I gaze out the window from my seat in the back of our Cherokee Jeep. My eyes flickering between each building we pass, the time somewhere around seven-forty P.M.

  There's just so much...cement. Now I'm not dumb, I knew what I was signing up for when my parents asked me about moving here to Manhattan, NY.

  But I guess being so used to seeing bright open fields of green every time I looked out my window at our old house must've spoiled me or something.

  Who knows.

We pass another ice cream shop, that one being the third one I've seen within the last thirty minutes. I wonder -

   Something lightly hits the back of my head, almost so light I shouldn't have felt it.

   I let a breath out through my nose, leaning my arms up on the side of the door as I try to go back to my peaceful reality inside my head.

   I suppose having almost two million people living in this one area would be a good reason for having so much of the same things. But -

  Narrowing my eyes, I keep them focused outside. My fingers now drumming against the car door.

  I bet there's multiple shops all around here that sell all of the same products. Like that barbers shop I've already spotted five times -

   I let another breath out through my nose, flexing my neck as I try to get the tension out. Just ignore it and he'll stop.

   Like I've said, there's almost two million people in Manhattan. Plenty of heads that need their hair cut. Just think, that'd be -

   Something - for the fourth time in a row, once again hits the back of my head.

  Okay, that's it.

  I swing my head over to the right, my eyes landing on my obnoxiously annoying younger brother.

  Yes. I unfortunately have one of those.

   He has his right hand posed up to throw something, his dark brown eyes widening as they meet my enraged ones.

   We stare each other down for five straight seconds, the moment ruined when he suddenly throws the object he was holding at my face.

   I blink a couple times as he breaks into laughter, my eyes going down to land on what he threw at me.

   Five bright orange Cheetos lay discarded on the floor, the bag rustling as he digs his hand in to grab another.

   Disgusting.

   I quickly reach over the middle seat, grabbing his wrist he currently has stuffed inside the bag. "Quit it, Michael." I hiss under my breath, tightening my hold on his wrist to get the message across.

  He slowly looks up at me again, mischief glowing in his eyes.

  Why that little brat.

  "Mom." He whines, looking over at the passenger seat that's positioned in front of him. "Heavyn's being mean." He coats each word with fake hurt.

   I narrow my eyes at him. "Heavyn, let your brother go." Mom calls back at me, not even bothering to look.

   Hmm, she knows me too well.

  I huff, retracting my arm from his grubby wrist as I mouth, 'later' at him. Crossing my arms, I lean up against the car door as I continue to glare at him.

   This is far from over. Just wait.

  Michael smirks, sticking his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes at his immature response, looking back outside.

   Manhattan, New York. One of the largest city's in the country. Maybe now I can finally do what I've always wanted to do.

    I place my hand down on my prized Nikon camera, feeling a spark of excitement hit my chest.

    "Do you think we'll actually see a Celestial here?" Michael's hopeful voice penetrates my ears, almost making me want to wince.

   As you can plainly see, we have some real sibling love going on here.

  And we're just warming up.

   It's silent for a minute. "Well I hope so." Dad glances quickly back at Michael, flashing him a smile.

  I can feel mom roll her eyes from my seat in the back. "Just so long we're not in its line of sight." She states.

   You're probably wondering why we just so happened to willingly move to one of the most crime ridden cities in the country.

  Well you see, my dad is a reporter - a good one at that. And where we were before, it just wasn't working out.

  People nowadays want news about the Celestials. Like what new superhero is fighting this old villain, or who's secret identity has recently been discovered.

  Not stuff like; this crop did so and so, and that cow over on Mr. Somebody's farm won first place at the county fair.

   See, that's not 'news' these days.

  So immediately after dad was offered a job over here in Manhattan, he talked it over with us - mom needing a little extra convincing that it would be safe, then he made the final plans. And here we are. 

   Yes, and maybe - as I've already said, I'll get to do what I've wanted to do before I even knew what the word meant.

   Maybe I can finally become a real reporter.

   I just need to crack some case that can't be cracked. Find some phenomenal news that'll get my name out there, and report it. Easy.

   And I'll do just about anything if it means proving myself.

  Yes, that's how serious I am about this.

   "But what I really want to see, is one of the superheroes." I glance back over at Michael. He's now holding a mini action figure in each of his hands, slowly flying them through the air before he makes them meet in the middle. A dramatic pow exploding out of his mouth.

   I get the urge to roll my eyes. He seriously acts like a five year old - and that's like on a daily basics.

   "Tell you what, Michael." Dad glances at me through the overhead mirror. "And you too, Heavyn." He takes a right at a stop sign. "If anything interesting happens while I'm at work, you two will be the first to know about it." He smiles.

