Now, despite the fact that it felt great for Katie to be back home with her father, the same can't be said for Crystal and her family; because unlike her best friend, the rebel had a very complicated relationship with the people she lives with, especially her four other sisters. Crystal was the only one out of the five kids that her parents had who didn't want to become a cheerleader, and because of that, including some instances where she would openly tell her siblings that the hobby's for losers, she wasn't exactly well-liked; the fact that she also went as far as to mock and prank the cheerleaders throughout her high-school years only made them look down on her even more. As for her parents, they don't really talk to her all that much, but Crystal wouldn't be all that surprised if she were to discover that they hated her too. Needless to say, it's reasons like these that makes her wish that she was raised by the Morris's instead.
Upon arriving at her house, the first thing that Crystal immediately noticed was that there weren't any cars parked in the driveway, which would easily imply that her parents were still at work and that her sisters are possibly out and about at the mall or something; but upon further approaching her front-door, she knew right away that her sisters were home: she could hear the faint sound of her sisters talking in there, as well as their radio playing some random pop song she's never heard of. Now, she could simply just go through the door and immediately go upstairs as quick as she possibly could, but she knew no matter how quiet she was, her sisters were going to notice; and the last thing she needed to put up with on her first day back home was their insults. With no other choice, Crystal decided to enter the house via the only other way that she knew how to; the back-door.
Once she entered the house, Crystal quietly snuck her way from the kitchen to the hallway, which was right where the staircase was; but right before she could go upstairs, she peeked through the walkway into the living-room just so she can get a glimpse at what her sisters were currently doing. It wasn't much of a sight; the only thing that the rebel's sisters were doing was just doing each other's nails, make-up, and talking about fashion and boys, and what not; so, pretty much what they'd usually do whenever they didn't have plans to go out. No longer waiting another minute, Crystal decided to take this time to sneak up the stairs.
"Oh, well, would you look who's back..." One of the four sisters announced, noticing their rebellious sister slowly going up the stairs. "It's the biggest bitch in the house."
"Do you think her college finally expelled her?" Another one of them asked. "It wouldn't be too surprising."
"Screw this..." Crystal muttered to herself as she simply proceeded up the stairs; this time, a little more quicker.
"Hey, don't you ignore us!" One of them shouts, getting off of the couch to follow her sister up the stairs.
"Sit back down, Emma." Another one said as she got up from the couch. "I'll go deal with the bitch this time."
It was at this very moment, Crystal finally made it to her bedroom. "Don't worry, it will be me who deals with the stupid bitch, Crystal, this time." She muttered to herself in a mocking tone, all while she was putting her luggage down on her bed. "Yeah, knowing that shit's coming out of Helen's mouth, she's not one to talk; she's the bigger bitch out of both of us..."
"I heard that, Crystal!" One of her sisters, presumably Helen, says loudly from behind the rebel's door.
"I hope you did, because you are one, Helen!" Crystal immediately retorts back, shooting a glare over to her bedroom door. "It's no wonder why every single guy you date ends up dumping you within a week!"
"Well, at least I can actually get a date-"
"Well, at least I'm not a virgin." Crystal then shot a glare at her bedroom door, giving it a smirk when she didn't get a response from Helen on the other side. "What do you think of that, you miserable bitch?"
"Screw you." Helen retorts bitterly. "You have no right to back a comeback like that to me or any of my sisters, you selfish fucking hypocrite." With that said, Helen decided to end their conversation there and head back downstairs, all while muttering swears under her breath.
After hearing her sister leave, Crystal's smirk remained on her face. 'Ha, I knew that would make her shut up...I am a genius; now I could-' She was then immediately taken out of her thoughts as soon as she saw what time it was on her phone. 'Holy shit, it's already six! Screw it, I'll deal with unpacking everything once I get back; right now, I need to get to Goth Boy's house!'
Instead of simply going back down to the living-room and face her sisters once again, Crystal decided to use her window to exit her bedroom; as dangerous an idea it may be to many, it was the only other alternative that the rebel had; also, she's exited that way on occasions before, so she's used to it. So, anyway, Crystal climbed out the window and stepped onto the awning that was right above the back-door below; then she slid down the drain-pipe that was on the side of the house, landing on the ground below with ease. Once she was down, she went around the side of the house and went off to go find her old clique-leader's home.
