I wanna shine before I show up
I wanna die with my chin up
And definitely maybe I will live to love
Definitely maybe I will live to love
-All Die Young; by Smith Westerns
Amity Park. A fairly big city filled with a decent amount of skyscrapers and complete with enough urbanization to keep its citizens satisfied. Naturally, it seemed as though it had enough going on to keep the inhabitants occupied, but to the Serratos family, particularly the children, Amity Park came off as boring. It didn't bring them any feelings of awe or curiosity. Instead, it brought on feelings of disinterest, slight bitterness, and frustration. Parents Katya and Zack had announced long ago their intentions of uprooting the Serratos family and giving them a fresh start somewhere else, something the children couldn't stand. But they also understood it was for personal measures, as well. Things back in their old hometown had gone awry, which served as the main motivation for the abrupt change of scenery.
"What do you guys think?" Katya asked. She was sitting in the passenger seat, turning her head slightly to look at the three children in the back of the car. The family had been driving for the better part of three hours in hopes of getting to Amity Park before sundown. It was their — Katya's and Zack's — to at least get everything inside their new home before any exhaustion started settling in them. "It's not too bad right?" Katya pressed. She was trying to sound as hopeful as possible, which only seemed to thicken the heavy emotions in the car. The family had arrived in Amity Park not even twenty minutes ago, driving and maneuvering as best they could.
"We could've gone to Keystone. It was closer to home and it would've saved us a lot of time." Diane Serratos was the eldest of the siblings and by far the most difficult. She'd typically have a general dislike for anything that involved change. Diane wanted things to remain the same so she could continue living the same monotonous routine day in and day out. In her eyes, packing up everything and relocating to Amity Park went outside her comfort zone, probably making her the most bitter and frustrated of the Serratos siblings.
"You know how fast word travels," Zack stated. He peered through the rear view mirror, catching Diane's eye roll. "Besides, the homes — hell, even the apartments — in Keystone are well out of our budget."
"That means you'd have to get a job, D," Katya informed, almost sounding apologetic. "As nice as it would be to live in Keystone, your father and I wouldn't be able to keep us all there by ourselves."
A short laugh could be heard from Diane's left. Tristan Serratos, the only son in the family and the youngest sibling, shook his head in disbelief. "Good luck convincing Diane to ever get a job," he exclaimed. "She's too preoccupied brooding to care about anything else."
"Can you shut up, you little shit," Diane exclaimed. "Why do you always have to do this?"
"Guys, calm it down. . .," Zack said, trying to intervene.
"Oh come on," Tristan exclaimed. "You've been in a pissy mood ever since we left. You've been up everyone's asses 'cause you had to leave your friends and your fake high school boyfriend."
"Liam was not 'fake high school boyfriend'," Diane sputtered. "We just started dating!"
That's when the arguing got more and more intense. Diane and Tristan started yelling at each other, calling each other names and trying to get some kind of reaction. Zack and Katya were attempting to calm their two children down, but nothing seemed to be working. The only other member of the Serratos family, and the middle child out of the three children, Rani Rose, chose to stay out of the outburst, seeing as nothing she'd say could change anything. And while listening to her siblings argue was annoying and frustrating in its own right, she felt herself above the pointlessness of it all. Diane was always looking for a fight if she was in a mood and Tristan was more than willing to be a little asshole from time to time.
But as the yelling and fighting grew louder, it became harder for Rani to ignore it. It became harder for her to keep her mouth shut. Now the Serratos family is naturally loud, the fourteen year old learned it fairly quick upon moving in with them. But the fact that they argued even louder made Rani's head spin. She could accept her family's loudness, she could accept that they had no sense of volume control, but there had to be a limit in there somewhere. There had to be a point where Zack and Katya, or even Diane and Tristan, would take a step back and think maybe yelling or screaming or even barking everything they said wasn't always acceptable. And so, as their volumes increased even more, Rani's patience became thinner and thinner. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows; she set her jaw and pursed her lips. She tried keeping her mouth shut, she tried not getting involved, but she knew that she'd have to say something or they'd keep arguing for the duration of the ride.
"Can you guys just shut up!" Rani screamed. She was honestly surprised if any of them could hear her, but they did. Once those words left her mouth, silence fell over them. It was a wonderful sound, in Rani's opinion. But that didn't stop eyes and heads from snapping in her direction. "God, who cares if we're living here now? Get over it and stop arguing over everything."
"That's easy for you to say," Diane exclaimed. "You're the reason we had to move."
"Diane, that's enough," Katya snapped. "We get you're frustrated, but don't take it out on your sister."
