Chapter 33
I slip into the silky evening gown hesitantly, not wanting to ruin it in anyway. The dress hugs my upper body to then cascade down to pool around my ankles in sheets of shimmering sheets of navy blue material. It’s a halter neck style with the straps making a cross against my otherwise bare back. For anyone who knows me and my bad taste in clothes, it’s obvious that someone else picked out this dress.
“Mom picked it out, didn’t she?”
I whirl around, mentally giggling like a little girl as the skirt of the dress fans out slightly before coming to rest around my legs again. I beam at Seth, holding my arms up, and giving another twirl, “Yeah she did. What do you think?”
He walks over in his suit and kisses me on the cheek, “You look great, Hailey.”
I smile up at him, “Thank you Seth.”
He puts his hands in his pocket, “So, are we ready to go? Everyone else is waiting downstairs.”
My eyes widen and I immediately begin bustling around my room trying to find the rest of the things to complete my outfit. After slipping on some peep-toe pumps and looking at my hair in the mirror with utter despair I’m ready to go down.
“So why do I get an escort?” I enquire as we both make our way down the stairs.
Seth shrugs, “Dylan’s got everyone positioned for a photo in the living room and since I was closest to the doorway he got me to go up and grab you.”
We walk into the living room and I stare at the little display that’s taking place. It looks like a freaking photo shoot.
Dylan’s mucking around with one of those massive cameras while his parents are sitting on a loveseat on the white backdrop that’s set up. The guys are all spaced around them, the twins on either side for symmetry and Sam sitting on the ground looking bored out of his mind.
“Can we go nowwww?” he whines, sounding like this is the 50th time he’s asked.
Dylan glances up to see me standing by myself in the doorway looking stunned. “Go.” He orders, pointing at the empty space behind his parents next to Jake.
“But i-isn’t this a family photo?” I stammer.
Dylan gives me an annoyed look, “It is. Now go stand in your place before I personally pick you up and throw you there. We’re already late as it is.”
I hurry over to the space and squeeze in between Jake and Seth who’s already taken his place. I feel touched that Dylan wants to include me. I can feel Jake’s gaze on me but I ignore it, knowing that I’ll immediately start blushing as soon as I look at him.
“I knew you’d look stunning in that dress.” Claire grins at me, turning around.
“Mom! The camera’s over here!” Dylan shouts before pressing a button. He dashes over and takes a seat next to Sam on the floor, “Ok everyone, there’s going to be 20 different photos with 3 second intervals so I want the first two to be nice big smiles and the others can be whatever you want.”
Before we can process what he’s said the camera flash goes off and we stand up straight as if we’ve practised this.
We pull weird faces and pose like movie characters and then all crack up laughing at the absurdity of all our expressions. Once we’re done Dylan grabs his camera and refuses to show us how stupid we look in the photos, ordering us to get out of the house and into the cars. We all bustle out of the house, excited about Dylan’s presentation night and to see what his movie is about. It only comes to our attention a few minutes later that we don’t have enough room for everyone in the cars. This problem is quickly resolved.
“We’ll take my bike.” Jake says, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him.
Before I can object a helmet’s shoved over my head and I’m pushed towards ‘death on wheels’.
“Do you think you can manage that, Hailey?” Claire asks, eyeing my dress worriedly, “One of the boys can give you their seat in the car and they can ride with Jake.”
I can feel Jake’s stare burning into my back, and I bite my lip, “Um, I think I should be ok. We’ll follow from behind, so you guys get going.”
Claire nods as soon as I finish talking and jumps into the passenger seat of the car, “Well we’ll see you there then. Be careful.”
Jake waves at his family as they drive off, in their cars and I turn to him, “Maybe ask me before you shove a helmet over my head and tell me we’re going to ride a bike. I wouldn’t have worn this stupid thing.” I grumble, hiking my dress up around my thighs as I awkwardly try to get onto the bike.
“Well you look beautiful.” He kisses me quickly before grabbing the back of my dress and helping me get on. “You know you wanted to anyway.” He adds with a grin.
I adjust my dress around me and put on the leather jacket Jake hands me, unconsciously breathing in his faint scent. He gets on in front of me and I wrap my arms around his waist and lean into his back, leaving him to presume whatever he wants about my silence.
We scurry into the building; a little bit late due to the whole debacle we had to go through again trying to get me off his stupid bike. I run my fingers through my hair one last time, praying that I don’t have helmet hair and quickly reach up to tousle Jake’s since half of it is standing up on only one side.
