Perfectly Not Meant to Be
Chapter 2: In-laws
by itsmariscul

A/N: Thank you for the review(s)! I appreciate the support! Alright, so I don't particularly like how this chapter starts off but I've re-worked it as much as I can. The style might vary from the first chapter but I hope it's not too different. Anyways, enjoy!


I walked through my remote neighborhood listening to the distant sounds of housewives preparing dinner for their husbands and dogs communicating with one another. The setting sun broke through the branches of trees that lined the sidewalk and beat down on me like a blinding searchlight. I covered my eyes with my hand as I continued following the specks on the cement that led me away from my house.

The more I thought about home the angrier I became. Tears began building in my eyes and I lost my sense of direction until it was too late. My bent head collided with a body and I felt myself fall on the ground sideways, my shoulder twisting as it collided with the cement and causing me to roll onto my back.

"Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?" I heard a voice say.

"Ugh... yeah, I'm okay. I just..."

"Here, I'll help you out," the voice said and I felt a hand intertwine with mine as I slowly got onto my feet. I fixed my shirt and wiped away some dirt and then turned to look at my savior. The guy seemed much younger than his voice hinted at and he stood just about an inch above my height. He also wore a dark green shirt and a pair of glasses that seemed oddly familiar.

"Sorry," I murmured, "I should have been paying more attention, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But looks like you aren't. You scraped your arm pretty bad," he gestured towards my right arm. I turned to look at myself for a brief moment and noticed a deep gash near my elbow. I ignored it and turned back to my companion—and then, it hit me.

"CK!" I shouted.

"What?" he asked confoundedly. Of course! He was the newcomer who wore the Calvin Klein glasses that I had admired the entire band practice. Stephanie's mysterious younger brother.

"You play the clarinet, right? Stephanie's brother, today at band practice?" I said.

"Yeah, wait. You're um... ," his face scrunched up as he thought of a name for me.

My hand went out towards his automatically and I shook it, "Vivian. You're future sister-in-law." I added sarcastically. He dropped my hand and started laughing.

"I'm David. Sister-in-law? Oh wait, are you...? No?!," he continued laughing. "Wait, this doesn't make any sense!"

"My brother is your sister's boyfriend," I giggled, "he's been with her like forever and I just barely found out she had a younger brother."

"Yeah, Peter. I remember now. Wow, what a coincidence meeting you here. Were you dropping by for a visit?" he turned his head and motioned to a pale-blue house that stood behind him.

"No, actually, I had no idea you lived here," I confessed, "I was just taking a walk and ended up here I guess."

"Well, welcome to my part of town. But, wait, isn't this a bit far from where you live though? You use to go to Harper right?" he asked confused.

"Yes," I admitted again, "I do live kind of far. I really wasn't paying attention to where I was going I guess." By now we had started heading towards the direction I had been coming from. David swung his arms at his side and starred at me as I told him about my lack of observation.

"Oh, well if you like I could walk you back home?" he offered. I stared at him and considered walking back with him but brushed the idea from my mind when I realized that he would have to make the return trip alone and it was already dark.

"Erm... no, thanks. I think I'll just go back myself. It's not too late yet," I mumbled.

"If your sure. I mean, I don't mind. I was getting kind of bored in my house anyways.

I wove my hands in my face saying, "Oh no, it's okay don't worry. I'm good."

"Okay. Well, see you around then. Nice meeting you Vivian," said David as he stretched out his hand and shook mine again.

"Likewise. See you around," I added as I walked away backwards.

"Yup, see you at practice," he responded and then waved to me as I turned my back on him. I wove back and then started on a sprint. Peter was going to eat me alive when I got back. I hadn't even bothered to take my phone with me when I stormed out of the house. That meant an extra hour of practice as punishment. Great.


When I reached my house—ten minutes later—I figured that I had only been gone for less than two hours and that Peter couldn't be too mad. I unlatched the black iron gate and jogged up the brick steps that led to the front door of my house. Frantically I jammed my keys into the lock and then slowly pushed on the varnished oak door. I made my way quietly through the living room to the white carpeted stairs that led to my bedroom. The stairs groaned slightly as my feet jumped from step to step. When I reached the top I turned right and dashed to the last door.

