Songbird

Chapter 10

My mother had four other sisters-Lily, Aster, Rose, and Delphine. According to Aunt Lily, they had been raised on our very farm. They were mostly Spanish, but they had some French blood in them. Aunt Lily told me about how my mother had the most beautiful voice. She could say things beautifully and fluently in Spanish. After each of them turned eighteen, one by one they went to college in different states and had stayed. Aunt Lily used to sing in Spanish. She would also say things in Spanish too. I learned Spanish by and by. Aunt Rose had two children-Rosella and Gemma. Rosella was annoy, pretty, and like to be obeyed. Gemma was older and nicer. Aunt Aster also had two children-Camilla and Charles. Camilla was annoying and pretty too, but a kiss-up to Rosella. Charles wasn't the nicest either. Rosella and Camilla were best friends.
When I woke up to Rosella sticking her face in mine, I almost screamed. Luckily for me, I didn't-I did something much worse. I jumped back and threw my pillow at her. She ducked and it hit Camilla. Camilla went down, hard. She glared at me.
"Sorry!" I smiled weakly. Rosella pulled me out of my bed. She squealed with delight. I guess she forgot that I almost took her down with a pillow. Camilla starred daggers at me. So much for a lovely cousin-get-together.
"Delaney Belle! It's been so long!" Rosella hugged me. I guess she forgot I almost hit her with a pillow. Good for me! Camilla rolled her eyes. I stuck my tongue out at her and she scowled at me. I smirked. Camilla was obsessed with Rosella. It was as if Rosella was the popular girl at school and Camilla was her tag along, kiss-up, bestie.
"It's been a month," I pointed out. Rosella laughed and shrugged. She dragged me downstairs. Flynn and Kona were waiting for me. Kona was sitting at the table drinking a cup of hot cocoa. Flynn was leaning against her chair drinking his.
"Leela, why are you still in your pajamas?" He asked. Before I could answered, Rosella squealed again.
"Oh my gosh, Delaney Belle, is this your boyfriend? He's so cute! Oh, hi, Kaelyn Rose!" She asked eagerly. Kona spit of the hot cocoa that was in her mouth back into her cup. Flynn snorted. Kona shot him a look. Kona and I have long long long names that we both hate. Her actual name is Kaelyn Rose, but she likes to go by Kona. Mine is Delaney Belle. I like Leela a whole lot better. I almost slapped Rosella. Flynn and I started to tell her no, but it came out as a lot of laughing and explaining, but we both eventually got to the point. Rosella frowned and rolled her eyes. Then, surprisingly, she dragged me back upstairs.
"We're taking you to town. You need like a full makeover. It's more damage than I can handle!" Rosella threw some clothes at me and shoved me into my closet. I put on the clothes and pulled my hair into a low braid down my back. I had on a dark teal long-sleeved shirt, a grey draping cardigan, light blue jeans, and navy blue flats with a gold squared buckle on each shoe. Before Rosella dragged me downstairs, I grabbed my straw colored cowgirl hat. Flynn starred at me as I came down the stairs. KonA snorted. I shot her a look.
"leela what are you wearing?" Kona laughed.
"Shut up, Kaelyn Rose," I sneered. Kona winced then glared daggers at me. Flynn grinned and almost laughed. I shot him a look. Flynn tried not to smile, but he couldn't help himself. Camilla followed Rosella excitedly. What was she so intrigued about?! Rosella lived in Elmont, New York. We lived in a small town that consisted of farmers, horse owners, jockeys, and small shop owners. Everyone knew everyone. You really couldn't hide. The town was the type of town that would creep you out by knowing you were new. The town was called Sonora. It wasn't nearly as big as New York City. In fact it was probably about one fifth of New York or less. It had less than twenty streets. The drive to our house was sort of complicated. It's located off of Nolin Road and the street to get to our house is really long. Nolin Road eventually leads to 31W. That road, if you go North, eventually you'll come across an on ramp for Route 65. The same goes for Flynn's house. It's across from us. No body else lives on our street. Same goes for Flynn. The town is located in Kentucky. Rosella lives in a gigantic house that's almost across the street from the Belmont Stakes. So whenever we went there for Christmas, instead of socializing, Kona, Flynn, and I are watching the track dreamily as jockeys practiced. Flynn would come with us. The reason she always acts as if she doesn't know him, I have no idea. She had never gone to the Belmont Stakes because she thought horse racing was not for ladies. She is one of the stupidest people I have ever met and that includes Camilla. Camilla resided in Baltimore. She lived in a huge house that was practically across the street from the Preakness Stakes. We went there for Thanksgiving and Kona, Flynn, and I do the same thing as we did during Christmas-watch jockeys practice. She thought the same thing as Rosella. Some people are just so ironic sometimes! Rosella had long blonde curls and dark, icy blue eyes. She had on a pastel pink summer dress. It was above her knees. With the dress, she had heels with the same color. Her hair was down with a bright pink headband. Camilla had dirty blonde straight hair that was in a high ponytail and bright blue eyes. Her outfit was the same, but in a dark pink color. Rosella shoved me into the backseat of her pink Austin Mini. Camilla climbed into the passenger seat. Rosella's eyes narrowed at me and raised her eyebrow when she saw the hat.
"I'm not taking this off, so don't even try," I warned her. She muttered some lovely words and started the engine and zoomed off to town. We parked right in front of a hair salon. As soon as I saw it, I tried to escape from the car, but Rosella kept locking the door. I had to get away from them. The car reeked of perfume. Wasn't perfume supposed to smell good and not want to make you gag? "Rosella! Let me out!" I snarled. Camilla smiled smugly as if she was enjoying this. I most definitely wasn't. I shot her a look and she rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, Delaney Belle, dear, but you look like someone ran you over," Rosella and Camilla literally picked me up and carried me inside. Camilla stayed with me as Rosella made the appointment. I saw a jockey magazine and grabbed it. Camilla glanced at it and glared at me. I shrugged. She tried to snatched it away, but I didn't let go. Eventually, she won and she tossed me a fashion magazine. I starred at it with disgust and with the tips of my fingers, I dropped it on Camilla's lap.
"What is that?!" I asked in horror. Camilla rolled her eyes. She tossed it back on my lap and grabbed a fashion magazine from the table. She crossed her legs and sat up straight. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Camilla! What is this?!" I asked again. Camilla started to growl.
"A fashion magazine! Now shut up!" She snapped at me. I backed up. A fashion magazine? I needed to escape. I didn't belong here. I suddenly saw Flynn looking around. Ricky was with him. Was he...window shopping? I shook my head and giggled at the sight. He spotted me and pointed me out to Ricky. They ran to the nearest stoplight. Rosella returned with a huge smile on her face. Oh no, I thought. That only meant one thing and it wasn't good for me at all. I frowned and sighed. Camilla's face lit up too. Rosella started to jump up and down. I glared at her and thought about how she called me, Delaney Belle instead of Leela and how she called Kona, Kaelyn Rose. My full name was Delaney Belle, but my brothers, Kona, and Flynn called me Leela. Ricky, Jackson, Aunt Lily, and Aunt Delphine called me Delaney and to everyone else I was Delaney Belle. One long long name. I didn't like it very much. Aunt Lily and Aunt Delphine would call me by my full name if I was in trouble.
"Guess what! We got here early! We get to go in, now!" Rosella squealed and dragged me away from my only hope of escaping this torture.

What's your heritage?
I'm mostly Irish, French, and Spanish and I have a bit of Swedish in me.