THE FORBIDDEN ZONE;
part two
RENNA WALKED IN THE FRONT door, immediately heading for the kitchen after the scent of freshly cut tomatoes caught her by the nose.
"Hey, mama," Renna sang as she walked into the bright room, seeing her mother stirring a pot of spaghetti over the glistening stove.
"Hey, sweetheart, have a seat. Tell me about your day." She gestured towards the barstools on the other side of the counter, the blonde immediately sitting on one as she leant over the bench with her elbows.
"I just hung out with my friends all day, nothing much," she lied with a soft smile. She hated it, hated all the lies in-between her family that she was only adding to, but assuring herself it was for their safety helped - even if she knew that was a lie too.
"Wait, lemme see." Renna's mother twirled around, a wooden spoon spinning between her fingertips as she pressed her back against the counter behind her. "There's that kid with the freckles - John! John C, or John B?"
"John B," Renna nodded.
"And there's JJ, he's the blond one, and that smarty's Pope, right?" She batted her eyelashes, tilting her head to the side with a grin.
"Yup."
"And there's Kiara, she's lovely. And there's Atticus - he's my favourite," she winked back at the girl, who jokingly rolled her eyes with a grin. "That's everyone, right?"
"Yeah, it is. You're getting better at remembering them, ma," she laughed before her eyes latched onto the pot behind her, widening at the scene. "Mom! The water's boiling over!"
The woman whipped around before playing it off as she turned the heat down, scoffing as if she had it under control. "Don't be silly, that was meant to happen."
Then Blake walked in, and suddenly the atmosphere changed.
"Wait, Ren! I need to talk to you," he called out as his sister made a move towards the open doorway, trying to escape the incessant rambling of the tragedy of an older brother.
"If it's nagging me about my friends, I don't want to hear about it," she groaned as she walked towards the stairs.
"No, it's not. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry." Renna turned around with her back pressed against the wall, crossing her arms with raised brows.
"For what?" He groaned.
"You serious?" She nodded with a smirk.
"I'm sorry for talking smack about your friends, and I'm really sorry that I dragged you away from that party the other night. That wasn't cool of me," he said, his usually empty eyes filled with the brotherly spark Renna had missed from their childhood.
"No, it wasn't." Just because she saw it, saw a bit of him in there, didn't mean she was just going to hand her forgiveness over.
"So, is everything good now?" He asked, hopefully.
"No," she shrugged.
"You are so difficult, you know that?" He groaned before he started pacing the length of the hallway. It was a nervous habit of his. Often, when Renna would jog down the stairs to greet her friends, her brother would be pacing, randomly, alone, in the middle of the hall, about something as meaningless as a school test.
"This is why, Lake. Seriously, you've been picking on my friends and I for months, years . . . ever since I was practically born. Why do you bother now, huh? Why?" She persisted, eyebrows furrowed as her lips twitched with seething anger.
"Honestly," he paused, in which she nodded to. She needed to hear the honest truth, which was so hard and rare to come across in that stupid, disloyal house. "I don't know, Ren, I really don't. But, I miss being able to be civil with you, and before you say it, I know it's my fault. I've been a dick my whole life, I realise that, but when I watch shows and see how brothers and sisters are supposed to be, or walk down the street and see them talking and joking and laughing together, I feel all empty inside, because I know I stuffed that up for us. And I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry, and I promise to never, ever, ever act that stupid again."
He finished with a long, deep, emotive breath, his eyes remaining on his sister standing against the wall with hopeful yet drained eyes. And then, going against his intruding thoughts, she smiled.
"Okay."
"Okay?" He questioned with raised brows.
"I forgive you, but only if you apologise to my friends too," she smiled, only to watch his face playfully drop.
"Can you give me like four to five business days because I just poured my entire heart and soul into that one," he joked.
She laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
"Okay, now, I know you'll wanna say no, but can you come to this beach clean up with me tomorrow? Dad wants us to go and-"
"Wait, is this why you apologised? Just so you could-"
"No! No, of course not, Renna! I love you, okay? You're my sister, and I've been a shitty brother. But dad seems very persistent on us going, so . . ." he paused, hands splayed wide as he waited for her to respond.
"Okay, fine. But not for long," she pointed.
