1. New Home, Same Old Rules:
"Life is a Masquerade
No one shows their true face until the clock strikes midnight"
I looked around me, the floor of our new house that belonged to me was totally and completely empty. I've hated moving, but here we were, four months after moving once, moving again. This time I could only hope that it would be more permanent. I just had a feeling about New York, a feeling that it was going to go well, and be perfect. I would just chalk it up to intuition, or instinct, but I know better, I know that I am not an ordinary person who makes ordinary assumptions.
I opened one of my many boxes with the exact-o knife that was laying on top of it. Inside it where my books. I let out a sigh of relief, happy that they had made it through the move successfully. I pulled each of the books out individually, examined them and placed them on the bookshelves in my study.
When my parents decided we were moving to New York City they had bought the largest brown stone they could find in the city, this brownstone just happened to be on Waverly Place and I had more square footage on my floor than in most penthouse apartments. There are enough floors in our new home, that each of us kids get one, and our parents get one to themselves as well. I am the second youngest of four, but my older brothers don't live with us anymore, Othello is ten years older than I, and Benvolio is eight years older than I, so I get my own floor, my little sister Hero gets her own floor as well, Mom and Dad get a floor, and the left over floor that isn't the main living area or the basement is split in half for Othello and Benvolio when they visit.
My floor has my bedroom, a dressing room, a large bathroom, a small kitchenette with a mini fridge, an enormous study, a living room, a TV room, a small breakfast nook for eating, a music room, and an extra room that I am thinking of making an artist's studio, or something similar to that.
After putting all the books away in the den, I moved on to another box.
"Jules, can you help me?" Hero asked her long red hair flowing away form here as she ran into the main sitting room of my floor.
Hero is only seven years old, making Othello twenty years older than her, Benvolio eighteen years older than her, and me ten years older than her. Our parents have never been big fans of having children close together age wise, unless it would work for them in the public eye. Hence the large age differences between Othello, Benvolio and I, and between Othello, Benviole, me, and Hero.
"Sure Eliza what do you need?" I asked my baby sister.
Hero's full name is Hero Elizabeth Van Huessen, when she was four she came to me complaining about the name Hero, and that she wanted to be called something normal. Ever since I have been calling her Eliza, acting as if Elizabeth is her full name not Hero. Something Mom and Dad never bothered to do.
"I don't want to live on a floor all by myself. Can I live up here with you?" She asked with an innocent look on her face as she sat down on one of the couches in the room.
"Eliza." I began as I sat down next to her. She knew very well that she couldn't sleep on the same floor as me every night, we would have sleepovers on weekends and over the summer on one floor or the other as we always did but with the wings of our past houses, but she couldn't live here. "You know that you can't stay here all the time. Mom and Dad got such a big house so you can be able to go off by yourself and become your own person, without too much absorption from everyone else."
"Jules. That makes no sense." The seven year old said as she looked up at me with her big blue eyes.
"You're just saying that because I said absorption." I answered, sticking my tongue out at my little sister and lightly stroking her long deep red hair. "If it makes you feel any better you're bedroom is right below mine, and you can always send me a message through the intercom, no matter what time it is." I added reassuringly.
"Juliet, Hero, it is time for dinner." Our mother's voice cackled over the intercom.
"Come on Eliza, let's go eat." I said with a smile, taking my little sisters hand and leaving my floor of the house to go to the main level and the dining room.
The two of us sat down at the long dining table, and I started to shovel food on both of our plates. Tonight we were having angel hair pasta, with marinara sauce, meatballs, and freshly baked Italian bread, with an option of a salad with Italian dressing on the side.
Eliza and I both started to eat in silence, Mom may have been the one to call us down to dinner, but she was not eating at the table, she wasn't even at the table, and neither was Dad. It was just Eliza and I like usual.
After about ten minutes of eating Mom and Dad finally showed up and got themselves some food and they began to eat on the opposite end of the table.
"Hero, Juliet, we have something to tell you." Dad said after he ate half of his plate of pasta and two of his three meatballs. "Your mother and I are going to be flying back and forth between here and our home in LA to work on our newest projects, but you two cannot come with us because we will be so busy, but you cannot live here by yourselves, as neither of you are of age." Dad added.
My Mom is Cindy Van Huessen (originally Marcum), the famous actress and singer, and my Dad is Alucard Van Huessen, the famous producer, director, and screen writer. According to Mom and Dad the two met on one of Dad's many successful movies and fell in love. I believed this completely when I was younger, but when I got older I realized how big of a pile of crap it is. Mom and Dad got married because Mom was knocked up and they are the ultimate power couple. They moth have boyfriends and girlfriends on the side and the other just doesn't give a shit. It is terrible, and I refuse to join the 'family business' no matter how much both of them push me.
"And there are my grandbabies!" A woman shouted as the double oak doors to our large dining room were thrown open.
