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ANNELISE VAN DE CAMP
I heard the crushing of gravel on our driveway as the credits to the end of the movie rolled on the screen of our flat screen TV in the game room. I looked outside the looming glass window that overlooked the hills surrounding our estate and saw Nathaniel's large hummer pull over in front of the entrance. I went back to the large armoire to look for another movie worth watching. I had no choice but to spend my time taking advantage of the few things that could entertain us while I was stuck in this wooded wasteland, like the very slow internet connection, useless cell phones without signals and portable video games Nathaniel brought back from mom's house. I heard the front door open but I didn't bother to greet my father and brother. I didn't want to hear about their trip to the hospital. I didn't know why they even wanted to visit that naked guy. I mean, hew was too weird for words and he smelled like a dog.
"Anna!" called Nathaniel. I groaned as I turned to go over to him and see what he wanted.
"What is it?" I asked annoyed. I stopped in my tracks as I saw Nathaniel standing beside the weird naked guy. He was wearing some of Nathaniel's clothes and it was obvious that his pants were too short for him and his jacket to tight for his lean and muscular body. He looked at me warily as if he was waiting to get an earful of complaints. His expression was right on target.
"Daddy!" I screamed. A few second later my father stepped in the entrance and looked at me with a confused expression.
"What is he doing here?" I asked bluntly. My father suddenly realized his error that he hadn't explained to me any of their plans to bring him here.
"You remember Jacob, right?" said my father. "He's going to stay with us for a while." My eyes widened at the realization that this stranger was going to live with us and we didn't even know anything about him.
"Save it, sis," said Nathaniel. "The decision's been made." Jacob looked awkwardly at the floor and opened his mouth to say something but my father cut him off as if reading his mind.
"You will not leave just because my daughter isn't fond of you," said my father firmly. "You are a guest in this house and," he turned to me then. "My daughter will not give you any trouble about it." I snapped my mouth shut and spun around and stalked off in a huff back to the game room. I heard them talking and my father was instructing Nathaniel to take weird naked guy to one of the guest rooms. I really wished Nate didn't take him to the one beside my room. I slumped down on the couch and heard footsteps behind me. I didn't turn around to see who it was because I already knew. I was in for another one of my father's "you need to step up and be mature about the situation" speeches.
"Anna?" said my father. "I'd like to ask a favor from you." I shrugged without facing him, but I listened anyway.
"I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from making Jacob feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in any way." Sometimes I couldn't understand my father. He always had this unusual penchant to take in strays and charity cases like this Jacob Black guy. I mean, it isn't enough that we had to go through his and mom's messy divorce but we have to share his attention and affection with the greater homeless population of North America.
"We don't even know him and you're willing to let him live here with your idiot son and innocent sixteen year-old daughter?" I almost yelled.
"Innocent my ass," interrupted Nathaniel. "That'll be the day." He entered the room with weird naked guy named Jacob in tow.
"Language, Nathaniel," my father reprimanded. He turned to me then and asked, "Can I count on you, Annalise?" I stared daggers at all of them and replied with venom in my voice.
"I can be civil but not necessarily friendly," I growled through my teeth. Jacob didn't look the least bit unnerved from my attitude but my father looked relieved while Nathaniel looked skeptical.
"We can live with that," said my father. "Now who's up for some grub?"
"All right!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "I'll take you to meet Ada, our nanny slash cook slash surrogate mom. She and Anna are close but I'm her favorite because I eat a lot of her cooking." I followed them towards the kitchen were Ada was preparing our lunch.
"Hey mom!" greeted Nathaniel. Ada just shook her head smiling, while my dad turned a beet-red color. As annoying as Nathaniel's tactless quips are about dad marrying Ada, it was fun to see both of them squirm every time they were teased about it. We met the sixteen year-old Ada Wilson the day we were born. She graduated from high school just then and was looking for a job to pay for college. That's when mom found her while walking in the park in Los Angeles, California. Dad was just starting out as one of the executives in the iron ore company that was now ours, so that meant less time for the babies and more work for our spoiled brat of a mother.
