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Teenage Desperation
Chapter 2
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Brooklyn laid awake on the guest bed, arms placed behind her head as cerulean eyes focused on the ceiling, scrutinizing it's boring structure. Just by merely observing the ivory walls caused her to yearn to be back in Arizona. In her own house. In her own space. In her own bed. The teenager's heart broke as she thought about all the people she left behind. People she had genuinely loved and who had loved her in return. She hated it here and she wasn't going to be timid in showing it. Immature? Maybe. But at this very moment in time, maturity was the last disposition in mind to express.
Sighing, the brunette rolled over and closed her eyes. The immense pains in her chest were becoming almost unbearable. If it weren't for her overzealous thought process, Brooklyn wouldn't have even thought she was conscious. But then again, being unconscious would have been an immaculate blessing. And unfortunately, blessings weren't in the cards. Well, at least not at the time being.
"Brooklyn? You awake?"
"No. Go away," Brooklyn replied rather coldly, not even bothering to open her eyes for a clear view of the perpetrator.
"What an incredible sense of humor. Forgive me of I choose not to laugh," Jocelyn dryly retorted while entering the silent room without any further words of permission.
"What do you want? If it's to further lecture me on how much of a bitch I was to the Browns, you can save your breath. I get it and am in no mood to be forced to re-get it more than once today."
"You should apologize to them."
Brooklyn's eyes fluttered open as a frown creased her lips. Rubbing her temples, she proclaimed, "I said I got it, not that I regretted it. I meant every word I happened to have said. Just because we're twins and happened to have shared the same womb doesn't mean I follow the same rules of social etiquette you do."
"It's not called social etiquette, it's called being polite. Not that you would know anything about that," Jocelyn sneered, frustrated at her sister's lack of cooperation. She was beginning to believe this was a lost cause. That maybe this girl would never adapt, not known to the self-anticipating hero that maybe she didn't want to.
"Is this the part where I should be remorseful? Because if it is, I must have purposely missed the memo."
"You can't stay cooped up without any social interaction. It's impossible."
"Well, it was always a dream of mine to grace the Guinness Book of World Records and if I gave up now, my dream would never come true now would it," Brooklyn declared, closing her eyes once again to block out her sister's unsatisfied expression. She had seen that specific facial contraption more than she desired in one day.
"You know, you're such a hypocrite," Jocelyn simply stated, not once even considering to run away from the battle her sister was waging. It was a constant debacle for the two sisters in their past, a sibling rivalry if you must call it, but this time was going to be different. This time Jocelyn wasn't going to turn her back. No, she was going to stand her own ground and prove to her twin how strong she actually was.
Brooklyn opened her eyes, a glint of curiosity gracing the brilliant blue mischievously, "Please, do enlighten me and explain how that's so."
Jocelyn leaned back against the wall and closed her own eyes thoughtfully, "You said, back on the train, that we had to make an effort to be the family we never were. You said we had to be on the same wavelength. Now how can we possibly be on the same wavelength when you're lying here like a bitter, brooding sixteen year-old going on sixty. By remaining on the same wavelength, it means we unfortunately gave to make Everwood our new home. You have to get it into your thick skull that this is our new home, we're not going back to Arizona. That's just a distant memory. So do yourself and all of us and suck it up and get over it!"
The eldest twin smiled wickedly and erected her body into a sitting position, resting her elbows on her knees while narrowing her eyes on the wall where Jocelyn stood, "Did you come to that realization all by yourself or did a conversation with your mirror help you gain that profound M.C. Esher perspective? Because from where I'm sitting, that dramatic speech distinctly reeks of previous practice."
The standing brunette fumed silently as her cheeks grew flushed from embarrassment. She was tired of trying to get Brooklyn to see that there was more to life than the familiar. This world was so beautiful but if she refused to see it then there was no hope left for conversion.
"Forget it. This is pointless. Do whatever you want, I'm tired of trying to get you to open up," Jocelyn exclaimed exasperated while removing herself from the wall and beginning to exit the room without any expressed regrets.
"Wait."
Jocelyn froze at the doorway, not even bothering to turn around. She already gave her sister the benefit of power by keeping herself still with listening ears. She would be damned if she proved she was whipped by giving Brooklyn the satisfaction of facing her with a questioning and equally curious expression as well.
