What They've Done To Us

02 ➹ poison-ivy

"And what's wrong with that?"

I still and dad goes back reading his newspaper, knowing now that Mom's entered, she'll hold me by her teeth and not let go. "Nothing, I love you." I turn to eye Mom whose dark green eyes stare me down. She's always done this, made me still to see if I'm lying.

It used to work when I was younger, I just couldn't lie to her - I was always an extremely jittery child so that could've been key as well. But I've gotten better of the years, I don't lie much or at all even - but in times of need it helps.

Like that one time I – actually, I'll keep that one to myself.

"Hm, well it's final. You can say your final goodbye today - but I'd rather you not. I don't want any more scandals." She crosses the room, her heels make a clicking sound against the tiled floors as she approaches dads desk.

I'm now facing her back eye to eye with her dark brunette hair she lets fall away as she brings down the clip that's held her thick hair up. Her never ending hair finally stops falling when it reaches the bottom of her back. "Mom please, don't do this to her."

She turns on her heel, eyeing me with a glint of incomprehension in her green eyes. "She did this to herself."

You know Helem Evander's as the child prodigy who sells her art work for millions of dollars alongside her multi-million dollar husband whose sculptures are so desired there's years long waiting list just to view them - earning the both of them billions in net worth.

I know her as my mom. The woman who used to chase me around the house with a wet mop whenever I came in after roughing it around with Caleb at the soccer pitch, in turn to when I had him swimming multiple laps at our indoor pool.

"I did this!" I try and take the blame, not wanting to see Gigi the way she was that night ever again.

"I'm so sorry Sage," She'd been crying for hours on end, I hated seeing people cry. Atlas says it's because I'm afraid of women showing emotion, but it doesn't apply to any specific gender. Seeing anyone cry always makes me feel shit.

"Sage, when people wrong you, it is best not to test how further they will go." She's talking from experience, Mom's always had trust issues after she had her parents exploit her to the media at such a young age.

"It was a mistake." I try to defend. I get it, I'm not dumb. But Gigi isn't like that.

"You think that's what it is. And then what? Someone offers more money to her, and she takes it? What if she found something out about you Sage? God forbid, something you didn't even know, and she leaked it?"

"That's not like her mom."

"Well then, I guess you don't know her."

"Can't you just do this one thing for me?"

She stops in her tracks, before looking at me shaking her head. "Sage, I do everything for you. This is final."

I look at dad, but he doesn't say anything, faking his lack of attention by making it seem he's absorbed by the article but looking up every so often to gauge the reactions in the room.

"I really don't think we should fire everyone Mom."

"How is your art coming along?" She redirects the conversation, as she grabs something out her bag. Her red lipstick I note, she picks up the shiny National Medal of Arts before using its reflectiveness as a mirror.

"I'm doing great in swimming," It's not that I hate art, but I'm just not like my parents or the rest of my family. I don't have their talent or passion. I'm not mediocre but I'm no Helem or Marc Evander's either and I've accepted the fact I won't live up to them. I just wish they would come to terms with it too.

"Your art Sage." I have Ivy - my older sister to carry the legacy but she doesn't like me much. Which always hurt me when I was younger but I'm fine with it now. Totally fine.

"Yeah, well no one wants you here Sage. What? you think mom and dad love. You're no one to us."

I'd stared up at her with tears in my eyes, biting my bottom lip so I wouldn't cry.

"I wish you would go and hang yourself already."

"What does that even mean?" It was always her go to comment, but I had no clue what it meant, I just knew it was bad.

She'd cocked her head, locks of her light brown hair falling in her face before tucking it behind her ears. "It means you don't deserve to stay at all." With that and a sarcastic smile she'd walk away from me as soon as mom or dad walked into the room, and act like nothing had happened.

I sink back into reality a second later, coming down from the scene that's just played out of seven year old me and thirteen year old Ivy. She doesn't live here anymore, she moved to London as soon as she finished high school.

"I've seen his recent works, their coming along fine." Dad states offhandedly, but its a lie. I don't let anyone look at anything until it's done. Everything always feels incomplete, and I hate the looks people give incomplete things. Like they're not worth time.

Mom places the medal back down, pressing her lips together before planting a smile on her face. "Well, that's very lovely to hear. Maybe you can showcase one of them soon? At the next event, I'm sure that will get all the media attention onto that instead of scandal."

"Mom."

"You obliged in intercourse in this house with a working staff Sage. Do you understand the severity of this situation?" I cringe at the truth, she didn't have to say it like that.

"Yes but-"

She places a swift kiss to my cheek, before heading out. "Good. Now fix your mistake, Moira's coming's in hour, get ready."

There's one more thing I detest more than art and that's Moria - my publicist.

"No can do, I'm going for a swim." I call out.

"The pool man is over today!" She yells from outside of the room.

"At the public pool then!"

"Sage, I don't think this is the best thing to do." Dad's voice comes and I turn on my heel to face him.

"Dad, I'm always going to be in scandals. It's life, I can't just live in seclusion hoping and praying I'm not spotted."

"This is different, and you know it, Sagey." I'm about to leave the room before dad calls my name once again. "And Sage?"

"Yeah."

"Your sisters coming back sometime in the next week or so."

Someone please light my ass on fire so I can spend the next week in the ICU.

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