He ducks out from under my hands with an annoyed expression, “Leave the hair alone.”
I mirror his face as we stand in the lobby to the hall the presentation is taking place in, “It looks weird.” I reach up again just to spite him and maybe to feel his soft locks against my fingers just one more time. “Lemme just fix it up a little…”
He ducks his head and grabs my wrists in an attempt to stop me pulling me up against him at the same time. “My hair looks awesome all the time.” He says arrogantly, his smile dancing in his eyes.
Sadly, that is very true…
“Young love. How cute.” An old lady murmurs to her husband as they walk past us.
Jake immediately lets go and we each take a synchronised step away from each other, blushing in embarrassment.
Jake sighs as he rubs the back of his neck, “I guess we better go in.”
I nod awkwardly. We can’t really afford to have too much PDA if we want to keep our relationship a secret.
We slip inside the theatre after showing the usher our tickets and stand at the back of the crowded lecture theatre, scanning the chattering crowd for the McLane’s. The low babble of conversation fills our ears, telling us that we’re just on time.
I feel people looking at us curiously, probably wondering what we must have done to give ourselves such a dishevelled appearance. Jake grabs my hand and pulls me down to a row near the front of the stage where a large projector screen has been pulled down.
“We’re here!” Jake tries to placate Claire as she glowers at him from the middle of the row. He takes a seat next to Dylan and I sit down next to him at the end, getting comfortable.
As if a cue has been given, the lights in the building dim and everyone immediately quietens down.
“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for attending Jay Corp’s 50th annual film awards for young artists.” An elderly man says at the podium on stage. He smiles as his gaze sweeps over us as we watch him intently. “My name is Greg Taylor and I am the founder of Jay Corp productions and the creator of this competition which allows youths in our state to display their talent for filmmaking. Thank you all for making it on time tonight as we have a busy schedule to display the talent and creativity of this year’s participants. Before this though, I’d like to say a special thank you to all the people who have made their way from all over the state to attend this awards night and I hope you will all enjoy tonight’s festivities.”
He goes on to talk about the processes everyone has gone through throughout the competition and announcing the top 10 finalists and giving a background profile on each person with the help of a slideshow. Different groups of people cheer according to who comes up on the screen and we go crazy when Dylan’s face pops up.
No one really seems to care that this is a semi-formal event and me and the boys whistle and cat call as Dylan’s hobbies, interests and brief background info comes up.
Soon enough, the old man is back, quieting the crowd with that natural way of his. He smiles warmly at us as he announces that we’ll now be watching all the finalists 10 minute movies.
They’re all actually really good. The storylines flow and the actors and actresses are fantastic. Some make me laugh, some make me cry, it unnerves me that these short films were made by people only in their 20’s.
The viewing goes from 10th place up and as the movies change it’s hard to see how any of them could be placed in any order. They’re just that good.
I wriggle in my seat, impatient to see what Dylan’s done that’s put him so far above these other works of art. I start to fiddle with the skirt of my dress, crumpling it in my fist and smoothing it out periodically. A warm hand slides across my lap and gently pries my hand open, interlacing my fingers with its own. His own.
I look up at Jake as he smiles back at me before nodding his head towards the screen. We both turn back, bracing ourselves for whatever is to come next.
The old guy gets up again after 9 of the 10 films have been shown. “Now, last but definitely not least, we have our winning short movie. Dylan McLane was the creator of this film and we were exceptionally taken by the way he reacted to making it. His different take on how to make this film surprised us and made it stand out just that little bit more in contrast to the other fine short movies we’ve just seen. So without further ado, I give you “Could never live without them”.
The stage goes dark and you can feel the slight buzz of expectation in the air.
The film starts with the bright glare of sunlight giving way to a picturesque scene of a backyard. A familiar face suddenly pops into view upside down.
“Ok, I think I’ve got it.” John says as his eyes peer into the lens. The camera wobbles around a bit and is placed on top of something, facing a large family. John dashes out from behind the camera, diving for his seat next to Claire as she holds an infant in her arms, surrounded by 6 other boys all ranging from pre-schoolers to young adolescents. The McLane family beams at the camera before a flash goes off and the picture turns into a black and white photo, lying on a desk. The title, “Could never live without them” appears on the screen before all goes black.
Some sort of rock song starts up and a picture of a gurgling baby appears on the screen. A photo is thrown on top and then another and then another. The baby in the picture starts to grow little by little as more photos are piled on and soon a recent picture of Tristan’s face is winking out at the audience. His name appears under his face and I smile to myself as I hear him groan in response from next to John.