"Your right. We're not going back home anytime soon," Brooklyn sighed, leaning back against the bed's headboard, "But even if that's so, that still doesn't make me wanna be here any more. I know why you wanna fit in so bad, but just understand nothing in life is what it should be because if it honestly way, we would be home with mom, not here with an aunt we barely know. Don't get your hopes it....it always ends up bad."
"So is that your over-embellished way of saying you'll give human interaction a shot," the blue eyed girl by the door asked, turning around in hopeful anticipation.
"Sure. After all, I have what else to do?"
Jocelyn jumped up and down, swinging her arm in the air, excited. Spinning around, she grabbed her sister's coat and tossed it on the bed, "Great! We'll start tonight with a sincere apology to the Browns."
"No, no, no," Brooklyn proclaimed, catching the thrown jacket and tossing it back at her sister, "I said I would have the inconvenience of human interaction, not repairing past mistakes and shattered egos!"
Brooklyn's counterpart caught the coat and threw it back without reluctance, "Well, what better way to enter the wonderful world of human interaction than by taking the first step and admitting you were wrong."
"Well, that's actually quite unfortunate because I don't tackle projects where fun's not a part of the equation. Sorry, come back and ask for my participation when amusement replaces debasement."
"It's not debasement, just retribution. C'mon, stop being so damn stubborn," Jocelyn whined putting her hands on her hips and pouting with a quivering lip to add emotional effect.
The conflicted teen rolled her eyes and didn't stop once to make an obvious fact apparent, "Just for future reference, I'm not your boyfriend or potential love interest. I don't find your persuasive body language endearing. In all actuality, I find it extremely annoying."
"Fine. I'll drop the body language when you drop the sarcastic bitchy attitude," she crossly challenged back, twisting her plush lips in an evil I-got-you-right-where-I-want-you smile.
Grabbing her jacket and hopping off of the comfortable bed, Brooklyn simply said, "Point taken."
o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
Amy Abbott sat quietly on the couch in her exquisitely designed living room, a book in hand, and a cozy comforter placed over her long legs. The situation was growing to be rather annoying because as she read the words, nothing would stay in her head. It was almost as if she wasn't even reading at all. Tossing the book onto the coffee table in a frustrated manner, Amy ran her slightly trembling fingers through her long blonde hair and sunk down into the couch. Tomorrow, she would go visit Colin in Denver. It was a common thing but why wasn't she as excited? She was always excited when Colin was involved in any of her daily activities. And to make things even better, Doctor Brown had even agreed to perform the operation. It was only a matter of time before she and Colin would be walking down the street hand in hand like old times. But, back to square one. Why didn't that make her ecstatic?
She knew why and it was only a matter of time before that simple fact would drive her mad. Ephram. He had been so great to her over the times that loneliness had plagued her being. The nights she would cry, Ephram would call "just to chat." Whenever she would space out, he would wave his hand in front of her face and tell her some absurd relation to how she looked at the moment when her grip on reality had left her. And when she would ditch him for her friends, Ephram would always forgive her and treat her as equally as he had before the incident. She missed him and now they would never have the certain bond they did before. Everything was absolutely ruined just because Amy couldn't see past her own selfish desires.
Groaning, she slumped further down into her own self pity. Why did her life have to be a seesaw? Whenever something good would happen, it wouldn't be long before something bad would come along and ruin it. It's like the good would never be able to even out with the bad when it came to practical decision making in her life. The life which was beginning to suck more and more as time increased it's rapid speed through the impending days. And here Amy thought time was supposed to remove all obstacles and heal all wounds. What a load of bullshit.
"Amy, sweetheart, it's time for dinner," Mrs. Abbott called from the dinning room.
'Dinner. The perfect distraction from these disturbingly intense thoughts in my head. If only mom had put some kind of mind altering substance into the potatoes; now that would be something. Was that a little too taboo to be thinking about? Who really cares. I had a right to dream no matter how farfetched the dream happened to be, didn't I? These current dreams just happen to revolve around amnestic food products. God, just stop thinking!'
So with a heavy heart and equally heavy conscious, Amy removed the blanket from her body and proceeded to join her family for their traditional, everyday, same time - same place meal. She was a little worried about her parents taking her silence into consideration, but then again, Bright would be there as well with his array of asinine comments unceasingly intact to his brain. Case closed.
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"Ephram! Delia! Time for dinner," Andrew Brown called from the kitchen to his children as a proud smile graced his rugged features, "and let me be the first to say I didn't do such a bad job this time."