In walked my Grandmother, Miss Myrtle Mae Melanie Marcum, Mom's Mom. Grandma'ma, as we lovingly call her, couldn't be more different than mom. She was a Broadway actress who divorced her first husband the moment he cheated on her, and went on to get married six more times. She is always brutally honest, and she actually genuinely cares about other people. Whenever Grandma'ma comes and stays with us, all of the rules that we are supposed to have go away, because she understands that we are never going to become fully functioning independent beings if we aren't allowed to make our own decisions.
"GRANDMA'MA!" Eliza shrieked as she jumped out of her chair and gave Grandma'ma a huge hug. I got out of my chair as well and gave our grandmother a hug.
"Ahem." Dad said clearing his throat giving Eliza a very pointed look as the two of us sat back down. "Myrtle Mae will be staying with us in this house full time. The same rules still apply, as you both know very well. That is all, you can leave now." Dad said fluttering his hand at us in a dismissive gesture.
"Grandma'ma, can we make cookies tomorrow?" Eliza asked happily with a look of pure excitement on her face.
"Yes Hero sweetie we can." Grandma'ma said as a smile before beckoning us out of the dining room.
The next morning my alarm clock woke me up at exactly seven o'clock. Today was my first day of my senior year of High School at Tribeca Prep, a month into school. Eliza was also starting school at the elementary school right next to my new High School.
I pulled the covers of my large queen sized bed off of me and stretched my arms out while yawning. I got out of the bed and walked over to my dresser. On the dresser was my outfit for the day (I always pick out my clothes the night before), a white mini dress with a flowing skirt, three quarter length sleeves, and a floral embroidery print, black tights, and a pair of brown ankle booties. I put on the dress, tights, and shoes quickly before turning to my hair. I took my honey blonde waves out of their long side braid and brushed them out softly with a round brush. They fell in the right place and I started to apply small amounts of make up, liquid foundation, a little bit of cover-up, some eyeliner, a touch of mascara, the smallest bit of eye shadow, lots of chap stick, and just enough lip gloss to add a touch of color. I then moved on to jewelry. I put on the leather charm bracelet that Eliza had given me for my 16th birthday, a ring that I had gotten from Eliza for my 17th birthday, and a necklace that had a triangle pendant with an oval in the middle that I had made when I was little in arts and crafts class. I grabbed my new bag for school stuffed full of whatever supplies I could possibly need and headed downstairs to the main floor.
"Good morning Juliet." Mom said as she sipped a cup of coffee in the kitchen.
"Morning mom." I replied tiredly. I pulled out the leftover pasta from last night and threw it into a bag for lunch, I did the same for Eliza.
A few minutes later, as I ate honey nut cheerios in milk, Eliza came down skipping gleefully, her dark red hair streaming behind her and her blue eyes shining with happiness.
"Good morning Mommy." Eliza said as she gave mom a huge hug. "Good morning Jules." She added giving me an enormous hug as well.
"Morning Eliza." I said as Mom said "Good morning Hero."
"Ah and here are my girls." Dad said as he entered the kitchen. He gave us each a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Now before you two leave for school, we need to go over the rules." He began sternly. "Rule number 1-" Dad added but I cut him off.
"Don't become friends with anyone. Rule number 2, use your fame to your advantage but don't let people take advantage of you because of it. Rule number 3, never offer people autographs. Rule number 4, do not participate in any extracurricular activities. Rule number 5, never find a date or like a boy. Rule number 6, get the best grades that can be achieved, no matter what. And Rule number 7, don't have fun or enjoy school at all." I interrupted, listing off the rules that both of our parents insisted on, just for school. There were many more for everyday life, such as never let the press see you at any time unless it has been deemed an appropriate time by the family's publicist, and other stupid rules that have been restricting my life since I was born.
"Juliet. Do not behave that way." Dad said with a disgruntled look on his face.
"Why not. You know it's true. Come on Eliza, let's get going the car is waiting for us." I said as I took my little sister's hand and lead her outside.
The two of us got into the limo that was waiting for us and it headed down Waverly Place until it arrived at Tribeca Prep and Waverly Elementary.
"Thanks Dan." I said to the driver with a smile as the two of us got out of the limo. Dan tipped his cap and smiled.
I kept hold of Eliza's hand and took her to the main office of the elementary school, which thankfully started earlier than Tribeca Prep did.
"How can I help you?" One of the four women in the main office of the school asked me.
"Hi, I am just here to let you know that my little sister Hero Elizabeth Van Huessen is here for her first day in the second grade." I said wit ha smile to the woman.
I could tell by the look on her face that she recognized the last name Van Huessen but couldn't place it at the moment. "Oh yes of course, if you just come with me Hero, I can take you straight to your class room." The woman said with a cheery and friendly smile.
"I'll see you at home Jules." Eliza said with a huge toothy grin.
"By Eliza." I replied with a smile as I gave her a quick hug and made sure she had her bag with her lunch in it.
After Eliza walked out of sight with the secretary I exited the school and headed into Tribeca Prep. How my parents had decided on sending the two of us to public schools I had no idea, but I also had zero problems with it. I would much rather be with normal teenagers than Private School snobs who only care about themselves and how much money you or your family has.