Next Seth’s pictures of him growing up flick over the screen, then the twins, then Wes and so on till nearly everyone’s introduced. John and Claire are introduced in the same way as well. It’s only been 5 minutes but basically all the McLane’s want to kill Dylan for the hilarious photos he’s managed to get his hands on.
Claire’s still got her head buried in her hands from the photo of her on John’s shoulders as she holds up a potted plant. I wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes as a couple of Jake’s choice photos fill the screen, finishing off with a particularly stupid one where he’s been caught mid-sneeze.
I’m still laughing my butt off along with the rest of the crowd as the McLane’s send Dylan murder-worthy death glare, when a photo of two little toddlers in the bathtub fill the screen.
No.
My smile immediately wipes off my face as I look at Jake. Now he’s grinning back at me, confirming my suspicions as to what is going to happen next. Pictures and photos which I thought I had deleted and completely destroyed come back to haunt me as I relive some especially awkward pre-teen moments before skipping all the way to a picture of me in a pair of random shorts and oversized jacket as I squint at the camera, a birds nest conveniently stuck on top of my head.
Now I’m the one who isn’t laughing.
“I’m going to kill you!” I hiss at Dylan as I lean over Jake, trying to claw his older brother’s eyes out.
The scene changes to show a familiar looking door making me freeze. “Today, I am going to take you on a journey. A journey, into the lives of a rare species known as Mclariolus Giganotosaurus.” Dylan’s voice over fills the room as we watch a hand reach out and open the bedroom door to reveal a sleeping Claire and John snoring in complete synch with each other. “Here have the unusual Clarolus rapturous and her mate Jonarmasarus.” Curious as to where this is going, I forgot my main mission to cripple a certain McLane brother and sit up properly to face the screen. “This extremely rare species has had 9 children in their lifetime and as a result, are extremely tired from having to look after them.” Multiple little videos fill the screen and a door opens in each of them, revealing a different sleeping occupant in non-too flattering positions. “These are their offspring. Fascinating, isn’t it?”
I cover my mouth as a let out a high pitched laugh. Dylan’s awful David Attenborough voice just adds to the hilarity.
My heart immediately sinks inside my chest as I see the door to my room open slowly to reveal Jake and I snoring away like there’s no tomorrow on the floor. “And this would have to be the wild and rarely seen Haleraptasaur – well known for having a strong slap and particularly bad bed hair.” I stare in utter horror at my sleeping form, sprawled across Jake’s lap, both of our heads tilted back, our mouths wide open with similar looking facial expression. “Do not be fooled – this certain species can be extremely vicious if not fed chocolate.” the whole row of McLane’s burst out laughing... along with the rest of the crowd.
“What are these creatures exactly? What is the purpose of the documentary? Join me as we delve into species that has never been so deeply analysed…” The words flow over me as I sit there absolutely appalled at the footage going across the screen.
The movie goes on to depict what is a normal life for 9 boys, 1 girl and 2 ‘rare’ parents, as various home videos are displayed and commentated on, some of which I had no idea were even taken.
The crowd laughs through them though and our row takes turns at laughing at each other before groaning whenever we appear.
I relive some choice moments I’ve either purposely forgotten since coming here or just try not to bring up. There’s Claire and I dancing on the table top and singing Rockin’ Robin, me snoring my head off in front of the stairs… A massive cake fight, John running around the room with Sam over his head. Waking up after falling asleep next to Jake on the floor, running after Dylan and his camera and falling flat on my face as I trip over the laundry... Chasing Wes around the house the day he decided to strap my bras on and go for a run… And of course Sam’s little batman stunt…
As much as there are the mortifyingly embarrassing videos and photos... there’s some sweets ones as well. Like John and Claire’s anniversary dinner, scenes from when we’ve played soccer in the backyard, all of us laughing as we eat dinner. There’s even some videos of us when we were little toddlers, wobbling around on our stubby little legs.
My heart speeds up as I watch baby Jake and I carefully make our way across the living room, trying out our leg muscles– to my mom’s outstretched hands. Jake squeezes my own hands as we watch this particularly distant memory run across the screen and I feel a nostalgic feeling well up in me as I gently smile. All too soon I’m laughing again though as the scenes move on to display the stupidity of many of the boys, including Dylan when he stuck his hand in a sandwich press.