"And so the clock signifying our close demise begins winding down," Ephram murmured to his sister while reluctantly placing the comic book he was reading on the coffee table. If he had the choice, there would be no doubt that Ephram would ban his father's cooking. It wasn't even a selfish action, he was doing it for the good of mankind.
"How long to you think it'll be until dad starts realizing he can't cook," Delia asked, following her older brother into the room where damage was undoubtedly close to being inflicted. Why did their father insist on fooling himself into thinking he could cook? He dissected cerebellums not pot roast. It didn't take much to figure that out.
"Not soon enough."
As if the fates heard the children's plea, there was a knock on the door followed by a short ring of the doorbell. Looking at each other, both Ephram and Delia rush towards the door as if their salvation lied on the other side. It didn't really matter if they looked desperate and extremely pathetic. If it kept Andrew Brown's cooking from entering their mouths and possibly cutting off circulation, they would sing a song and dance around on one leg.
Practically sliding on the hardware floor, Ephram was about ready to give whoever was on the other side a big sloppy kiss of gratitude. Turning the knob and pulling back the door, he caught sight of twin girls who practically stood at his height. One was positioned with a friendly smile on her face while the other just basically hung by, no expression marked on her face. Confused, he suddenly realized they were Nina's nieces.
"Can I help you," Ephram asked, narrowing his eyes from the warm twin to the other not so expressive one, "or rather would you like to talk to my dad. He doesn't usually specialize in unstable mental conditions but maybe he'll make an exception for you."
"Wow, aside from being everyone's favorite suggested tour guide and now the knee slapping so incredibly hilarious comedian, you never once fail to show me how much of a pompous asshole the multitalented can actually be," Brooklyn spat back angrily, crossing her arms and feeling her sister's intense stare burning a hole on the back of her head.
"What can I say, we suffer for our devotion."
Brooklyn and Ephram stared each other down with fiery eyes as Jocelyn stood in the background, shaking her head, and proceeding to interrupt their tango of insults, "The reason we came by was to apologize for earlier."
"She meant we came by to borrow a cup of sugar," Brooklyn corrected almost immediately, giving a small bittersweet smile for reassurance.
"It sounded like your sister said you two came by to apologize," Ephram commented, amused at the frantic attitude this girl was displaying.
"Well, we didn't. It's not exactly my fault the English language was invented in high anticipation of making some of it's words sound uncannily similar.
"Still sounded like you wanted to apologize."
"It's not my fault you have a hearing impediment either."
"Brooklyn! I need to talk to you real quick," Jocelyn growled angrily while pulling on her sister's elbow to follow her to a corner of the front porch and smiling back at Ephram, signaling him to wait right there and not go anywhere.
"I am not apologizing to 'something' that rude," Brooklyn hissed, pointing her finger over at the opened front door, and giving Ephram one more evil look before concentrating back on her sister.
"Well, he wasn't exactly the only one if you get my drift, sister of mine," Jocelyn hissed back, grabbing her arm and putting it down by her side, "And it's not polite to point especially when the object of our conversation is staring right at us."
"I don't care. There's no way I'm going to be responsible for inflating his ego any more than it already is."
Jocelyn gave Brooklyn a sisterly look, almost begging her to reconsider her decision. It was almost a pathetic look as her bottom lip quivered and her eyes watered under fluttering eyelashes. It took a lot of her dignity away from her but she knew her sister would succumb to her advances because this maneuver had always worked in the past. No matter how much of a heinous bitch Brooklyn appeared to be, there was always a soft side inside of her heart for her family. She always opened up to the people who actually deserved her unveiling.
Brooklyn growled, turned around, and stomped back to the front door of the Brown residence. Noticing Ephram wasn't there anymore, she raised her fist and knocked again to signal some kind of attention. But this time, instead of the Browns' eldest child, Andrew came to the door instead, his face still swarming in the friendliness it had at the moment she had met him. It made it easier for her to open up.
"Listen...Doctor Brown, is it? Listen, I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted when I first introduced myself to you. It was extremely rude and I wish I could honestly take it back. I was just really bitter from the move here," Brooklyn explained sincerely, her voice softening as her eyes shone with remorse for her actions.
Andy stood at the door in shock. He didn't expect this. Well, he didn't expect this that early. It took Ephram practically a couple of months for him to become accustomed to the town and actually swallow his pride to apology for his childish attitude. He didn't actually experience full recovery from his angst-ridden teenage alter-ego, but it was a start.