I walked around the hallways absentmindedly trying to find the main office so I could get my schedule and locker number.
"ALEX!" A boy shouted before running right into me and knocking me over. "I am so sorry. It's just my sister, she likes to- here let me help you." The boy said holding out his hand which I took gingerly and let go of the moment that I was back to standing up.
The boy who had run into me and helped me up was tall, at least 5'10". He had dark brown hair that could arguably be black-brown, and bright blue gray eyes. He was attractive to say the least, but in a nerdy way, that just made me think he was quite handsome.
"It's no problem." I said shyly. Around my own family, I am crazy and loud, but around everyone else, I am shy as anything. "Thank you-for helping me up." I added quietly.
"I did knock you over." The boy said with a forced laugh. He seemed to find this situation just as awkward as I did. "Are you new?" He asked curiously. He had an honest curiosity in his eyes, that I got the feeling that he was a science or math person.
"Yes. Could you please tell me where the main office is?" I asked him quietly focusing more on playing with my bracelet than looking at him.
"Sure, go down this hallway, make a left, then a right, and another right, and it should be the first large room on your left." The boy said with a smile as he pointed me in the direction of the right hallway.
"Thank you." I answered with a slight smile and headed down the hallway.
"I'm Justin by the way!" He shouted down the hall.
I knew it was mean and completely uncalled for but I acted like I didn't hear him. As much as I hated my parents stupid rules, I still followed them, if I didn't my parents would no right away and the punishments they could cook up were not worth it.
I walked down the hallway he had directed me to and after following his directions I soon found myself in the main office.
"Hi, I'm the transfer student, Juliet Rosalind Van Huessen, I need to get all of my information, my schedule, locker, and combo." I said to the secretary closest to me who had motioned that I come towards her with a nod of her head.
"Of course, it is a pleasure to meet you Juliet. Here is your schedule, your locker number and combination, and a map of the school. And when you get a chance, please tell your Dad that his last movie was excellent, and your Mom that the last CD was superb." The woman said with a carefree smile.
"I will." I said softly. "Thank you." I added leaving the office.
I followed the map and made it successfully to my first period class, which happened to be AP Literature and Composition, right after the announcements finished. I walked in, explained quickly to the teacher that I was the new students, the teacher happened to be a huge fan of Mom and had a cow.
"Class! Class! Pay attention or I will make you write another essay on Jane Eyre!" The teach, Ms. Windom said giddily. "This is our new student, Miss Juliet Van Huessen, her parents are Cindy and Aulcard Van Huessen the famous singer and actress and the famous screen writer, director, and producer!" The teacher said excitedly. Everyone applauded politely and I could tell that some of them recognized my parent's names. "Juliet you can sit in the front right here." Ms. Windom added pointing to a seat that was right next to the boy from earlier, Justin.
I sat down at the desk, pulled out a pencil and my battered copy of Jane Eyre, I had gone slightly overboard with the annotating of it over the summer. I looked up at Ms. Windom, who had thankfully started teaching and tried my hardest to ignore the seemingly sweet boy who tried to say hi for all of first block.
The first day of school had dragged by. Justin was in every single one of my classes, and in every class I felt bad when I had to ignore him. He offered to eat lunch with me and I told him that I couldn't, I ended up eating lunch by myself in the library. I would kill to have one friend, just one to eat lunch with day in and day out, and I couldn't because of my parents stupid rules, their micromanaging and controlling of their children's lives, preventing anything from happening, saving us for whatever marriage they were planning to orchestrate with other celebrity parents. He probably thought I was just being a stuck-up spoiled rich kid of celebrities, that I didn't want to be friends with him because he was from a middle class family, that killed me, it had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with me.
I put the stuff I didn't need to take home with me into my locker and prepared to close it, when something hit me like a ton of bricks.
I saw a boy with brown hair and that was covered in hair, he looked like a werewolf. The boy was fighting with a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, a boy with light brown hair and brown eyes, and Justin, against a man who looked dark and mysterious with a boy who looked to be about our age with red hair and hazel eyes. All of them were fighting against each other, the girl, the boy, and Justin were all holding what looked like wands and firing spells at the other boy who hand a wand as well. Before I knew what was happening my hand banged into the locker door and everything went black.
I slowly opened my eyes a moment later and saw that I was on the floor. I looked up and saw that Justin was standing over me offering a hand.
"Are you okay?" He asked sincerely.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't paying attention and my head banged into my locker door." I answered as I took his hand, and let go of it again the moment I was back on my feet. I slammed my locker shot, picked up my bag and started to steam line it out of the school. Before I exited the school however I turned back to Justin. I put my hand on his arm lightly. "Thank you." I said giving him a soft smile, hoping with every nerve of my body that he could understand somehow, by looking in my eyes, everything that was going on in my life...
a/n: Here is chapter one? Thoughts? Questions? Send them to me in a review! This is obviously quite AU, but I really like how it is going so far. :)
xoxo,
Lexi