*Sam POV*
"Who the fuck do you think you are getting tattoos today of all days!"
Dad, Ben and I sat on my brother's bed with our hands in our laps and our heads down, all of us looking like mistreated puppies while my mother stood in front of us acting like there was a ring of fire around her head as she shouted at us. Jade sat on the chair we had placed her in back when she was bounded which she no longer was. Instead she sat cross legged, stroking her newly found pet bunny while smirking as she listened to my mother's yelling as if it was music.
"Do you realize how deep in hard core shit you are in right now, Benjamin?"
Oh shit she called him by his longer name.
"Don't go smirking at me, Sam. You were there when it happened. I know you little shit are the brains between the two of you. You put him up to this, didn't you?" DIDN'T YOU?" I shrugged and kept my gaze down, unwilling to meet mom in the eyes.
"Elle, I know you're angry but it's 2:30 in the morning and Jade has a performance tomorrow. Shouldn't we go to bed-"
"Shut your trap Rob! I am just as pissed off with you as I am with those shit heads!" I had to gulp back a laugh at mom's new nickname for us. She was getting more creative with her colorful nicknames by the minute.
"You bound my baby up like she was some preppy pimp. How dare you!" The three of us glanced over at Jade glaringly as she dropped the smirk and cuddled closer to her bunny rabbit.
"In all honesty mom, I was going to get these tattoos at some point in my life already. I just sped up the process." I internally cursed at my brother for speaking again as I watched mom get set off again about the tattoos.
"You were grounded! Why were you out late? Rob, why were they out late?"
"Elle I have no idea. Normally they listen to our judgement..." Dad cut in only to be interrupted by the little princess herself.
"The longer you believe that statement is true the worse our problems will become. First it was paint, then it was shaving Mr. Daphine's cat then it was burning down all of Mrs. Ander's poppies and then it was that time that Ben blew up that..."
"Mom, Dad, what Jade is getting at is that you both never truly enforced our punishments. We just did whatever because we knew that you guys would cool off the next morning and we could go on doing what we wanted to do." I stated in a level tone.
I watched as mom and dad had a silent conversation with their eyes before mom broke it with the classic word shit.
"Elle it'll all be fine tomorrow. We will all just be a happy little family watching our daughter perform. We don't even need to bring Ben along. His door still has a lock on it..."
"Actually the lock is busted and Sam and I have figured out a way to climb in and out of the window." Ben stated stupidly making me glare his way.
"Are you trying to make us both go to an early grave because if you are, then you are succeeding beautifully." Ben quickly looked back to his hands on his knees and went silent.
It was at that moment that things went wrong. Mom was silent which was weird and Dad was no longer sitting on the bed which was normally a bad idea when mom was still pissed off. Jade seemed to feel the change too because she glanced at me with her usual blank look of what the fuck is going on expression.
I have something to tell you all." Mom said grimly causing everyone to turn towards her curiously.
"What's the matter Elle? What's going on?" Dad asked cautiously while Ben whispered the usual baby scare rumor. Thankfully it was not that type of a scare. It was worse.
"Eleonora is coming tomorrow to watch Jade perform. She expects to see you all there too with stories to tell."
Holy Hell we're screwed
*Lucy POV*
6 hours later
When I woke up this morning, I felt the expected nerves-before-show going through my stomach alongside a hyper buzz that must have been my excitement in match. I was a jittery mess. I slide out of bed and immediately slide down to a split on my yoga mat that was situated a foot away from my bed. My phone sat on my book shelf, charging through the night, which I grabbed and then turned to my warm up playlist. When the first song from Adele came on I exhaled softly before switching splits.
In order to be ready to perform I had to be in the perfect state of calm. I had to stay away from people until I had to leave for the studio for warm up call and so I had hoped that my two hours before ten would be used to help me meditate and be comfy. But alas, I think God was in the mood to screw with me today.
I was happily meditating while listening to my meditating playlist when my door opened loudly to reveal my mother. She was already changed for the day and had her hair down which was unusual. She never liked brushing her hair out and would try to skip the task if possible.
"Lucy I need your help." She stated as she walked into my room and started toward my closet.
