I has news! Good news for me, but kinda bad for you guys. You see, I'm going on holiday to Devon tomorrow, and because of how much I procrastinate, this is almost definitely going to be the last thing I write before Friday when I come back.
One thing I've never understood is, if I was born to two hard-working, determined parents, why I was so lazy.
It was 10:00am and I was the only one still (relatively) asleep in the whole Theatre. I could tell because of the immense amount of noise coming from downstairs, this however was perfectly normal.
I tried hard to get to sleep despite the noise, but soon I heard someone calling my name.
"Jasmine? Jasmine, there's someone here who wants to see you."
It was Gonzo. (OK, so I drew the line at calling him uncle)
"Who is it?" I mumbled, still half asleep.
"I don't know his name," Gonzo said coming into my room (quite uninvited!) "But he's a frog, a Russian frog, with a scar right here."
Gonzo pointed to underneath his eye.
I sat up straight. "You don't mean Topaz?" I said.
Gonzo just shrugged. "Why don't you come and find out for yourself?"
So I did. But as I made my way down the stairs, I could hear that someone had gotten there before me.
"Oh no, you're not coming in here, not if I can help it," I heard someone declare. "You're just going to wreak havoc, I know it."
"Listen," a different voice said. "I don't mean any harm, really. I just want to see Jasmine. Why does it matter?"
Oh God.
I rushed downstairs and saw my prediction play itself out. Axel and Topaz were arguing.
My first thought was surprised joy. Topaz had come back! After he promised he would.
But of course, my stupid brother had started meddling
"Axel, what is going on?" I asked.
"Ask this guy," he replied giving Topaz a sharp push.
"I only came here because I wanted to see you," Topaz said. "But I can see I'm not wanted." He glared at Axel with a disgusted look on his face.
"Yeah, too right you're not you scumbag," Axel announced.
"Axel!" I snapped. "No, Topaz, wait!"
But we were interrupted by someone else coming down the stairs.
"What is going on here?"
Dad came down the stairs, but stopped short when he saw Topaz. I heard him take a sharp intake of breath.
"Dad," I said. "Before you say anything, I can explain-"
"It's him!" Axel cut in, pointing an accusing finger at Topaz. "Constantine's son!"
"Wha-? How did you know that?" Topaz looked angry, but not at Axel, at me.
"How many people have you told?" he asked me.
"Well, I-I didn't mean to…it-it just sort of slipped out-"
"I trusted you."
That statement crushed me. How could I have told anyone? I couldn't blame Topaz for wanting to keep it under wraps. And I'd told the world.
Stupid blabbermouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"I'm gonna go," Topaz said. "It's clear you're too good for me, with your fancy theatre, and you're family that actually give a stuff about you. Why do I matter? See you around, frog."
"No, Topaz!"
"Word of advice," he said. "On the street, no-one cares who your family are. It's every frog for himself."
As soon as he'd gone, I gave Axel a fierce shove into the wall.
"Look what you've done!" I shouted.
"I only did it to protect you," Axel defended.
"From what? Why can't you see that Topaz isn't who you think he is?!" I turned to Dad. "And you. You're just as bad as him because you didn't do anything."
"Jasmine, I-"
But I didn't want to hear it.
"What's the matter with you? You can't seriously be afraid of him?"
This was meant partly as a joke, but Dad's expression was not what I anticipated.
"Dad! He's half your age!"
"I'm not scared for me," he said. "I just don't know what he's going to do to you."
"You don't know him! You don't know anything about him!"
I looked towards the door, which was still wide open.
"I'm going after him," I declared.
"Oh no you're-"
"And you can't stop me!"
I shoved off Axel's attempts to hold me back (both metaphorically and literally) and stormed out the door.
Ooh, intense. Going to split this chapter into two parts so that it's not too long. Have a good Easter and I'll see you soon. xx