"I take it all back, you're amazing," he grinned, moving towards the girl with a shaking head for a hug - one that he'd been missing for the past ten years.
"Nope, too soon," she declared as she ducked beneath his outstretched arm and started running for the stairs.
"Oh, come on!" He shouted with a grin, chasing her up the staircase with his arms still held wide.
',~☼︎~,'
"Just come get me later," Renna mumbled as she leant through the open window of the Twinkie. John B groaned with annoyance, falling back in his seat from looking past the blond beside him with his hands tight against the wheel, JJ feigning sadness as he stared at the girl playfully.
"You want to spend time with the Kooks instead of us? The people you love so dearly," JJ teased whilst batting his eyelashes. Renna just pushed her hand against his forehead with a laugh.
"You know that's not true," she said.
"No, it's okay, John B. I see where her priorities lie, clearly not with us." JJ turned in his seat, facing the darker-haired boy who nodded in agreement.
"JJ . . ."
"I'm just joshing, Ren. We'll grab you later at . . . the beach cleanup?" He tilted his head with confusion.
"Yeah, exactly. Just grab the H.M.S."
"Are we allowed to do that?" John B asked as he peered past the side of the blond again, his eyebrows furrowed with inner doubt.
"Sure," she shrugged as she backed away towards her house, "Tell the others I'm sorry!"
Later that day, the siblings' father drove them to the beach - tried to drive them to the beach. The Larson children knew they wouldn't last long in a car ride with no one but each other and their father, and their father alone. But, they gave into his progressive arguing, his only reason being they needed family time. Renna could only think of one thing - like he could talk.
"You know we could have just walked," Renna mumbled from her spot behind Blake in the back, staring at the back of her father's head.
"I know, but I wanted to talk to you two." They sat in silence, deafening silence, waiting. "Ward and I have some big plans, so you might not see much of me anymore."
"Not like we don't see you at all anyway," Blake rolled his eyes, Renna humming with agreement in the back, leather seats.
"Hey, quit the attitude!" He defended in a shout, Renna noticing the whiteness of his knuckles as he clenched the wheel out of anger. It only enraged her further - he had no right to be angry. He was the one who'd hurt them, not them who'd hurt him.
"Well, it's true, isn't it? You've never been there, it's always been mum," Renna reasoned, Blake nodding from the front
"Yeah, and half the time she doesn't even know how to do things, but at least she actually tries. We never see you, and never have," Blake argued.
"That's not true. That's not true at all," their father stuttered, eyes flickering between his son's on his right, his daughter's penetrating through the rear-view mirror, and the road ahead of them.
"Really? Then what's my favourite food?" Renna asked. She crossed her arms, brows raised as she awaited a response she knew she would never correctly get.
"Oh, come on. No one knows that."
"I do," Blake interjected as he raised his hand into the air. "It's Mum's Golden Syrup Dumplings."
"Exactly! When did I break my arm?" She continued after acknowledging her brother's answer, subtly slapping a hand softly against his shoulder in triumph before returning to her set face.
"Year two?" He guessed.
"Nope, year five."
"Who was my first girlfriend?" Blake asked with a raised brow, him too crossing his arms as he waited for his father to respond - waited for him to guess, as that was the only chance he had at getting it right.
"Alyssa?"
"No, it was Yvonne from The Cut. When did I win in track?"
"Uh- when you were eleven?"
"Nope, I never did. I always came second." They were defeated. Although they won, they proved to their disgrace of a father that he really was who they said he was, deep inside they wished they lost. They wished upon everything that he had got all their simple questions right. However, it was Richard Larson, who proved time and time again his children came last.
"Exactly! You don't know anything about us," Renna exasperated from the back.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know our birthdays," Blake added with a dejected frown.
"I do . . . I do. Okay, enough of all this. That doesn't prove anything," he shouted, rolling his eyes as he focused back in on the turning roads ahead of them.
"It proves that you don't care about us," Blake reasoned, his anger soon returning to cover up his sadness.
"It proves that you value your work over your own children!" Renna said.
"And it proves you were never there for us as children!"
"I said enough, alright? I'm sick of it. Get out of the car," their father yelled in a rage, angrily spinning the car off to the side of the road to let the sibling duo happily get out of the car. As they walked away, they subtly high-fived each other away from their father's sight of view. They had done it.
