Luna From The Past

Looking at the rain beating at the car window was as dismal as the mood I am in. The scenery whizzed past me while on the motorway towards the exit to Wales. Why are we even going? This makes no sense. I felt a surety of unfairness at being forced onto this trip when I could be chatting up the new boy, Brandon. I smiled a little at the thought of my new crush, he had bouncy black hair that always escaped the style he put it in and ended up being blown by him to get out of his eyes. i did think that was cute and endearing. When I first saw him I was taken aback by how tanned he was considering it rained a lot in the autumn and we were lucky to get a smidgen of sun in October. My friends had let me know through the grapevine that he had already started a new job in the local ice cream shop and even though it could be -2 degrees outside we did frequent the shop a lot for the cheap cup icecreams. The plan was to see him there tonight and to casually ask if he’d like to join us. Well I know it’s corny but it might of worked. I blushed at the thought of even speaking to him. I have never asked any of my crushes to date before, I just always stared at them till my eyes got tired and die of embaressment if they even said hi to me. This time it was different, I really wanted to connect with him. Most likely half the schools femal population did but thats OK. I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts from my head and endevoured to catch my dad's eye in the rearview mirror but he was ignoring mel. I wanted to show my displeasure of this impromptu trip to the shore of Swansea but I knew it was no use when you have stubborn parents like mine. My parents were usually fastidious people and routined to the max, they were never spontaneous. Mum had the blonde french knot in her hair that was always the same every single day without fail, she had her usual single gold studs in her ears and her blue eyes wide and sharp beneath her gold tinted glasses, her chin was small leading up to slavic shaped cheekbones that was reminiscent of Scandinavian heritage, which I also inherited. My dad who was a quiet man had a wide set of shoulders and always a slightly unkempt beard that bordered on the scruffy look. I loved that look on my dad, when I was little I used to pull on his beard and he never complained. His eyes were brown and you could always gauge what he was feeling by what his eyes said. His wide face was always set in a semi scowl that I knew was not an angry look, his expression was just made that way. That is why this trip was completely out of character but I knew better than to complain to my parents, mum had that glint in her eye and her dad had that stubborn set to his chin. Driving from Bristol to Swansea beach was hilariously bizarre at this time of year but there was nothing to dissuade them. My parents are scientists, they worked at what they called the Phasetech company, it was pretty mysterious what they did as they had speifically told me that they cannot reveal anything about their work and at times they had looked dog-tired when they came home. Everything about our lives as a family was set, it was timetabled, routine, structured and had a very practical and logistical way of life. There was a security in knowing what to do everyday and even what is going to happen tomorrow. My dad had turned into the carpark that was waylaid to the beach and surprisingly it was quite full with big people carriers and range rovers, a lot of them the same colour too. I could feel a certain buzzing up my spine at the back of my neck and a sense of foreboding. There was something else going on here and my parents were not telling me what it was. Dad turned the key in the car to power down and I took this opportunity to finally ask him “Dad I know you said a beach trip, but this isn't a beach trip is it?” He peered round and gave me that ‘don’t argue with me look’ and didn’t answer. I grumped inwardly, being seventeen doesn't seem to make much a difference to my parents. I’m still treated like a 12 year old. They got out of the car and Dad opened my door to let me out. "Listen Lyssa, you have to do exactly what we say, I know your confused but something big is about to happen and we haven't got much time" As my dad stood there while I got out of the car I could finally see a break in the usual scowl in his face and he actually looked worried. "Dad? What's going on?" I looked to the other side of the car and could see mum starting to cry. She never cried! She was the strongest person I knew. I could feel my heart racing and my hand trembled as my dad grasped it. I looked at the other cars and I was momentarily surprised to see Brandon standing next to his parents with their Range Rover. It seemed very similar to everyone else. Something started to peak in the back of my head. My parents' vehicle was a company car from the Phasetech comany. The similarities couldn't be a coincidence. Brandon flashed me a worried look and I just looked at him with shock. To think I was trying to go and flirt with him today and he was here bizarrely while our parents were still being vague about what we are doing. The last thing on my mind now is fancying a new boy from school. My Dad pulled me to the front of the car and I noticed all the parents did the same. My mother stood on the other side of me crying and both held each of my hands. A man in a sombre black suit was standing with a clipboard at the other end of the car park. The wind was whipping my face and raindrops splattering on my sweater and jeans. The man in the suit had a pale face and he handled his clipboard like it was the answer to his dreams. I looked up and down and I could see there was at least ten families here, each only having one teenager each. What the hell was going on? "Mum…Dad?” They squeezed my hands and I could hear my mum sniffing as she tried to control her tears. The other kids were pleading with their parents and Brandon showing his anger at his. "Dad, what the hell is going on?" The man with the clipboard looked serious and looked somewhat expectantly at all the parents. His voice was thin and reedy as if he was recovering from laryngitis. "I'm glad you have stuck to the rules and not told them anything. This was vital for their survival" Vital? Survival? What the hell? "Children I know you are confused but we don't have much time" We all quietened down and all apart from the muted crying of parents and whispered questions of the teenagers, I strained to hear what he was saying. Before he started speaking I started to feel very cold, like there was ice being injected into my bones, was I ill? I tried to turn to Dad but instead I was looking up at him and the last thought I had before the blackness claimed me was that they both looked so sad.