"Hey, don't even worry yourself about it," Andrew proclaimed, giving the girls a wide smile, proving there was no grudge what-so-ever.
"Great, now that we have that settled, I think my sister and I should get going. Nina's expecting us for dinner very soon," Brooklyn explained, giving a small smile of gratitude in return of the desired forgiveness. Maybe making new acquaintances wouldn't be as impracticably hard as she thought it would be.
"It was nice seeing you again, Doctor Brown," Jocelyn called out, waving to the older man with a genuine smile creasing her cheeks into small dimples before turning around with her sister and beginning to wander back to the house they would have to accustom themselves to as their new home.
"Hey, wait girls," Andy called out, leaning out of the small gap he had made when the door was partially opened to gain view of his previous guests, "Since there's no school tomorrow why don't you and my son take a trip around town. I'm sure he'll be up for the company and I think the three of you will have some fun on this little escapade."
"I don't know. We have...."
"We'd love to," Jocelyn interrupted, giving another smile at their friendly neighbor before giving her sister a reprimanding look, "wouldn't we, Brooklyn?"
"Sure would," Brooklyn proclaimed in an almost Brady Bunch sort of way while producing a huge cheesy smile to mock her sister's own happy disposition and clapping her hands in sarcastic excitement.
Andy smiled, ignoring Brooklyn's over-zealous response, and exclaimed, "Great, I'll run the plans by Ephram. Expect a call tomorrow morning."
With that said, the world famous neurosurgeon gave one last wave and entered the warmth of his home, satisfied with the work he had just performed. It wasn't healthy for Ephram to always be locked up in his room and pine after a girl who didn't want him in return. Doctor Brown had promised his son he wouldn't interfere in his life, but Ephram would soon enough thank him when he made more friends and allowed his brooding alter ego to dissipate.
"Before you say anything," Jocelyn declared, noticing Brooklyn's angry expression and clenched fists, "you promised you would meet new people and try to adjust! The sooner we start adjusting the easier it'll be."
"Yeah, I'll adjust to people who don't test my patience."
"Like you're first prize in that category."
"I may not be first prize but at least I'm runner up which I can't necessary say the same for Mr. Personality over there," Brooklyn stated, nibbling on her lower lip as if signaling that the cold was getting extremely unbearable.
"You're just pissed that you finally met your match. You know, eventually you will meet people who aren't afraid to take up a challenge and orally spar with you. Someone's going to at least once steal your lightening and you have to get used to it."
"Whatever you say, Dr. Laura."
Jocelyn rolled her eyes at her sister's childish attitude and followed her retreating form back into their aunt's house. One day Brooklyn will realize how stupid and pathetic she acted, and Jocelyn only hoped she'd unwrap the blind fold from her eyes and figure it out sooner than later.
o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
"No way! There is no way I'm taking them around town!"
Doctor Brown frowned down at his son and placed down the fork he was once using to shovel food from his plate into his mouth. He knew this wasn't going to be the easiest task but then again he never even imagined Ephram would act so dispirited against showing new people around town. New people who just so happened to be female and his own age.
"Why not, Ephram? They're new and they need help now what kind of neighbor are you being by refusing to showing them around," Andy asked, allowing his mouth to twist itself into a disappointed and worried frown.
"A smart not wanting to loose his mind neighbor. OK, maybe I'd give the grand tour to one of the twins, she seemed pretty cool. But the other was a complete shrew. Even if I'm guaranteed all access into heaven, I'd still refuse to spend one minuscule of a second in her close company," Ephram replied, playing with his food more than he considered actually eating it.
"What's a shrew," Delia asked, imitating her brother's actions by stirring the what it appeared to be mashed potatoes in her plate as her large brown eyes looked up in curious inquiry.
"A mean person," Andy explained, keeping his eyes strictly on Ephram, "Let's make a deal, you take them out and if they're not what you expected then u can make a U-turn and take them back to Nina's house. How does that sound?"
"Like entrapment because I sense grave consequences if I don't do what you say," Ephram declared, dropping his fork into the mashed potatoes and glaring up at his father.
"See, you were wrong when you said we didn't know each other!"
Ephram mumbled something under his breath before producing a huge sigh of defeat. Tomorrow was going to be a complete disaster and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. People who said the life of a teenager was all candy and sunny days never were teenagers to begin with. Life really did suck. Hands down.
