A chapter in a book

Chapter 7

The next morning, we woke up and headed straight to brunch at a place right on Lemonakia beach. The bright blue ocean and pure white beaches were enough to get me out of bed quickly, leaving behind the intense conversations I had the night before. Marcus and Louis nabbed us a table while the twins and I went for a quick stroll down the beach. We planned out what we wanted to do for the rest of the day and finally met up with the others. I'm just appreciative that they haven't ordered any alcoholic beverages. The brunch place is crowded, with a line out the door and about twenty waiters wandering around the beautiful outdoor eating area. Once we take our seats, I choose out what I want to eat. The menu has a whole bunch of stuff in Greek, but with English translations. Must be a tourist spot. I read the Greek anyways, to keep my language skills in check. Perhaps I'll even order in Greek.
"Hello everyone, my name is Astra and I'll be your waitress today." A beautiful blonde woman says, approaching our table. Well she certainly has caught the boys' eyes.
"Hello." Marcus uses his trademarked greeting. "I think we'll need a few more minutes on food but drinks, lads?"
We nod in agreement. The twins order Ouzos, Marcus orders an iced tea, Louis doubles that order, and I ask for just water. It's about time I start getting shape. Not saying that I'm not out of shape, but I'm not in shape either. My six-pack has always been a six pack of donuts not abs. Once I've settled on a nice salad, my gaze turns to the rest of the restaurant. It's a bit more difficult than expected to distinguish tourists from natives. Perhaps that due to the overwhelming number of tourists in the place. The only true Greeks here are the waiters. And my, oh my, look at some of the outfits these people are wearing. There are your stereotypical American tourists wearing Hawaiian shirts and swinging cameras around their necks. Then there are the strangely proper looking adults with their careless and casual children. Plus, would you look at that hat that woman is wearing. It looks like something my mother would wear. She's got an entire closet just for hats. I think it's a rich person thing. She spends so much money on anti-ageing treatments that to allow her face to see the sun would be an absolute waste of money. Taking a better look, it actually does look like a hat she owned once.
Then the lady turns her head. From the shade of her lipstick, I know I'm fucked. Squeaking and jumping out of me seat and behind Marcus, the boys are a bit frightened by my sudden burst of energy.
"Luce, you alright?" Marcus asks slowly, turning his head to speak to me. I squint to get a better luck at them. There my mum is, sitting with dad and Alex, eating an omelet. My luck just can't get any worse.
"Look out discreetly at the table next to the lady wearing all pink." My words are stern and stiff. Marcus turns back around, looking out into the bustling scene that this hotspot is. After a moment, he sees it and lets out a very appropriate, "SHIT!" The other boys, hearing what I told Marcus and noticing his reaction, all turn to find what we have discovered. The sudden movement and shouting from Marcus and me brings in attention, including the attention of my brother. Luckily, not my parents. At first, he looks confused as if he can't recognize us. But then he gets a better look and his jaw drops for an instant before he recovers. Alex starts to blink rapidly, a habit he's had for years whenever he is being dismissive of a bad event going on. It used to happen all the time when he'd stand guard outside the kitchen while I snuck sweets out of the candy cabinet. Although I can't hear what my parents are saying to him, I'm positive that they know something is up.
"Marci, I've got to go. Now." I say seriously, grabbing my bag and listening to him agree. The others look mighty confused, except for jack.
"Isn't that your brother, Lucy?" He asks, looking for confirmation from his twin. Finn nods, validating it. Then, realization settles over. Jacks grin widens in amazement.
"Are those your parents?"
Finn laughs, clapping his hands. "Oh we've got to go meet them." They both stand up, not realizing how dangerous and terrible a situation this is. Marcus shoves them all back before they take a single step.
"Oh come on, mate. Got to embarrass little Luce." Louis says, winking at me.
There aren't even any words. I'm planning my escape route now. How can I get out without them noticing?
"Guys, you don't know the whole story. This is not okay, and we'll explain later." Marcus says, appropriately worried by the new situation. I cannot even fathom the atrocity it would be if they caught me. Marcus hands me my phone and tells me to for a walking trip and meet them outside the souvenir shop at noon. Then, I make my way towards the exit. If only the fences weren't so high. They are just a tad too talk for me to jump over without attracting unwanted attention. Maneuvering my way around the bustling waiters, my eyes are planted on the ground. As long as my face is out of sight, I've got a chance. My hearts pounding like crazy. What are they even doing here?! Just a couple more tables Lucy. You've almost made it. Once you are out of sight, you can text Alex and set up a time to fill him in on everything. My impromptu trip was too quickly thrown together to be included in our weekly phone calls. Making a curve to the left, the strong and powerful low voice hits me like a brick.
"Lucy. Is that you?" My dad asks, removing his napkin from his lap and placing it on the table. There's no way I can run now. He'd catch up to me or find me some how else. Spinning around slowly, I watch the thin line my mother's lips make as an everyday expression move into a furious frown. I'm so fucked.
"Lucy Jane Moore, I demand an explanation immediately." Mum says, causing my brother give me an extremely sympathetic expression. At least he tried his best. Mums narrow eyes mean I'm in for it. Taking a seat in the empty chair, all eyes are on me. I know Marcus is over with the boys planning out some way to kidnap me.
