Family Bussiness

Two

Haggis, not my favorite meal, then again I wasn't a fan of eating in the first place. But I had to hand it to Coriane and Cal they were delicious. Who would've known that seasoned sheep pluck somehow converted to pudding could taste like this?

"So Maven, any plans this summer?" Coriane asked casually with a rather genuine smile from her seat diagonal from me.

Mother shot me a pointed grin from next to me, I'm surprised she hasn't pinched me yet.

Well there was new DLC coming out for Ludi on June 19th, and marching band seemed like fun, but did I really want to get in involved in something Cal had left such a long shadow for? But at the very same time, Thomas really wanted me to get into it... "Considering Marching Band, may I ask why your asking?" I could almost feel the heat radiating off Mom's foot as it hovered over mine, a silent nervewracking warning.

Coriane opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a frustrated Cal "After all these years you're now interested in marching band? I've been trying to talk you into it for years."

A voice not belonging to anyone at the table whispered, Smooth move, I clamped my mouth down to stop myself from gasping. Alexandret was back

Leave. I gave a silent command. I promised myself I wouldn't entertain these-these figments of imagination.

Your very existence entertains us if you truly wanted to win I guess the only escape would be death, And he came along with Sonya, great.

They were a distraction I'd long learned to ignore, They're just figments of imagination, they don't matter, they aren't anyone. I told myself flashing back to reality it wasn't one of my serious attacks anyway I could do this. "I never really saw the appeal till now, A friend of mine recommended it but I'm still considering, I may just go to math camp again," I said taking a small sip of water.

"So you're still deciding?" Since when was Coriane ever concerned with what I was up to? Half the time she didn't even come to our bi-weekly dinners, then again neither did Dad or Cal or Mother for that matter, very busy bees they were. If Dad was busy, Mom really didn't see the point of sitting and eating at a table with me.

"Yerp," I said taking another sip of water, Mother glared at me for the informality, I'm surprised she hasn't jam her heel into my toe yet.

Coriane broke into a grin, "Well we hope you'll add this to your ever-growing list of possibilities this summer," She was awfully enthusiastic as she handed me the medium sized box father had held in the foyer. It was paperweight so it probably wasn't anything I'd want, besides maybe money or freedom.

Ungrateful Much? Sonya's voice rang through my head.

NOT NOW SONYA. I screamed back Time either seems to move ridiculously fast or slow when those two appeared, Alexandret and Sonya weren't the only voices my mind conjured up, just two of the more prominent ones. I'm pretty sure they were dating though,one never appeared without the other, it'd be fitting for them both.

I didn't exactly want to open the present, right now, what if I got wrapping paper everywhere? Mother would skin me. I thought, grazing my thumb along a seam, I could feel their stares boring into the box.

Gently I picked at the tape lining the seems, They weren't gonna make a fool outta me.

"Mavey, Rip the god damn thing open already," Father crackled "I pity you wife on her wedding night," He chuckled

I was embarrassed, but I laughed along too, not because his joke was funny, but at the thought of me with a wife. No amount of love or hate I could ever feel for a person would ever cause me to let them into this family.