"What are you doing? And what do you need my help for?" I asked as I slowly got out of my crossed legged state.
"Rob and Elle have a big problem involving Ben and they have to look like a preppy family for the weekend. Where did I put that garbage bag of preppy clothes?"
There were only a few times in the entire year where Jade's family needed to change their appearance to meet the needs of a certain someone. And if I was right in guessing who this special someone was, well then my ritual of being cool and calm before ten was going to be a failure. A big failure.
"Is Eleonora coming by?" I asked, dreading the answer. Mom poked her head out of the door to my closet and nodded grimly. I groaned and fell to the ground.
"Let me guess, you want me to bring the clothes over to them."
"I want you to bring the clothes over to them," Mom said in confirmation.
Screw this.
15 minutes later
I opened the door to the Landrith's house with the garbage bag of clothes over my shoulder and promptly stopped to gawk at the entrance way. It looked like my house in almost every way but it was Emerson style.
They had moved one of their bed side tables into the hall and had place a vase filled with dying roses on it. The floor was now covered by a rug that I think was supposed to be in Jade's room seeing as it was the shade of a jade green. There were no shoes on the stairs nor any smudges of dirt on the painted walls like normal. The pictures of Elle and Rob in dancing gear were changed to pictures of the different Landriths holding uncomfortable white family positions such as the twins holding hands while trying to pull off the "I love my twin" shtick while another showed Jade sitting in a patch of daisies with her bunny rabbit. The photographer must have been smart to not show her face all the way because I am sure Jade would have been unable to fake the whole "daughter of the valley" look. Another picture was of Elle, Rob and their eldest daughter Ivy who wore her high school graduation cap and gown. I remember Daniel taking that picture for them. It was the only one he took that looked normal. The rest involved them yelling at the camera or Ivy's personal favorite: stomping on her diploma.
But the best picture on the wall was a trademark fake family with their heads chopped off to be replaced with the heads of the Landrith family.
"Holy hell their trying to pull off a new level of white family." I muttered to myself as I took another glance at the family photo.
"It's hilarious, right?" I turned toward the voice to find Sam standing on the stairs with a book in his hands. He was still in his plaid pajamas with his black hair ruffled up on the side. He didn't seem to have had much sleep.
"How long have you guys been up doing this?" I asked in surprise while watching him slowly walk down the rest of the stairs.
"Not long actually. I just woke up. But mom on the other hand has been up the entire night I think. Hey, do you think this book would look nice by the flowers?" I came up to him and glanced at the cover of the book titled "How to construct your own lightsaber with a bong".
I chuckled as I read the title and nodded subtly. Sam placed the book on the beat-up bed side table and then turned back to me.
"So is that my wardrobe for the weekend?" I dropped the garbage bag at my feet and opened the top revealing clothes that used to belong to Daniel and some new stuff that Harper generously bought for them.
"Some of it is. Hope you're in the mood for pastels and strips." Sam groaned and slowly walked up to the bag and started to dig through it.
"I am not wearing pastels," I heard him mutter as he took out a pair of jeans styled with the Vans logo on it.
"I am sure you would look lovely in pastels, Sam. You needn't worry about it," I said with some amusement as I watched him riffle through the colorful shirts. He grabbed a navy-blue polo shirt with a white symbol of the brand on the side and placed it next to the pants.
"This is okay, right?" He asked, showing me the clothes together. I bent down toward the bottom of the bag and pulled out a J. crew belt with navy blue starfish printed over a lighter blue fabric. When he saw the belt, he gave me a look but took it anyway.
"Is there any long sleeves down there in the bag?" A groggy Ben called from the stairs. I looked down at the clothes only to find one long sleeve jacket from vineyard vines in the colors pink and blue. When I pulled it out Sam scoffed at it before grabbing it from me and taking it up to his brother.
"Oh look Benny, it matches your eyes!" Sam called out as he went to their shared room. When the door shut, I was once again in the strongly quiet Landrith house so I started up to Jade's room with the bag of clothes.
When I knocked on the door there was no answer so I slowly opened it to find Jade still asleep. I sighed and closed the door after putting out a royal blue dress with a matching hair band.
