Pippa was immensely excited.
She was a little excited because their cook, Richard, was making ravioli with cream sauce and ham for dinner, which was her favorite food, not counting any deserts. She was also excited because she had discovered a new anime on Netflix, and it had an entire eleven seasons for her to binge watch. She was mildly excited because her mother had insisted on her not going to school for a few days, just to make sure she was really better.
She was mostly excited because she had something to tease Reese about.
This had never happened before. Reese had always been...Reese. Slightly cold, extremely sarcastic, not giving Pippa many signs that he was a human and not a robot with a colorful vocabulary. She had always teased him, of course, but he was never actually embarrassed, and she was certain that this would be the thing that would get to him.
She grinning, thinking of it, and clicked on episode two of the newfound anime. A notification from Zodiak popped up on her computer screen. She considered ignoring it--she wanted to watch the show--but the episode was still loading, so she checked Zodiak. London had messaged her.
London: hi.
London: i don't know if you're on, since you never log out for some reason, but if you are, can we talk?
Pippa: hey man
London: hi.
Pippa: whats up
London: nothing. i just need to talk. usually i would message margarita or jaiden, but neither of them are on.
Pippa: are ya doing alright
London: yeah, i'm okay.
Pippa: ya sure
London: yeah.
Pippa: alrighty
London: what are you doing?
Pippa: watching anime
London: you want to watch something else?
Pippa: not really
London: what about my youtube channel?
Pippa: haha
Pippa: i didnt know ya had one
London: i'm trying to get a bunch of people to subscribe.
Pippa: guess id be a bad friend if i didnt
London: nah.
Pippa: i will if ya send me a link
London sent her the link almost immediately, and she wondered if London always had the link on this clipboard. She subscribed to his channel and made a mental note to actually watch some of the videos later. Then she returned to Netflix and continued watching anime. She got through three episodes, and was a good quarter of the way through a forth, when there was a sharp rap on her bedroom door.
She paused the video. "Come in!"
Sandra opened the door and stepped into the room. "Dinner's ready, ma'am."
"Coolio." Pippa rolled off of her bed and skipped out of the door.
She took the steps two at a time, and almost tripped twice before she arrived in the dining room.
Her mother and father were sitting in their usual seats; her father, at the head of the table, and her mother to his right. Pippa's siblings, Holden, Lyle, and Daphne, sat in a row next to their mother. Across from Pippa's family was another family: a tall, sharp featured man, a tired-looking woman, and a squinty-eyed boy who looked about thirteen.
"Hello," Pippa's mother said as she sat down next to Daphne.
"Didn't know we were gonna have company," Pippa said.
"Yes. This is Nathaniel and Judith Giles, and their son, Anthony."
"Huh," Pippa grunted.
Her father glared. "Say hello," he mouthed.
"'Sup?" Pippa said to Anthony.
Anthony stared at her.
Two of the servants walked into the dining room, set covered dishes on the table,and walked out.
Pippa heaped her plate with ravioli and took a large bite.
"So, Pippa, Mr. and Mrs. Giles are Christian coaches," Pippa's mother said.
"Uh-huh," Pippa said.
"They help...children and teens...um...build a better relationship with God. And help them move on from any sins that have happened in the past."
Pippa shoveled her food in her mouth, trying to finish as quickly as possible so she could leave the table.
"We thought maybe you could have a little discussion with them," Pippa's father said.
Pippa gulped down the rest of her food and stood up. "Nah."
"Excuse me?"
"Nah." Pippa turned and walked out of the room.
"Young lady--" her father snapped as she shut the dining room door firmly.
She could hear her mother apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry...I don't know...She really doesn't usually behave quite this badly..."
"Just based on what we've seen here," a woman's voice said (Pippa inferred that it was Judith), "I can tell you that we do need to start working with your daughter as soon as possible."
Pippa scowled and stalked back to her room.
YOU ARE READING
Crossing Stars
Teen Fiction[Quick warning: some of the sexual and death related content in this could bother some people. It's probably fine for most teenagers and older, but if that sort of thing bothers you a lot, you might not want to read it.] Life is hard, especially for...
