Chapter 1
When the plane landed in DC,my aunt was waiting.
At least that's who I hope she is.
She certainly had similarities to my mom,both beautiful,both blond,both the same height and smile. This woman though was like a sharpened version of my mom. Supermodel skinny where my mom was curvier. Great posture where my mom slouched. My mom had a sweetheart face and this woman had cheekbones so sharp they would cut through steak.
"Joan Campbell" I asked her.
"Jordan Jenkins?".
"Technically but I go by MacKenzie" I asked. There was an awkward silence while both of us figured out what to say next.
"Should we go get your suitcases?" she offered.
"This is all I brought" I gestured to the holdall bag on my shoulder.
"Oh okay. Let's go back to our house".
Joan Campbell was my mother Karen's sister,and this was the first time I had ever met her. My mother died last week,she got hit by a drunk driver and was killed instantly. Painlessly.
My other aunt who again I had never met,Tina came down and helped me with the funeral. Which was really where they cremated my mom and then I scattered her ashes on Venice Beach. She loved the water.
Joan took me outside and I caught sight of a beautiful black BMW. It had that sleek new car look that made me think it couldn't be more than a year old. I glanced at the make to confirm my suspicions and discovered that the model was barely four months old. This woman must be rich. The new model cost almost eighty thousand dollars.
"You like?" she asked.
"I love. I have to say though,not the best colour for this particular model. British racing green,ocean blue or maybe even blood red would have made it look so much more flashy. What you do have though is an understated beauty" I smiled at her,so she wouldn't think I was being rude about her car.
"Car fanatic. My husband will love that. I think you're right about the colour but I have to drive this car to work,and somehow I think blood red is a little too flashy".
We got in the car and she turned on the radio,keeping it at a low level.
"Well tell me about yourself Jordan. I don't know much about you besides your name" she said.
"Uh, well I am a fifteen year old girl. I was born on June 18th 1998. I was born in Chicago,and when I was five my dad split. When I was seven my mom,who was working for a bank,got a promotion and moved to the Dallas branch. When I was thirteen my mom quit and moved to Los Angeles and she worked all different jobs and tried to sell her paintings for cash. Now she's dead and you have me. And that's my story" I said without much feeling. My mom's death was so surreal. It felt like it wasn't really happening,as though it was a bad dream I hadn't woke up from.
"I'm sorry about your mom,but I promise to do everything I can to make you happy in my home. So tell me about your hobbies and school and friends" she said.
"Well I attended public school. My best friends are called Marnie Todd and Naomi Richardson. Naomi loves fashion and design,she even taught me how to sew. Marnie and I both worked on the school newspaper and website. Oh,writing and reading. My two biggest passions,I write all of the time. I brought a few new notepads for coming here,and a book filled of my favourite stories. I love to read,LA's public library had an extensive list of books and eventually the librarian Sandra ordered in books I wanted. Martial arts is another hobby. The gym I went to taught all different kinds of fighting skills and I even competed in sparring competitions in California and Arizona" I informed her.
"I'm officially impressed. Do I get to read anything you've written? What's your favourite book?" she asked.
"Um I don't let anyone see any of my original stories,not even Marnie But I'll show you the school blog I wrote for. I love all kinds of books. Modern books I like the Mortal Instruments Series,I love the Hunger Games,the Gossip Girl series. The last book I read was called Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley and I loved that. It was a mystery book,so creepy but it was one of those books you couldn't put down. Older books I like the Great Gatsby,I love The Beautiful and Damned. Dracula is hard to get into but overall a great read. I tried Romeo and Juliet when I was twelve and I wasn't a huge fan. Maybe it's because I was so young but I didn't really get why they both killed themselves. It just seemed a little rushed, plus in the book Juliet is thirteen! And when I was that age,I still had a night light!" Joan laughed at that.
"I like Romeo and Juliet,although I read it when I was your age and despised it. Swore I'd never be stupid enough to kill myself over a man. I read it four or five years ago again and kind of understood it. Not to be condescending but when you fall in love you kind of understand why Juliet couldn't function without Romeo" she said and for some reason I believed her.
