Trouble Makers

Chapter 2

Rowan:

The first thing I noticed were my parents eyes staring intensely at my sisters and I, almost as if we disappointed them some how.

The second thing I noticed was a pair of dark blue eyes staring directly at me. I glanced at him for only a second, noticing he was around my age. He was dressed in a white button down with the first few buttons undone. He was sat between a man and a woman who shared similar features as him.

The last thing I noticed were three empty seats on the left side of my father, who sat at the head of the table. My mother sat to his right.

I felt a nudge in my side as I glanced over at Rosie, who was motioning to take a seat. I followed her and took a seat next to Rachael, and some other man.

There were eight other people at the table, not including my parents and sisters. They were all around my parents age, some even a little older. The only exception was the boy with blue eyes and a girl with long, almost black hair. She too looked around the same age as me.

"Girls. I see you made it here safely. Please sit. I'd like to introduce you three to some colleagues of ours." My Dad says to us.

Dad gestures to an older couple, "This is Grace and Jack Hughes. They own of the most popular restaurants here in California. Excellent food!" The couple smile at the three of us; however, I can tell something's off about their smile.

Dad gestures to the next group of people, the family with the girl. "This is Janet and Mark Wilson, and their daughter Ashlyn. She's a year younger than you girls. She'll be attending the same high school as you guys. Her parents are excellent lawyers." The man and woman smile kindly at us, but Ashlyn rolls her eyes.

"Last, but certainly not least, Victoria and James Carter, and their son Luke. Their family is highly respected in the business industry. Luke is your age by the way, and also attends the high school you three will be going to." Victoria smiles at me, but James seems to be lost in thought. Luke looks at me and smirks, before turning his attention elsewhere.

"My, my, you girls look so identical! I can't even tell you three apart. Please, introduce yourselves." Grace, I believe her name is, says.

I can already tell Rachael is annoyed. "I'm Rachael, and these are my two sisters Rowan and Rosie."

"It's nice to meet you all." Rosie pipes in. I stay quiet.

Dad clears his throat. "Well, it is getting a little late, I suppose we should wrap things up. May I have a private word with the adults please?"

All the kids in the room stand up from their chairs, including my sisters and I, and exit the room. Once we've all exited, Ashlyn and Luke walk over and wait in the foyer. Rachael, not caring anymore, immediately head up the stairs, without even a word said. Rosie however, tries to break the awkwardness.

"So, uh, how long have you guys lived here?" Rosie asks smiling. I swear to God, this girl is much too positive and sweet to be related to me and Rachael.

Ashlyn looks up from her phone, "Who are you again?"

"Oh! I'm Rosie, and this is one of my sisters Rowan. We just moved here from Manchester."

Ashlyn looks bored and goes back to doing whatever she was doing on her phone. I purse my lips, feeling slightly bad for Rosie. She's always trying to be nice to others, even when they're not nice back.

"Manchester, huh?" Luke speaks up. My head snaps up, slightly shocked he spoke. I catch Ashlyn shoot a glare at Luke before looking back down at her phone.

Rosie nudges me, encouraging me to answer. "Yeah." Is all I say. Ok yes, I'm not much of a talker. All the talking skills went straight to Rosie. But hey, give me some credit, I couldn't disagree and say this boy wasn't cute. He had brown hair and a perfectly white teeth, and damn, but did he look great in white.

"We, or least I'm excited to be living in the States. It's a nice change, and I really like beaches, so I'll be spending most of my day there probably." Rosie says, adding more than just my 'yeah'.

Rosie's phone chimes and she looks down. "Oh. That's Lily. I gotta go. It was great meeting the both of you!" Rosie says before heading up the stairs, leaving me to fend for myself. Great. Gee, thanks a lot for ditching me like this Rose.

"Ya know, I've always wanted to go to England." A voice pipes up from beside me. I jump a little, earning a slight chuckle from Luke. In response all I do is nod my head. I'm really not much of a talker. That, and I'm super jetlagged from the trip. "Not much of a talker, huh?" I look at him.

"You're right. I'm not much of a talker. I usually don't talk to strangers. I'm very tired too by the way. And when I'm tired, I get cranky." I tell Luke, hoping he gets the hint. I made sure to put my best 'fuck off' face on too.

"It's okay. I'm tired too." Luke replies, just as the adults walk back into the room.

"Are you ready to head off son?" Mr. Carter asks Luke.

"Yeah I am." Luke grabs his coat that is being held by Ollie. Right before Luke leaves, he stops next to me. He leans in close and whispers, "Oh, and by the way, your British accent is adorable."

***

Not much happened after the guests left. I went back upstairs into my room and got ready for bed. I took a hot shower and brushed my teeth before snuggling into my comfy bed. Just as I'm about to close my eyes, my door swings open.

I bolt up in bed, only to see Rachael standing in the doorway. "Wake up loser." Rachael says, walking over to my bed and sitting on the edge. I reach over and turn on my light. "Listen, I know you're tired and cranky. I am too, but I wanted to go over the game plan with you."

"What game plan?" I ask confusedly.

"Ya know. For school and stuff."

"Shouldn't we talk with Rosie too?"

"Yeah, but I already know what she's gonna say. 'Let's be social. Make new friends. Join clubs.' Blah, blah, blah. I love Rosie. I really do, but you know her. She was never born for our way of life. She's too sweet and innocent to be dealing with the shit we deal with."

I nod my head in agreement. Rosie really is the innocent one out of the three of us. Hell, out of the whole family. Whenever the three of us were working on an assignment, Rosie was always the driver, or the distraction. She never does the fighting like me and Rachael.

"Anyways, I just think that we need to keep our heads down low. It's our senior year Ro. I know you wanna go out and experience the true American high school life, I do too. But, with our line of work and family business, we can't draw attention to ourselves. We'll live our low-key normal high school lives in the day, and our badass crime fighting life at night, and on the weekends." Rachael concludes.

I agree with Rachael. It is important that we stay out of the spotlight for the rest of our senior year. But then again, I really did want to experience a normal American high school life. I wouldn't mind joining the soccer team, or even go to a few American high school football games. Life was hard. Our life was hard. But you have to do what you have to do to keep yourself safe.

So that's why I say, "I fully agree. Stay out of the spotlight."

"Good. So you'll back me up tomorrow when we tell Rosie?" Rachael asks. I nod my head. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow morning then loser." And with that, she gets up, ruffles my hair, then leaves, closing the door behind her.

***

That's chapter two! Hope you guys enjoyed!

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Also, what do you guys think of Rachael? Rowan? Rosie?