A Completely New and Supposedly Educational Experience
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or anything else that I reference! I only own my OCs!
Chapter Ten
Eva's POV
The next day was Thanksgiving. I should have been happy or excited to see my family and be together; and to an extent I was. However I always had mixed feelings about holidays with my family, my cousins specifically. I loved them dearly; they simply had a bad habit of getting on my (and everyone else's) nerves.
I shook my head as I dressed for the event, which would be spent at Abuela's house. I was dressed in a wine-colored sweater, black skinny jeans and warm, furry black boots. I would definitely need the boots; it had snowed earlier that morning. There was about an inch of snow on the ground on Thanksgiving Day. I loved it.
After retrieving my brush and some hair ties, I braided back the front part of my hair, securing it with a clip that matched my sweater. I quickly packed a small-ish bag with my iPod, headphones, sketchbook, notebook and my copy of 'Mark of Athena' which I had somehow not finished yet.
"Alright, come on! It's time to go!" my mom called up the stairs.
"Coming!" I called back as I raced down the stairs, stumbling to a halt in front of my mom.
She wore a gold-colored sweater with black dress pants and heels. Her curly hair had been somewhat tamed by hairspray and she wore mascara. My Mom had also somehow convinced me to wear brown mascara and some light brown eye shadows.
"Good. Go get your coat." Mom smiled at me. I nodded.
"Which one?" I asked, rifling through the coat closet.
Dad chuckled and Mom raised an eyebrow at me. Ryan was already in his coat and was standing by the door, carrying the salad Mom had made.
"The long black one. You don't wear a sweater and leggings with a ski-coat." Mom told me.
I nodded, chuckling, and pulled out the coat. Mom gave me the apple pie to hold onto and a few minutes later we were on the road. Christmas songs played on nearly every radio station on the way there, slightly annoying my mom and causing the rest of us to laugh.
"¡Hola Abuela!" I exclaimed once my grandmother opened the door. She smiled brightly, hugging me and speaking rapidly in Spanish, only half of which I was able to catch.
I went into the house, Mom, Dad and Ryan right behind me. I put down my stuff in the spare room everyone's coats and things were in. Following that, I sat down with my aunts and uncles.
"How is school, Eva?" Abuela asked with her usual heavy Spanish accent.
"School's good. We just finished Lord of the Flies in English. I think we're reading Taming of the Shrew next." I replied.
"How's your boyfriend?" Tio Rich asked.
I narrowed my eyes. This was a running joke (sort of) between me and Tio Rich, who was my uncle through his marriage to the younger of my dad's sisters, Titi Robin. He teased me relentlessly about a boyfriend I didn't have. Victoria tended to have a field day with it. Once, she'd told him I was dating a guy in our grade named Jack despite her being well aware of the fact that I couldn't stand him. It had taken a year to convince my uncle otherwise.
"Would you stop that?" Titi Robin asked, smacking my uncle lightly on the arm after noticing the look I'd given him. "I've got your back, Eva" she smiled.
"Thank you, Titi Robin." I replied sweetly, smirking in Tio Rich's general direction.
He made a face at me. I made one back. Dad, Uncle Pete, Mom and Titi Robin laughed and Grandpa chuckled. Titi Rocky shook her head disapprovingly and Abuela muttered in Spanish.
I talked with the adults a while longer before being told (by Titi Rocky) that I should go be social with my cousins. I reluctantly agreed and made my way downstairs. I was promptly tackled by my youngest cousin, who was seven.
"Hi Eva!" Antonio exclaimed, also with a heavy Spanish accent, as he ran into me.
"Hola, Toni. Como estás?" (Hi, Toni. How are you?) I asked, laughing and ruffling his brown hair.
"Bien." (Good) he replied.
"Hi Eva!" Danielle stated, getting up from the couch to come over and hug me.
"Hey! How's your ankle doing?" I asked. Her ankle had been broken nearly two months ago. She'd been in a cast ever since and (as I'd been told) had to hobble on crutches for Halloween.
"It's getting better. I hate physical therapy!" she told me.
"Well you were only in a cast for five or six weeks." I replied sarcastically.
"Still!" Danielle narrowed her blue eyes at me.
"Hi Victoria!" I turned to Danielle's sister, currently occupying the couch.
"Hey." She said unenthusiastically.
I shrugged and sat on the couch with Danielle, who I didn't see nearly as much as Victoria. And who, quite frankly, I got along better with much of the time. She updated me on all the goings-on of the school she and Ryan both went to.