Though it may not sound like an amazing short film, the audience is caught up in the visual side as Dylan’s obvious talent shines through. The transitions blend well and create this little story from a bunch of random videos and I can see what really sets this movie apart from the others.
Dylan’s voice over talks about his immense appreciation for everyone and how he wouldn’t want his family to be any smaller, emphasising how perfectly imperfect we all are. Despite wanting to kick him right between the legs for the embarrassing crap he’s shown of me, I actually feel really touched as he adds me in as part of the family.
“Hailey may not be our biological sister but she may as well be.” The photos he took of us before we left for the awards tonight fades onto the screen, our beaming faces practically shining with how happy we are. “And without her and the rest of my family, I wouldn’t be who or even where I am today.”
The credits abruptly start flashing across the screen and immediate applause bursts throughout the room. I clap along with the crowd, pushing my murderous intentions towards Dylan to the back of my mind for now…
The old man is back at the podium, “Dylan, would you like to come up and say a few words?”
Dylan gets up from his seat and walks up to the podium, followed by the loud chatter and claps of appreciation. Our row stands up in appreciation, clapping above our heads, our hearts swelling with pride as one of our own walks across the stage, receiving the reward he truly deserves.
“To tell you the truth, I entered this competition because a friend told me to.” Dylan says in the microphone as soon as everyone has quietened. “That friend is my dad.” He smiles at John before looking down at the trophy he’s been given and then looking back up, “I wasn’t really sure what my short film was going to be about. But I soon settled on the theme of family since it’s such a big part of my life. Through my film I was trying to convey that family is important when it comes to moulding what kind of person you are. They’re the ones who put up with you, who know every single thing about you… who love you for being you.” His eyes lock with mine, “And it doesn’t matter who they are. Whether they’re your second- cousin twice removed or just the girl next door, they’re all family as long as you think of them that way.” He pauses as he smiles at us, “And that’s about as far as I got with my speech which I wrote in the car on the way here…” the crowd chuckles and Dylan takes a breath, “So, I’d like to call my family out to stand up with me please.” He puts his trophy under his arm and starts to clap, leading everyone else on as we hesitantly get up and start walking towards the stage.
I hesitate slightly but Jake grabs my arm and starts dragging me along, “Didn’t you listen to anything that douche just said Hailey? You’re part of the family too.”
I fail to hide the smile that spreads across my face and I eagerly follow the rest of the McLane’s, feeling so unbelievably glad that I’m considered in this way.
We all stand in a line, facing the crowd and looking at each other happily while Dylan continues. “Dad, mom, thank you for supporting me in everything I’ve ever done and for loving me unconditionally no matter what.” A girl who I notice standing in the wings steps forward and hands him a bouquet of flowers which he then gives to his parents, embracing them warmly. He walks up to each of the boys, giving them each a brotherly hug while presenting them with a small box. He stops in front of me, handing me some flowers and a card and kisses my cheek. My eyes widen in surprise at this gesture but he just winks at me before walking back to the podium.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, can I please have a round of applause for my excellent cast!” The sound from on stage is deafening as the people sitting before us acknowledge our part in Dylan’s win.
I may be Hailey Parker, but I’m just as much a McLane as well.
*
It was only the next morning that I realised that if I’m part of the family that would classify the relationship Jake and I shared as incest. Of course he was the one to point this out and I answered it with a quick slap upside the head before heading downstairs for breakfast.
Despite our late night, getting photos taken and talking to reporters for some newspapers and magazines, most of the older boys [surprisingly] are in the kitchen, cheerfully bustling around, minus the twins who sleep like clockwork till exactly 10:30am on Saturdays. Half an hour to go.
“Morning, guys.” I mumble as I walk into the room, followed by Jake.
I yawn as I grab a bowl from the cupboard and wait to fill it with whatever measly grains of cereal are left after Wes is done with it.
“So how’s Mitch?” I ask conversationally as I watch him dangerously overload his own bowl with cereal…
He freezes, “W-why are you asking me?” he stammers slightly, his blue eyes widening and his ears slowly starting to go red.
I smirk at him, “Oh, I know you two are together. There’s no point hiding it.”
“Dunnowhatyou’retalkingabout.” He mutters under his breath, going back to emptying the cereal box.
I snigger at his flushed expression catching Jake’s own amused smile. Maybe I should enlighten him with Maddy’s soccer baby proposal…
Ding Dong.
“BAGS NOT GETTING IT!”
“Shoddy not!”
“Have laundry to do.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Going to the bathroom.”
