Chapter 3

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was it was still dark. I stretched and got out of bed, hoping it wasn't too early. I found my watch on my dresser and it read 6:35am. Not too early. I tiptoed to the top of the stairs and the house beneath me was dark and silent. Everyone must still be asleep.

I had gone to bed with wet hair last night which I don't usually do but I was so tired I couldn't be bothered drying it so now it was a mess of auburn ringlets that fell past my shoulders. As I brushed it I looked at myself in the mirror. I smiled as I imagined what it was going to be like starting school with Josh and introducing him as my twin brother. Because we looked nothing alike. He was almost 6 foot, dark brown hair and olive skin. I had light auburn hair, pale skin and barely stood 5 foot 4 with heels. It was obvious we weren't identical twins and which parent we took after, I was the mirror image of my mother and Josh was dad's son without a doubt. But we did share a few traits. We both had mum's eyes, jade green. And dad's dimples.

Although mum told me I should love the curls I was born with, I straightened my hair most of the time. I plugged in my straightener and while I waited for it to heat up I went to hunt down clothes to wear. I realised as I started I had no idea what the weather would be like. I had to stop and think. Ok it was July so winter back home, summer here. So no jeans. I opened my closest and grabbed a skirt and blouse that mum had obviously already ironed and put them on. Then I went back to do my hair.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My first breakfast in our new house was very rushed. Josh didn't even sit down to eat his toast and I don't think mum even ate, unless she had something before I came downstairs. I ate 2 pieces of toast with Vegemite, which mum graciously packed for us. I hadn't even swallowed the last bite before we were being herded out the door into the van.

I took a moment to survey our yard before I got in, cause honestly, I couldn't remember much of our arrival yesterday. And I use the term yard loosely because it was more than a yard. It was more like a freakin football field. I realised that our house was on at least a 5 acre open lot and behind that were woods that didn't seem to stop. As I turned around I couldn't even see another house.
"How big is this place?" I whispered to myself.
"Well Georgie, our property is just over 20 acres. I'll show you around this afternoon if you like, but your mum is getting impatient to go spend money so come on." Dad whispered over my shoulder.
I smiled back at him and got in the van.

Town was alot closer than I expected. Given the size of our land I assumed we lived in the middle of nowhere, but we pulled into the Walmart parking lot within 10 minutes. I had heard of Walmart on tv and in movies but I still was not prepared for the size of it.
"Woah, this place is huge!" Josh took the words right out of my mouth.
I gave him a weak smile. This place was kind of overwhelming. And really crowded. I hate crowded.

"Ok kids, I want to get some stuff for the kitchen and Dad wants to look at the garden stuff, so how about we split up and you can go look at things you might want?"
She must have seen the panic in my eyes cause she reached into her bag and handed Josh a cell phone. "If you get lost call Dad." Then she smiled at me.
"Meet you guys down here by the registers in an hour ok?" Dad asked pointing to the registers behind us.

I hadn't expected everything to be so cheap! I had been torn between getting a laptop or a desktop computer when Josh kindly pointed out to me that I could afford both if I got one of those mini laptops. He even found me a decal sticker for it in my favourite colours, chocolate & turquoise. We then went to find him a Wii which he bought as well as a bunch of games for it.

We spotted mum and dad looking at bedding as we made our way to the clothes section. Mum wanted to buy me all new bedding and so we spent about 20 minutes choosing new sheets, a quilt and pillows. All in chocolate and turquoise of course. Dad and Josh went off to look at other stuff so mum and I wandered around looking at other things, picking out small things for the house.

When they came back Josh had a huge grin on his face but he wouldn't tell me what was going on. I knew they were up to something but neither of them would spill. Mum wanted to go to one of the nicer department stores to get some clothes and she demanded I go with her so Dad said he would drop us off as he and Josh were going to the hardware store.

The store they dropped us off at was called Kohls and it reminded me of Myer back home. It was really nice inside. Mum insisted on getting me a bunch of stuff, especially for school as they didn't wear uniforms here. She bought me so much stuff we needed 2 carts to carry it all. Luckily mum and I had the same taste in clothes so shopping with her was pain free.

We both liked classic styles. I loved pencil skirts and pretty blouses. I went through a tomboy stage when I was little but as I got older I felt the need to be more girly. Especially seeming I hadn't seemed to have "bloomed" I didn't want to be mistaken for a long haired boy. Mum reassured me she was a late bloomer herself and not to give up hope of getting boobs. My mother was not one to hold back.

We were trying on shoes when her cell phone rang, dad letting us know he was on his way back to pick us up. We grabbed our haul and made our way up to the registers. Of course as soon as mum spoke we got the whole "where are your from" questions. This had already happened at Walmart and I expected it wouldn't go away any time soon. Mum just chatted with the clerk about Australia and travelling. I just let her go for it. One thing I didn't get from mum was her ability to talk to random strangers.