Chapter 1:

Down the Tubes

“No,” Aurora said when her father dropped the bomb—she just would not stand for it, “I refuse. Plain and simple.”

“Be reasonable,” her father, Blaine O’Neil, told her, “It’s not an option.”

“The hell,” she yelled and slid off of her bar stool. She picked up her strawberry fro-yo, “How dare you try to uproot me my senior year? Life is perfect here—why? What could I have possibly done?”

She grabbed her long wild carmine locks and tugged, “Rory, calm down.”

“How long have you known—just tell me that—how long? When did you and Michelle plot to ruin my life?” She sat back down across from her father and wondered what was taking her brothers so long to get home from the park—they’d all left at the same time; although Brody and Kale may have stopped for more food.

“I decided to take the job last week and found a house,” her father said and her mind came sputtering to a stop at the word “house”.

“What do you mean a house? I’ve never lived in a house before—you mean we won’t stay in the city of Chicago? We’ll live in a…,” dare she say it, “suburb. Chicago’s a big city—I’m sure they have apartments large enough for four people.” Her mind could hardly wrap itself around the fact that she'd have to live life without Pinkberry for a whole year!

She watched his face blanch before he answered, ignoring her mentioning four people, “Yes, it’s the most promising suburb around the city—I have everything arranged. The school—all of your transcripts have been sent—and the house; I even found a new PA. Kale and Brody should be here any second, right?”

“Dad, can’t you just stay VP? I mean, I know the CEO position is a big one but think about the big picture for a second here. I don’t see why she can’t move here—New York is the center of the universe. My life has finally decided to fall into place and what about Kale and Brody,” she whined, “Kale just can’t start at a new school with new soccer and lax teams—he won’t be able to start. And you know Brody doesn’t do well with authority figures already—how do you think he’ll deal with a whole new set?”

“Don’t be so selfish,” he snapped and turned away from her while they waited for the kitchen door to swing open, “Michelle and I cannot live apart any longer—we’re married. And I cannot ignore this great opportunity that is why we’re going to Chicago. And with the money you alone spend—you should be happy that fatter checks will be rolling in.”

“I’m sorry Dad, I just…I don’t want to leave my home—what type of company bases themselves in Chicago over New York City,” Aurora heard the door opening and placed her head on the table—maybe if she could get Kale and Brody’s sympathy.

“Hey Dad…what’s up,” Kale said sitting next to Aurora. He tugged on his younger—by twelve minutes—sister’s long hair; he could tell she was completely devastated. But by what?

Brody leaned on the counter and snatched Aurora’s frozen yogurt from in front of her head, “Rory?”

“We’re moving to Chicago in one week,” their father said rising from his seat. He ran a hand through his short copper colored hair.

Brody raised his eyebrows and pointed at Aurora. His father shook his head silently. They were all used to Aurora’s extreme reactions to anything she wasn’t pleased with.

She sat up suddenly, “I’m not packing. How do you expect me to uproot my whole life in one week?”

“You’ll pack or I’ll have someone do it for you, unless you’d like me to drop off all your clothing at Goodwill before the flight and come to Chicago with no belongings. I’m sure you’ll have fun buying a whole wardrobe in one week,” he said when he got to the kitchen door, “Actually no, I’m sure you’d enjoy that—the furniture will leave Saturday and our flight is Sunday morning.”

Aurora let out a ragged sob and Kale pulled her into a hug and a sad smile formed on Brody’s face. Both of her brother’s knew exactly how she was feeling—not that they felt the same way; both brothers had a sort of indifferent take on life—but they knew their sister. It was always like that with the triplets.

Kale lost a lacrosse game, Aurora cried for him; when Aurora broke up with her latest boyfriend, they both went through the torturous process of carrying her shopping bags while she drowned her sorrows in unnecessary expenditure. And whenever Brody’s ridiculous antics peaked—no matter how utterly idiotic or dangerous they were—his brother and sister were the only ones at his side.

“At least we’ll be there together…I mean what about when we go away to college? That’ll be even harder,” Brody said dumping the rest of her yogurt down his throat.

She turned to him, “We’re all going to Yale next year Brody—plain and fucking SIMPLE,” she exclaimed and swept out of the room.

“Oops,” Kale said.

Aurora decided she had to get out of there—tell Christian about this atrocity. The doorman didn’t even blink an eye when she ran out of the building and across the street—without checking for rabid cab drivers.

She found it extremely convenient that her boyfriend’s penthouse apartment was separated from hers only by a bit of traffic.

“Ms. O’Neil,” the short doorman said as soon as she left the sweltering heat that was typical of the city in the summer and entered into the cool air conditioned building—owned by none other than her boyfriend, Christian Fox’s father.

“Can I just go up,” she asked at the elevator.

“Sure, should I let Mr. Fox know?”

“I want to surprise him,” she said and stepped into the elevator. The took her favorite Stila lip gloss out of her favorite Marc Jacobs bag and wondered aimlessly whether there was a Marc Jacobs store in Chicago.

Christian’s adorable eighth grade little brother was at the kitchen counter eating a bowl of Trix. He looked up—shocked to see her, “Aurora?”

“Hello my pedophilic fantasy,” she said forcing herself to stay upbeat, “Where’s Christian?”

He hesitated, staring into his bowl of colored balls, “He’s in his room. I’m sorry Rory.”

“About what? You knew I was moving,” she asked pressing her fingertips to her temple.

“You’re moving? I didn’t know…never mind what I said. Go right on in—I’m sure he’s not busy with anything important,” he waved her away from the kitchen and toward Christian’s room.

“Christian,” she rapped on his door, “Are you decent?”

“Uh,” he called. She heard some muffled movements, “One moment.”

She waited a couple seconds before stepping into his bedroom, which was as it usually was—a mess. He was pulling a black t-shirt over his head. He smiled at her nervously.

“I’m ready, babe—let’s do this now,” she said in a shaky voice. His eyes widened considerably and he shifted his weight uneasily onto one foot.

“You’re sure? Why?”

“No time like the present,” she smiled running a hand through her long vibrant red hair, “I’m ready—its time to take our relationship to the next level. I know I told you that we’d finally do it on my birthday but I’m good with right now.”

“Er, you don’t think you’re rushing into this? I mean, I don’t want you to have any…regrets,” Christian ran a shaking hand through his wavy dirty blond hair. Aurora didn’t even notice how disheveled it was or how bruised his lips looked.

“I just gotta go to the bathroom,” she stepped around him.

“Wait, no Rory…let’s just,” he started fumbling over his words.

“What’s wrong Christian,” she turned to face him and his facial expression curved into something…she couldn’t put her finger on it. Somehow he looked scared.

She studied his handsome face then turned suddenly and pulled open the door.

Aurora was shocked to find her piercing shriek accompanied with, “Who the fuck is this,” couldn’t be heard throughout Manhattan—it was a small island of course.

After her mind registered the fact that there was a random blonde girl sitting on his toilet in lingerie, she slammed the door right back on the girl and turned to Christian. She smiled upon hearing the satisfying crunch of bone under her fist.

There goes her temper again…

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A/N: and here I go again starting new prodjects. Well, you know what I'm going to ask...R & R!