She pulled outside a huge regal looking gate and going towards it she put in a short 4-digit code.
"Neighbourhood security" she said and I almost rolled my eyes. Obviously my new home was in a gated community. The houses we were flying past were all gorgeous,a few with kids on the perfectly groomed lawn,the occasional man in a suit with a briefcase getting out of an expensive sports car. It was a bizarre world to me.
Joan pulled into a gorgeous house and a garage door opened to reveal two other cars. The house itself was beautiful,light coloured bricks with a white front porch,bushes and flowers and a well groomed lawn. It was palatial.
When we got out of the car I surveyed the other cars. There was another BMW,one that wasn't as sleek,and it must have been a year or two old. The other car was a Range Rover,again new,and it looked to be the LR4. It looked to be a black and sliver interior. How rich were these people? They had two cars one of which was barely four months and another that wasn't a year gone yet. Most families would kill to own the BMW that was a few years old.
"It's technically a four car garage but after I crashed the last car,Arthur has went without. On the bright side we can fit a visitors car in the driveway" she said perkily.
"You totaled Arthur's car?" I asked.
"Arthur used to have a Jaguar and he never let me drive it. But my BMW was getting serviced so Arthur said I could just use the Jaguar. I was on a slip road coming home and the car coming in the opposite direction on the next lane kept veering into my lane. Drunk driver. I swerved to avoid and hit a tree. I was fine, bump on my forehead and a sprained wrist but the front of the car was wrecked. Arthur was devastated when they impounded it,but it cost almost seven thousand dollars to fix it,and considering how much it had costed initially I wasn't about to replace it" she said and part of me couldn't believe how cavalier she was about it.
"I'm not a total bitch. It was an accident. Now come on in and you can explore the house while I get changed and make dinner" she said.
"Sure" I grabbed my hold all and headed inside. Joan went straight up-stairs and I went into the living room. A gorgeous room,decorated in warm colours. Three tan leather couches, a vase of white orchids, a huge plasma TV and a huge glass case containing DVD's practically took up the whole wall. The next room was the kitchen,which had a black and white theme,with state of the art appliances and a small breakfast bar. There was an adjoining room which was the dining room which was much like the living-room,done in under-stated fawns and browns. I also came across a downstairs bathroom which was again very simple. I went up the stair and opened all the doors at random. Two bathrooms,one of which was a turquoise blue that adjoined to a turquoise blue guest room There was another bedroom done in summer colours. Then I threw open another door into heaven.
A games room. There were three floor to ceiling glass windows and a few feet in front of it was a huge pool table. With four cues in a rack against the wall away from it. A huge black leather couched faced another plasma and underneath it was a white games cabinet which had an x-box and a mac book on top of it and games in the drawers. There was a treadmill in the far right,a foosball table,a dartboard,a stack of board games and a mini fridge near the TV. A vintage skeeball machine was in the far left corner of the room,along with a pacman machine. There was also a karaoke machine with two mics. I was slightly overwhelmed.
"I see you found the games room" I turned to look at Joan who was standing in the doorway,now dressed in black yoga pants and a purple tank top.
"Somehow on family nights we all end up in here" she smiled fondly.
"Originally it was Arthur's man cave. Then we put in board games,karaoke and now it's everyone's favourite room. Let's go upstairs and I'll show you your room" Joan said and I realised she meant there was a third floor!
The first door opened to show a gorgeous bedroom,red and white with satin sheets,French doors which Joan informed me was a balcony and two adjoining doors. The first door was the bathroom which had a huge corner bath that had a lot of weird buttons on it.
"It functions as a jacuzzi" Joan informed me.
"I see" I shut the door.
"That one leads into my closet which I will show you at a later date" Joan grinned like a little girl who had a secret.
"Cool,now let's see my room" I said and we went out together and she opened my room door.
The room was a lovely purple and white colour,there was a bookcase in the corner that had three bare shelves and one fully stocked shelf. The wall opposite my window was covereed in floor to ceiling mirrors. There was a desk near the window with a freaking mac book on it!
