Author's Note: Just an introductory chapter for this new story. Updates might be slow because I'm writing another fanfiction for The Walking Dead and you know, life. Enjoy~
It stunk. The smell of mold was overwhelmingly pungent even from Rosemary's position on the couch, away from the kitchen where Tori and Ian were working on their weird science project.
"Have I mentioned yet how unbelievably happy I am to not be in Mrs Rollers Science class?"
"Oh, only a couple hundred times." Tori called back.
"And yet here I am reeking of mold anyway."
"You could go back to your own house."
Rosemary grunted at her, both aware that wasn't going to happen. Her parents worked long hours and often went away together on romantic holidays leaving Rosemary behind, so her house was perpetually empty. It was kind of nice at first when she started having the house to herself after she turned fourteen and convinced for parents she was too old for a nanny anymore but it got old and lonely quickly, luckily this was around the time she met Tori and she much preferred the Vega's bright lively house to her own, spending most nights here in one of their guest rooms which by now is really just unofficially Rosemary's room, even if in her own home she didn't have to put up with Trina.
"Then for tonight you're going to have to deal with the mold smell, its due tomorrow anyway so the mold bush will be gone after today."
"The smell won't be though, it's going to linger for weeks. You better not stink my car up with it on the way to school tomorrow."
"We'll roll the windows down."
"Yeah, I'm sure that'll do it." She bit at her sarcastically.
"You're being snippy today." Tori chimed.
"I'm always snippy."
"No, you're not. You're a delight."
She sat up to stare Tori down with a blank, unimpressed expression but Tori just smiled back brightly until she rolled her eyes and flopped back down.
Ian, who had been standing by awkwardly until now finally opened his mouth, "Umm Tori, can we get back to the project, I have to go home in soon and we still need to write the report."
"Right yes, now let's see! The bread mold…"
"Bread mold!" Ian repeated, typing.
"Furry."
"Furry." He repeated.
"Mushy."
"Mushy."
Rosemary groaned in disgust and annoyance from the couch.
"Next… the fish mold." Tori continued, ignoring her.
"Fish mold." Ian repeated.
Tori lent in and picked the fish mold up, raising it to her nose and sniffing, "Stinky."
Rosemary started fake gagging, completely grossed out when Trina stormed through the front door yelling, "I am so upset!"
"I can't believe I'm actually glad to see Trina." Rosemary muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Anything but more mold talk."
Trina stomped past her, ignoring her mutterings.
"You won't believe who I got paired with for the big showcase!" she complained to Tori.
"Who?"
"Andrew Harris! A tenth grader!"
"What's the big showcase?" Ian asked.
"Its this performance they put on at her school every year where th-"
Trina cut Tori off mid-sentence, grabbing Ian's arm and dragging him towards the front door as she spoke, "They invite agents and directors and producers and other super powerful people in show business and it's extremely important to me which is why I am very upset and goodbye." She slammed the front door in his face.
Rosemary called out a lacklustre, "Byee" Just before the door slammed shut.
"Hey!" Tori protested, "He and I have a science project due tomorrow! I have to turn in my mold bush!"
Rosemary groaned again at the mention of the mold bush.
"No! Andrews coming over and you've got to help us figure out what we're gonna do in the big showcase." Trina demanded.
Rosemary pulled herself up from the couch and joined them at the piano, tying her blonde hair into a plait so it was out of her face as she went.
"I definitely want to sing." Trina banged her hands down on the piano, letting out a high-pitched wail which she guesses is Trina's version of 'singing'.
"How was that?"
"Loud." Tori complained.
"Awesome!"
The doorbell rang and Trina walked over to let Andrew in.
"Tori, Rosie, that's Andrew." She introduced us lazily.
"Andre." He corrected her.
Well that figures, it would have been more surprising if Trina had gotten his name right. She called her Mary-Ann for months when she first started coming over to Tori's house.
"You guys go to Hollywood Arts too?"
"Oh no I'm not a performer, Just my sister." Tori told him, "Though Rose totally could be! She's a great singer and she writes!"
"Tori." Rosemary glares at her, she hates when people big her up to others. She always feels like it's an expectation she can't live up to and that she would embarrass herself if she tried.
"Yep I got the talent and she got the strong teeth." Trina chimed in, gripping Tori's face. "Did you know she's never had one cavity?"
"I try not to brag about it."
"And Rosie is passably talented I guess." Trina added, disinterestedly.
"Woah Nice piano!" Andre sits down at it and plays a short tune.
"Oh my god, you're fantastic!" Tori joins him.
"He's okay." Trina complains.
Andre starts sniffing around, a disgusted look on his face. He picks up Tori's hand, the one she had used to pick up the fish mold and sniffs.
"Fish mold." Tori confirms.
"Told you it reeks." Rosemary taunted her as Andre dropped her hand on the piano and lifted his far away from hers.
"You should probably go wash your hands." Rosemary told her, "Or you know, bleach your entire body."
"I'll go wash my hands." She gave Rosemary a playful glare as she jogged up the stairs.
"So, you sing and write huh?" Andre asks, "You write songs?"
"No not songs, I like writing stories and poetry, but I've never wrote a song." She felt awkward now she was forced into keeping a stranger company while Tori was gone, and Trina didn't really count as company.
She turned to check what Trina was even doing and saw her posing in a mirror, pouting her lips while smushing her cheeks.
"Well you could turn the poetry into song lyrics."
She shrugged, "I suppose."
"How come you haven't tried out for Hollywood Arts?"
"Tori really is exaggerating, I'm a barely above average singer and I write stories and poetry, that hardly makes me qualified for a talent school like Hollywood Arts."