She's not going to like it but who cares. She'll do it for that Eleonora.
When I turned away from Jade's door I was met with Elle with curlers in her hair. Dark circles were visible under her light skin causing her to look momentarily drained.
"Good, you brought those costumes. Have the kids picked out their outfits yet?" I nodded and explained to her what I did for Jade before handing over the rest of the bag to her. She took it as if a dead animal was inside it.
Suddenly the doorbell rang causing Elle to jump and turn toward the door in horror.
"That can't be her right? The show is not until 12." Rob's voice sounded from their room. Elle turned to me helplessly seeing as she was still in her sleepwear and I knew I had no choice so I slowly walked down the steps and opened the door.
Mrs. Eleonora Emerson is one of those types of people that you normally meet only once in your life and when you do, you either wish to be like said person at their age or you can't stand them and hate every detail of their lives. I had only met her a few times so far seeing as she was never in the states for long. The woman was from Elle's father's side of the family. They were extremely rich people and had I guess expected their only son to marry in the rich world. He didn't because he disliked all the money and decided to do what he loved best, serve his country. When he died, Eleonora took pity on Emily, Elle's mom, and offered to help support her on raising her three children, Zoë, Cody and Elle. When they grew up and had their own families, Eleonora decided to keep in touch with the family until she couldn't any longer. But she was somehow still here at age 99 keeping track of the family. I guess when Elle and Rob got married and both decided to become dancers and raise a family, Eleonora offered to help them in exchange of coming to the family reunions she decided upon and to as well make sure that the family was growing up in a "proper" way.
The Landriths have never been described as proper so I guess it was understandable when Elle begged for Rosie and Harper to help, that they both did when it came to wardrobe.
The woman was a small woman unlike the rest of her family who were all gigantic and had pixie like features that the entire family did possess. Her hair was naturally white and cut in an old-fashioned bob with curls noticed from all angles.
When I saw her today guarded by a younger woman in a pant suit and a bigger guy holding a suitcase in one hand and a shopping bag from Hermes in the other, Eleonora stood in front of me at 4'11 with her chin up in the air, her eyes sharply blue as they looked me up and down. She wore an orange suit that looked like something a wealthy woman would wear at that age with a matching orange and many shaded blue scarf that wrapped around her neck and was tucked nicely in her jacket, barely showing off the pearls around her throat. Her hand bag for the day was one of the shades of blue from the scarf and her shoes were navy like the bracelets she wore on her wrists.
I was pretty sure that everything she wore that day was worth more than the house she was about to step into.
"You're not one of them. Who are you? Their helping hand?" She demanded, glancing up at me confused and very judgmental. I was taken a back for a moment to answer. The women in the pantsuit behind Eleonora quickly stepped down to Eleonora's level and spoke quiet gingerly in what sounded like a French accent.
"That's their neighbor. Lucille Annamarie.." The way the woman said this news made me think that Eleonora made her help keep a track record of everyone in the neighborhood. I realized that the possibility of this being true was very passible.
"Oh yes! I remember you! Oh, Lucille you have gotten so much more elegant since I last saw you. But I absolutely hate your clothes. Why did you choose to dress like that?" I looked down at my yoga pants and dance team shirt from the summer two years ago and smiled coyly back down at the old woman.
"These are my pjs Eleonora. I don't normally wear this out in front of guests." I replied kindly only to get a wide eye look back from her.
"You spent the night here? With those good for nothing twins present?"
"Grandmother Emerson! Did you call me?" Sam's voice was heard from the stairs. I watched with relief as Eleonora's expression changed from judgement to amusement as she locked eyes with her great-grandson. I turned to face him too as he started down the stairs and I almost gagged at his outfit. It was so unlike him that it was comical. He noticed my expression and winked at me before coming up to his great-grandmother and hugging her in welcome.
"God almighty boy! You have gotten taller! You have to stop growing or else every girl will love you." She stated with amusement after he let her go.
"It's too late on that one grandmother Emerson. Sam and I are pretty popular at school." Ben stated as he skipped on down the stairs in the ridiculous sweatshirt. Eleonora took one look at the jacket and scoffed before replying that no attention will be placed on him with that god awful jacket on.
