Chemistry

Chapter 20: Upcoming Events

Tiara sat in her kitchen at the old, feeble table, listening to the clanging of dishes coming from over where her mother was washing dishes that Saturday night. She thought deeply on the rumors that had been going around about her. She blandly stirred her spoon around her untouched mashed potatoes. She knew they weren't true. That's just down right ridiculous. But where is this mysterious increase coming from? They had just gone on another shopping spree earlier that day, after she had left Cheyenne's house. 

The Jones family was never that traditional family that sat around the kitchen table during dinner and conversed about the prior events of that day. But instead separated themselves around the house to eat. Kaylin sat on the living room floor watching a basketball game with Anthony, who ate on the couch. 

Despite Tiara being the older sister, Kaylin was her role model. She could do and did everything she set her mind to. And she never cared about what anyone thought of her. She just did her, not stopping to acknowledge what anyone thought. And no matter how much Tiara hated to say out loud, she thought her little sister was actually really pretty; gorgeous even! The fact that Kaylin was a tomboy didn't change that either. 

She played a variety of sports: basketball, soccer, softball. Give her the equipment, and she'll be qualified for captain. But on the contrary of Tiara being in her school's orchestra, Kaylin was in band. She played the saxophone and was first chair. That makes Tiara smile because she can take credit for everything Kaylin knows about music.

"Come on!" Kaylin yelled in disappointed at the small TV in front of her. Anthony laughed and cheered for his team that had just scored a three-pointer. "What the FREAK!" she exclaimed grabbing her messy hair. 

"Why ain't you touched your food yet, Tiara?" Mrs. Jones asked reaching forward to turn the running water off. She turned around to where she was facing Tiara, and used a dry towel to dry her hands off. 

Tiara continued to stare down at her food. "I'm just thinking."

Mrs. Jones walked across the kitchen to take a seat across from Tiara. "About what?" she asked placing the damp towel on the table beside her. "You're too young to be thinking as deep as you are."

Tiara shrugged. "Just thinking about school...teachers. You," Tiara said letting her silverware hit the glass plate. 

"What about me?"

"Ma, where is all this money coming from?" Tiara forced herself to ask. 

"What money?" 

Tiara nodded her head towards the many unopened shopping bags that sat on the end of the sofa in the living room. 

"Oh," Mrs. Jones said. "Don't worry about that.' She lifted herself out of her chair. 

"I can't help but worry about it, Ma," Tiara replied following her mother with her eyes as she walked back over to the sink. "People are starting to talk. There're rumors going around!"

"How do they know what's going on in this house anyway?"

"It's hard to not know. You can't expect people to not notice when one week you're wearing rags, and the next week you're rocking Versace." Tiara exaggerated. 

Anthony laughed hysterically from the living room. "T, you can't even spell Versace, let alone afford it!"

"And you can't even spell JOB, let alone GET one!" Tiara shouted back. 

"Stop hollerin' in this house!" Mrs. Jones sternly warned. She let out a heavy sigh and powered on the washing machine that sat in the corner of the kitchen.