   "Anything?" Michael tries, eyeing him from the backseat. Dad sighs, glancing back at him. "Yes, Michael. Anything." He repeats.

   Michael immediately smiles, sitting back in his seat with a satisfied air about him. "Sweet." He flies the figure in his right hand up to the ceiling, dropping it down in his lap.

   "So even if you discovered a Celestials secret identity, you'd tell me first?" Michael continues after he'd been quiet for a minute.

   "Oh yeah, definitely champ." Dad confirms, certainty clear in his voice. Michael looks over at me. "That goes for you too, Heavyn." He adds, looking at me like he wasn't just throwing Cheedos at me no longer than five minutes ago.

   Not working buddy.

  "No, I think you'd be the last to know when it comes to me." I give him a sidelong glance, a smirk now on my lips.

   "Woah, woah, woah." Mom holds up. "Heavyn, honey. We already talked this over. You're not to be out and about all by yourself after dark." She reminds me. "You know that's when it's the most dangerous. Especially for here."

   I deflate, feeling annoyance tug on my brain. How am I supposed to do anything locked up inside all night?

  "Yes, your mother is exactly right, Heavyn." Dad smiles. "Which is why I'm making ten o'clock your curfew during the week, and twelve o'clock on the weekends." He meets my eyes in the mirror.

  Only a reporter like dad himself would understand my need to be out and about.

  I give him a thankful smile in return.

  Mom gapes. Always being the protective one. "Are you crazy, Tanner?" She stares at the side of his face. "I just said that's the worst ti-"

   "Time to be out." Dad nods his head, finishing her sentence. "And I believe we discussed how Heavyn is getting older and wants to make her mark in the world." He states.

   "Well, yes." Mom looks slightly baffled. "But she can make her mark in the world at a older age." She throws her hands up. "She's only just turning sixteen."

   Dad looks over at her when he stops at a red light, a secret message passing between them.

   I sigh, leaning my head against the window. This isn't the first argument we've had over this subject.

   Okay, so I'm a little too curious for my own good. Sue me. But I can't help it when I get this....itch about something. And the only way to make it go away is to satisfy my own curiosity.

   No matter how many times I may or may not have sneaked out of our old house during the night, only to get caught when I returned.

   So what, I'm not the best at being stealthy.

  And no matter how many times mom and dad fight over how long I should be allowed outside after dark. Dad always wins.

   Mom let's a breath out. "Oh, alright." She twists around to look back at me. "But no later or there will be consequences young lady." She sternly says.

   "Will do. Thanks mom." I flash her a smile, still buttering her up.

    "Ooh, can I go with you Heavyn?" Michael asks me, holding his hands up in a pleading gesture.

   I raise an eyebrow at him. "I'll have to think about it." I tease. He Immediately crosses his arms, mumbling under his breath.

   Hah, take that.

   Dad pulls into a relatively empty street, glancing at me again through the overhead mirror as he prepares to say something else.

  "Tanner! Watch out!" Dads' eyes flash back to the road as Mom suddenly shouts, her hands going up to hold onto the dashboard in front of her. Almost like she's preparing for us to hit something.

   My eyes widen as I catch a glimpse of a dark figure in front of our car a split second before dad slams on the brakes, my hands coming up to grasp the seat in front of me as the momentum swings my upper body forward, the seatbelt uncomfortable tightening.

   What was that?

  I glance up from my position against the seat, noticing we're now completely at a stand still. Both mom and dad are staring out the front window shield, apologetic looks on their faces.

   Huh?

  And that's when my eyes land on what must've been the dark shape we almost ran over.

  A guy - obvious from the wide set shoulders, stands completely still five feet in front of our jeep. His dark blue hoodie and dark jeans not helping in the slightest to illuminate him in the dark surroundings.

   Even the street lights and the dull headlights from our jeep aren't enough to fully look him over. His facial features completely obscured from the glare as he stares at us a few seconds. Only the outline of his body visible.

   I feel a cold shiver run down my spine as he seems to examine each one of individually - as if he could actually see us in the dark car. Then he simply stuffs his hands down in his hoodies pocket, bending his head down as he continues his walk across the street. His steps almost seeming to be rushed.

   I watch as he steps up onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street, quickly walking about forty yards before he stops in front of one of the many identical buildings. He digs around in his pocket, pulling out a key. Opening the door, he disappears inside.

   Hmm, interesting.

   "That was...odd." Dad mumbles, running a hand through his hair as he leans back in his seat with a relieved sigh. "I could've sworn no one was over there a second ago." He says under his breath.