The moment Ben's charming smile left his face was the moment Sam and I started having trouble holding back a laugh.
"Now where are you parents boys? Where are your sisters? I must see Jade. The girl has to tell me how she expects to pull off this show with cheap pointe shoes on." Eleonora stated regally.
Ben turned toward the stairs.
"Mom! Dad! Grandmother Emerson is here!"
"Hold your tongue boy! I can't have you yelling in my ear like that. It's too early for sure a volume. And why is there no one taking my things from me? Am I supposed to just stand by the open door like a beggar or can I get some form of hospitality here?" She asked with her usual judgmental air back on. Ben quickly shut his trap while I motioned her toward her family's living room which was also clean. Sam had taken the bags out of the bigger guy's arms and motioned them as well to the living room.
"Ben why don't you make me some tea instead of wasting space by the stairs." Eleonora stated crisply, making Ben rush off to the kitchen. Sam clicked his iPod into the speakers set by the tv and started to play a soft jazz music. I was shocked with how smooth the guy was on pleasing Eleonora.
"For God's sake Lucille, be my entertainment and sit down before I get bored and die." I quickly rushed and took a seat next to Sam who was smiling coyly at me.
The big guy and the woman sat on the coach beside Eleonora who sat by herself in the nicest arm chair in the room. She was studying both Sam and I with a stern look making me look at Sam hesitantly.
"What is she doing?" I whispered to him, only to get a shrug in response.
"Probably guessing how much my outfit is worth compared to yours." I scoffed in reply and was thankfully saved from talking when Ben came in, carrying a tray of tea cups and a tea pot that I assumed was only used when Eleonora came to visit because the idea that Elle could have possibly owned this for her own use was beyond me.
"Oh, you stupid boy. Why did you choose the coffee pot over the tea pot? Don't you know the difference?" Eleonora asked, only to get assured by Sam that the tea pot was chipped and that Ben was only watching out for her.
While Ben started giving out tea to everyone, it was Eleonora's turn to speak.
"So tell me you two," she said staring down at Sam and I, "how long have you been dating?" I harshly slammed my tea cup to the matching plate while Sam started choking on his tea.
"Oh grandmother Eleonora! I am glad to see you!" Elle said in a chirpy voice as she entered the room, saving both Sam and I from the worst possible conversation today.
Eleonora took one look at Elle, who was all dressed up, and scoffed.
"You have been neglecting your duty as hostess, Eleanor! And I have to speak to you about those two over there." She said pointing at Sam and me.
"Why does this always happen to us?" I muttered so that only Sam could hear.
"The woman's crazy. Just smile. I'm sure my mom will get us out of this." He replied with an edge to his voice.
Elle stood glancing at her son and me with quizzical eyes before returning to look at her grandmother, smiling.
"Oh grandma it's fine! They aren't dating. We haven't suspected anything from those two since we caught them sleeping together on Halloween."
I quickly stood up, dropping my tea cup on the side table and said a quick thank you for the tea before running off out of the room.
I heard a commotion from the living room and the loud voice of Eleonora but couldn't care less.
As I headed for the house door I was stopped by a sleepy-eyed Jade who was half way down the stairs when she stopped to gawk at me.
"Why is your face red? And why are you here?" She said then turning behind me. I turn to notice that Sam had followed me out of the living room and was glaring at his sister.
"Eleonora is causing problems and mom is adding gas to the fire. I suggest you do not go in there right now." He stated in an agitated voice. Before I could hear a response from Jade I opened the front door and rushed out, just wanting to go back home.
"Lucy! Wait!" I turned around dreading the confrontation. Sam walked up to me with his mouth in a grim line. He too was slightly red in the face.
"Hey, don't worry about what Eleonora said or what mom said. She probably feels bad now that you ran off so I'm sure she will smooth it all out again." I chuckled with a sarcastic flare and turned back toward the way to my house.
"Don't worry about it Sam. I'll see you at the performance."
And with that I ran all the way home feeling absolutely mortified.
I had seriously wanted only to have some calm and relaxing two hours before warm up call but oh no, God just had to screw me over.