"Well let's see about that, pick a song you love to sing."
"Why?" she complained, whining slightly.
"Just pick a song woman." Andre said jokingly.
Well this was going to be embarrassing she was sure, "I don't know, I guess Colors by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals is my one of my favourite songs."
"Alright, I know that." he starts playing the tune on the piano and nods to her to start singing.
She sighs in defeat before beginning.
"You don't have to ask me why
Because I know you understand
All the treasures of my life
Are right here in my hand."
She saw Trina put her mirror down and turn towards them out of the corner of her eye as she sang, Andre was smiling up at her as he played the piano and she sang the chorus.
"I don't want to build a wall
Or draw a line across the sand
Because there's room for one and all
And this land is our land
Oh I hope this can go on and on and on
Before the skipping stone hits the surface of the pond
Oh I know that life is never very long
One second, then one minute, and then it's gone."
Tori had come down the stairs and stopped at the bottom to listen without interrupting.
"You want to sink into the colors on the wall
But all the while you are the brightest of them all
This is the greatest time of day
When all the clocks are spinning backwards
And all the ropes that bind begin to fray
And all the black and white turns
This is the greatest time of day
When there's no you and there's no others
And all the rules grow wings and fly away
And all the black and white turns into colors".
"Damn girl! That was awesome! You should totally audition for Hollywood Arts, you'd get in for sure." Andre complimented.
"I told you she was good." Tori gloated.
"Yeah yeah, Rosie's alright but I'm amazing! And I still need a song for the big showcase so help mee!" Trina whined loudly, pushing past Rosemary to stand at the piano.
"Do you want to help me write a song for Trina, Rosie?"
"I'll see what I can do but I've never done it before and please, seriously, call me Rose. Not Rosie and definitely not Rosemary."
"You got it Rose."
They managed to get a theme with few lyrics and most of the tune and rhythm for the song that night while Tori helped Trina with vocal exercises and kept for away from the piano where her and Andre were writing because nothing would have been getting done if they had to create the rhythm and lyrics in the presence of Trina's singing.
After a few hours Andre left, saying he'd see them tomorrow and he'd probably have finished the song so they can concentrate on teaching it to Trina and trying to get her to be at least not terrible.
"Are my ears bleeding? I feel like my ears are bleeding." Tori asked her after they said goodbye to Andre.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were, how the hell did you spend hours listening to Trina attempt to sing?"
"She is my sister. I have to at least try to make sure she doesn't fail and embarrass herself in front of her whole school and important showbiz industry people."
"You're a goddamn saint Tori, it kind of makes me sick." She smiled at her to let her know she was joking… mostly.
"Goodnight Tor." She said, heading for the stairs.
"But wait! I still need to finish my mold project for tomorrow!"
Rosemary turned back towards her then let out a small scream, pointing at the windowed doors at the back then as soon as Tori whirled round to see what was happening, she sprinted up the stairs and just distantly heard Tori yelling, "Hey!" after her as she figured out she'd been duped.
She came down the stairs that morning ready for school to see Tori slumped over, asleep on the table next to her mold bush.
She cringed at the thought of how the scent of mold was going to cling to Tori today. She could smell it from across the room and there was no way a quick shower this morning was going to get rid of the smell, especially when they'd be lugging the bush in to school with them today.
Rosemary picked up one of the cushions on the couch, refusing to get anywhere near that mold bush and threw it across the room to hit Tori, jolting her awake.
"Huh wha?!" she slurred, arms swinging as she shot up.
"Get up stinking beauty, we've got to get to school."
Trina sauntered down the stairs, her obnoxiously loud voice filling the room, "Ah have fun at your normal boring school while I am going to the best school for performing arts in Hollywood, nay! America."
"Those drama classes are really doing wonders for your personality Trina." Rosemary mocked.
"Right!" Trina beamed at her, clearly missing the sarcastic nature of the statement.
Tori rushed getting ready and before she knew it, they were out the door and she was driving them to school with a stinking mold bush in her backseat.
"I literally hate you right now."
"Eh you'll get over it." Tori shot back, too used to Rosemary's statements of hatred by now, she told her she hated her at least three times a week and at this point it was more often than not a term of endearment; a way of saying you're annoying as hell but I love you.
"Maybe once my car stops smelling of mold in like a year or two."
"It won't smell! We've got all the windows rolled down all the way and it's on a blanket so it won't get on the seats!"
Rosemary sighed deeply like she was so hard done to by all of this but she was really just putting it on at this point, she was almost always putting it on when she riled Tori up like this but she gets so aggravated and it's funny to watch her freak out.
Speaking of freaking Tori out, "So… looking forward to social studies with Danny?"
Tori let out a groan, "We've been broken up for months! We're even past the awkwardness now! Why do you always have to bring him up?"
"You are most definitely not past the awkwardness, which is one of the reasons I bring him up, the awkwardness is hilarious. Also, you both clearly still have feelings for each other still. I don't get why you broke up with him, he's hot, super into you and was a great boyfriend."
"He was! He was a great boyfriend! It's just…"
"Just what?"
"Nothing. I don't know." Tori whined.
"You know you can tell me anything right? Even if it's embarrassing. Especially if it's embarrassing." She teased her.
"It's not embarrassing! I just can't explain it; I don't know how to put it into words! I do still have feelings for him I think but we just grew apart you know?"
"No. Not at all."
"Well that's because you've never been in a serious relationship before."
"And that's because people are all either boring or annoying."
"Oh, and which one am I then?"
"Annoying. But I put up with it because you're so cute and also, you wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to be friends with you."
"I hate you." Tori deadpanned making Rosemary smirk.
"I hate you too."