Living with the Millers

Chapter 17 - Playing Pretend

Chapter 17 - Playing Pretend

*unedited

The next morning, I didn't want to get out of bed.  I felt dirty and sick to my stomach.  Sure, Ben didn't do anything to hurt me, but he didn't stop when I said no.  Who knows how far he would've gone if I hadn't said anything?  Just thinking about it made my stomach churn.  My sisters were up and talking, but I just turned over and put a pillow over my head.  

After about an hour, I heard my phone ring, but I decided to ignore it.  Before it could turn off London scooped it up and answered the phone.  I was in the haze where you aren't quite awake, but you aren't quite asleep either.  I could hear the voices around me, but I also couldn't open my eyes.  Seconds later, I jolted awake when a high pitched scream shot through the air. 

"Our audition is today!" London exclaimed, jumping on top of me.  I let out a grunt, forcing my eyes open.  They were all squealing now, jumping up and down. "Shiloh, we're auditioning for a movie today!  How cool is that?"

"Super cool," I muttered, trying to pull the pillow back over my head again.  Before I could London grabbed it and threw it across the room. "Hey!"

"You have to get up and get ready!" She told me, hopping to the floor.  "You're auditioning too, duh."  That made me sit up with wide eyes.  Slowly, I glanced around the room at all of my sisters who were jumping up and down, squealing.  Even Arielle was excited. 

"Who said anything about me?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.  I was the oldest, I knew small town girls from Alaska didn't just audition for a movie one day and become famous.  This wasn't going to happen for them, but what kind of sister was I if I just said that to them?  They could have their fun, but that didn't mean I needed to be a part of it.

"Oh, come on," Zoe whined, tugging at the blankets that covered me. "We should all do this together.  It'll be fun."

"Please, Shiloh," Arielle begged, looking a me with her puppy dog eyes.  Her hair was a tangled mess, a big puff around her head.  She made my heart melt. "We haven't really done anything together since grandma died..."  Those were the words that broke my heart.  The fact that my baby sister had to know what it was like to loose someone made me so angry.  I wished I could protect her from everything, but I knew all I could do was try to make every day count just a little bit more.

"Fine," I huffed, rubbing a hand over my face. "Let's go audition for a movie."

For the next hour and a half I fought with my sisters.  There were five of us and only one shower, that was not a good mix.  Then they all insisted that I do their makeup and hair, even knowing that I was far from a beauty expert.  When I was finally done with them, I had no time to get ready myself.  I skipped the shower completely, and just put on foundation and a little mascara. I hadn't planned on going anywhere other than home that day, so the best outfit I could do was slip into a plain, white sundress London had brought.

As soon as I was slipping into a pair of sparkly sandals, I heard Savanna knocking at the door. "You girls better be ready, because we have to get going now!"  The next ten minutes were a blur.  Savanna herded us into a car that was waiting for us outside, everyone piling into the backseat.  My stomach still hadn't stopped hurting.

"Thanks for staying in Florida for an extra day," Cora said to Savanna, giving her a smile.

"Well of course, it's not every day my girls get to audition for a movie," she laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  We were scheduled to return to Tennessee that morning, but when Savanna's director friend had called her, they decided to let us stay an extra day.