Adore [H.S.]

49

* Recasted: Lucy Hale as Natalia Maxwell 

Showstopper - Brandon & Leah 

ISABELLA 

She was here. My insane, impulsive, sneaky little sister was here. In London. In my apartment! I didn't know how she got here or who brought her here. Regardless of the who's, what's and why's, I was beyond thrilled to have Natalia here. A few days before my birthday no less. 

We had been sitting on my floor, in front of my front door, for the past ten minutes. We had slowly stopped the incessant crying and managed to calm down. Her brown hair was in a frizzy bun on top of her head. I took in her yoga pants and oversized sweatshirt and internally chuckled. 

Natalia was the kind of girl that made sure she looked her best at all times of the day. She was like our mother in that respect. Even when she was in her "scrubbed out" outfits, she still managed to look put together. Yet here she was, sitting on my hardwood floor, in old clothes. She looked like any normal eighteen year old teenager. Perhaps NYU has been doing her some good. 

"I can't believe you're here." I eventually say to her. I lay down on the ground beside her. She chuckles lightly, her lips pulled up into a small smile. 

"Me too. That flight, by the way, is insanely long." 

"It's not too bad," I laugh. 

"I flew coach. It was that bad." 

I give her a surprised look. "Coach? I'm surprised mom and dad didn't get you first class. That's not like them."

Nat sighs. Stretching out her legs, she lays her head down on the floor beneath her. She unties her hair and let's the long locks of brown to flow down and onto the floor. "Yeah," she mutters. "Mom and dad don't exactly know that I'm here." 

I sit up quickly. I am quite positive I look crazy right now. My eyes widen and mouth grows wide. "They don't know you're here?!" 

She covers her face with her hands. "No?" 

"Natalia!" I swat her on the arm lightly. She groans, her body slowly sitting up. "What do you mean they don't know you're here?"

"I kinda just came. I paid for my own ticket and everything." 

"Nat," I sigh. I could only imagine how infuriated our parents must be knowing that Nat got up and left. Granted, she was eighteen and was able to make her own decisions, she had just got up and left to come to a foreign country. "You should have told them you were coming."

"If I did, they wouldn't have let me." She argues back. 

"You're eighteen. You go to university and live in a dorm. You can make your own decisions to go without them stopping you. But - you should have still told them you were coming here," I scold. 

She groans, knowing I am right. "Yeah, well. I'm here now. I'll give them a call later to tell them where I am. It's not like I ran off with an estranged boyfriend and joined a highway motorcycle gang. I went to see my older sister on her infamous twenty-third birthday." She gives me a look. A look saying that she knows I can't stay mad at her any longer. Damn her. 

"Fine," I groan, pulling her into my arms. "You're such a troublemaker." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She swats my arm playfully. 

"How did you know where I lived? I never told you." I suddenly realize. 

Nat smiles up at me, her eyes flashing with excitement. "After we got off Skype a few days ago and you were all in tears about missing me, I found Jaz on Facebook and sent her a message. She gave me your guys' address. She's super nice, by the way."