Back with the Morris's...
"Well, would you look at that, dad..." Katie said as she held up a chess piece in front of her. "It looks like you have just lost the only pawn you had left; and all that remains now is your king..."
"Oh, my word..." Maxwell responded, staring in awe at the chessboard that was on the dining-room table in front of him; and it was pretty clear that Katie was the one who was winning the round they were currently in. "I must say, dear; whenever I used to play this game with some of my friends back in college, or anyone else for that matter, I would usually have the upper-hand in this game."
"Then it looks like you've finally met your match." Katie gloats while balancing one of her pawn-pieces on her index-finger. "But don't be too let down here, dad; all you have to do is somehow be able to eliminate the seven remaining pieces I have left, unless you want to forfeit..."
"Actually, that's not exactly quite how this game works, Kathryn." The father reminded as he moved his king-piece to another part of the board.
"I know, but-" Right before Katie could finish the rest of her sentence, the doorbell rang, much to her and her father's confusion. "I wonder who that could be."
Maxwell went over to the front-door and peeked out the peephole to see who was standing outside on their porch; and when he saw who it was, he immediately turned over to his daughter. "I believe it's for you, dear." He told her as he walked back to his seat.
Now curious who this visitor was, Katie got up from her chair and went over to the front-door, where she was greeted immediately by the sight of the person outside. They were male, with black messy hair; and he wore a dark-gray beanie on his head, with a black jacket with a light-blue t-shirt underneath, as well as some black jeans. Katie wasn't exactly friends with this guy, but she did in fact know who he was.
This person was James Louiston; one of her classmates from the Royal Academy, who is both a emo, and a bit of a geek. Back in the day, he would usually go around the school and act as if he's one of the coolest kids there; however, in actuality, he turns out to be the complete opposite. Whenever she saw him walking the halls or sitting with his friends in the cafeteria, Katie couldn't recall a single moment where the kid wasn't reading a comic book or playing a portable video-game in secret, and there were even times where she overheard him during conversations where he and a group of his friends are talking about the science-fiction show 'StarCruiser X'. The only other thing that was really noteworthy about the guy was that he lived across the street from the Morris's, but they don't usually get any visits from him, just his mother, Nancy, on occasions; so it was honestly quite the surprise to see that he was the one visiting them this time as opposed to his mother.
"Hey, James; what's up?" Katie asked.
"Nothing much." James simply answered with a shrug of the shoulders. "My mom told me that she saw you and Crystal talking to each other outside earlier today, so..."
"You came to welcome me back, I take it?"
"No; she thought it would nice of me to come over and give you some cookies she saved from some office-party she attended two days ago." He then held up a neatly-wrapped plate of cookies in front of him. "They are mostly chocolate-chip, if that's what you guys like."
"How thoughtful of your mom then." Katie says as she took the plate from the emo's hands. "How's Nancy been doing, by the way?"
"She's fine, I guess..." James answered indifferently, all while he kept his arms crossed. "She recently got married, I can tell you that..."
"Nancy's finally married?" Katie asked as a smile grew on her face, much to the emo's annoyance. "Oh, dude, that's incredible-"
"Not really." James immediately interrupts. "As much as I'm happy that my mom's finally settled on a boyfriend for once, the man she married has a daughter...and let's just say that I'm not exactly one good terms with her..."
"You're not on good terms with a lot of people, dude."
"True, but none are as bad as the one whom I am now forced to call my 'stepsister'."
"Oh, I'm sure she's not that bad."
"James!" A female spoke from somewhere behind the emo, much to his annoyance. "Art thou paying fair Kathryn Morris a visit without me?"
Katie then leans to the side, looking out to the sidewalk to see the girl whom James was referring to. The girl, in question, had well-combed black hair that reached all the down to her shoulders; and her outfit consisted of a pink beret that has a feather sticking out of the top, a long-sleeved black shirt, a pink skirt, and dark pink boots; it should be obvious that pink is this person's favorite color just by her outfit alone. The girl was Stacy Verily; the former leader of their school's drama-club.
