I'm not sure if I put this at the beginning of me lovely story or not, but yes, I did take the basic idea for the storyline (well, maybe just the beginning) from Sarah Dessen's Someone Like You. Well...if I didn't say it, I am now.
I have come up with a new policy for updates. I will have one for either: Trying to Carry On, A Second Chance, The Ace of Hearts, and this story, It's About Life, at least once a week. So that means an update from any random story from the list above every week. I'll try not to space the updates on one story too far apart but if I get stuck because of muse problems, I hope I'm forgiven?
"Dad…" I groaned, high-pitched. I have officially crossed into whiny snotty teenager land but I don't care. I really don't want to go the Devlins and if I have to eat my own hand to prove my point, I will. Okay…maybe I won't eat my hand but come on, I'm sixteen now. I don't want to go the Devlins and I shouldn't have to. Kady doesn't have to. Okay, that's not my best argument considering my older sister is still not talking to my family.
But I really really don't want to go.
"Sydney," Dad snapped, giving me his mess-with-me-and-die-but-I-still-love-you-Sydney look. "You're not getting out of this."
I groaned again and started to seriously contemplate faking sick. No wait, we're already at the Devlins. Damn, Dad drives fast when he doesn't want to listen to me gripe. I twisted the end of my braid –don't ask why I chose to wear my hair in braids I just did- and sighed heavily. "But Dad…" Yep, I'm definitely whiny tonight.
"Stop whining." Dad snapped again.
"Fine," I retorted. Okay, add snotty to that list too. Dad didn't have time to lecture me on behaving tonight because I opened my door and practically leapt from the SUV. Aimee and Jeremy came out next, followed by Mom –yeah, I was pretty surprised that my parents were in the same car too- and then finally Dad and my worst nightmare.
The bimbo.
As if the weekly dinners with Dad and the bimbo were truly not enough to torture me, we had to have two dinners this week. And one of them had to be with the Devlins.
Lucky day.
I dragged my feet as the six of us walked up to the Devlins ritzy mansion thing, making random noises the whole time. I think I got to trying to imitate a Yeti before my dad finally turned to me and snapped. "Stop making those noises, Sydney Anne Bristow."
"Yes, father," I replied sarcastically. Yeah, even I'm ashamed of my behavior but when it comes time to pretending to be nice to the Devlins and their spawn of Satan son, Travis, I don't give a damn.
Is it wrong for me to want Travis to die a very slow and painful death?
My conscious says no and that's the answer we're going with.
The Devlins greeted us at the door like two seconds after Dad rung the doorbell –what, were they waiting for us?- and they just had to be very polite and chipper. They didn't fool me for a second.
"Sydney, darling, how are you?" The Mrs. Devlin or if you want her real name as she insists that I call her by, Mary asked me.
'Just peachy, you chipper bitch,' I replied silently as I put on my best fake smile and said. "I'm good, Mary. How are you?"
"Wonderful, darling." Mary replied, as she led us to the dining room. No time for cocktails this evening. Damn, cause I am seriously considering starting to drink now. Okay, I take that back, I'm not but come on…does she have to keep calling me 'darling'? It creeps me out.
"Sydney, you remember Travis right?" Mr. Devlin who insists I call him just that, Mr. Devlin asked.
Okay, I have some questions in response to that. What is with all the questions directed towards me? Is it pick on Sydney day and I just don't know about it. Did my dad put you two nutcases up to it to make me behave better? And why don't you go direct some of those questions towards the other five people at this table. Well, maybe not Dad cause he's busy talking with the bimbo –he's probably explaining a fork to her- and Aimee and Jeremy looked like they're fighting –probably about the wedding again- but Mom is just sitting there. Well…maybe not Mom. The Devlins and Mom never did get along very well. I'm not really sure why that is.So I got the short end of the conversation stick. Why do I have to so easy to talk to?
And are they on drugs? Do they honestly expect me to answer that question with a straight face and no swear words? Do I remember Travis? I think the better question is, how fast can I kill the retard?
"Of course I do," I replied, in my best I'm-so-polite-and-courteous-and-this-voice-is-completely-fake tone. Yeah, I noticed that they sat me next to the retard but I'm going for a record on how long I can ignore his presence. Last year, I succeeded in ignoring him for fifteen minutes.
"Dinner is ready," The Devlins housekeeper –seriously, who has a housekeeper nowadays?- Kara proclaimed. Thank God for that woman and her interrupting of me having to talk to the retard.
"Excellent," Mr. Devlin said, beckoning at her to bring the food in. She curtsied at the doorway –why does she do that?- and placed a large platter with a plump turkey on top in front of my dad. What the hell…? "Jack, will you do the honors?"
I frowned. What the hell is going on here? Every damn year Mr. Devlin cuts the freaking turkey and all of the sudden, he wants Dad to do it? Am I missing something?