Teenage Desperation
Chapter 2
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Brooklyn laid awake on the guest bed, arms placed behind her head as cerulean eyes focused on the ceiling, scrutinizing it's boring structure. Just by merely observing the ivory walls caused her to yearn to be back in Arizona. In her own house. In her own space. In her own bed. The teenager's heart broke as she thought about all the people she left behind. People she had genuinely loved and who had loved her in return. She hated it here and she wasn't going to be timid in showing it. Immature? Maybe. But at this very moment in time, maturity was the last disposition in mind to express.
Sighing, the brunette rolled over and closed her eyes. The immense pains in her chest were becoming almost unbearable. If it weren't for her overzealous thought process, Brooklyn wouldn't have even thought she was conscious. But then again, being unconscious would have been an immaculate blessing. And unfortunately, blessings weren't in the cards. Well, at least not at the time being.
"Brooklyn? You awake?"
"No. Go away," Brooklyn replied rather coldly, not even bothering to open her eyes for a clear view of the perpetrator.
"What an incredible sense of humor. Forgive me of I choose not to laugh," Jocelyn dryly retorted while entering the silent room without any further words of permission.
"What do you want? If it's to further lecture me on how much of a bitch I was to the Browns, you can save your breath. I get it and am in no mood to be forced to re-get it more than once today."
"You should apologize to them."
Brooklyn's eyes fluttered open as a frown creased her lips. Rubbing her temples, she proclaimed, "I said I got it, not that I regretted it. I meant every word I happened to have said. Just because we're twins and happened to have shared the same womb doesn't mean I follow the same rules of social etiquette you do."
"It's not called social etiquette, it's called being polite. Not that you would know anything about that," Jocelyn sneered, frustrated at her sister's lack of cooperation. She was beginning to believe this was a lost cause. That maybe this girl would never adapt, not known to the self-anticipating hero that maybe she didn't want to.
"Is this the part where I should be remorseful? Because if it is, I must have purposely missed the memo."
"You can't stay cooped up without any social interaction. It's impossible."
"Well, it was always a dream of mine to grace the Guinness Book of World Records and if I gave up now, my dream would never come true now would it," Brooklyn declared, closing her eyes once again to block out her sister's unsatisfied expression. She had seen that specific facial contraption more than she desired in one day.
"You know, you're such a hypocrite," Jocelyn simply stated, not once even considering to run away from the battle her sister was waging. It was a constant debacle for the two sisters in their past, a sibling rivalry if you must call it, but this time was going to be different. This time Jocelyn wasn't going to turn her back. No, she was going to stand her own ground and prove to her twin how strong she actually was.
Brooklyn opened her eyes, a glint of curiosity gracing the brilliant blue mischievously, "Please, do enlighten me and explain how that's so."
Jocelyn leaned back against the wall and closed her own eyes thoughtfully, "You said, back on the train, that we had to make an effort to be the family we never were. You said we had to be on the same wavelength. Now how can we possibly be on the same wavelength when you're lying here like a bitter, brooding sixteen year-old going on sixty. By remaining on the same wavelength, it means we unfortunately gave to make Everwood our new home. You have to get it into your thick skull that this is our new home, we're not going back to Arizona. That's just a distant memory. So do yourself and all of us and suck it up and get over it!"
The eldest twin smiled wickedly and erected her body into a sitting position, resting her elbows on her knees while narrowing her eyes on the wall where Jocelyn stood, "Did you come to that realization all by yourself or did a conversation with your mirror help you gain that profound M.C. Esher perspective? Because from where I'm sitting, that dramatic speech distinctly reeks of previous practice."
The standing brunette fumed silently as her cheeks grew flushed from embarrassment. She was tired of trying to get Brooklyn to see that there was more to life than the familiar. This world was so beautiful but if she refused to see it then there was no hope left for conversion.
"Forget it. This is pointless. Do whatever you want, I'm tired of trying to get you to open up," Jocelyn exclaimed exasperated while removing herself from the wall and beginning to exit the room without any expressed regrets.
"Wait."
Jocelyn froze at the doorway, not even bothering to turn around. She already gave her sister the benefit of power by keeping herself still with listening ears. She would be damned if she proved she was whipped by giving Brooklyn the satisfaction of facing her with a questioning and equally curious expression as well.