I roll my eyes at the stupid excuses as I put my bowl down on the table and make my way towards the front door. I quickly stop in front of the mirror and try to make myself look as presentable as you can get in bedroom attire and shocking bed hair. Don’t want to scare the crap out of whatever poor soul is waiting outside.
I open the door with a hopefully charming smile plastered on my face, “Goodmor–”
I stop short, taking in the appearance of the young man standing in front of me.
His hair is still straight and brown, naturally highlighted with blonde. Those watchful jade green eyes are still flecked with grey and his dimples pop up as he smiles. His high cheekbones have become more defined, making him absolute model material and he seems to have lost his childlike appearance.
He’s grown up a lot since I last saw him. His boyish looks are more chiselled off and finished. He’s gotten way taller, a bit more defined in the muscle section, but other than that this could have been any normal day when he was coming over to pick me up.
That is, until I remember I’m in America.
I slam the door in his face and turn back around, walking calmly to the kitchen. All eyes are trained on me as soon as I walk into the room but I ignore them grabbing my bowl and the box Wes is still emptying and give myself a generous helping of cereal.
A million thoughts rush through my head though, despite my cool demeanour.
What the hell is he doing here? Why now? He could have called – not that I would have picked up… But he’s in America. How did he know I’d be here? I only told him once where I lived…and I never mentioned the McLane’s…
“Who was at the door?” Dylan asks, from behind the fridge door before chugging down the newest carton of milk.
Seriously? That one actually had my name on it in freaking permanent marker. These boys know no boundaries.
“No one.” I mumbled, “Wrong door.”
Seth raises an eyebrow as he grabs the cereal box from across the table, “Really? Your squeaky voice says otherwise.”
I immediately start clearing my throat, “Ugh, haven’t been feeling too well this morning. But I’m so hungry!” I look down at my overflowing bowl, desperate for a distraction, “But who wants this crap, am I right? Stuff cereal! Let’s have nachos! I haven’t had nachos in ages! Wow, that’s fun to say. Nachos. Na-chos. Come on,” I nudge Jake’s shoulder as he sits down at the table, “Say it with me Na–”
Ding Dong.
“Crap.” I mutter under my breath. I start to rush for the door but Wes beats me to it, leaving me to close my eyes and walk back to the kitchen.
The first time one of them actually gets the door out of their own accord is the one time when I don’t want them to!
I huddle behind the kitchen counter and squeeze my eyes shut, rubbing my temples as I send telepathic message to Wes to turn hulk and chuck the guy outside across the street.
“Hey, what can I do for you?”
Dammit Wes! GO HULK! SMASH HIM!
“Um, can I talk to Hailey please?” His familiar voice travels down the hallway and hits me square in the chest.
I start rubbing my temples even harder, banging my forehead against the cupboards in hopes of getting the message across to Wes, despite the worried stares I’m getting.
The idiot walks back into the room his eyes searching for me before landing on my huddled form, glaring at him from behind the counter…
“He wants to talk to you.” He says looking at me suspiciously.
“I’m not here!” I hiss making shooing motions at him.
“He wants to talk to you.” He repeats again.
“Tell him I’m busy!”
“Why?”
“Because!”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Just tell him!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Fine!”
I get up, quickly wrapping my hair around my face in an attempt to cover it and pull my jumper over my head to make a dementor style hood. I dash for the window behind the dining table and shove it open before trying to jump through it. Hands grab my legs, stopping me half way.
“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Jake growls at me as he tries to pull me back in.
I claw at the back veranda, half in, half out, trying to get my legs free so I can pull myself through. “I don’t want to talk about it!”
“What the hell are you on?!”
“I need to hide in those bushes – get rid of him!”
“Jesus Hailey. You should know not to take random powder from strangers!”
“Um, maybe I shouldn’t have come here…” an unsure voice interrupts quietly.
I freeze in place, peeking over my shoulder slightly to see the exact guy I’ve been trying to avoid.
Matt.
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Bam! And there you have it - Cliffhanger.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter - i wasn't particularly happy with it... but i hope you liked it all the same :)
Thank you to As_the_world_ends for helping me write the end of this chapter :)
Now, exams are on Tuesday! So no uploading for quite a while! They go for a week and then we start year 11 classes so i'm not sure when i'll be uploading again - but it definitly won't be next week...
So sit tight! I'll be back soon! :D And if possible - please refrain from telling me how slowly i upload - i already know... and i'm sorry.
That's all for now!
xxxsteph