"Certainly," Dad replied, putting an end to the quiet chatter between him and the bimbo and standing up. I wasn't the only one who was completely confused because Aimee was frowning a little too as Dad cut the turkey and handed out the pieces to everybody. Or she could've been mad at Jeremy and that leaves me all alone.
Lucky day.
I waited until everyone had food, like it was expected of me, before grabbing my fork and stabbing my turkey moodily. I was definitely putting scratch marks on the china but I was so past giving a damn.
"How's school been Sydney?" Travis asked after a couple minutes of complete silence around the table.
"Fine," I mumbled, resting my head in my hand and nibbling at a forkful of mashed potatoes. Dad shot me a look and I added in a louder tone, "How's it been going for you?"
"Great," Travis replied as he launched into a story about the Mathletes or the chess club or something like that I didn't catch. I was too busy trying to remember if there was a puddle outside so I could drown myself in it.
"That's great." I said, as he finished the story. I think Mom was fed up with my attitude as well because she sent me a glare across the table. Great, they're conforming against me.
"How's Francie?" Travis asked next. That's right, play the gentlemen and ask about my friends.
"Fine."
"Work?"
Fine."
"Seeing anyone?"
Ah ha! And the true Travis comes out. So the past nine years, I've always had to reluctantly admit that I wasn't because when I did, he got this hopeful look in his eye that my parents would catch and then scold me later on for being rude to him. But this year, the tradition dies.
"Actually, yes," I replied, calmly.
Travis's face fell. "Oh," He mumbled, obviously very unhappy about that bit of news. And I don't care.
However, since no one else was talking at the table, they heard every bit of our conversation, especially the last part. "What?" Every single one of them asked, surprised.
Hmm…I think I may have forgotten to tell my parents and sister and future brother-in-law about my relationship with Vaughn. My family has communication problems.
"Yeah, I'm dating someone." I repeated, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. Though, secretly, I was wondering why it was so easy for me to think of it as no big deal.
"Who?" Aimee asked suspiciously.
"Vaughn." I answered, immediately. Oh crap, why did I say that? Quick, damage control. "I mean… Michael."
Dad however caught the 'Vaughn' and what I feared had come true. He remembered the conversation we had about Vaughn two months ago.
"And as far as I know, he hasn't gotten any girl pregnant. But if I'm real lucky, and we don't use one of those pesky condoms, I bet I can change that."
Why, oh why did I say that? Note to self: Stop saying stupid things around Dad.
And then of course, the we're just friends thing.
"I was just kidding. Vaughn's cool but I don't like him like that. We're just friends."
Stupid…stupid….stupid. Note number two to self: Never say you're just friends with a guy to Dad and then date that same guy. It's stupid. I think I'm repeating myself now.
"The same Vaughn you went to the party with?" Dad asked.
"What party?" Mom asked after Dad.
"That party where you're date sucked?" Aimee added, like a bitch.
Excuse me while I go drown myself in a puddle.
This night is officially going done as the worst night of my life. Well…maybe the time I got stuck on the Ferris Wheel for six hours once at a fair because my sisters "forgot" about me is worse but this night is coming in at a very close second.
I calmly set down my fork, grinding my back teeth before looking up with a semi-fake smile and saying, "Yes Dad, that Vaughn. Mom, I went to a party with Vaughn a couple months ago. And no Aimee, my date did not suck that night." There, I think I handled that pretty well.
"I thought you were just friends," Dad added.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Mom asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Aimee said, snottily. I think she's still bitter about Kady.
Forget the puddle…I need something closer, like a sink.
"We were just friends, Dad." I sighed. "And you didn't ask Mom." I completely ignored Aimee. Around then was when I noticed the bimbo was staying very quiet.
"I think it's sweet," Jen said. Okay, I keep speaking too soon. What the hell? Now that I have that out of my system, I don't want you to think it's sweet! I want you to go back to wherever the hell you came from and leave my family alone!
"I want to have a long talk with that boy," Dad said, after a long while.
I nodded. "Yeah, yeah."
"Don't get cute with me, Sydney." Dad said, sternly.
"Yes, father." I replied, dropping my gaze to my half eaten food. This night was just getting worse and worse. Next thing you know, aliens are going to start attacking. It could happen.
"I'm sorry about that," Dad said to the Devlins who were probably staring at me in shock.
"It's fine. I understand wayward children," Mr. Devlin said. I wanted to roll my eyes and stick out my tongue at that but I decided not to. That would give my parents even more reason to yell at me.
The table fell silent and I went back to picking at my food. That is, until my cell phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I completely forgot I had it. Well, thank God for it. Slowly, I pulled it out and grinned when I saw I had a text message from Vaughn.
I opened my inbox, thankful for the long tablecloth that hid what I was doing from the other people.
Good evening, Bubble. How's dinner?
My grin widened as I typed back a message. Sucky. Help?
A couple minutes later, my phone started to vibrate again. LOL. Sry. Can't.
I frowned. What kind of response was that? Why?