"Your right. We're not going back home anytime soon," Brooklyn sighed, leaning back against the bed's headboard, "But even if that's so, that still doesn't make me wanna be here any more. I know why you wanna fit in so bad, but just understand nothing in life is what it should be because if it honestly way, we would be home with mom, not here with an aunt we barely know. Don't get your hopes it....it always ends up bad."
"So is that your over-embellished way of saying you'll give human interaction a shot," the blue eyed girl by the door asked, turning around in hopeful anticipation.
"Sure. After all, I have what else to do?"
Jocelyn jumped up and down, swinging her arm in the air, excited. Spinning around, she grabbed her sister's coat and tossed it on the bed, "Great! We'll start tonight with a sincere apology to the Browns."
"No, no, no," Brooklyn proclaimed, catching the thrown jacket and tossing it back at her sister, "I said I would have the inconvenience of human interaction, not repairing past mistakes and shattered egos!"
Brooklyn's counterpart caught the coat and threw it back without reluctance, "Well, what better way to enter the wonderful world of human interaction than by taking the first step and admitting you were wrong."
"Well, that's actually quite unfortunate because I don't tackle projects where fun's not a part of the equation. Sorry, come back and ask for my participation when amusement replaces debasement."
"It's not debasement, just retribution. C'mon, stop being so damn stubborn," Jocelyn whined putting her hands on her hips and pouting with a quivering lip to add emotional effect.
The conflicted teen rolled her eyes and didn't stop once to make an obvious fact apparent, "Just for future reference, I'm not your boyfriend or potential love interest. I don't find your persuasive body language endearing. In all actuality, I find it extremely annoying."
"Fine. I'll drop the body language when you drop the sarcastic bitchy attitude," she crossly challenged back, twisting her plush lips in an evil I-got-you-right-where-I-want-you smile.
Grabbing her jacket and hopping off of the comfortable bed, Brooklyn simply said, "Point taken."
o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
Amy Abbott sat quietly on the couch in her exquisitely designed living room, a book in hand, and a cozy comforter placed over her long legs. The situation was growing to be rather annoying because as she read the words, nothing would stay in her head. It was almost as if she wasn't even reading at all. Tossing the book onto the coffee table in a frustrated manner, Amy ran her slightly trembling fingers through her long blonde hair and sunk down into the couch. Tomorrow, she would go visit Colin in Denver. It was a common thing but why wasn't she as excited? She was always excited when Colin was involved in any of her daily activities. And to make things even better, Doctor Brown had even agreed to perform the operation. It was only a matter of time before she and Colin would be walking down the street hand in hand like old times. But, back to square one. Why didn't that make her ecstatic?
She knew why and it was only a matter of time before that simple fact would drive her mad. Ephram. He had been so great to her over the times that loneliness had plagued her being. The nights she would cry, Ephram would call "just to chat." Whenever she would space out, he would wave his hand in front of her face and tell her some absurd relation to how she looked at the moment when her grip on reality had left her. And when she would ditch him for her friends, Ephram would always forgive her and treat her as equally as he had before the incident. She missed him and now they would never have the certain bond they did before. Everything was absolutely ruined just because Amy couldn't see past her own selfish desires.
Groaning, she slumped further down into her own self pity. Why did her life have to be a seesaw? Whenever something good would happen, it wouldn't be long before something bad would come along and ruin it. It's like the good would never be able to even out with the bad when it came to practical decision making in her life. The life which was beginning to suck more and more as time increased it's rapid speed through the impending days. And here Amy thought time was supposed to remove all obstacles and heal all wounds. What a load of bullshit.
"Amy, sweetheart, it's time for dinner," Mrs. Abbott called from the dinning room.
'Dinner. The perfect distraction from these disturbingly intense thoughts in my head. If only mom had put some kind of mind altering substance into the potatoes; now that would be something. Was that a little too taboo to be thinking about? Who really cares. I had a right to dream no matter how farfetched the dream happened to be, didn't I? These current dreams just happen to revolve around amnestic food products. God, just stop thinking!'
So with a heavy heart and equally heavy conscious, Amy removed the blanket from her body and proceeded to join her family for their traditional, everyday, same time - same place meal. She was a little worried about her parents taking her silence into consideration, but then again, Bright would be there as well with his array of asinine comments unceasingly intact to his brain. Case closed.
o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
"Ephram! Delia! Time for dinner," Andrew Brown called from the kitchen to his children as a proud smile graced his rugged features, "and let me be the first to say I didn't do such a bad job this time."
