"Mother, I thought you said you brought me a freak,"
"Oh, but she is a freak Dandy! She's the sister to those twins you loved so dearly,"
You didn't have to be looking at the man-child to know the expression on his face. He looked as if he was ready to kill.
"Well if you knew how much I loved the twins then why would you bring their good for nothing sister. It's just like that time we went to the aquarium and saw the baby walrus instead of the blue whale. She's nothing but a peasant in rags,"
You scoffed, finally having had enough, "You realise that I'm in the back seat? Right?"
It was the first time you'd ever been compared to a baby walrus and you didn't really know how to feel about it. You weren't even really wearing rags, it was just a battered down aviator jacket over a red top. Your brown trousers didn't look that bad either, you thought to yourself.
It was in that moment where you had to restrain yourself from saying every cuss word imaginable. The only thing stopping you was the fact you could end up on the streets, homeless. The daggers that you were staring at the back of the young man's head lingered, only pausing when his Mother interrupted.
Gloria Mott quickly spoke, she was evidently scared that you'd anger her beloved Dandy, "What did you say your name was again, dear?"
"I didn't. Y/n Tattler,"
"Well, Y/n, I'm sure you and Dandy are going to have plenty of fun in his playroom,"
Raising your eyebrows, you were lucky Gloria couldn't see your face. All these thoughts raced through your head. The only type of playroom a man his age would have is one constructed of sexual fantasies. Where the hell were you going?
The rest of the trip was short, but nothing sweet. Dandy's constant complaints stopped you from falling asleep. He was particularly fond of two sentences. One being, "I'm bored," and the other being, "Are we there yet?"
You were surprised at how much he sounded like an annoying brat. The urge to slam your head against the back of the seat in front of you was massive.
When you finally pulled up into the driveway, you noticed the magnificent house before you. A fountain rested in the centre of the driveway, water trickling down the surface. Before the door, a bush was carefully placed on either side. A touch of greenery to accompany the prestigious building. Four beautiful white pillars stood tall, above the doorway, holding the second floor up. The house was bigger than any house you'd ever seen. This family must've been extremely rich.
"Hurry up peasant. God, don't you have any use at all?" Dandy complained as you struggled to open the car door.
You'd only been in a car around once or twice before, the whole concept of them was still so crazy and bizarre to you. When he could see you struggling, he rolled his eyes and opened it.
You didn't bother saying thanks, figuring that his ego was already too big from his Mother spoon-feeding him words of kindness throughout the entire journey.
His mother was already inside, so you grudgingly followed him. As soon as you entered the foyer, a woman greeted you.
"My name's Dora, I'm the maid around here. If you need anything, just say the word," She gave you a warm smile, before looking at the man behind you with an annoyed look on her face.
Before you could respond, Dandy beckoned for you to keep following him, "Yeah, that's enough Dora. Keep following me, y/n, maybe I can find out if there's anything interesting about you,"
You sighed, as you followed him up the stairs. Everyone seemed obsessed about thinking you weren't as normal as you seemed to be. They assumed you had a secret talent. Boy, were they wrong, you thought to yourself.
"Where are we going?" A yawn escaped from your lips as you scratched your head.
"My playroom, obviously," He said as if you were the dumbest person on planet earth for not knowing.
As you dreaded what horrible things were to come next, instead you were greeted by what looked like a child's playroom. A bright white chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting up the room full of various toys.
Scanning your eyes around the room, you noticed a stage at the back of the room with a blue couch stationed right in front of it. An indoor game of something you'd never seen before was in the centre of the room. You assumed it was some rich person sport.
That was only a quarter of the things that took up the room but naming them all would for sure give you a massive headache.
"I see you're admiring my puppet stage. I'm a performer, a serious thespian,"
"Also a massive child," You muttered to yourself.
"What did you say? Just that moment? I could hear you muttering under your breath,"
Sticking on a fake smile, "Nothing. Just how grateful I am to be here,"
"You're empty words and fake smiles may work on Mother but they don't work on me," Furrowing his eyebrows, he walked over to the couch and sat with his arms crossed, "You can sulk all you want. I don't want you here either,"
You finally felt as if you could say anything you wanted to. Well, maybe not anything.
"So you say you're a thespian?"
Rolling his eyes, he motioned for you to sit next to him, "Mother, doesn't let me. She keeps me so confined to the walls of this horrible place, I will eventually shrivel up from the boredom,"
He said the word "Mother" as if it were distasteful. It was full of hatred.
You looked up at him, finally taking in the sight of his bright blue eyes. Sure, he got on your nerves, but you could slightly see where he was coming from. Before you could open your mouth to speak, Dandy stood up and handed you three balls from the basket behind him.