House arrest.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I think only Vaughn could manage to get himself under house arrest by his aunt three days before Christmas. What did udo?
"Sydney?"
My head snapped up pretty fast and I looked to my mom, smiling a little. "Yeah?"
"What are you doing?" Mom asked, looking concerned.
Hmm…maybe I should've looked up once or twice between text messages. Oh well, too late to change that now. "Just checking my messages," I replied, putting my phone on the table in between me and Travis as proof.
"Not during dinner." Mom said, sternly and I nodded my agreement.
Of course Vaughn had to send back his reply right at that exact moment and before I could grab the phone, Travis had snatched it. That little bastard! "Tried to take over Hogwarts. Got to go, CHB. V." Travis read aloud.
I don't care what anyone at that table thought, I started laughing. Of course Vaughn wouldn't give me an actual answer. At least not if we weren't actually talking on the phone and I pushed him enough. And he just had to bring up that conversation from before the party. This is going to be hard to explain.
"What's a CHB?" Mary Devlin asked.
"A cold heartless bitch," I replied, softly.
"Who's the cold heartless bitch?" Mom asked, a little surprised.
"Me," I answered, quietly. "It's a joke," I added, quickly.
"Why would 'V', who I am assuming is Vaughn, call you a cold heartless bitch?" Dad asked. I guess he missed the joke thing.
"It's just a joke, Dad. Really, I call him the sexist pig." Hmm….I should not have said that.
"You what?!" Dad thundered. Yep, note number three to self: don't try to explain personal jokes between me and Vaughn to Dad. That's pretty stupid too.
I wonder if we're making the Devlins uncomfortable. Hopefully we are and that means no more dinner hell with the Devlins. That would be a very lucky day. And as an added bonus, Dad's going to be so mad at me that weekly dinners are going to be canceled. Man I love this night. Wow...my attitude changed fast.
"It's a joke, Dad. Let it go." I replied, shooting him a look for once.
Dad caught the look and went silent for about five minutes. Then he surprised even me. "It's getting late, we should be getting home."
Whoa…did those words just come out of my father's mouth? Did he, in a sense, just admit defeat? I think he did. He just said that he have to leave because he's embarrassed. Well, technically, he didn't say that but that's what he meant. Wow…this is different.
And now I'm feeling really ashamed of my behavior.
Crap.
It was a pretty silent affair; leaving the Devlins. Dad and them said some quiet words. Mom, Aimee, the bimbo, and Jeremy piled into the SUV with a simple goodbye. Me, I had to deal with the Travis guilt trip.
"I'll call you."
"Whatever."
"Are you really in a relationship?"
"I'm really in a relationship."
"Okay."
"Whatever."
And then I got into the car, unfortunately next to Aimee. "That was some show," She hissed at me.
"Shut the hell up, Aimee," I snapped. She did, miraculously for the rest of the night. Dad dropped off Jeremy at his apartment first –man was that some sappy goodbye between him and my sister- before bringing the rest of rest of us girls home.
"Irina, who is that on your front porch?" Jen asked, as Dad stopped the car in front of the house.
I looked out the window and gasped. "Oh God," I muttered, bolting from the car. "What are you doing here?" I asked in loud whisper.
Vaughn just grinned at me, "I snuck out of house arrest to give you your present Bubble-yum."
I couldn't help but smile. "You're not really under house arrest, are you?"
He nodded. "Yeah…but for things that I'd rather not say with your dad watching me," He said, nodding his head towards my dad's car. I chanced a look at the car to see Dad looking red in the face and both Mom and the bimbo trying to calm him down.
"I don't have your present on me," I replied, smiling. "And I'm not sure if it would be safe to leave you here to go get it or bring you inside to go get it."
He laughed, "No worries, Bubble-Yum. I can wait until New Year's for my present." Okay, that's incredibly sweet of him. "Here." He handed me a small gift bag. Slightly frowning, I pulled the tissue paper out and extracted a large velvet jewelry box. This is interesting…Slowly, I opened the box and instantly, I grinned. Nestled on a velvet cloth lay a silver chain with a red Hershey's kiss pendent. Only Vaughn…
"Do you like it?" He asked, anxiously.
"I love it," I replied, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him before he had the chance to protest. Not that he did anyway. We only broke apart after Dad laid on the horn for at least a minute straight. I smiled at Vaughn cheekily. "You should probably go before my dad pulls out a gun and decides he wants to go Vaughn-hunting."
Vaughn's eyes narrowed. "Why would he want to go Vaughn-hunting?"
I bit my lip. "Because Sydney has a big mouth and then her father saw your last text message and she had to explain that."
His eyes widened and he nodded rapidly. "That's all the explanation I need." He said, kissing me quickly. "See ya Bubble-Yum." He said, just as quickly and then he was gone. I'm not really sure where he went but I didn't put too much thought into it. I was concentrating on the box in my hand.
Truth was, I did love it and that scared me.
Next Chapter: Crazy old drunk people!