"And so the clock signifying our close demise begins winding down," Ephram murmured to his sister while reluctantly placing the comic book he was reading on the coffee table. If he had the choice, there would be no doubt that Ephram would ban his father's cooking. It wasn't even a selfish action, he was doing it for the good of mankind.
"How long to you think it'll be until dad starts realizing he can't cook," Delia asked, following her older brother into the room where damage was undoubtedly close to being inflicted. Why did their father insist on fooling himself into thinking he could cook? He dissected cerebellums not pot roast. It didn't take much to figure that out.
"Not soon enough."
As if the fates heard the children's plea, there was a knock on the door followed by a short ring of the doorbell. Looking at each other, both Ephram and Delia rush towards the door as if their salvation lied on the other side. It didn't really matter if they looked desperate and extremely pathetic. If it kept Andrew Brown's cooking from entering their mouths and possibly cutting off circulation, they would sing a song and dance around on one leg.
Practically sliding on the hardware floor, Ephram was about ready to give whoever was on the other side a big sloppy kiss of gratitude. Turning the knob and pulling back the door, he caught sight of twin girls who practically stood at his height. One was positioned with a friendly smile on her face while the other just basically hung by, no expression marked on her face. Confused, he suddenly realized they were Nina's nieces.
"Can I help you," Ephram asked, narrowing his eyes from the warm twin to the other not so expressive one, "or rather would you like to talk to my dad. He doesn't usually specialize in unstable mental conditions but maybe he'll make an exception for you."
"Wow, aside from being everyone's favorite suggested tour guide and now the knee slapping so incredibly hilarious comedian, you never once fail to show me how much of a pompous asshole the multitalented can actually be," Brooklyn spat back angrily, crossing her arms and feeling her sister's intense stare burning a hole on the back of her head.
"What can I say, we suffer for our devotion."
Brooklyn and Ephram stared each other down with fiery eyes as Jocelyn stood in the background, shaking her head, and proceeding to interrupt their tango of insults, "The reason we came by was to apologize for earlier."
"She meant we came by to borrow a cup of sugar," Brooklyn corrected almost immediately, giving a small bittersweet smile for reassurance.
"It sounded like your sister said you two came by to apologize," Ephram commented, amused at the frantic attitude this girl was displaying.
"Well, we didn't. It's not exactly my fault the English language was invented in high anticipation of making some of it's words sound uncannily similar.
"Still sounded like you wanted to apologize."
"It's not my fault you have a hearing impediment either."
"Brooklyn! I need to talk to you real quick," Jocelyn growled angrily while pulling on her sister's elbow to follow her to a corner of the front porch and smiling back at Ephram, signaling him to wait right there and not go anywhere.
"I am not apologizing to 'something' that rude," Brooklyn hissed, pointing her finger over at the opened front door, and giving Ephram one more evil look before concentrating back on her sister.
"Well, he wasn't exactly the only one if you get my drift, sister of mine," Jocelyn hissed back, grabbing her arm and putting it down by her side, "And it's not polite to point especially when the object of our conversation is staring right at us."
"I don't care. There's no way I'm going to be responsible for inflating his ego any more than it already is."
Jocelyn gave Brooklyn a sisterly look, almost begging her to reconsider her decision. It was almost a pathetic look as her bottom lip quivered and her eyes watered under fluttering eyelashes. It took a lot of her dignity away from her but she knew her sister would succumb to her advances because this maneuver had always worked in the past. No matter how much of a heinous bitch Brooklyn appeared to be, there was always a soft side inside of her heart for her family. She always opened up to the people who actually deserved her unveiling.
Brooklyn growled, turned around, and stomped back to the front door of the Brown residence. Noticing Ephram wasn't there anymore, she raised her fist and knocked again to signal some kind of attention. But this time, instead of the Browns' eldest child, Andrew came to the door instead, his face still swarming in the friendliness it had at the moment she had met him. It made it easier for her to open up.
"Listen...Doctor Brown, is it? Listen, I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted when I first introduced myself to you. It was extremely rude and I wish I could honestly take it back. I was just really bitter from the move here," Brooklyn explained sincerely, her voice softening as her eyes shone with remorse for her actions.
Andy stood at the door in shock. He didn't expect this. Well, he didn't expect this that early. It took Ephram practically a couple of months for him to become accustomed to the town and actually swallow his pride to apology for his childish attitude. He didn't actually experience full recovery from his angst-ridden teenage alter-ego, but it was a start.
