• • • • • • • • • • chapter one • • • • • • • • • •
If you're like me, and happen to be the 2nd youngest person in your family, then I'm sure you can relate.
My name is Penelope Grace Weaver, or Penny for short.
I'm a 19 year old college freshman at SCAD: Savannah College for Art and Design.
A little about me: I'm a traditional artist, painting mostly. I love watching movies and reading books. I love hanging out with friends, you get it, the usual stuff.
I may seem average to the naked human eye.
You know, a young college girl pursuing her art career, right?
Wrong.
Try being a young college girl pursuing her art career in a family full of geniuses and businessmen.
I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters, all business majors at some fancy business college. Well, except my little sister. However, since she's a 13 year old with an IQ of 139, she'll get there soon enough.
While they really didn't have a choice in which college they went to, they did have a choice in what they'd major in. However, my father could be very "persuasive" when it came to his children's futures. He tended to believe that he was "pushing them in the right direction". By right direction, he meant his direction.
Ah, and then there was my father.
The old fart with a stick up his butt who couldn't take a joke to save his life.
Tobias Weaver.
Owner and CEO of Weaver Incorporated.
He became a young entrepreneur at the age of 15, making stupid architecture out of his garage and showing them off the high-ups and elites any chance he got.
He built a multi-billion dollar company off of his intuition and people skills.
He, for some God forsaken reason, expects his 8 children to follow in his foot steps.
Lucky for him, 6 of them did.
My twin brother, Benny, went on to major in International Business.
My sister, Jas, went on to major in Real Estate.
My 2nd brother, Winn, studies in Human Resources.
My 3rd brother, Adam, studies the boring subject of Accounting.
My 4th brother, Chris, studies Finances.
And my oldest and favorite brother, Tommy, studies Business Management and Administration.
All Business majors.
I, on the other hand, went more of my mother's direction.
She was a talented photographer and painter, who graduated from SCAD. She has a passion for capturing the world through the lens of a camera in a way that made your heart skip a beat.
When she felt something she knew the rest of us were feeling, she'd explain it to us. She'd paint us a picture.
She knew how to manifest things and flip them unexpectedly; light and shadows, bright and dark, vibrant and dull.
Now that's a future I can look into.
She died four months ago of cancer, 1 month before school started. She'd been sick for a while and she knew it was coming, but it hit us all harder than we expected.
However, we pushed through because we knew she'd want us to.
Fortunately, before she died, she somehow by the grace of God convinced my prick of a father to send me to SCAD.
Seeing me get the education and experience she got was her dying wish, and I was forever grateful for it.
And now, here I am.
In my dorm room (at SCAD), packing to go to that unnecessarily humongous house on the hill filled with blood relatives that I have nothing in common with.
It was our fall break and my flight for Tampa leaves in 5 hours.
My siblings, flying in from Wadlington Private Business University in Manhattan, were coming home too.
Ferb, we're getting the band back together.
***
"I don't understand why we couldn't just stay here for the break," I complain while throwing clothes into my suitcase.
My best friend/dorm mate, Jaylen, sat across from me on her bed, folding clothes that she preferred to neatly pack.
"Girl, you haven't seen your family in months. Don't you miss them?" She chuckled.
"Sure I do, it's just—," I murmured. "They're all smarty pants with serious degrees. And when my mother asked my father to send me to here instead of some business school that churns out stuck-ups, none of them would let me live it down. Sure, I love my brothers and sisters but...we're just nothing alike."
"Oh, come on, Penn! They can't be that bad." She chuckled.
I ignored her, knowing there'd be no use in arguing. She's too optimistic for her own good.
Throwing one last shirt in my bag, and zipping it up, I finally sat on my bed and breathed.
"This is going to be dreadful. I'll have to see my father again." I murmured.
"Well, at least I get to come with you," Jay smiled before bouncing over to my bed.
"You and me, living large in Tampa for 2 weeks? Hell yeah!"
I gave her a small smile.
"True, at least I won't die of complete boredom."
***
Five hours, 16 bags of peanuts, and a short plane ride later, and here we are.
Tampa, Florida.
Business center of the United States.
The place I had the fortune of called "home".
Jay and I decided to Uber home, since we couldn't get a car rental until tomorrow, and I refused to ride in the car my father sent for me. It was a sleek, unmarked black SUV. I'm a 19 year old, not the president. I didn't need a chauffeur. Well, technically, Uber is a chau— you get what I'm saying!
To say I was nervous was an understatement.
My father, who last time I checked was still pissed at me for wanting to go to art school, was at home right now. I could only imagine what he was going to use to guilt trip me about not following his "plan".
"Selfie!" Jay smiled as she snapped a picture of the two of us. I smiled a little, but it quickly faded.
"Seriously, P? Now is not the time to be all Grumpelstiltskins." She pouted.
"Did you just compare me to a gold-spinning fairytale midget?"
"A.) it was his daughter that spun gold, and B.) he wasn't a midget. And C.) all that's besides the point. Lighten up, P! I'm sure your family is great."
"You obviously haven't met my family." I snickered.
