Warning: Strong Language and Sexual References!
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Chapter Three: Harper vs. Harper
"Aunt Bella!" Ary was awoken to two little monsters jumping on top of her and none too gently, either.
Micah and Stella had taken over her and Maddie's old bedrooms since Scarlett had moved back home. Because of this, Ary had ended up just tossing a passed out Maddie on the couch in the front living room and she had crashed on the couch in the family room.
"Get off me," Ary grumbled. She shoved the children off of her and rolled over so that she was facing the back of the couch.
"You might want to get yourself cleaned up before Mom gets up," Scarlett told her, standing in the entryway between the kitchen and the family room.
"I showered last night," Ary replied, snuggling against the couch.
"You smell like vomit," Scarlett shot back as she ushered her children into the kitchen for breakfast.
"That would be Mom's favorite jacket, which is laying in the kitchen sink," Ary sighed. She finally gave up on going back to sleep and sat up on the couch.
"You puked all over Mom's favorite jacket!? As if she's not mad at you enough as it is!" Scarlett gave Ary an incredulous look.
"Oh yes, because I'm such an alcoholic," Ary groaned as she stretched out her body. The tumble with the dumpster last night was finally catching up to her.
"Well then, what happened to Mom's jacket?" Scarlett huffed, placing her hands on her hips.
"Princess Smartypants stole it and hucked up all over it last night," Ary explained as she rose to her feet.
"Mads? She was at a friend's studying last night," Scarlett challenged.
Normally, there would be no doubt that Maddie was indeed studying. She had been the girl that would study all night for every single test. There were only a handful of times that she had actually gone out in high school, and even then she rarely drank.
"Oh yes, she was studying the ways of how to get date raped at a club," Ary snorted with laughter. "Seriously, if you don't believe me then go check out her slutted up self on the couch in the front room," Ary told her older sister.
Scarlett gave her a doubtful look, but she left the room just the same. What a relief it was to see her go. Scarlett was becoming worse than their mother.
Ary didn't wait for Scarlett to return for any confirmation on Maddie's condition. She headed upstairs to the bathroom, which was now dominated by toys and strawberry flavored toothpaste, to clean up a bit.
She checked on her bruise and winced at the sight. If it had been gruesome last night, it was downright horrendous this morning. It looked like she was growing a second head. She was only thankful that she hadn't decided to chop all of her hair off over kid summer, like she usually did, and it was long enough to cover the hideous beast.
After she quickly rinsed out her mouth with some bubblegum flavored mouthwash she headed back downstairs. The couch in the front room was empty and the shower in the main floor bathroom was running so she figured that Scarlett had convinced Maddie to go wash off the smell of booze, vomit, and desperation.
"You know this is your fault," Scarlett told her as soon as she stepped into the kitchen.
"Oh, is it now?" Ary asked, barely even saying attention. She walked right passed Scarlett and grabbed her cell phone off of the coffee table in the family room.
She quickly checked her phone. She had about a dozen missed calls and texts from Rave. He was doing the smothering thing again. Couldn't she go one day without him demanding to know where she was and what she was doing?
"If you hadn't have told Maddie to break up with Beau, they'd be getting married next month and Maddie wouldn't be out partying to sooth a broken heart," Scarlett snapped as she sipped on her coffee.
Ary let out a heavy sigh. There was something seriously wrong with the fundamental make up of the women in her family. Scarlett should be worried about taking care of her children and Maddie should be focusing on school. Why did they think that they needed a man to make their lives better? Men just complicated things further.
"Yes, because everyone should marry the first guy they meet. It worked out splendidly for you," Ary said, giving her sister a cocky smirk.
Scarlett was pissed. If this were a cartoon, she would have steam blowing out from her ears. Ary knew that calling Scarlett out on her failed marriage was a bad idea, but Ary had never been known for her tactful discussions. She wasn't one to take things lying down, and Scarlett knew that.
"You're such a bitch, Bella! You think you're better than everyone else when in reality you're more fucked up than the rest of us!" Scarlett accused.
"The most fucked up thing about me is my family," Ary stated, giving Scarlett another grin.
"Arabella!"
Ary groaned. This was all she needed to make her day perfect. A loving confrontation with her mother.
"Arabella, what were you thinking!?" Juliana yelled at her. "It's one thing for you to go out and do God knows what, but to involve your sister in your messy life?"
"It's more fun with other people around," Ary shrugged.
"This isn't a joke! This is your sister's future!" Juliana snapped at her.
"And she's free to make up her own mind about it," Ary retorted. "You told her to marry Beau, I told her to stay in school. She made her own choice. You're just pissed that she didn't obey your orders, like usual," she said, rolling her eyes.
"You ungrateful brat!" Juliana shouted at her.