They jogged most of the way to the beach so they wouldn't miss the cleanup before beginning their long journey of picking up rubbish. That's all the girl did, pick up litter and talk to her brother, before the leaders called the group together.
As the man spoke, Blake and Renna shared knowing looks. With Sarah on her other side, who she was also sneaking looks with, she almost let her inner laughter slip out. Thankfully, the speech didn't last for long, for as soon as he'd spoken his final word, the sound of an engine approached the bank of the beach. Renna heard JJ before she saw them.
The blond was shouting out profanities with a grin, teasing the Kooks as John B, Atticus and Pope glared at the people around the beach. Kiara sat at the back, spine facing the group as she tried to hide herself away from her past friends.
"Who invited them here?" Topper immediately shouted as he pointed a finger over to the boat, Rafe pushing his sunglasses on top of his head as he stared Renna's friends down from beside him. The girl in question cleared her throat, sent Blake and Sarah a subtle smile, before bounding towards the boat with a grin.
Before any of the Kooks could chase them down, they sped away. They filled her in on what she missed - finding the location of the sunken ship and stealing the drone. They spent the rest of the day relaxing, chilling at the Château, until someone pulled in the drive. It was Blake.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" Atticus mumbled under his breath as John B groaned.
"Did you tell him to come here, Ren?" He asked, raising his brows as he kicked his feet off the messy coffee table in-between all the lounging friends.
"No, okay. I don't have my phone, I couldn't have. I'll go see what he wants, I won't let him come in," she responded before leaving the house and walking down the porch. He was already climbing out of his car, leaving the door open as he leant back against the seat. "You shouldn't be here, Blake. You haven't apologised to them like you have to me."
"I know, I know. I just wanted to let you know that there's a party tonight, everyone's going," he said with a grin.
"Except me. I'm not going," she muttered, hands clasped tightly behind her back.
"Okay, fine. But do you want a ride home? Because this is your only chance," he sang, pushing his back off his seat before jumping back into his truck.
"Nah, it's fine. I might even spend the night here," she shrugged with a soft smile.
"Okay. See-"
"Thank you, though. It's a nice thought." He grinned.
"All g, little sis," he smirked, his cheeks glowing in the light sun.
"Don't you dare call me that again!" She said as she backed away. When she got in the house, they were all staring at her, arms crossed. "He's gone. Chillax, guys."
"I will not chillax when your brother pulls up to my house. He could egg it like he did to JJ's house, or throw toilet paper over it like he did to the tree in Atticus' front yard," John B reasoned dramatically, eyes wide and arms thrown to the side as he tried to convey his mixed emotions.
"Yeah, but that was years ago," she defended with a grin.
"I still haven't gotten over that, you know. Just because I pissed in his drink at that stupid party doesn't mean he can destroy my own casa," JJ mumbled with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, I agree. All I did was-"
"Punch him in the face. I think that one was pretty well-deserved," Renna said.
"What? No. And I only did it because he called me a shithead," Atticus reasoned with raised brows, as if that made up for it in any way.
"You were a shithead back then," Kiara nodded with a smirk, which he scoffed at before pushing her lightly against the shoulder.
"Six-year-old me was an absolute legend," he retorted.
"Eight-year-old Blake thought he was an absolute legend too, which was why he trashed that tree," Renna said as she crossed her arms, staring across at the curly-haired boy.
"He was not an absolute legend," Atticus scoffed.
"Anyway, can I stay over tonight, pretty, pretty please," Renna asked, turning on her heel to face John B as she clasped her hands together in front of her chest, batting her eyelashes up at his amused face.
"'Course you can, Ren. You always can," he sang with a familiar grin, throwing an arm around her shoulder as he happily squeezed her other side. "Actually, I think it's about time we have another sit-in. All of us here? Tonight?"
"I'm down," JJ shrugged as Atticus nodded like an excited child.
"We can go to The Wreck for dinner?" Kiara suggested in addition with a smirk.
"Yes. Yes, please," Pope nodded urgently.
"Can you guys drop me off at my place on your way so I can pack? I'll meet you there, I just wanna grab a few things," Renna asked as she looked around the group.
"Sure thing," John B nodded.
"Let's go, people!" JJ cheered as he whooped out of the house. The others followed not far behind him, talking and smiling as if the past week had never happened.