Victoria Aspen's life just turned inside out.
She has been forced to move into the house she used to spend every summer in. It's been so long since she was welcomed back into the family and this time... they didn't really have a choice.
But thi...
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"Who is this?" I ask slowly through the line. No point in small talk if I don't even know who I'm talking small to. I don't appreciate absolute creeps with hidden numbers calling me. I know that it's definitely a boy.
The other person laughs light-heartedly. Definitely a boy that I know. I know that laugh.
"It's, uh, Dylan. Dylan Anderson."
"Oh," My face instantly feels a little too warm. "Hi."
"Hi."
There's a silence and I twiddle my thumbs. My heart is hammering in my chest like a relentless construction site. "So..." I mutter, unable to breathe through the lack of conversation. This seems to snap him to attention.
"So, yeah." He's speaking too quickly, "Um, about that date?"
Oh God. I knew this day would come. He only waited two months. "Yeah?"
"I thought we could use this break to, um," Another pause, "make it happen?"
It's funny that we act as if we've had loads of conversations about it before. We haven't. I bet we've both had loads of conversations with Katherine about it. I nod slowly even though he can't see me.
"So, how about tomorrow night?" My eyes wander around my room as he speaks. I don't know why I'm still hesitant to go on this date. I quite enjoy Dylan's company, I really do. And he really is the sweetest guy I know.
I suppose as time goes on, I'm just getting less and less interested and I don't understand why. I guess I thought that by now we would be over the awkward silences and uncomfortable small talk.
"Tori?" Ah, crap, another awkward silence.
"Yeah?" I pretend to be fully alert. He said something, I know he said something... But what did he say?
"Tomorrow sound good?"
"Yeah, sure." Oh no.
"I'll pick you up at eight?"
Please don't. "Sounds good." Idiot.
He hangs up and I'm still hung up on what's wrong with my mouth. Cooperate with my brain, you moron!
I slump backward onto my bed, already exhausted. There's a knock at my door. Alex wouldn't be knocking on my door even if he wanted to talk to me. Adam is off running some leadership camp for the break in the forest somewhere. Alan hasn't spoken to me in at least two weeks.
Crab nuggets.
Cheese on crackers.
Lord save me.
"Victoria," Ashley calls through the door. "I want to speak to you in the kitchen." This confirms it. Ashley's using her motherly, warning voice. The fact that she's drawing me out of my living quarters is just the icing on the cake of doom.
She got my report card. The school must have mailed it.
She's seen that the small shadow of the golden statue that is Adam Aspen is stretching far into the depths of failure. No future, she'll say. Disappointed, she'll say. You need to study more, she'll say.
"You'll have no future if you keep this up, Victoria." Ashley leans over the bench, shaking her head in disappointment. I stare at my feet. "You know how important it is to study more than this."
See? I called it.
"Just look at Adam, you could learn some things from him." Called it again. "You have to pass all of your subjects, Tori."
"I'm doing okay in everything else." I mutter, grinding up a stray cornflake on the tiles.
"A 'D' in Math, Victoria?"
I raise my voice above a mumble and repeat, "Everything else."
"Everything else just isn't good enough." I peek up at her sad eyes. Ashley could never be a mean mother. I don't think she has the capacity to scream at anyone she cares about. Maybe that's why Alan picked her.
Maybe he was tired of fighters like mom. And like me.
"You know I'm going to have to ground you." I wince at the word and I think she does a little, too. "For the rest of Spring break. You only go where I give the okay. Okay?"
"Okay." I grumble. I know that I deserve this. I won't pretend otherwise. I really should have studied more.
"You're just lucky your father didn't hear about this. He'd..." She trails off, not knowing what to say.
Do nothing. My father wouldn't care in the slightest.
Have you ever felt your parent glower down at you? Have you ever felt their words suffocating you at night, telling you that you could be better, that you could try harder? I haven't. This is a first.
My mother told me to do my homework every night and when I failed my subjects she'd say that I tried my hardest. Even when I didn't. But I usually did.
My father doesn't even have an idea where my IQ would be on the scale, let alone my average grades. I don't think he's ever read one of my report cards in his life.
This is a feeling all too foreign. It's nice. Having someone take the time out to read your report cards and give your education a spare thought. Everyone else complains about their parents bagging on their grades, but it makes me kind of warm and fuzzy. You know, underneath the nervousness and shame.
Ashley cares about me. The only person in my house that isn't related to me, and she actually cares about me.
She recovers quickly. "We're going next door tonight. You're coming."
I squeeze my eyes shut and cross my fingers. "To the Wilder's?" Please, please, please.
Please not the other neighbours, please.
"The Donovans." I groan internally and begin to protest, but Ashley cuts me off. "You will come, Victoria. Grounded, remember?" How could I forget?
She starts to walk out of the kitchen, coat in hand, ready to return to the office for a few more millennium. "Anyway," I hear her footsteps in the hall but don't follow. "I thought you would actually like their boy by now, after spending all that time with him."
The door clicks shut and I'm left alone again.
Oh, you're right, Ashley. I do like Mason. More than I like to admit.
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Hey there! I know that this chapter is quite slow, but I'm broken for writing inspiration. I swear everything I put into this chapter sounded like monotone blabbering. So sorry. But I'm excited for things to come!!!