The two of them had a total of four classes together. Though, Danielle was in the 'Popular Crowd' while Ryan was (like me) classified as a nerd/loner. He was picked on much more than me, though. Usually, between the two radically different perspectives, I was able to discern what actually happened.
"So Ryan, did you actually ask out Katelyn?" Rachel asked, moving some of her golden brown hair away from her face. I bit my lip.
"Yeah." My brother replied curtly. Katelyn was the girl my brother had been crushing on for about two years. He'd attempted to ask her out on several occasions, getting shut down every time.
"What did she say?" Victoria asked, suddenly looking interested. She has a sixth sense for gossip, I swear. I thought.
"What do you think she said?" Ryan replied.
"Did she say yes?" Both of my cousins chorused. Danielle's blue eyes widened and she looked curiously at my brother. I could have sworn Victoria had a demonic glint in her brown eyes.
"NO! She said no…Just like she always does." Ryan mumbled the end of his sentence dejectedly.
"Oh…Sorry." Danielle muttered. At least she has the decency to look apologetic. I thought. Victoria's face showed no emotion except maybe a smidge of pity.
"What if she's not that into you, Ryan?" Victoria stated gently, as if she were trying to help.
"That's not what you say to that." I mumbled, thinking out loud. If anyone heard me, they ignored the statement.
"Maybe she's not. Maybe I should just give up. She's more interested in the other jerks who just want to get laid anyway." My brother retorted with a hint of bitterness no twelve year old should have to experience.
What a sad state our society is in when a twelve year old knows what that means. I mused.
"No. Maybe you should just be there as her friend, Ryan. You've always been good friends, haven't you?" I added, trying to make him feel better; anything, anything at all to get the hopeless, depressed look off his face.
"Yeah. I think she'll still be your friend." Danielle agreed enthusiastically.
"Alright." Ryan muttered. I smiled a little.
"So! What else is new?" I asked.
"I heard that Reyna's coming back to school after the four-day break." Victoria stated randomly.
"What?" Danielle and I asked in unison. She's coming back? Her psychiatrists and whatever other people she's been seeing are letting her come back? Why? I mean, I'll be glad to see her, but are they sure it's a good idea?
"Yeah. Mommy told me that Miss Sarah said that Reyna's coming back. But she's not going to be in AP Euro anymore." Victoria's voice tore me from my shocked musings.
"Unbelievable. They're actually sending her back." I murmured.
"Yeah. The story they're telling everyone is that she had mono." Victoria continued. I nodded dumbly, my mind still racing a mile a minute.
Conversation died down after that. Victoria started channel-surfing; Ryan began building a Lego house with Toni, Rachel became absorbed in whatever electronic thing she brought with her. I stared at a blank page in my sketchbook for a good half hour, at a loss for what to draw.
Thanksgiving dinner itself passed relatively well. All the grownups got along and were their usual snarky, witty selves. We all laughed and had fun. Nothing particularly catastrophic happened until later on.
Dinner had been done for a while, and all the 'kids' were downstairs in the living room. Toni was (as is characteristic of young, spoiled children) bouncing off the walls and yelling. Ryan was attempting to concentrate on a drawing he'd started after dinner.
"Could you knock it off? I'm trying to work on a drawing." He asked through gritted teeth.
"No!" Toni yelled, laughing.
"Ugh!" Ryan groaned.
Danielle got up and she and Toni began to bounce around and generally make a lot of noise. I bit my lip, debating whether or not I should do something. And what would you getting involved do? It's not like he actually listens to anyone. Spoiled brat doesn't get in trouble for anything. I thought bitterly.
Eventually, Toni bounced away from Danielle and jumped on my brother. Ryan yelled out in shock and the picture he was working on was crumpled. I took a deep breath and bit my lip. Toni just stared at the picture. Ryan pushed Toni off him.
"I asked you to stop! Look at this! I worked really hard on that picture and now you ruined it! Thanks a lot!" My brother yelled, his face turning red. "It was for my mom!" he added, tears forming in his eyes. I winced; Ryan was really close with our mom.
This sort of reaction was characteristic of my brother. He got really upset over things and there was no 'maybe' area. Most of it was due to his Asperger's. Though, sometimes the grownups, Abuela and Titi Rocky specifically, were too…lenient with him because they pitied him too much. I didn't see why it was something to pity; he was really smart and he never needed the extra time the schools gave him for tests. He was a mostly functional kid. He just had some perception issues.
