~Arien~
Entering the house felt almost as dreadful as seeing Layla's face as she seemed to be contemplating hurling which I wasn't to fond of cleaning up.
I took only one quick glance around the whole first floor: The living room, the windows curtains and everything seemed the same except for the photos that crowded the book shelf in the center of the room no longer only books but now various pictures of Layla, Lars and I accompanied by a two or three of Aunt Jodi and Dad, two completely different people, but in this picture they looked alike so much that the only way you could tell them apart was that Aunt Jodi had slightly longer hair, while their pictures of them when they were around Layla and mine's age makes them look completely different.
My dad looked like a younger version of himself now, but much more leaner not as bulky where as Aunt Jodi looked to be a librarian in the making, which fitted her attitude towards dad in the picture showing her gesturing for him to be quiet while she read a book. To the not so far right was the kitchen and small dining room table, the kitchen floor looked the same as it probably did since the 70's, bright yellow and teal green colored tiles, Grans two favorite colors.
"This place really hasn't changed" muttered Layla
I took a glance at her, she didn't seem to well and judging by how her sickly facial expression that hasn't improved, it won't be getting any better, the last thing I want is for Gramps to be worried about us even more then he already seems to be doing.
I take a step closer to Layla, nudging her very what I would presume to be gentle enough to pull her out of her depressing day dreaming.
"Psst!" I whisper into her ear
Layla who seems to be barely out of her nauseous daze turns to meet my eyes confusingly enough searching for an answer to as why I gently elbowed her in the rib cage.
"knock it off." I mouth.
Layla furrows her brows "what?" she mouths
I point my hand to her face and mouthed "fix your face"
Layla seemed annoyed but when I further pointed out how Gramps seemed worried enough she went wide eyed in realization that we could save our depressing nostalgic feelings for later on in the day.
"It's been a while but you kept the house in great shape gramps!" I attempt to break the ice.
"Well there's not much to do when you're old so i might as well" Gramps chuckles walking into the kitchen. Layla giggled to that bringing me a breathe of relief.
"Well i'm sure you two remember where your old room is?" asked Gramps
Layla and i nodded
"good, because i have to stop by the shop before dinner to check some parts , can i trust that you two will be okay while i'm gone for a couple of hours?"
Layla and I nodded again, "Yep! don't worry about us." I replied.
Gramps gave us suspecting looks for a minute or so before nodding in agreement with us.
"Ok, good well I'll get going then."
"If I'm a little late foods in the fridge, got it Elle?"
"Got it." I replied grabbing our luggage following behind Layla who seemed to be in better spirits.
"See you girls." Said Gramps as he walked out the door
"See you!" Layla replied this time.
And the door closed shut.
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If there was a horror movie filmed in the house, I would definitely be the first to get killed, the floor was so old the creaking of the boards sounded more like cries of rat.
"I forgot how bad the floor creaks here" Layla complained
"Yeah same." I joined in
We passed by the bathroom to the right, then the old guest room Dad and Mom used to stay in with Lars when he was a baby, there's two more rooms downstairs plus a bathroom too, but usually when we'd come to visit we'd stay upstairs in Attic room since Aunt Jodi was living in the first guestroom next to Gran and Gramps room at the time. Don't get me wrong, I loved the attic room growing up, and it wasn't closed off either, we got a good view of the backyard, and if we wanted to see the front from up here on the second floor, we could just go back to Dad and Mom's old room.
I kicked open the door while Layla went into the bathroom.
I had forgotten how much of a mess we left the room in, and sure it was still big considering how Layla and I had grown a lot since the last time being here but it felt so small compared to how I remembered it being humongous. The desk we had in here was definitely more of Layla's taste, everything to the left was filled with old workbooks and the whole first book series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Some harry potter, and a whole bunch of books on historical figures, definitely Layla's side especially with all the annoying shades of blue on her side.
"Pretty isn't it?" Layla shoved me out the way to then throw herself onto her old bed
"Whatever." I roll my eyes, moving forward to the right side of the room, my side, not messy, orderly and a couple photos here and there of our friends and us. And then some of my old paintings and sketches that spread across my side of the room's wall, simple yet pretty, my type of style unlike Miss just leaves all her old workbooks all over the floor and expects them to just magically put themselves away, and not just that but her luggage! Don't get me started on her luggage! What she put in the suitcases? Bricks?!
Annoyed I looked over to see Layla the great hoarder bringing out her snack I got for her at the gas station where I fought over the last can of Chai Tea with that Grey hoodie dude, with the dimples and those really pretty amber eyes, gosh that guy was cute, too cute. Where was I? right annoyed with my sister leaves nothing but messes and her bricks for luggage.
"Why'd you bring your whole closet" I got up from my bed and started opening the suitcases.