   Mom whacks dad on the arm, looking like she's gotten over her little fright. "Tanner, that is the last time I let you drive a whole eight hours straight." She straightens her hair, calming herself.

   "Everyone good?" Mom looks back at us as dad moves the jeep forward a little more before turning off at the sidewalk. Michael ecstatically nods, his eyes wide. "Yeah. Now I can tell everyone at school we almost ran over someone on our first day here." He smiles, thinking it over in his head.

   Dad gives a stressed chuckle. "I'm sure things like this happen all the time around Manhattan. There's just so many people here." He whispers the last part, shaking his head in amazement.

   Dad is right about that. I bet lots of people that live around here have had close calls when it comes to almost getting turned into roadkill.

   That guy didn't even seem fazed by the prospect.

  "Well guys, we're here!" Dad suddenly announces, pulling up to the sidewalk as he parks. "And I guess we sorta just met one of our neighbors." Dad lightly jokes, obviously noticing the same thing I did about that guy entering one of the buildings along this street.

   So I've got a mysterious person for a neighbor. Exciting.

   I look up at the tall, five story building. Identical buildings running up and down both sides, squished together like a sandwich.

    The specific section we're positioned in front of is dark brown, black shutters at each of the many windows. A single balcony on the top floor.

   It's....cool, actually.

   I unbuckle, opening my door. Sliding my legs out, I stand up as I simultaneously swing the shoulder strap from my camera over my head.

   I stand there, staring up at our new home. Well, it's a apartment building, so our new home is technically on the top floor.

   But it's a home none the less.

   And one thing I realized I'm really going to miss, is the clean summer air over in the country.

    Because let's face it: It smells like a garbage can here.

   I shrug, grabbing my two suitcases out of the trunk before I walk up the walkway towards the front door. Dad joins me, placing his free hand on the doorknob.

  He swings the door open, a soft creek filling the air.

  I step inside, lugging my suitcases behind me. There's another door directly in front of us, the number 1B printed in bold letters on it. Dad walks ahead of me, leading us into an elevator that's at the end of the small hallway.

   Michael shoves past me from out of nowhere, barely making it in before the doors seal shut.

   There's a small jolt that tickles my stomach, then we're moving upward. Ten seconds goes by, and the door dings, opening back up.

   Dad walks up to the single door that's marked 5B, pulling a key out of his pocket before he opens that door also.

   I walk inside, flicking the light switch on the wall before I glance around the first room.

  Immediately as you walk in the front door, there's a decent sized living area. Our two sofas are already positioned around a rectangular coffee table, our tv on a wood table against the wall. A few cardboard boxes stacked on the floor beside the sofas.

  I move further into the room, finding myself in the dining area that's connected to the living room. Our rectangular table sits in the middle of the room, six seats set around it.

  Looking to my left, I spot a large master bedroom through the open doorway. Which of course, is mom and dads' room.

   I turn to my right, walking down a short hallway. There's immediately a small, yet comfortable kitchen on the right with all the usual kitchen necessities. Boxes marked, kitchen stacked up beside the counter.

   To the left there's a half bathroom, a washer and dryer positioned a little further down the hall inside a small alcove in the wall.

   There's a smaller bedroom to the right, and a tab bit larger one to the left.

   And me being any sensible person, I take the one on the left.

   What? I am older.

   I walk into a somewhat smaller room then my old one back in Kansas, the walls painted a soft sky blue, the floor a nice hardwood. Everything just like how the picture had showed. My unmade twin sized bed sits over against the far wall, my large dresser sitting beside it along with more cardboard boxes marked, Heavyn.

  The perks of having your stuff delivered a day early. Keep that in mind people.

   My eyes immediately latch on a set of glass sliding doors, a small balcony suspended off the front of the building.

   I pull my suitcases further in the room, setting them by the door as I slowly open one of the glass doors. I step outside, the cool air hitting my skin.

   A couple potted plants sit around the edges, a four foot tall railing running around the perimeter of the area.

   I place my hands on the railing, smiling as I look out. A view of the whole street meeting my eyes.

  Perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N

   Whippie!! Chapter one is up!

Questions:

   1.) So what'd ya think?

   2.) Do you think that person they almost ran over is important at all? (As-in he'll show up later in the book.)🤔

   3.) What do you think of Heavyn and her family so far? Anything stick out to you?

  Anyway, VOTE! Comment!! Let me hear your voice.....well theoretically.

  Next update: Sometime next week.

  The awesome cover is made by the fabulous TwinButterfly02!

P.S. The layout of their apartment is up top there in the media thing. (It's a little different though.) And what the building looks like is that other picture.

Maggy