"We thought you should have your room all ready for you coming. There's an i-phone on charge on your bedside cabinet. We also have a hundred dollars itunes vouchers on your phone so you can buy apps or music. The wall mirrors move to become your closet but you can store some stuff with me. There are some earphones in the bedside drawer cabinet as well" Joan said.
"Joan it's to much. Thank you" my voice choked up.
"Oh sweetie it's fine. Now you just settle in while I go whip something up to eat" Joan smiled and left the room. Part of me felt terrible for enjoying myself,the only reason I was here was because my mother was dead. I shook my head,and started putting the things in my holdall into their proper places in my room.
I packed two pairs of jeans onto hangers,then put in a sweater and a hoodie. All I put in my drawers were four pairs of pants,bras and socks and three simple tees. I grabbed my four books, The Beautiful And Damned,Great Gatsby,The Devil Wears Prada and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. I went into the bathroom and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. There was an electric toothbrush charging,like eight different hairbrushes all with a different function,toothpaste,face cream, moisturiser and cleansing lotion for blackheads. Joan knew what a teenage girl needed. I walked back to my bookcase and observed the full shelf. There were titles that had obviously been picked out specifically for me such as The Hunger Games,The Twilight Series (eye roll),the morganville Vampires and The Maximum Ride Series. There were a few classics such as Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights and something called Snow Flower And The Secret Fan.
I opened my mac book and sent an identical message to both Naomi and Marnie, telling them all about my new house and how my aunt seems really nice. I was barely finished typing when I heard the door slam shut and footsteps leading into the kitchen. I stayed in my room,not wanting to intrude on Arthur and Joan and instead chose to download songs onto my brand new iphone 5S.
I heard my phone ring and answered.
"Dinner's ready" Joan said.
"Why didn't you just shout up-stairs?" I didn't realise how incredibly rude I sounded till it had come out.
"Because you probably wouldn't have heard it" she answered back and hung up.
I headed down and saw man standing in the kitchen. He was tallish with black hair and blue eyes,and he immediately walked over.
"Hi I'm Jordan" I said nervously.
"Arthur nice to meet you" he smiled at me,making me relax.
Joan had made spag bol,one of my favourites and it was fucking delicious.
"This is amazing Joan it's lovely" I said to try and make conversation.
"Thank you Jordan. It's nice to have a compliment from someone" she elbowed Arthur but I could see she was having a carry on.
"I tell you your food's great all the time" he justified.
"When?".
"Uhh...Christmas 2008" he said making me laugh.
"What sauce do you use?" I asked.
"It's my mother in law's recipe and I use it now. It's quick and easy I'll show you some time" she offered and I grimaced.
"I can't cook anything that doesn't have the words microwave for written on it" I admitted.
"Maybe we could start with something simple like French toast?".
"That sounds great" I grinned at her.
"So tell me about you two. When did you guys meet? When did you get married?" I asked.
"We met late 2003 and we got married in June 2007. Remind me to look out our the pictures" Joan said.
"And obviously I know Joan's background so tell me yours" I looked at Arthur.
"I was born in DC. My family have been in the navy since the late 1800's. I have four siblings,Geoffrey,Michael,then me,Jennifer and Rayanne. My father ended up becoming a navy captain. I went into the family business as did all my siblings except Rayanne who ended up marrying Jared,a man in the navy,so now she raises three children and also runs a daycare service which works well for her and Jared. Jennifer is in the navy as an EOD Technician and currently doing a nine month tour in Egypt. Michael and I are estranged,for different complicated reasons. Geoffrey died in a motorcycle accident in London,Octber 7th 1981,he was twenty-five at the time. Anything else you'd like to know?" Arthur asked.
"Where do you guys work? Neither of you have mentioned your jobs and no offence but this is not a "I work at Starbucks for six dollars an hour" house" I said and noticed the tenseness.
"You know I went to Penn State on psychology major right?" Joan asked.