"Mom, leave her alone!" Maddie surprised everyone by yelling at their mother. She was freshly showered and wearing actual clothes, and not just a flimsy piece of fabric. "None of this was Bella's fault. I went out partying by myself," she stated.
Juliana looked startled and at a complete loss for words. She was used to Ary challenging her and sometimes even Scarlett, but Maddie? She had never talked back to their mother a day in her life. Maddie had almost married a guy just because their mother wanted her to. It was strange to see her standing up to Juliana.
"Well, what was Bella doing there in the first place?" Juliana demanded, once she had recovered the will to speak. No where in Juliana's world could Ary be anything other than the villain.
"I work as a stripper on the weekends," Ary replied dryly.
Juliana and Scarlett looked at her like they were inclined to believe her. Yes, the jeans and flannel was just a ruse. She thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in corsets and thongs. Clothes were her passion, stripping for hairy, fat, old men was just a bonus. She rolled her eyes. Her family would believe she was a hooker before they believed anything else.
"I called Bella and asked her to come get me," Maddie said, shooting Ary a seething look.
"Why were you out partying in the first place?" their mother demanded. "That is so unlike you, Madeleine," she gave her middle daughter a seemingly sympathetic look.
They all knew that Juliana knew the exact reason why Maddie felt the need to go out and get drunk. Juliana just liked playing the unsuspecting mother. It worked to her advantage so she could use her shocked face. She loved to do things over-the-top.
"I needed a night off. I spent the summer fighting with Beau and his family, and....I just needed a night off," she sighed.
"If you're missing Beau that much, maybe you should call him and try and work things out," Scarlett told Maddie, trying to be helpful.
"My break up with Beau isn't what is making my life complicated, it's you and Mom nagging me about Beau that's making me feel awful!" Maddie snapped at Scarlett.
Ary didn't normally enjoy the fights between the female members of her family, but this one just took a very interesting turn. Maddie was actually defending herself. The world would surely be coming to an end soon.
"Honey, we just want what's best for you," Juliana said, playing the part of the concerned mother to a T.
"No you don't. You just want me to marry a Calhoun so we can become some sort of white trash royalty," Maddie spat. She was pissed.
"Madeleine, I would never-" Juliana began to protest.
"Mom! Stop it." Maddie stopped Juliana from continuing her speech. "I am almost twenty-four. I can make decisions about my own life. This is what I choose," she assured them all.
"Madeleine, you think you know what's best, but you're still young," Juliana told her.
"I'm not going to fight with you guys anymore. I'm going to go back to Chicago," Maddie stated, trying to keep her cool. She almost looked like an actual adult. "Come on, Bella, I need a ride," she stated, before storming out of the house.
Ary wasn't much of a follower, but she was just so shocked by what her normally docile sister had done that she trailed after Maddie like a dumbstruck puppy. It was truly a terrific day for the Harper family.
"I can't believe you stood up to Mom like that," Ary told Maddie as they got into the Jeep.
"Mom is a bully. Did you know that Scar went to her a couple years ago when Daniel first hit her and Mom's advice was to do more things to make Daniel happy," Maddie grumbled, folding her arms across her chest and slouching down in the seat.
"That sounds like our mom," Ary agreed, starting the Jeep and backing out of the driveway.
"I can't believe I wasted all of that time trying to work things out with Beau. I knew things between us wouldn't work out when he didn't take the idea of me going to med school seriously," she said, silently beating herself up over it.
"Hey, at least you didn't actually listen to him. You could be working as a nurse right now," Ary pointed out.
"How do you do that?" Maddie asked, out of no where.
"Do what?" Ary was confused.
"How do you just shrug everything off without a care? How do you not worry about life?" Maddie demanded.
"Life isn't that hard, Mads. People just make it out that way," Ary shrugged.
"You don't have any problems in your life?" Maddie asked, in disbelief.
"I never said that. I do share your mother, remember?" Ary gave her sister a pointed look.
"You don't care that Mom sees you as some giant screw up?" Maddie challenged.
"Not really, no." Ary shook her head. "Mom doesn't know anything about me or my life, so why should her opinions about a subject she knows nothing about, bother me?"
"Nobody knows anything about you because you're always so secretive," Maddie stated.
"That's true," Ary agreed.
"You're such a pain in the ass," Maddie grumbled.
"That is also true," Ary said, grinning.
For the first time in a long time, Ary was feeling relieved. She had come to terms with the fact that her family would never be proud of her and would always think lowly of her. It was a weird feeling to have her sister defend her. It made her feel a little less alone.
"I hope you know that I will be meeting this boyfriend of yours in the very near future," Maddie stated, firmly.
And the relief was gone.
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Sorry there wasn't any Ary and Rave action, but the drama with Ary's family is never dull!
Thank you for reading. I'm in a pretty good mood so there's a chance I might be uploading again today. Yay!