Her Inheritance

Chapter 8 -•- First Everything

  Graham was starting to notice the shift in her. Day by day, he noticed her putting more and more effort into her appearance. She was brushing her teeth and hair regularly, showering before school every morning— no exceptions. She wore her stockings every day as well, which he expected, but now he noticed her primping and preening at them in the mirror, even turning around and checking herself out at all angles. She came home from school desperate to bleach them when she came home with a small sauce stain on them, which she would've never cared about before. He thought at first she was just trying to take special care of them because they were Celeste's, but now he was starting to realize the deeper meaning.
           When they stopped in the store after Graham got off of work one day, she was smelling the perfumes and staring at hair accessories while she played with her suddenly neat strands, which she had never shown any interest in when they lived in Redwind. She approached Graham shyly and asked if he would buy her a new pair of translucent, lacy black stockings, and of course he agreed, trying to encourage her transformation in any way he could, despite his personal feelings about it. Aurora was obsessed with them when she tried them on with her uniform.
           "They still hide my leg hairs and everything!" she grinned at her legs as she twirled halfway around, admiring how adult they felt. She actually felt attractive. She was gushing and looked back at her Dad's soft smile in the mirror. She began to blush and hesitated. Then she turned to Graham with a worried expression.
           "Do... do you think Jude would like them?" she asked.
           "Jude," the name blared at him, setting alarm bells off in his head. Ever since he saw him, he was on guard. He was changing something in her, and he had no idea who he was. He couldn't hide the scowl forming on his face, and Aurora kept looking at him nervously, "nope, never heard of him," he finally shrugged. Aurora stared at him, slightly shattered for a second, because she knew very well that she had been talking about him and mentioning his name for days, and then she rolled her eyes when she realized he wasn't being serious.
           "Daaaad!" she groaned.
           "Of course he'll like them, Aurora, he's a teenage boy," Graham shook his head at her.
           "Nevermind..." Aurora grumbled, looking back at her reflection and tugging at her stockings again, now feeling unsure of herself. He sighed deeply through his nose.
           "You know, if I met him, it would make me a lot more comfortable with this new little obsession. Then I could give you some real advice..." Graham told her. Aurora huffed, looking back at his reflection again in thought. She looked around her room, which was already starting to become a disaster, and she chewed on her nails nervously. She finally scoffed.
           "Your advice is just going to be that I should never date anyone until I'm an old lady," she grimaced at him. He nodded in agreement, and she rolled her eyes again, begging him for a real response.
           "Of course I want you to find a nice guy, Aurora, but I know how guys are. And I know your personality, okay? And can I just be very honest with you?" Graham was standing up straight now, gesturing with his hands as he talked, and he paused when he asked her the question. She just stared at him, terrified of what he was about to tell her. That she was unlovable? Too much to deal with? That no guy would want her anyway? That Jude was probably lying about everything? "I am terrified of you being taken advantage of in a sexual situation. There, I said it! I don't know if my little girl will be able to say no if she isn't ready," he admitted, and she almost felt relieved. She looked down and scratched her hand.
           "I don't think Jude would ever do that... and we really are just friends right now. I've never even hugged him... he just... hangs out with me every day. And I really like him. I don't know if he feels the same. I think he does? But I'm so scared that he doesn't and I don't want to lose him as a friend," she explained again, and he sighed, willing to accept that as a truth.
           "Just... please. If anything changes between you two; if you do start dating, please just let me know. I just want to know... I promise I won't get mad, even if I end up hating him," he begged her, and she nodded at him.
           "Okay," she agreed, and then she looked down in thought, "maybe I can invite him over to study tomorrow? It's not like I've been passing with flying colors in all of my assignments anyway... and then, maybe you could meet him?" Aurora smiled. Graham raised his eyebrows and thought about it before nodding at her in agreement. She beamed at him, and then turned back to her reflection and grinned at herself.
           "You'll have to make something really good for dinner. Maybe I can help! N-no, wait... I probably shouldn't... I'll end up killing him," Aurora laughed at herself, remembering how bad she was at cooking as she began playing with her hair, seeing how it looked in a pony tail, before letting it fall back down again, "Would it be okay if we watched TV in here together? I've been dying to show him Born This Way, can you believe he's never watched it? I can't let him see my room like this, though... I'm gonna have to clean..." Graham was shocked by this revelation, and watched in near horror as Aurora swiftly began picking up items around her room and frantically organizing them. She even picked up a trash bag and started throwing away her empty cups and food bags and sweeping crumbs off of her computer desk. He wondered if he had accidentally cloned her and replaced her with a different daughter in his sleep. Maybe this city just had a magic to it.