"Hey, don't even worry yourself about it," Andrew proclaimed, giving the girls a wide smile, proving there was no grudge what-so-ever.
"Great, now that we have that settled, I think my sister and I should get going. Nina's expecting us for dinner very soon," Brooklyn explained, giving a small smile of gratitude in return of the desired forgiveness. Maybe making new acquaintances wouldn't be as impracticably hard as she thought it would be.
"It was nice seeing you again, Doctor Brown," Jocelyn called out, waving to the older man with a genuine smile creasing her cheeks into small dimples before turning around with her sister and beginning to wander back to the house they would have to accustom themselves to as their new home.
"Hey, wait girls," Andy called out, leaning out of the small gap he had made when the door was partially opened to gain view of his previous guests, "Since there's no school tomorrow why don't you and my son take a trip around town. I'm sure he'll be up for the company and I think the three of you will have some fun on this little escapade."
"I don't know. We have...."
"We'd love to," Jocelyn interrupted, giving another smile at their friendly neighbor before giving her sister a reprimanding look, "wouldn't we, Brooklyn?"
"Sure would," Brooklyn proclaimed in an almost Brady Bunch sort of way while producing a huge cheesy smile to mock her sister's own happy disposition and clapping her hands in sarcastic excitement.
Andy smiled, ignoring Brooklyn's over-zealous response, and exclaimed, "Great, I'll run the plans by Ephram. Expect a call tomorrow morning."
With that said, the world famous neurosurgeon gave one last wave and entered the warmth of his home, satisfied with the work he had just performed. It wasn't healthy for Ephram to always be locked up in his room and pine after a girl who didn't want him in return. Doctor Brown had promised his son he wouldn't interfere in his life, but Ephram would soon enough thank him when he made more friends and allowed his brooding alter ego to dissipate.
"Before you say anything," Jocelyn declared, noticing Brooklyn's angry expression and clenched fists, "you promised you would meet new people and try to adjust! The sooner we start adjusting the easier it'll be."
"Yeah, I'll adjust to people who don't test my patience."
"Like you're first prize in that category."
"I may not be first prize but at least I'm runner up which I can't necessary say the same for Mr. Personality over there," Brooklyn stated, nibbling on her lower lip as if signaling that the cold was getting extremely unbearable.
"You're just pissed that you finally met your match. You know, eventually you will meet people who aren't afraid to take up a challenge and orally spar with you. Someone's going to at least once steal your lightening and you have to get used to it."
"Whatever you say, Dr. Laura."
Jocelyn rolled her eyes at her sister's childish attitude and followed her retreating form back into their aunt's house. One day Brooklyn will realize how stupid and pathetic she acted, and Jocelyn only hoped she'd unwrap the blind fold from her eyes and figure it out sooner than later.
o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
"No way! There is no way I'm taking them around town!"
Doctor Brown frowned down at his son and placed down the fork he was once using to shovel food from his plate into his mouth. He knew this wasn't going to be the easiest task but then again he never even imagined Ephram would act so dispirited against showing new people around town. New people who just so happened to be female and his own age.
"Why not, Ephram? They're new and they need help now what kind of neighbor are you being by refusing to showing them around," Andy asked, allowing his mouth to twist itself into a disappointed and worried frown.
"A smart not wanting to loose his mind neighbor. OK, maybe I'd give the grand tour to one of the twins, she seemed pretty cool. But the other was a complete shrew. Even if I'm guaranteed all access into heaven, I'd still refuse to spend one minuscule of a second in her close company," Ephram replied, playing with his food more than he considered actually eating it.
"What's a shrew," Delia asked, imitating her brother's actions by stirring the what it appeared to be mashed potatoes in her plate as her large brown eyes looked up in curious inquiry.
"A mean person," Andy explained, keeping his eyes strictly on Ephram, "Let's make a deal, you take them out and if they're not what you expected then u can make a U-turn and take them back to Nina's house. How does that sound?"
"Like entrapment because I sense grave consequences if I don't do what you say," Ephram declared, dropping his fork into the mashed potatoes and glaring up at his father.
"See, you were wrong when you said we didn't know each other!"
Ephram mumbled something under his breath before producing a huge sigh of defeat. Tomorrow was going to be a complete disaster and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. People who said the life of a teenager was all candy and sunny days never were teenagers to begin with. Life really did suck. Hands down.