"Miz Wynter."
Ah, yes. They'd hired more help. I could always tell by the way they called me "Miz Wynter." I didn't hire them, I wasn't their boss, I preferred to be called by my name.
"Mackenzie will do fine," I replied, quietly, as I usually would. Not wanting to disturb the perfect silence of the cold and aloof place I called home, I set my bag down carefully and plunked into a chair in the extensive dining room.
"Miz Mackenzie," the young black-haired woman corrected herself. "Your mother wishes to see you in the parlour."
They'd started hiring younger help last summer. Wise choice, I thought, the young were eager and ready to work for hours, tending to my mother's overbearing needs. Instinct told me they stuck around because of the generous income.
The parlour was where my mother spent most of her time. If she wasn't found in there, she was found outside gardening or in her bedroom sleeping. It had always occurred to me that she must be bored. Then again, I wasn't around her enough to know what she did and didn't do with her time.
"Mackenzie," she greeted. She always greeted me as if I was a stranger, and not her daughter.
"Yes Mama," I said politely as I sat opposite her.
"I have received news that Cameron is spending the summer at home," she said, as if it were nothing.
"Cameron?" I asked, trying not to sound surprised. A man like Cameron never came home for the summer. Anyone who used to live here stayed away after they'd move out. That's how it was in the Wynter house. That's how it was supposed to be. "Why?"
"That is his business, not ours," she said coolly. I could tell, though, that she was just as curious as I was. No matter how much she tried to mask her emotions, I'd learned to see through them.
"I'll be in my room doing my homework if you need me," I said as I rose. I wanted so much to be free of the rich atmosphere.
"Waassssuupp?!" I exclaimed into the phone, once safe in my room. At sixteen, I'd finally learned how to be what most would call "silly" at times.
"Uh, Ice?" my best friend, Tori, asked. "Are you feeling alright?"
I laughed. "Yes, yes," I replied. "Needed to break free from the vocabulary in this positively restraining ambiance which I call my home. Is that so wrong, Victoria?"
"Course not," she replied, laughing at the use of her full name. No one called her Victoria.
"My brother is spending the summer," I informed her casually.
"Tai or Cameron?" she asked.
"Cam."
"Really?" she asked, sounding as puzzled as I did when I'd first heard the news. "Why?"
"That's his business, not ours," I replied. "So says my mother."
"Cameron never comes down," Tori stated. "Wonder what's up. Oh! Maybe he just broke off his engagement and is coming down to escape his now psychotic ex-fiancee."
Laughing, I dismissed her idea. Cameron certainly did not break off his engagement. For one, he loved the woman, too much if you asked me. And two, he knew he would never be able to find a woman better than Daniella Pattrens.
There were four children in my family. I was the youngest of them all, being sixteen turning seventeen in less than a month. After me was eighteen-year-old Donavan, the rebel and probably the least favourite. Then came Tai, who was twenty and had the luxuries of escaping the household the minute he turned nineteen. Cameron, being twenty-two and the oldest, had moved out a few years back. Van and I lived at home, with our parents, Beth and Nathan.
"Tori," I said quietly. "Why do I get the feeling something's going to happen? Something bad."
She seemed to ponder this, but I could tell she was mocking. "Paranoia," she concluded confidently.
Laughing, I turned on my computer. "Speaking of which," I replied, frowning to myself. "I have homework to tend to. Wouldn't want to fail."
"You? Fail?" she asked incredulously. "You really are paranoid."
"Bye Tori," I said with a slight laugh.
"Bye," she replied.
I heard her hand up as I clicked the off button on my cordless. I was well off, I'd say, with the resources in my room. A computer, a phone which came along with my very own phone line, direct access to my own bathroom... one could say it was like having an apartment. Without the kitchen, of course. No Wynter living in the Wynter household was permitted to eat anywhere other than the dining room.
Life was. It simply was. Not good, nor bad. I lived my life by the saying often muttered by my mother. "Do not complain about it or I'll make it worse." Most of the time, these words were uttered in Van's direction, seeing as I learnt at a young age to keep quiet. He was never very good with learning.
"Yo!"
"Yo," I greeted back unenthusiastically. "What do you want?"
"Nothin'."
He was casual. Perhaps that was the reason I loved him as much as I do. "Hear about Cam?" I asked, never looking up from my arithmetic homework.
"Sure as hell," he replied. "No one comes back without reason. No one. Ever."
"Understandably so," I agreed, nodding.
I didn't know what to make of Cameron's visiting. Obviously neither did anyone else. Somehow, it gave me a bad feeling. I hadn't seen my brother in three years, I figured I'd at least be glad to know I'd finally be able to catch up on things with him. Yet, his unexpected decision to spend the summer made my stomach feel hollow.