"Hey! Don't yell at him! He didn't do it on purpose. And he's only a kid, he doesn't know better!" Victoria butted in.
Yes he did. He purposely, blatantly jumped at Ryan. And he's seven years old, he should definitely know better! Either one of us would've gotten in crap-loads of trouble for a stunt like that. I thought.
"But…My picture." Ryan muttered.
Victoria wasn't paying attention anymore. She had knelt by Toni and was telling him that what he did wasn't nice and he should apologize. The kid had a shit-eating grin on his face.
"Shouldn't we tell Titi Robin about this?" I asked, tapping Victoria's shoulder.
"Why? It's not like he did it on purpose." Victoria replied.
"Yes he did, Tori. We all watched him." I countered.
"Shut up, Eva. It's not your place to yell at him, or tell me what to do." Victoria said, standing and glaring up at me. Even in the three inch heels she wore, Victoria was shorter than me. It was just a suggestion. I thought.
"My place?" I asked incredulously. "Who died and put you in charge of all of us? You shouldn't be the one yelling at him either!" I replied.
"I'm with Toni all the time. We watch him in the mornings if Titi Robin has to go to work early. If you spent more time with him and your family you'd know that he doesn't mean to do it." Victoria shot back.
Danielle looked up from her iPod, wide-eyed and Ryan glared. My parents didn't feel like it was necessary for us to see our family every weekend. It was the root of all our family issues. So we wouldn't, not every time; and a group of our friends from karate had started a tradition of going to Nick and Ashley's house for Christmas Eve. That seriously pissed off Titi Rocky. I blinked.
"That was a low blow and you know it. It also has nothing to do with the subject." I ground through my teeth, blood starting to boil.
"Well it's true. My mom says you're all becoming antisocial. Family is more important than friends." Victoria added, sticking her chin up.
"Oh really? And what do you think about it?" I asked, knowing that Victoria's mom wanted to be the center of attention and always right.
"I think she's right!" Victoria yelled at me. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.
"I honestly don't care. And I disagree. We all see each other too much; it's why we fight like this." I stated.
"No it's not. We fight all the time because you're just a bitch. And you're a loner and no one at school likes you." Victoria added. I bit my lip.
"I don't care what the morons at school think. At least I'm myself and not some wannabe popular kid!" I retorted.
I covered my mouth the second the words came out. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Victoria glared at me before bursting into tears and rushing upstairs. Ryan went upstairs silently, shooting me an 'Are you okay?' look. Danielle patted my shoulder and glared at her sister.
A minute later Titi Rocky came downstairs with a murderous look. Victoria was still in tears. My aunt stormed over to me. My eyes widened and I winced slightly, knowing I would get a verbal bitch-slapping for this.
"How dare you, Eva?!" She exclaimed. "You know your cousin has issues at school. And you know she's sensitive! What would posses you to say something like that?" she continued in a deadly whisper.
"B-But…She started it. She called me a loner and a bitch. She also said it 'wasn't my place' to-to say something when Toni wrecked Ryan's drawing." I sputtered defensively.
"You know you're not supposed to use that kind of language. And I don't care who started it! I'm finishing it. I think you should apologize." Titi Rocky suggested, though it sounded more like a command than anything else. I nodded.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Tori." I grumbled, walking over to my cousin.
She nodded, sniffling. Titi Rocky walked back upstairs and Victoria smirked victoriously before following her mom. Danielle patted my shoulder as I slumped down on the couch, muttering something about 'knocking some sense into my sister' as she followed Victoria up the stairs.
If you spent more time with him and your family you'd know… You're just a bitch…You're a loner and no one at school likes you. Victoria's words echoed in my head. Stop. Don't let it get to you. You'll only get mad and it'll get you in trouble again…You're always the one to get in trouble. Everyone pities her because she just runs to the adults crying. I get upset too, guys! Just because she cries about it doesn't mean I don't hurt…tears get you everywhere. I thought. I bit my lip, throwing a punch into the nearest pillow and starting to sob quietly.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry it's been so long, guys! But here's a longer chapter…I hope it was worth the wait. Meep? Well damn, I didn't really plan for it to go down like that but…family drama sucks doesn't it? Also, in case anyone wants to rail on my Spanish, I for some reason can never get the upside down question mark on my computer. I know there was supposed to be one when Eva asked 'Como estás?' but…yeah…READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!