"Juggle peasant,"
You snickered, "It isn't hard to use my actual name,"
He looked at me expectantly. His eyes were full of excitement. The anticipation to the moment ended up being overhyped since as soon as you threw one of the balls in the air they all fell to the ground.
Dandy groaned as he shook his head in annoyance, "Don't you know how to juggle? God, you're useless. Have you got any talents?"
"Look, rich boy, your only talent seems to be complaining. So maybe I'm not the only one who needs to look for their talent,"
Before he could respond, there was a knock on the door to the playroom. It slightly opened to reveal Dora, "Dinner's ready,"
Dandy didn't respond so you took it into your own hands, "Thanks Dora,"
She gave you a small smile and left.
It was a surprise to you that you were allowed to sit with the Mott's at dinner. You assumed your position was as more of a babysitter, despite the fact that you were bought. With Gloria on one end of the table and Dandy on the other, you sat in the middle.
Dora placed down the plate of something you'd never seen before in front of you. You thanked her, which she seemed surprised at, then she went to the other end of the table. Giving the other plate to Dandy, it caused him to complain even more.
"Snails?" Dandy sighed, "How boring,"
As Dora walked to the other end of the room, she spoke, "That's what you ordered-- escargot. Like you had in Paris,"
Snails? Not knowing they could even be eaten, you looked down at your plate. You couldn't understand how someone could be so ungrateful. Sure, everyone had foods they disliked, but Dora clearly spent a while preparing the meal.
"Dora went through a lot of trouble, don't you make a sour face," Gloria smiled, lecturing him. Though it obviously wouldn't work.
You found yourself more interested in the intricately designed wallpaper other than the conversation the two were having. Taking a bite out of one of the snails, your mouth was full of discomfort. Trying new foods wasn't existent to you, and these snails were certainly different.
"How are you enjoying your meal, Y/n?" She asked, looking at you with a wide smile. It was as if she was trying to make you feel more welcome.
You took a sip of the beverage in the glass before you, returning the smile, you spoke, "It's great Gloria, thank you,"
You managed to swallow a few whilst ignoring the taste. When you finally looked over at the rich boy you noticed he had a bottle in his hand, not a normal one, but a baby bottle. You coughed to cover up your laughter, and when the Mott's noticed, you looked at the ceiling as if you didn't know what was going on.
When you finally looked back over, you saw Dandy sulk and stand up from his chair. He refilled his bottle with some sort of yellowy-orange liquid.
"You can't live on sweets and cognac, Dandy," Gloria Mott suddenly looked concerned under the mask of joy she was hiding under, "It's bad for the temperament,"
As Dandy paced the room, his mother took it into her own hands to unknowingly cause his next temper tantrum, "I'm still having nightmares about the debacle with the Cushing girl,"
You had no idea what debacle meant but you assumed it was bad. Whoever this Cushing girl was, you sure felt sympathy for her if she had to deal with Dandy Mott.
"I told you a million trillion times, I did not touch her," He glared daggers at his Mother, "She was just miffed 'cause I said she reminded me of the pregnant hippo we saw on safari,"
His Mother's happy expression faltered, "All those charming girls I've introduced you to,"
"They're all smelly cows,"
Being at the Mott household was extremely hard for you as you enjoyed laughing at every situation, no matter how dire. When Dandy noticed this, he scowled, causing you to sit with your hand over your mouth.
Gloria Mott recovered her cheery smile, "But what about a grandbaby? It'd be such fun for us!"
"Never! Babies are more boring than anything,"
Walking around the room, he expressed himself with his hands. They were constantly flaring about in precise movements in front of his face. You could read all his emotions by just looking at him.
"I want to be a thespian, but you keep ruining it!"
"It's not our world, Dandy. You come from such a long line of fine people, generation after generation of refinement. I am simply protecting you from a life of degradation and opprobrium,"
You pondered why they always had to use such big words. Trying to keep up with the conversation was just as hard as working backstage at the freakshow.
"I'm turning to dust from boredom," He stood bolted on the spot with his fists clenched, every word was spoken articulately. The man turned around, walking out of the room.
"Where are you going?" His Mother asked, worried.
"I don't know, maybe St. Petersburg. Where they have real caramel corn, not that cardboard they sell at the freak show,"
His eyes suddenly darted across the room and landed on you, this was the most upset you'd ever seen him, "Peasant, come with me. Not even I'm evil enough to leave you alone with Mother's boring squabbling,"
Groaning, you reluctantly stood up and followed the man outside. Before you did, you noticed Gloria giving you a supportive look. It was almost as if she was wishing you good luck which you desperately needed.
As you got into the passenger seat of his light blue car, you turned to look at him, "Can you tell me where the hell we're going now?"
He suddenly smiled from ear to ear, "I'm joining the freakshow,"