Ah, yes. They'd hired more help. I could always tell by the way they called me "Miz Wynter." I didn't hire them, I wasn't their boss, I preferred to be called by my name.
"Mackenzie will do fine," I replied, quietly, as I usually would. Not wanting to disturb the perfect silence of the cold and aloof place I called home, I set my bag down carefully and plunked into a chair in the extensive dining room.
"Miz Mackenzie," the young black-haired woman corrected herself. "Your mother wishes to see you in the parlour."
They'd started hiring younger help last summer. Wise choice, I thought, the young were eager and ready to work for hours, tending to my mother's overbearing needs. Instinct told me they stuck around because of the generous income.
The parlour was where my mother spent most of her time. If she wasn't found in there, she was found outside gardening or in her bedroom sleeping. It had always occurred to me that she must be bored. Then again, I wasn't around her enough to know what she did and didn't do with her time.
"Mackenzie," she greeted. She always greeted me as if I was a stranger, and not her daughter.
"Yes Mama," I said politely as I sat opposite her.
"I have received news that Cameron is spending the summer at home," she said, as if it were nothing.
"Cameron?" I asked, trying not to sound surprised. A man like Cameron never came home for the summer. Anyone who used to live here stayed away after they'd move out. That's how it was in the Wynter house. That's how it was supposed to be. "Why?"
"That is his business, not ours," she said coolly. I could tell, though, that she was just as curious as I was. No matter how much she tried to mask her emotions, I'd learned to see through them.
"I'll be in my room doing my homework if you need me," I said as I rose. I wanted so much to be free of the rich atmosphere.
"Waassssuupp?!" I exclaimed into the phone, once safe in my room. At sixteen, I'd finally learned how to be what most would call "silly" at times.
"Uh, Ice?" my best friend, Tori, asked. "Are you feeling alright?"
I laughed. "Yes, yes," I replied. "Needed to break free from the vocabulary in this positively restraining ambiance which I call my home. Is that so wrong, Victoria?"
"Course not," she replied, laughing at the use of her full name. No one called her Victoria.
"My brother is spending the summer," I informed her casually.
"Tai or Cameron?" she asked.
"Cam."
"Really?" she asked, sounding as puzzled as I did when I'd first heard the news. "Why?"
"That's his business, not ours," I replied. "So says my mother."
"Cameron never comes down," Tori stated. "Wonder what's up. Oh! Maybe he just broke off his engagement and is coming down to escape his now psychotic ex-fiancee."
Laughing, I dismissed her idea. Cameron certainly did not break off his engagement. For one, he loved the woman, too much if you asked me. And two, he knew he would never be able to find a woman better than Daniella Pattrens.
There were four children in my family. I was the youngest of them all, being sixteen turning seventeen in less than a month. After me was eighteen-year-old Donavan, the rebel and probably the least favourite. Then came Tai, who was twenty and had the luxuries of escaping the household the minute he turned nineteen. Cameron, being twenty-two and the oldest, had moved out a few years back. Van and I lived at home, with our parents, Beth and Nathan.
"Tori," I said quietly. "Why do I get the feeling something's going to happen? Something bad."
She seemed to ponder this, but I could tell she was mocking. "Paranoia," she concluded confidently.
Laughing, I turned on my computer. "Speaking of which," I replied, frowning to myself. "I have homework to tend to. Wouldn't want to fail."
"You? Fail?" she asked incredulously. "You really are paranoid."
"Bye Tori," I said with a slight laugh.
"Bye," she replied.
I heard her hand up as I clicked the off button on my cordless. I was well off, I'd say, with the resources in my room. A computer, a phone which came along with my very own phone line, direct access to my own bathroom... one could say it was like having an apartment. Without the kitchen, of course. No Wynter living in the Wynter household was permitted to eat anywhere other than the dining room.
Life was. It simply was. Not good, nor bad. I lived my life by the saying often muttered by my mother. "Do not complain about it or I'll make it worse." Most of the time, these words were uttered in Van's direction, seeing as I learnt at a young age to keep quiet. He was never very good with learning.
"Yo!"
"Yo," I greeted back unenthusiastically. "What do you want?"
"Nothin'."
He was casual. Perhaps that was the reason I loved him as much as I do. "Hear about Cam?" I asked, never looking up from my arithmetic homework.
"Sure as hell," he replied. "No one comes back without reason. No one. Ever."
"Understandably so," I agreed, nodding.
I didn't know what to make of Cameron's visiting. Obviously neither did anyone else. Somehow, it gave me a bad feeling. I hadn't seen my brother in three years, I figured I'd at least be glad to know I'd finally be able to catch up on things with him. Yet, his unexpected decision to spend the summer made my stomach feel hollow.