Rules for Enduring the Sweenys

Rule #6: Always Be One Step Ahead

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Owen declared when Bella asked him for the fortieth time about the party Ariel had mentioned. Bella rolled her eyes.

“You’re a fucking liar.” Owen grabbed his dark blue and purple guitar and plugged it into his amp. He strummed lightly, hoping she would take the hint and go away. “You are an idiot.”

“Bella!” Eli threw his arm around her neck. She tried to squirm out of it, but he just tightened his hold. “Don’cha worry about tonight. You just focus on Lucy and Danny like you were hired to.”

“Eli, if you don’t let go of me in one second, I’m going to use violence.”

“Sure Bel – Oof! Ow… Bella that really hurt.” Owen tried to hide his grin, but couldn’t. It was nice to finally have a girl around who didn’t always act like a… girl. Actually… she never acted like a girl. She was always playing some sport, and she never talked about cute boys, or clothes, or make-up, or any of that other trivial stuff that girls his age droned on about. For as long as Owen had known her, she’d only ever talked about sports, reading, art, and he’d heard her mention music, but never her favorite band or genre.

“I’m not gonna try to stop the party,” Bella sighed. She slid to the floor, half in and half out of the room. “I just wanna know what to expect.” She seemed genuine enough. Owen almost felt… bad for her. She’d never seemed so… he wasn’t sure how to explain it. He felt like he met the real Bella, the one she’d been hiding for so long, for the first time.

“Bella, for the last time, we’re no-”

“It’ll be mostly contained in the basement. We told everyone to go in through the backyard where that door is. We’re getting’ alcohol, so I was thinkin’ you should keep Danny and Lucy in the library and hook up a movie with snacks and stuff.” Eli was glaring pointedly at Owen, the whole reason they’d decided to have the party was to fuck with her.

“That’s fine.” Bella shrugged, actually happy with that plan. The library was her favorite part of the entire house, but she wasn’t allowed to go in it very often. The way the Sweeny house was designed, they had four floors: the basement, where the laundry room, theater and general hang out area was located (with an entrance from the backyard); the first floor with the den, the living room, and the kitchen; the second floor, where the eight bedrooms were located (one had been converted to a game room and one a music studio); and the third floor, which had been turned completely into a gigantic library.

Eli stared at Bella incredulously. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she would turn around and pull something like that. Why was she all of a sudden acting so chill? When he looked over at his older brother, he saw that he was paying almost no attention at all. He was strumming away on his stupid guitar.

“Uh… rules?” Eli rolled his eyes. ‘Ah… here we go…’ he thought irritably.

“Fine.” Owen glanced down at Bella briefly; she was sitting with her head between her knees again, presumably to stop the room from spinning.

Bella held up a finger, “No one is allowed upstairs, no shitty rap, techno, or country music. If I have to hear it all loud and shit, it better be good music.”

“Like…?” Owen prodded, still not looking up.

“…Pop?” Eli suggested smirking as he folded his arms and leaned against the wall, she’d just insulted his three favorite genres. Bella lifted her head.

“Jazz fusion is preferred, if you even know what that is. But I’m not entirely picky. As long as it’s not those three genres.” Owen’s head shot up at the mention of his favorite type of music. ‘How the fuck…?’ Bella held up a third finger, “Tomorrow, whether you’re hung over or not, we’re all cleaning up.” She slowly stood up, her green-blue eyes glistening. “And no one spends the night.”