"Mom mentioned it yeah,said you switched majors in February of your freshman year" I said.
"My boyfriend Nick was a marine and he got deployed to Libya in 1990. He was one of forty men who died in an IED explosion. It changed my goals,I got a degree in Political Science and applied to Camp Peary" I had heard of it but there was no way. My Aunt was not in the CIA.
"I joined the CIA and worked up the ranks and now I'm a director" Joan was calm and looked straight at me.
"The CIA was where I met your Uncle Arthur. He became my boss and eventually we married. I am the Director of the DPD and no you cannot know what the initials stand for and your Uncle Arthur is the Director Of Clandestine Services. I am covert so people don't know I'm part of the agency. My cover is that I work for the world bank. Arthur is Overt,so he can tell people he works for the CIA, google him. There should be a few press conferences online,maybe a few pictures of us with various political people" Joan finished and I realised I had an open mouth.
"No way! It's ridiculous! You're having a fucking joke right..." I trailed off.
"Your Aunt isn't joking. She's deadly serious. We thought you should know the truth" Arthur spoke up.
I sat back in true amazement and part of me couldn't help but find the whole thing hilarious. My life had turned into a B-list movie. The deadbeat dad,the actually dead mother,the spy guardians.
"Well that's not something you hear every Thursday" I laughed.
"But on the bright side you have two other aunts who have normal jobs" Joan joked but I could tell she was worried. Worried I would reject her,worried I wouldn't want to stay with her. I admired the fact that she was honest,and so far I had enjoyed everything hear. Joan and Arthur both seemed lovely,and they must be decent to allow a teenager into their house.
"You say normal,I say boring" I smiled at them. Words were not my strongest point but I knew Joan would understand that I was saying that I accepted them.
"Okay so now that we have that off of our chests,do you feel like chocolate ice cream?" Arthur asked.
"Sure!" I brightened immediately.
"Let's go watch a movie while we eat. Jordan you want to make microwave popcorn?" Joan asked me and we agreed and left the dining room. While we made popcorn I put the dishes into the dishwasher. When we reconvened in the living room Arthur was searching for movies while three bowls filled with chocolate ice-cream was placed on the sofa. Eventually we decided to just watch a tv-show called The Big Bang Theory.
We were laughing,joking,and it felt like a real familial moment. As the show played on I became engrossed with it.
"Ah gravity thou are a heartless bitch".
Arthur and I both laughed and as I turned to look at Joan I noticed she was fast asleep. Arthur looked at me then glanced at Joan and whispered gently.
"Do you want to keep watching? There is a TV in your bedroom. You can take the season up" Arthur offered and I shook my head and whispered that I was a bit exhausted to.
I stood up trying not to wake a Joan who looked so peaceful in sleep and watched as Arthur stood up easing Joan back onto the couch. When he was certain she was still asleep he leaned down and swooped her up into his arms,bridal style. It was so sweet. Like one of those dumb scenes in a movie.
While Arthur walked upstairs still carrying Joan I cleaned up downstairs and climbed the stairs to my room. It took me long enough to work up the energy to get to the top of the stairs so god knows how Arthur managed to carry Joan all the way up here. The fact that he did sort of reinforced my belief in true love.
I went to my room and stripped into a tank top and crawled under the sheets. I shut my eyes and tried to blot out my thoughts and get to sleep. Everything was muddled in my eyes. I missed my mother so much. I missed her cuddles,her erratic manner,her bravery,her crazy nail polish colours,her singing in the morning. However I loved being in DC. Joan and Arthur were warm,and caring and they were providing me stability. My friends were thousands of miles away. My father was invisible,my mother was dead,as were my grandparents. I had been putting of my emotions for a week and I couldn't help it anymore. For the first time since my mother's death,I allowed myself to cry.
Author's Note: This is my first multi-chap story so be kind. I understand a lot of this chapter may have been about Jordan going from rags to riches but it's just because in my mind she had a really rough childhood. Also I kind of wrote my own backstory to Joan and Arthur's life since the show dosent have much so there is a backstory. Please review!