"It's nice to see you too, mother." I say, looking down at the table and hoping for the best.
"Do you think this is funny?" My mum says sternly. She never shouts in public. That would be much too improper. "You left the house in rebellious and ridiculous way of joy riding. We settled on you deferring your first year of college as long as you stayed studious. This does not look studious to me. And also, I've been informed by Mrs. Birch that you left your home. Do you have any good explanation for any of this?"
"I'm on a vacation...?" I ask, my tone getting higher to make it a question. Not a good move.
"This is absolutely unacceptable. To think we spent so much time and money getting you the best education and best life we could, just so you could throw it away in a single year. This island trip is the last straw." Mum hisses. But still, never raising her voice.
"What do you mean last straw?" I ask, not remembering any previous anger. Sure, in the three phone calls she gave me these past five months, she was not exactly ecstatic about my experiencing the world, but that never included her counting down my eligible mistakes.
"Brian, please fill her in." Mum says, handing the problem over to dad. He obviously didn't want to be a part of this argument, but mum dragged him in and he can't say no to her or he'll be under interrogation. Rather me than him, right?
"Your mother and I having been thinking, and we both think that it would probably be best if you came back home-"
"WHAT!"
"Listen, we know that you've enjoyed experiencing Scotland, but we have no idea where you've been the last month and we'd feel a lot better if you came home. It's the best choice for you as well. You can continue your studies and research your college acceptances to choose which one you want to go to."
"You mean she wants to keep me on lockdown to make sure I'm not the disappointment of the family?" My voice has raised to a level that mother deems inappropriate. I'm pushing her even further now.
"You have been reckless, Lucy." Mum says, taking over again. "And you've been wasting precious time. You are falling behind everyone else. While your first year of college is already done because of those credits, you've done nothing to prepare for the real world."
"And what is this? This is my life, mum." My arms raise in exasperation. "You can't coordinate classical piano lessons for me anymore or force me to galas and business meetings. Maybe I don't want to get a big name job. Maybe I don't want to be in business at all. Hell, maybe I don't even want to go to college!"
That's when mother's eyes go extremely wide and her knuckles turn white. I've crossed the line and she's not going to take it. This is the worst thing I could have possibly said.
"You are going to college, and because I am kind and patient, I let you wait, but in September, you will be attending school whether you want to or not." Her voice is cold. It's like when she found out dad was screwing his secretary. It was real original, she had said in that same piercing tone.
"I want to go, but I want to go when I want to. I'm not going just because you say I am." I say, my eyes pleading for her to understand. My offense isn't helping any and the only way I'll get out alive is if I try and reason with her.
"This has been quite enough. Whether or not you want to explain to us where you have been or what you've been doing these past few weeks, it's about time we start heading out." Dad says, standing up and leaving money on the table. My mother is so furious she can't even show some sort of communicative acknowledgment. She simply stands up.
"We are all going to take the next flight back to New York." She says, joining my father and beginning the walk out of the restaurant. Alex stands up, looking sorrier than ever. I'm just about in tears now. Getting out of my seat and beginning to walk, he tries to tell me that everything will be alright, and I'll be free again in no time, but it's not helpful. I've crossed too far over the line. It can't get any worse than this.
Oh wait. Here's something worse.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Moore." Marcus says, waving and stepping into their path. I commend him for being so brave. "Funny seeing you here, ay?"
My mum looks pissed as ever, but the gears start to turn in her head. It'll only take a moment before everything fits together and I'm screwed for life. She begins to shake with anger, and I know I might as well be crucified on the spot. "You were... With this buffoon..."
And then she does something I've never seen in my life. She begins to shout.
"THIS BOY! HE DISTRACTED YOU FROM YOUR STUDIES FOUR YEARS AGO AND I HAD TO SHIP YOU BACK AND NOW HE'S DONE IT AGAIN. YOU'VE BEEN STOLEN BY THIS MONSTER WHO HAS NOTHING GOING FOR HIM AND CARED ABOUT ANYTHING ABOUT BEING SN ADULT? I THOUGHT I'D SAVED YOU BEFORE BUT NOOOOO!"
Honestly, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever heard her yell. It complements her personality very nicely. Surprised I've never heard it. It's nice to feel the anger being inflicted upon someone else for the first time this encounter. Marcus winces a bit but isn't hurt. He wasn't hurt when my parents came and picked me up from secondary school and blamed him for my fall in grades that semester and said they felt sorry for his parents who Marcus would only ever be a disappointment too. Needless to say, they don't like him much.
"It's nice to see you too." He says, putting on another less optimistic smile. The entire restaurant has got their attention on us, and my mum, red in the face, grabs a hold of my arm and pulls me out of the exit and towards the parking lot. Pretty sure her head should have exploded about now. Maybe it's a long term thing, and it'll pop after an hour or so. Marcus starts to hurry after us but my father stops his, saying something in his authoritative voice. Marcus shows some wild hand gestures but I'm shoved into the car before i see the results. Once my dad gets in, mum pushes her foot down hard on the gas pedal. Through the back window, I can see the twins and Louis running after the car for a few seconds before they know it's a lost cause. And then they are gone and my heart finally cracks.