Now, the one thing that Katie and Stacy had in common, and that was the fact that they both came from very studious backgrounds; despite that though, neither of them have ever really interacted with each other back when they were in high-school; most likely because of the fact that Katie never took part in the drama-club back in high school. There were a few time where the two girls have had interactions before, such as one time where they've talked about which book would be good enough for them to read during or in between classes, as well as one time where they've once talked about where the students should go for future field-trips; but even then, those conversations were minimal. The only things that Katie really knew about Stacy was that she was born somewhere in Britain, she has a huge love for Shakespeare, and that she has a love for anything that's pink.
"Ah, great..." James muttered as he turned around to glare at Stacy. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
"Can a fair maiden such as I not say 'Hello' to another?" Stacy asked as she gently pushed her stepbrother out of the way, then approaching the tomboy with a smile. "Fair Kathryn, if it isn't a pleasure to see you again."
"Same to you too, Stacy." Katie replied back as she stepped out of her house now. "So...you guys are step-siblings now, huh?"
"Unfortunately..." The British girl solemnly answered, her smile now turning into a frown. "Quite frankly, when I discovered that Nancy had a son, I wasn't expecting him to be the incompetent buffoon who almost ruined my entire senior year..." She explained as she turned to glare at her stepbrother behind her.
"Well, when I heard Trevor had a daughter, I didn't know she'd be the stuck-up brat who almost ruined mine." James retorts, glaring back at his stepsister with his arms crossed.
"Stuck-up?!" Oh, thou art not one to talketh, you indolent halfwit!" Obviously, after this was said, the two step-siblings immediately started arguing loudly with each other, much to the tomboy's dismay; and because of the sight of a jogger beginning to pass her house while this was going on, this was just borderline embarrassing in more ways than one.
"Guys, there's really no need to-" Katie started off saying, only to realize that the duo can't hear her. "SHUT UP ALREADY!!!!" The tomboy then screamed, causing the two step-siblings to thankfully stop arguing; she wasn't so sure if the other neighbors heard that or not, but she wouldn't be surprised. "Goddamn it...I did not come back from New York to deal with this kind of bullshit; if you two are gonna argue, then take it back home!"
"Whatever, I'm out of here..." James muttered as he began to head back over to his house, leaving the two girls alone now.
"My deepest apologies for that argument, dear; I must admit that James can truly be a handful sometimes." Stacy told the tomboy, causing the latter to roll her eyes. "I will say this though: as much as we hate each other, there is one thing that he and I can mutually agree on regarding our parents marrying."
"Really; and what is that?" Katie asked with an eyebrow raised, which was when Stacy started explaining away.
"Mine father hast tragically lost whom he thought wouldst be his one and only true love many moons ago, while Nancy was a fair maiden whom hast never found love after her first marriage fell apart; but then one day, they've met at a bar somewhere downtown." Stacy then paused for a second, smiling at the fond memory of how the two older adults met. "I believeth that the rest of the story is...quite obvious from there..."
"I can tell." Katie commented, staring at the Louiston's house across the street, which was when she turned her attention back over to the girl in front of her. "So, I guess you really look up to your dad as much as I do, huh?"
"If mine father is happy, then so am I; and I bet James feels the same way about his mother in regards to this too."
"Probably..." Katie then stepped back towards the door behind her. "I'm gonna go back to playing chess with my dad. Tell Nancy I said 'Thanks' for the cookies that her son gave."
"Very well then." Stacy agreed as she stepped off the porch behind her. "Enjoy the rest of your first night here, fair Kathryn."
"Thanks." After that was said, Katie went back inside her home while Stacy went back off to the Louiston's House.
Note: So, a bit of a short chapter today (or more shorter than what I usually tend to aim for), my fellow readers. I was intending on one more section to this one, but I decided to save that for the next chapter instead; in fact, it'll probably be the first section of the next chapter. Also, unlike other times where I've attempted to write this story, Crystal's four other sisters are now apart of this too; so, expect some drama out of them when it comes to the rebel.
Anyways, let's see what reviews we have for today...
TheBigBunnyBoy: I wouldn't exactly say that there's going to be any form of IanXKatie since I don't ship them as a couple; however, I do see them as friends though.
lordgemini: Well, we don't get to meet the neighbor just yet; but we are introduced to Crystal's sisters, and my other two OC's James and Stacy. Don't worry though, we might meet him in the next chapter, or maybe even later than that.
Well, that should be it for now, my fellow readers. I'll see you all in the next chapter.