The car turned a corner and pulled into a gated community. Instantly, my heart sunk. A wave a sudden regret washed over me as my all-too-familiar childhood home came into view.
'Theres no place like home!' my ass.
If there was one thing my mother and I agreed on, it was that this house was too damn big.
This was Tampa, Dad.
Not Rome.
We don't need a house with columns.
The driver pulled around into our roundabout and parked in front of the front steps.
Instantly, the doors opened and out walked someone I hadn't seen in months.
"Christian Tumbles, you old fart, how are you?" I smiled when I opened the car door.
Tumbles was our old, bald, British butler.
Of course, a huge house needed a butler. My father couldn't help but to be cliche.
"Better, now that you've arrived, Ma'am." He grinned as he helped me out of the car.
Jaylen, who was undoubtedly feeling left out, got out of the car and walked up to me.
"Oh, Tumbles, this is my best friend, Jaylen." I smiled, nudging her forward a bit.
"Nice to meet you," Jaylen smiled, reaching out a hand.
Tumbles graciously took her hand and kissed it. It was his way of saying hello, courtesy of his England descent.
"The pleasure is all mine, Ma'am,"
Jaylen leaned over to whisper into my ear.
"You're like the Fresh Princess of Tampa, I cannot believe this."
I rolled my eyes before turning back to Tumbles.
"Tumbles, do you need help with our bags?" I asked. Of course, he shook his head. It was his job to do things for us, but I hated not being able to help.
As he opened the trunk of the car, I quickly reached to grab my bag before he could protest.
He shook his head and smiled before grabbing Jaylen's suitcase, and my art bag.
I turned back to the stairs and sighed.
"It's now or never, Jelly."
Jaylen smiled and nudged me.
"Right beside ya, Peanut."
We descended the stairs and reached the front door. Hesitantly, I reached for the door knob with my freehand and turned it.
Pushing it, the door swung and revealed our foyer.
2 grand staircases leading up to a balcony that overlooked where we were standing. Gold railings and gold trims on each stair. The floors were a dark wood that shined when light hit it. The walls were decorated with fancy pictures and delicate lamps.
Home sweet home.
God, I hated this house growing up.
Not to sound ungrateful! Sure it's a cool big house that any kid could want, but—
It's a big house.
It kept everyone so separated and far apart from each other.
I had to walk half a mile to get to Mom's room.
Sure, there was a lot room to play and joke around but as a kid I was always drawing or painting. I didn't need the space.
Not to mention, why do we even have this huge house?
What did we do to deserve it?
I'll tell you what we did: nothing.
My Dad finesses people out of their money just to buy big houses like this.
So if you ask me why I despise this house, that's why.
"Woah," Jaylen whispers.
It was the same reaction every time. Even when I was in high school and I brought friends over, it was always the same reaction.
"It's not too late to catch a flight back to Savannah, you know." I smiled.
She punched me in my arm, and furrowed her brow.
"Are you kidding me?"
Before I could reply, footsteps walking down the stairs stopped me. I looked up and, fortunately, didn't see my father.
To my surprise, it was actually Benny.
"Penny?" He grinned as he descended the last of the stairs.
I shrugged and gave him a small smile.
"Depends on who's asking."
We laughed as he gave me a hug.
"Long time, no see, kid!" He chuckled while nudging my arm.
"You say 'kid' like you're not 14 minutes older than me. And you say 'long time, no see' like I didn't see you 4 months ago."
"Ya know, I thought I'd miss you but after that, I realize that I really don't." He tsk-ed at me.
I rolled my eyes before stomping on his foot.
"Jackass."
"Ow!" He groaned.
Jaylen cleared her throat from beside me and I realized that I'd forgot all about her.
"Oh, Benny, this is my friend Jaylen. Jaylen, this is Benny."
Benny, who seemed to just notice Jay and choke on his tounge, turned pale.
Jaylen stared back at him like she was staring at a slice of pizza.
If this wasn't what Cinderella meant when she said love at first sight then I don't know what is.
When I tell you it was awkward, I mean it was awkward.
They were staring for an uncomfortable amount of time.
(a/n this doesn't really have to do with the story but weren't nick robinson and amandla stenberg the cutest couple in Everything, Everything?)
"OKAY," I said loud enough to snap them out of their trances.
"Right," Benny cleared his throat and scratched his head while turning back to me.
"Well, P, welcome home."
"I'd rather be anywhere else," I said under my breath while still smiling at him.
"Everyone else is in the Rec room," He nodded before walking off in the direction of the recreational room.
Tumbles, who apparently had been standing there for a while, spoke up.
"Shall I take your bags to your room, Ma'am?"
I sighed. I really wanted to help Tumbles instead of facing my family, but I knew I'd encounter them sooner or later.
"Miss Weaver?" He asked again, quickly catching my attention.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to him and grinned.
"That'd be a huge help, Tumbles."
I handed him my bag and he took it, and the other 2 bags he was holding, upstairs to my room.
"You ready for this?" Jay asked beside me while grabbing my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
a/n
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-eboni