Ada worked during the day, taking care of us and went to night school, finished her course in business and finance and finally got her MBA before we started second grade. Ada was good and ready to leave our dependent butts around that time but that's when mom and dad's problems were just starting. She decided to keep working until we were old enough but that was when things started majorly falling apart. When mom and dad's divorce pulled through when we were twelve she decided to extend her stay with us. She knew what it was doing to me and Nathaniel so she did what she could. She became the only thing that made us want to get up in the morning. She became our rock.
Dad gave mom full custody of us with the exception of a two-month's stay with him each year since he wanted us to go to school in the States. A few months after the divorce, we stayed with daddy here in Labrador City. Ada went with us everywhere, so when we first visited daddy, she saw how devastated he was for us. He and mom broke up in good terms but he wasn't so lucky with us. We didn't understand the reasons for divorce at that age. Ada helped us through it but little did we know that she was helping dad as well.
We loved Ada almost as much as we did our parents. So when we found out that she and dad were dating, we were ecstatic. They only started officially when we turned fifteen. They figured we were mature enough to handle it by then. By that time, it was Nathaniel and I who insisted that Ada move in with daddy instead of taking care of us. We were sixteen years old for crying out loud. We even supported Ada to start pursuing her dreams since we took out almost most of her life when she took care of us. Another surprise was in store for all of us, including our father, when Ada admitted that she's been working even though she was taking care of us. She owned a large company that bought and sold other companies, as I understood it. She did all this while making us breakfast, lunch and snacks in the comfort of our own home. Our nanny who was going to be our stepmother was almost as rich as our father. Boy, were we lucky or what?
"Ada Wilson, this is Jacob Black," said Nathaniel. "He loved what you made for him yesterday. Ate everything up except for the plate like I did." Ada smiled and held out her hand after wiping it on her apron.
"Nice to meet you Jacob," said Ada, while shaking his hand. "What would you like for lunch this time?"
"The pleasure's all mine, ma'am," replied Jacob while smiling. It was the first time I've ever seen him smile. He looked better when he smiled instead of scowled. "I'll have anything they're having."
"Call me Ada," she said while turning back to her cooking. "Which one are you referring to? Annalise's veggie plate and salad or Nathaniel's twelve course meal?" Jacob laughed along with Nathaniel at Ada's joke. That was the first time I've ever heard him laugh as well. It was like a smooth baritone chuckle, the kind that when you hear it, you can't help but smile. I shook my head and tried pushing out those thoughts. Why would anything Jacob did even remotely make me feel elated?
Penelope, the maid, set the table while we waited for Ada to finish cooking. I almost choked on the juice she served me when I saw Jacob helping her. Penelope looked as surprised as Nathaniel but my father was beaming at him. We were gonna get an earful in three, two, one…
"Now, why can't you two be like Jacob, here?" said my father. Nathaniel and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. After a few minutes, Jacob helped Ada bring the food to the table while we all sat down. Jacob sat at the empty chair next to Nathaniel. After my dad said grace, Nathaniel and Jacob started chomping down on the food. I was used to my brother's appetite, but with Jacob to back him up, I expected us to run out of food by lunch tomorrow.
"So, Jacob," started my father. "Since you don't have any things with you I was thinking that the kids could go shopping with you." My eyes widened as my father said this which led me to blurt out,
"I don't think so!" I told my father. "I am not gonna be this guy's personal shopper."
"Unless you want me to buy him "un-color coordinated outfits" which will lead to you whining about why he's wearing red with orange, you are gonna come with us." Nathaniel declared. Jacob silently raised his hand and we all turned to hear what he was going to say.
"Do my clothes have to be pink?" he asked shyly. I scoffed as everyone else at the table laughed. I could even hear Penelope laughing in the kitchen.
"Funny guy," I said snidely. "You better wish I'm not picking out pink briefs for you." Jacob held his hands up in surrender while laughing. I kept quiet the rest of the night in my room, which unfortunately was next to the guest room Nathaniel put Jacob in as the rest of the family including Jacob stayed in the living room.
A/N: So how was it? Please read and review! Here's a few questions I would like you to answer on the review.
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danielleanne