"Because everything in my closet is a necessity? Because why not?" She munches on some of my leftover watermelon gummies.
"Because we're only here for the summer, not the rest of our lives, that's why." I aggressively unpacking the clothes from her suitcase first since it's the biggest of problems
"Hey Ari"
"Hm?"
"Doesn't it feel strange?" asked Layla
"What do you mean? What feels strange" I focus on the unpacking
"Not hearing those gentle footsteps come up here with a humming melody at hand" Layla continued
I briefly turned away from unpacking to look at Layla, seeing her in distraught, foolish of me to think just cause listened to me earlier doesn't mean she's not daunting on it anymore.
i put the clothes down, crisscross applesauce my legs facing Layla who was slumped slowly chewing on her watermelon gummies.
"Layla..." she slowly shoots her head up to face me only to pain me not to say a lie.
"Yeah, I miss her humming" I finished
For a while we sat there, waiting for her humming to arise from that soft elegant yet strong voice of hers to resume her annual 'Have you ever seen the rain' coming up the stairs, the only thing that greeted us with familiarity was the birds chirping outside going about their day.
"it's weird." said a sniffling Layla
"It is." I grab a hold of her hugging her almost breathless
"These gummies are too sour, I hate sour." she whimpered
"Sorry"
"Hmph." Layla whimpered
we sat there quietly sobbing for what felt like a painful eternity.
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"Y'know I think I solved our little problem here" she waved her hand into the general area of her mountain of clothes.
I cross my arms waiting for this oh so great prodigy's grand solution, "go on."
"Well three outfits a day, their problem solved!" She swiped her hands to dust the little remnants of sugar off.
"That'll be too much laundry for me to do" I remind her
"Well then I'll do my own load" Layla shrugged
"Yeah right, you barely get up when it's time to clean up at home" I reminded her
"Ugh so what's your solution?" She groaned
"One outfit a day or else you're stuck on clean-up duty no rotation for a week."
She gapes while I take the chance to mock her shrug. Layla proceeds to throw a pillow from her side of the room towards me.
Now usually I'd be fast enough to block something like a pillow but instead I just ate a handful of pillow feathers, and dust.
Layla gasped.
Coughing non-stop I looked to the culprit.
Layla gulped.
This means war.
🏵️ 🏵️ 🏵️ 🏵️
"You surrender?" I have her in a headlock.
"Neigh-N-Never!" She coughs trying to wiggle her way out of the choke.
"Say it, and I'll let go" I tighten my grip a tiny bit
"N-NO"
A little tighter on the grip.
"Fine" she coughs
"I don't think I heard you" I lean my head in closer to hear her surrender
"You're the better fighter"
I let go.
Layla coughs, gathering her breath, getting herself up. She stares at me for a moment.
From all the way downstairs we hear the door creak open and then closed.
" Elle?! Layla?!"
it's gramps.
"Sike." Layla whispers storming off to Gramps like a wimp.
~Layla~
"How was the unpacking?" Gramps asked, handing the salt to Ari
When Gramps was our age he used to work at a diner and in his college days he used to work at a really fancy European restaurant. As kids when we were over he'd make us five star type of spaghetti but to us it was just spaghetti that was until mom decided to make spaghetti for dinner one time, let's just say it wasn't bad but definitely not on Gramps level. I smiled at the thought.
"It was easy besides Layla bringing her entire closet" Ari replied, full mouth of chicken and rice pointing her fork in circular motion towards me to which I proceeded to roll my eyes at.
"Don't listen to her Gramps She's being dramatic, I only brought my essentials" I sipped on my drink.
"Which was your WHOLE closet?" Ari added, making me give her a death glare.
"Sorry? I like to be prepared for any type of fashion emergency. SORRY I'M NOT SORRY." I stick my tongue out at Ari who replies with a terribly offensive eye roll.
Gramps laughs at the sight of us arguing which makes Ari and I ease off the glaring competition while violently stabbing at my chicken thigh.
"Okay you two that's enough, calm down. . ."
We both continue eating but with less glares.
"Now did you two finish all of your unpacking?" Gramps asked
"Yes" we said in unison which just made me more pissed at Ari.
Gramps unsuccessfully held in a laugh.
"Well that's good to hear, it'll make tomorrow easier" He poured more grape juice into his cup.
"How does it make tomorrow easier?" Ari asked handing her cup to Gramps for a refill.
"Yeah, is something happening tomorrow?" I took another bite of my fried rice.
Gramps looked at us as if he was guilty of something and had been caught.
"Well. ." Gramps played with his cup of grape juice
"Gramps?" Ari asked no longer chugging down grape juice
I'd forgotten, Ari had this way with talking to people, like she could since what they were thinking or feeling, and she knew how to get them to talk, she was like a bad cop intimidating. No wonder she was able to tell people were hating on me.
