Chosen: A Selection Fanfiction

Trapped

"Order up!" I hear my older brother call from the kitchen. I grudgingly walk over to him and grab the trays. The grilled cheese sandwiches smell like heaven, and I turn quickly and try to walk back into the restaurant, but he grabs my elbow.

"Hey, Ell," he says quietly, trying to look me in the eye. "Are you good?"

I yank away from him. "I'm fine, Beckham."

He rolls his eyes and tugs on my apron. "It's crooked. Elliot, you only have another hour on your shift."

"Another hour of torture," I mutter under my breath, stalking back into the restaurant and plastering on a smile when I hand the customers their sandwiches. I notice my younger sister, Juliet, walking through the tables and chattering happily to customers. They're all laughing at her. I sigh. I find it impossible, how charming my twelve-year old sister was. I walk back into the kitchen and pull at my apron strings, throwing it in a ball onto the floor.

"Elliot, what are you doing?" Beckham says, exasperated. I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm done. Can't Juli cover the rest of my shift? The customers love her."

He laughs, which only irritates me more. "Ell, Juliet's twelve. She serves water. This is your job, hate it or not." He sneaks a look at me. "Besides, maybe the customers would like you more if you were more pleasant."

"I am pleasant!" I snap back. His laughter makes my cheeks redden. "Beck, stop it. I hate it here. Why do Mom and Dad make us work here?"

He flips a burger. "Because they own the place. Take this out to table seven?" He hands me a tray with a hamburger and a plate of French fries. I let out a dramatic sigh and take the tray to table seven, attempting to smile like Juliet does. From the way they look at me, I assume it's not working.

                                                                                 0o0

Back at home, I flop down on our old couch and pull my long, black curls out of their scalp-injuring ponytail, letting it fall loose over my shoulders. Juliet immediately follows me into the living room, blowing into her school recorder. The sound is loud and off-tune, and I smile slightly at the fact that Juli isn't perfect at everything like Beckham is.

"What's the matter, Elli?" Juliet asks me, startling me. I slap her playfully.

"Nothing's the matter. Just tired." I tell her. Juliet looks similar to me, with her black curls and naturally tan skin. She and Beck have my father's eyes, though – a dark blue colour. Mine are forest green.

Juliet nods. "Okay. Just make sure you feel better 'fore tonight."

"Why?" I ask curiously.

"Harlow's coming over." Juliet grins. She knows how much I dislike Beckham's equally perfect girlfriend. I groan. "Come on, Ell. She isn't that bad!"

I poke her stomach, and she giggles. "You don't like her either!"

"I know. But Beckham doesn't know that." She grins slyly at me. I roll my eyes at my sister.

"You're a piece of work." I tell her, laughing. She shrugs and blows loudly into her recorder, making me cringe. Juli smiles proudly.

A key twists in the lock, alerting us that our parents are home. "Hi, girls." My father greets us.

We look just like our parents. Both of them have black hair and naturally tan skin, but Juliet and Beckham have my father's dark blue eyes and I have my mom's forest green ones.

"Hi, Daddy!" Juli exclaims. "Listen to my song I learnt in music class!" She grabs her recorder and blows notes into it that sound nothing like a song of any kind. My father smiles at her anyway and compliments her on it.

"Harlow's coming over tonight." I tell them loudly when Juliet skips out of the room.  They look pleased. My perfect brother having a perfect girlfriend would please them indefinitely. Me, not so much.

"Do you have a boyfriend yet, Elli Bean?" My dad tugs one of my curls. I laugh.

"Of course not. When I do, I'll let you know."

"It won't be for a long time!" Juliet calls from her bedroom.

"Shut up, Jules!" I shout back, but I can still hear her giggling loudly.

My mother pats my shoulder. "Don't listen to her. You're a beautiful, smart young girl, and one day some boy will be lucky to have you."

Some boy. I sigh. "What's for dinner?"

"Potatoes, I think. Maybe the with turkey stew, since Harlow's coming for dinner." My mother bites her lip and heads off towards the kitchen.

There's a knock on the door. I jump up from my seat in the living room and open the front door, where Beckham stands with his arm wrapped around Harlow's waist. I immediately grin, though it doesn't reach my eyes. Harlow smiles brightly.

"Hi, Elliot!" She chirps. Even though she's too cheery, I can't deny that she's stunning. She has paler skin than I, with dark auburn waves to her shoulders and bright brown eyes. Beckham looks at her like she's the only star in the sky. "Hi, Harlow."

"How are you?" She asks happily, walking inside with Beck and sitting on the loveseat, letting Beckham take her coat. He joins her on the loveseat and I grimace slightly. All through dinner, she, Beck, and my parents chat about their 4.0 GPAs and their extracurricular activities and their jobs and blah blah blah. Juliet plays her adorable little sister card and makes Harlow fall head over heels for her. I twirl my fork around in my stew and say not a word.

I feel like I'm trapped in my own life.