Beyond the Sky

Chapter 1 - Grace & Elegance

I don't remember much from my years living in America. Some days mom can drone on and on about the things we did, the places we went, and how much I've missed by living in Ravensburg instead of Hilton, Virginia. Honestly, I don't miss it at all since I hardly remember being there. The earliest childhood memory I can recall is our family trip to the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way to the top so I could see everything and I didn't want to come back down. After some coaxing from dad and a promise of ice cream, we went back to the first floor for a snack. Mom was pregnant with DJ at the time so it was a snack for dad and me but a full course meal for her.

"Skylar are you listening to me," Nana said as she snapped her fingers fiercely in front of my face drawing my attention back to her etiquette class.

"Sorry Nana, I was just thinking about the things I have to do today," I said as DJ struggled to hold back tears of laughter. Awe, a time before DJ or any of my other siblings. It seemed like such a good idea at the time when my parents asked if I was ready to be a big sister. If I knew then what I know now I'd give them a resounding no.

"Oh really and do these plans have anything to do with the Eiffel Tower since you've decided to turn my handout into one of your little sketchpads." She said. I hadn't even noticed that all the while I had been drawing. It doesn't happen often but in the past I had been know to draw while daydreaming although the pictures never came out very well. Surprisingly this one was kind of awesome – lines curved ever so slightly and some shading for shadows. Maybe all my practicing was finally paying off.

"Uhm, I didn't mean to do that but on the bright side, my drawing is getting better. The last time I drew on one of your handouts you thought my cat was a wrinkled old man." I said with a nervous smile hoping to defuse the argument with a joke. My eyes went from side to side desperate and wishfully hoping that for once my siblings would be of some help and save me from this situation.

"The last time?" Nana said delicately crossing her arms as she stared down at me. You would think with all the frowning she does towards me that her face would be riddled with wrinkles but you'd be dead wrong. Her eyes glared with both fire and ice as she fumed in rage. "Don't you mean yesterday? How many times do I have to tell you, Skylar? Drawing isn't a skill that will help you rule a country. Pay attention." She said turning to go back to the front of the room. Nana is the most elegant and graceful person I know.

My aunt and mom are pretty graceful as well but neither could compare to Nana. She made it perfectly clear that my mother was her greatest etiquette accomplishment. If she could convert the untrained and ill-behaved Scarlett Newton into a graceful Scarlett Hathaway semi deserving of a crown - her words, not mine - then she could most certainly handle training the next generation of Hathaway royalty. I could only hope to one day be as great as her - minus the lack of a single fun bone in her body.

"Throwing paint on a canvas won't save a kingdom Sky," DJ whispered to me as he combed a hand through his hair. Not everyone was allowed the luxury of being the black sheep of the family but DJ wore it well and didn't mind rubbing it in at the worst of times.

"Oh shut it. Your archery won't save us either." I said, rolling my eyes as I sat up straight in my seat. Etiquette class was held three times a week in the conference room at a long shiny oak table. We sat in the same seats each class, my sister on my left and two brothers on my right, to practice utensil placement, talking points, and just for the boys: learning to chew with your mouth closed. I hated that class the most because DJ was the sole reason for its creation and he made it his purpose in life to gross me out in the most disgusting of ways. Years of etiquette training flushed down the toilet solely to disgust and distract me during an event. My reaction was of no help to the situation but we all pay the cost for DJ's childish behavior.