Geez she can be scary sometimes. One time when we were kids, a friend of ours, Sora Kishi who lived a block or so down from here had gotten her bike stolen by some older kids she wouldn't tell any of us why she couldn't come riding with us.
Why she didn't have her bike but Ari being Ari had gotten Sora to open up which led to Ari going over to those bullies and beating them up. Ari, a third-grader, beat up to sixth-graders. After that, those older kids gave the bike back, Ari made them swear to never bully Sora or any of us third graders again.
Safe to say Ari was a force to never be reckoned with.
Gramps gulped.
"Gramps? " Ari asked again.
Gramps sighed. "Fine, you two have to start working tomorrow instead of next week"
WHAT?
"How come?" she asked, leaning in her chair.
"Yeah, how come?" I echoed, Ari shot me a look that said 'Stop' which made me focus more on my grape juice.
"Well, Earlier when you girls were unpacking and I stopped by the shop..."
Gramps trailed off with a concerned face that was pointed more towards Ari than me.
"While I was at the shop I got a call from Benny Stevenson about the farm, saying that the crops are coming earlier than expected and I should come out tomorrow instead next week."
Benny Stevenson.
Another one of our old childhood friends. When we were kids they'd go with gramps to the farm, since Benny's Grandparents owned the farm next to ours.
Benny's around the same age as Ari, and they both loved the farm, so of course they were a little closer than the others. Benny's the youngest out of seven, six girls and one boy, all of his sisters stayed in town not really interested in the countryside, so the farm was his safe haven from them.
Ari and him were inseparable, that was until Benny's mom got offered a better paying job abroad, they had to move away. Twelve year old Ari was devastated, they kept in touch for a long time up until a couple of years ago, whenever I asked Ari what happened between them she'd just say it doesn't really matter but seeing her expression right now, had proven that it did matter.
"Benny?" Ari's tone was a mixture hurt and amazement
"What's he doing here?" her voice a little uneven
"I thought he went to boarding school? What happened?!" Ari raised her voice, I grabbed ahold of her hand. She turned her attention to me, quickly calming herself.
"Well Graham said that he'd been getting into a lot of fights at school so his parents thought it would be best if he came back to the farm." Gramps cleared his throat.
Graham Stevenson, Benny's Uncle, He's in charge of their family farm now since Benny's Parents left.
"Benny? Fights at school? That doesn't sound anything like him" Ari scoffed
"Well it has been a long time since you last saw him" Gramps reminded us, well mostly Ari.
"True" I chide in which makes Ari stare daggers into me.
"Any who, he's staying with his grandparents, Graham and graham's wife and since she's pregnant Graham can keep her company while Benny does work but since he's already done with all of their family's farm work he came over to ours and helped out these past months." Gramps explained.
"So like us?" I added
"Exactly" Gramps nodded his head.
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The rest of dinner was filled with us catching up about the past how many years and Gramps laughing at how silly we'd been, though at times I could tell that Ari was still thinking of Benny.
"Are you ever gonna go to sleep?" Ari rolled herself over to face from her bed.
"Yeah in a minute" I said, flipping pages to an old photo album of mine.
"Which one is that?" Ari asked, I got up and came to her side of the room.
"Scoot over and I'll show you."
Ari lazily sat herself up as I plopped myself next to her.
"Look" I said pointing to a picture of a boy with a buzz cut and another with messy blonde hair both wearing surf shorts with sand all over them, in the middle was a sunburnt girl with long braids, soaked to the core, all three of them smiling.
"Miles, Benny and me" Ari looked at the photo fondly
"Yeah.." I smiled at it
"Look at how annoying Miles smile is you know he's up to something" I joked,
Ari laughed as if remembering " He never did know how to stay out of trouble"
"Oh gosh the amount of times Benny and you had to get him out of trouble" I laughed
Ari's smile lessened a little "Yeah, we did that A LOT." Something happened, but with gramps in the room next door, I knew I could ask her yet, maybe tomorrow.
Ari flipped the page to another photo, one of Lauren crying comforted by Sora while Miles was to the corner of them getting a scolding from one of our parents.
"Oh my gosh, I forgot all about that, what happened exactly?" Ari tried to recall
"I don't remember put I'm pretty sure it was all Miles fault" I joked
Ari seemed to forget for a moment what was troubling her about Benny. Although I wanted to egg her on about it I knew it was best to leave things like this so the rest of the night we talked stories till the only thing we could do was snore.
🏵End of Chapter Seven🏵
~A/N~
Wow what a chapter!
Next Chapter I'll do a Q&A about B.T.B and instead of it being from my point of view as the author it'll be from the characters point of view as if it were an interview!
Leave questions in the comments down below with #BTBQ&A if you want the Kane sisters to answer it in next chapter!