"She's not my sister." The sixteen year old glared at her mother, venom dripping in her voice. "She's been living with us for six months and in that whole time, she's ruined everything."
"Enough." That single word that came out of Zack's voice held enough authority and power to make Diane stop talking. It also held enough power to make Tristan sink into his seat, his eyes lowered. "I don't want to hear another word from either of you until we get to the house, understood?" he barked.
There was a mumbled agreement among the children, neither of them willing to look at the other.
-0 0 0 0-
The remainder of the car ride went by in a tense silence. No one looked at each other, no one talked to each other — it made Rani feel relieved since no one was arguing anymore, but it also made her feel uncomfortable. She hated tense silences. It reminded her of before. For a moment, Rani turned her head away from her car window to look at the others. Zack kept his focus on the road while Katya was picking at her fingernails. Tristan looked bored beyond belief, but Diane was scowling out her car window, refusing to acknowledge anyone around her. It was no secret in the Serratos family that the sixteen year old held a lot of animosity towards Rani. It started the day Katya offered shelter to the fourteen year old. That was all Rani was looking for, shelter. But then Zack and Katya made an offer she couldn't refuse: a permanent place in their home.
Rani couldn't say why Diane was so hostile towards her. At first, the fourteen year old theorized it was because she didn't like the thought of some stranger living in her family's home. Maybe she thought Rani would do something to them, or steal something valuable. But when that didn't happen, Diane became more and more upset. Zack and Katya tried talking to their older daughter, but nothing seemed to work. And when Rani's big secret came to light, things only got worse. But at that point, the fourteen year old had already knew what her foster sister was all about. Diane hated change. She hated when things went against what she was comfortable with. Rani was a disruption, an unneeded change in the Serratos family. From then on, Diane made things miserable for the fourteen year old.
Tristan, on the other hand, was more understanding, and he was ten. He accepted Rani without so much as second guessing himself. He was even more understanding when her secret came out. Tristan knew that a lot of what happened to Rani was out of her control, and he learned to accept who she was. Honestly, he was probably more mature than Diane in some regards.
Turning her head back to the window, Rani let out a soft sigh. Yes, things have been difficult since the Serratos let her live with them. Yes, she was the usual culprit behind the difficulties. And as much as Rani wanted to admit it wasn't her fault, she knew otherwise. The family had to uproot themselves to accommodate for her misdeeds, for her mistakes. That wasn't fair to any of them.
Maybe Diane, in a sense, was right. Maybe Rani did ruin everything for the family.
-0 0 0 0-
"So what do you think?" Katya came up to Rani, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's not too bad, right?"
Rani had been standing outside the new home for the last couple minutes, observing its outward appearance. The house was, for the part, big for a suburban home. It wasn't as big as their old home, but it still had enough room for all of them. They'd arrived to the property not even half an hour ago, and the sun was beginning to set. Rani had helped bring in boxes, but she also wanted to take a moment to just take it all in.
"It looks okay," Rani responded. "A bit smaller than the old place."
"That's true," Katya said, nodding. "But hey, it's a fresh start for all of us, right?"
"Sorry I ruined everything." The words slipped from Rani's mouth before could stop herself. "I didn't think I'd be such a nuisance."
"Hey. Don't even think like that, okay?"
"Maybe Diane had a point. Maybe I do ruin everything."
"Knock it off," Katya exclaimed. "Diane was having a tantrum 'cause things weren't going her way. Don't listen to her. None of us are blaming you for anything.*"
"Maybe you should," Rani murmured. "After everything I did back home? I shouldn't be getting off the hook this easily."
"You didn't do anything wrong." Wrapping her arms around the fourteen year old, Katya pulled her into a hug. "No one's upset at you. We're still adjusting to everything, that's all. We're all starting over, and this place will be a new beginning for us."
The words were comforting, holding a promise for a better future. But Rani didn't know if she entirely believed them. Sure, Katya was doing her best to be the supportive mother, but there was only so much she could do to make the family — especially the kids — feel better. But, for Katya's sake, Rani would go along with it. She'd pretend to believe her mother's words, just to make her feel better. Maybe it'd make her feel better in time.
Who knows?
(A/N):
Sorry for the wait on the chapter. But now that it's up, hopefully you guys enjoy it. I don't know. But if you see things that could use improvement, don't hesitate to let me know, okay? Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Do I own anything in the fandom? No. No I don't. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and the shoes in my closet. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, be sure to PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.
Leave a random fact in the reviews if you'd like. It could be on something old or on something new; it's up to you guys.
Thank you so, so much!
Vanya Itzkowitz