routine always included two runs per day, however I have missed a day now with all of the changes. To make these changes easier, I needed to put a bit of my old routine back into motion. So, I got up and went to get one of my jogging suits from my closet. When I was dressed, I headed upstairs to find my mother and let her know that I was heading out.

“Good morning sweetheart.” She called from the bar stool she was sitting on, “How did you sleep?”

“I was having a hard time falling asleep, so, I slept on the couch. It was actually really comfortable. I decided that I am going to go out for a run this morning. I want to keep up with my regular routine.” She nodded along with my explanation. She knew how much running helped me.

“That’s fine. Make sure to take a note of our address so you can find your way back home if you get lost.”

“How am I going to get lost? There’s like 15 houses in the whole town.” As I said this, I realized it may be hard to get my full run in with such a small town.

“Better to be safe than sorry. Have a nice run.” I waved back at her as I headed to the door.

On my way out the door, I snapped a picture of our address on the house before putting in my headphones. I turned on my music and turned down the road. I figured this would be a good time to get a look at the town while getting my exercise. My brain seems to focus better when I am running.

I jogged along our street for about five blocks before it started to look like I was running out of houses. I glanced both directions to see which way I should head. To the right it looked like there were only a couple of blocks before you ran out of town, so, I decided to head to the left. As I ran, I passed several houses. These were normal looking houses, unlike our new house that took up an entire block. I didn’t see anyone out and about. The town seemed to have a theme with their houses. They were all quaint little two-story houses in differing colors. They seemed to all have the same layout. Porch out front with bay windows looking out on it. They also each had flowers lining the porches. This place clearly loved their flowers.

After going a couple of blocks, I came across a park. It was about three blocks long in each direction. I was surprised to find such a large park in such a small town. I decided to jog through it to get a better look. The first thing I passed was typical playground equipment for young children on my left. There was a basketball court just beyond that. After passing the basketball court there was a huge flower garden with a small water fountain in the middle. As I passed that, I noticed that there was a larger pond with a path around it. There were benches all around it and signs for fishermen. They had their own little fishing pond right in town. That was pretty awesome. Through the entire park, on my right was nothing but trees. It was like a mini forest right inside the park.

As I arrived at the other side, I decided to keep going. It looked like the town went on a way beyond the park. As I continued running, I noticed that the houses here were getting smaller and they weren’t in the best of shape. These houses had overgrown yards that looked like someone should have mowed a month ago. There wasn’t much for flowers here. The paint was peeling, and shingles were falling off. This area was much different from what I have seen so far.

The day was starting to warm up and I started to see more people out and about. Everyone that I passed turned to stare at me. I started to get bad vibes, like they really didn’t want me here. The atmosphere of this section of town was giving me goosebumps, and all the glares had me worried. I decided to turn around and head back. Going back the other direction was even worse. The same people I passed before were starting to gather and whisper to each other in small groups. They all kept glancing at me. It was very clear what they were talking about. I started to run faster. I had to get away from here.

Before long, I had left that part of town behind, and I was back at the park. I really didn’t want to go back home quite yet. I needed to run some more to get the eerie feeling out of my head. So, I headed past the park in the other direction. Going through this section of town was a lot easier. The houses were nice, and the people seemed to be nicer as well. I was back into the quaint houses and flowers everywhere. As I passed people, I got a quick wave and smile, and then they went about their business. After a little way, I was starting to feel better, so I decided to head left and get back to my new street. I knew I would come up a few blocks on the other side of the house, but that would just let me see the places on the other side.

On my way back down to my street, I passed a couple of shops. There was this pizza place that looked like it used to be an old bar. It was a little brick building with small windows. There was the sign hanging above the door letting you know the name of the place. There were also poster-style signs hanging up on the walls letting people it was a pizza restaurant and what you could expect to order. A little way beyond that, I ran across this adorable little café. It looked like a friendly place. It was small, but not too small. It had large windows covering most of the walls, so you could see in and out. It had little tables with chairs throughout it, and a bar with stools for sitting at. I saw several people in there sitting at tables and working on computers. I thought about stopping, but I really just wanted to finish my run and go home right now. Maybe I would stop by tomorrow and see what it was like.

It didn’t take long before I was back home. Home. This was still a very odd concept to try and wrap my brain around.

“Hey honey, how was your run?” My mom called out as she heard me come in the front door.

“Not bad. I saw some interesting parts of town.” I walked toward the kitchen where I saw her sitting at the counter.

“Oh really? Like what?” She had this weird look on her face. Almost as if she was afraid for what I may have seen. That was certainly curious.

“Well, I saw a cute little coffee shop and an interesting looking pizza place. I also found the park. I certainly didn’t expect such a nice and large park to be in such a small town. However, what was the most interesting was when I went past the park. It was like a whole different town, and I felt like they really didn’t want me there.” Just thinking about it started to give me shivers.

“Oh no. I am so sorry. I should have thought about that and warned you. That side of town is very, well, I am not sure how to explain it. They are all very close to each other and do not like other people around. They don’t trust anyone but themselves and like to stay isolated. I would just stay out of that side of town. Maybe next time you can check out one of the trails through the woods. Those are nice. Just make sure you stay on the trails. There are a lot of wild animals around here.” She changed the subject pretty quickly which seemed a little weird.

“I might have to check those out soon. This town is too small to get my normal runs in.” I figured trying to push her would just result in her closing up, so there wasn’t a point in trying to get more information out of her.

“Well, I made you breakfast. I know you are always hungry when you get back. I made us omelets, just the way you like them. There’s also some orange juice in the fridge.” I turned toward the stove to see the omelet sitting on a plate right next to it. My stomach started to growl. I really wanted to eat, but I felt like I needed some fresh air as well. There seems to be something going on here and it is making my head spin.

“Thanks mom. I think I might go eat out back. The weather is perfect.” I walked over and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard to get some orange juice.

“Sounds great. I think I will join you.” She said as she grabbed her plate and made to head outside. I just wanted to be left alone with my thoughts. That is going to be hard to do with company. Oh well.