Pretending to Be Andersen

Hand Carved Surprise

I had always wondered why the Dining Room in the Andersen home was so large and I finally had my answer. The size was for occassions just like these, when the entirety of the Andersen family was gathered together. 

        The table I was used to eating at was replaced by a longer and wider table made of a darker wood. The chairs placed around it had one hand carved name on each of the armrests. Hand carved, as in each member of the family probably carved their own name--except for Haruhi and Kale, who were much too young to do much of anything by themselves. 

        Vincent and I sat next to each other, the right side of his chair intricately carved to match the left side of Lucas'. The true beauty was when the two chairs were pushed together completely and the whole design united. However, Vincent insisted that I sit to his right, which pushed my blank slate of a chair between the twins' masterpiece.

        The whole dinner was rather uncomfortable for me. Coming between Vincent and Lucas again and the abundance of questions from all the aunts and uncles about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and if Vincent and I talked about marriage.

        I didn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and when I didn't even know my own feelings for my boyfriend, how was I suppose to approach the idea of marriage?

        The question of my affections for Vincent were brought up every day. Of course I cared for him. But what did that even mean?

        My mind couldn't get too carried away in my own thoughts, though. I was trying to create a masterpiece that connected Vincent's chair with Lucas' through mine. I was a big reason their chairs weren't together to form their own epic creation, so I made it my personal mission to add mine to the mix.

        I was halfway through the creation when Lucas entered the room. He stood at the doorway for a moment, looking over what I had done.

        "What is this?" the blue-eyed twin questioned, coming a little closer. He crouched down to my level.

        I tried to take any of the attitude out of my voice that was usually automatic when talking to Lucas before I spoke. "I thought it would be nice to join them all together," I said.

        We were silent for a long moment. I thought about the different things that could be going through his head. The snide remarks he would make. And I wondered if there was ever going to be a time when I could call Lucas my friend. There was so much of our lives that were closed off because we just could not get along.

        "It's uh.... It's not a bad idea," he mumbled, touching the carvings on his own chair. "Everyone is gathered in the Theater to watch a movie. Vincent went to look for you in your room and I went to get a drink and I saw the light on in here--anyway, they're all up there."

        As if the conversation made him uncomfortable, Lucas scrambled to his feet and rushed back into the kitchen.

        I folded the pocket knife I borrowed from Zach and placed it on the seat of my chair. With one last look at what I started, I made my way to the Main Stairs.

        Walking down the hall, I noticed a picture that I never noticed before. It was in a thick, silver frame with brading around the edges. The pitcture behind the glass featured my dad and my mother on their wedding day, with James standing next to them.

        I looked around for some severe reaction out of habit. But my mother wasn't here to see this picture. Besides, she was, supposedly, doing better. So much so that she was on her way to living on her own. She even had a job.