As I entered my room I dropped on the floor and panted for air, my chest fell up and down and I struggled to control my breathing. Gradually I got up and started searching for my silver cellphone, where had I left it? I rummaged through all the piles of books and journals that covered my desk but couldn't find anything. I was sure I'd missed at least ten calls already and not to mention all text messages!

"Where you looking for this?" asked a voice from the entrance of my room. I wiggled myself from underneath my bed and gazed up slowly at Peter's looming face, my phone dangled helplessly from his right hand.

"Erm... yes. I was kind of expecting a call. Could I have it back now?" I asked tentatively. If I got up slowly and approached him from the right side then I just might just have enough time to snatch my phone away and make out my bedroom door. I started rising carefully but he hid the phone in one of his back pockets before I could reach my full height. "Peter, that isn't fair. Give me back my phone!"

"Sorry Vivian, it's time to practice," he said casually as I wrestled with him to recapture my phone. He pushed on me hard and I fell towards the ground. "I'll be waiting for you in the piano room," he said coolly and then walked away while I angrily tended to my new set of bruises. I couldn't remember the last time I had spent so much time on the floor as I had today. I had no choice but to give in to him. Peter was stronger, smarter, and more conniving then I could ever be. If he told my parents that I wasn't practicing enough with him then I'd be forced to take up private lessons. Peter was beyond mean, he was cruel.

Our house was fairly larger than most homes in my neighborhood and it consisted of various rooms that were rarely ever used. As Peter grew older and more talented in music, my parents decided to turn an old den into our family's piano room which was only really ever used by both Peter and I. My parents had reinforced the old den with cement to make it sound proof and had added extra commodities as well. Although Peter and I didn't play the piano our parents had felt that buying a piano would make a statement to society. Therefore, our renovated den now consisted of a black grand piano and a thousand other instruments. In the right side of the room, across from the piano and the bookcase were mine and Peter's individual practice areas. My stand stood empty with my chair shoved somewhere unnoticed while Peter's stand and chair stood hidden by music sheets.

I searched for my practice chair while Peter began tidying up his music sheets. As I dragged my chair towards my stand I began thinking of ways to alleviate Peter's anger towards me. "Peter," I began, "How's your girlfriend Stephanie doing? Are you guys still together?" My brother continued sifting through his things and pretended not to hear me. After positioning my chair I switched to greasing my corks and putting my clarinet together . "I didn't know her brother was also a freshmen. Do mom and dad even know her name?"

"Stop meddling in my private life Vivian. I know you're trying to distract me," he said while opening his clarinet case.

"I was just curious. Is she going to come to our initiation this year?"

"You'll be lucky if you don't end up an alternate," he hesitated, "Besides, you're not suppose to know about the initiation."

"You act like I don't live in this house. I've seen it happen for the past three years, of course I know about it!"

"She's talked to mom during initiation the past three years. I'm sure mom will see her again this time too," he said sternly and then placed his reed into his mouth so he wouldn't have to speak to me while he let it soak.

I questioned Peter's reaction and defensive attitude, my parents probably knew nothing about Peter's secret love life. That was interesting, I could have sworn they knew more than his grades. My mother must have seen Stephanie as a mere friend of Peter's but then again, he had never taken the time to properly introduce her. Did people still do that nowadays? Or was is it just all like in the television dramas, antiquated traditions that no one bothered to follow anymore. I'd never had a boyfriend. "Well, it's nice to hear you two are still together. I ran into her brother David after dinner." It was my turn to stop talking as I placed my reed into my mouth.

Peter pulled out his reed and began tightening it on his mouth piece not meeting my gaze. "David is much better than I thought he would be. His sister wasn't lying when she said he had talent. I think maybe I should offer him some private lessons to see what he's really capable of." I began losing Peter's attention as he centered his thoughts around David's playing abilities. Dejected, I prepared my mouth piece and then began warming up on a chromatic scale before Peter stopped me. "Alright, now start from after the percussion introduction in the Opener of the field show. Ready? One, two, three..."


A/N: Please drop a review and let me know your thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. I'm open to ideas! Next chapter up in a week or less! ~itsmariscul