I sighed as I sat down in my room and thought about how I would
explain this to Cherie. It was my entire fault, well not all my fault but
partly my fault. It wasn't my fault we were moving but it was my fault that
we were going to some weird private school I had never even heard of.
"I can't believe our mother! This is her fourth divorce and now she decides to move us to the middle of nowhere?! It's not fair! It's just not fair! I am a growing and blossoming young woman and I need my space and freedom to grow. I need a familiar environment. I don't adapt well to new places! I don't have the whole school loving me in new places! Did you know that these next few years are the most fun and interesting years of our lives? Everyone from our old school is going to Eleanor and now that everyone loves me and I am basically one of the most popular girls here, we have to leave? It's just not fair!!!" Cherie complained as she sat down on her bed, in her side of the room with a sigh.
Yup that was my sister Cherie. She was the drama queen of the family. Her life was always more important than anyone else's and of course the world would now and forever revolve around her. When I was younger I had learned how to deal with my annoying sister, humor her.
"Oh Cherie, that must be awful!" I said, sarcasm written all over my voice.
"Of course it is! And just think what Charlie will say about this!" she said as she searched her side of the room for the phone. Despite her "look at me" attitude; she was a complete and utter mess. Her things were always unorganized and it was always up to me to come to her rescue.
Charlie, of course, was her varsity football player boyfriend. My sister always wanted the best and always got the best. He was tall, blond, blue eyed, and a total jerk. My sister obviously had no idea how many times he had made a move on me or any other walk talking girl in the school, nope. She was too busy living out her fantasy life. She finally found the phone and began calling her co-captain cheerleader best friend, Stacey.
"Stace? Ohmigod, you are not gonna believe this! No you idiot I did not have sex with Charlie. I'm moving away!" she said as I heard a scream escape the earpiece from the phone.
"I know! I dunno. It has to do with my mom and Clark. No, they're getting divorced. Yup, her fourth husband. No he's getting the settlement. I know she should have been prepared. You've only done this like what, three other times? No we're moving to my grandpapa's house. We call him that because he's French idiot, how many times have I told you my mom was French? Duh, grandpere is grandfather in French. I dunno, we just call him that. Well I gotta go and pack everything. Tell everyone about the moving thing, bye." She said as she turned the phone off and threw it back into the pile of clothes she had found it under. I sighed, getting up and putting the phone back into its regular place on the drawer that was put between our beds.
"Did you call your friend Sassy yet?" she asked as I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone.
"Her name is Jessie." I reminded her as I picked up the phone and dialed the number. Right, what did I say?" she asked as if I was the one who had made the mistake. I shook my head and decided to walk away before starting my conversation.
"Hello who is it?" asked a voice in the other line.
"Hello misses Baker, it's Simone. Could I talk to Jess?" I asked as I walked down the stairs noticing the bare walls as I walked. Pictures of Cherie, me, and John and been hung here once but now, there was nothing.
"Of course Simone. How are you?" she asked as I smiled at her kind question.
"Oh, I'm fine. But I'm going to move away and I wanted to tell Jess." I said as I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the counter.
"Oh shoot! She just stepped out but I'll tell her about the move as soon as she come back in, okay?" asked misses Baker.
"Yeah, that would be fine. Thanks misses Baker." I answered as I hung up and sighed. Great, Cherie could talk to her friend about absolutely nothing but I had to wait to talk to mine? Now that was not fair.
I sighed as I walked over to fridge and looked for something to drink.
"Ugh!" I complained as I slammed the fridge shut annoyed that there was absolutely nothing in it.
"What's the matter squeaky? Nothing in the fridge?" asked John as he walked by and passed me a bottle of water.
"I still don't understand why we have to move away. Mom's gotten divorced three times already. Why move on the fourth?" I asked as I opened the bottle and sipped it.
"Because I wasn't here to push her in court. I will never take another summer vacation ever. You people can't survive without me. It's sad really." He said as he sat down beside me and took a sip of his own bottle.
John was my older brother. He was seventeen and was psyched about his senior year. To tell you the truth, he was just as popular as Cherie and was basically was the God of the town, the best at almost every sport but swimming. He had a phobia when it came to pools. It all started when he was four and was playing with our cousin Mason, someone who we all thoroughly detest, and was tricked into playing a game of lifeguard. Doubtless to say, he was the one being saved. Now since Mason is just as dramatic as Cherie, he decided to wait longer to make it really exciting. My brother almost drowned and he never went near a pool again.
Even though John was three years older than me, he was closer to me than Cherie was, and for obvious reasons. Though John was popular, he wasn't self-absorbed. He was just a normal guy who liked to joke around and happened to be good at sports. The only problem with him though, was that he was a little over protective of me, emphasis on the me. Though Cherie and I were the same age, yes that means twins for those of you who aren't so bright, she was constantly going to parties and making out with boys, which hey, there was not much else to protect her from now. But me, I was not that interested. Sure I could go to some stupid party and intoxicate myself but what's the appeal in that when I'm just going to wake up with a massive hang over the next day anyways? Especially when I'm not even at the right age for that stuff. But John was more than a brother, he was a friend, which was not easy to accomplish with Cherie. I just couldn't relate.
"So how did the town take their super star moving away?" I asked as I looked around the kitchen and noticed that it was not only the walls on the staircase that were empty but the kitchen too. There were no more fruits in the fruit basket and various other things like old pictures we had drawn for our mother that were held up on the fridge by magnets of the old looking blue mat that was place in front of the sink. Nope, it was all gone and packed.
"They were all majorly bummed but hey, they'll get over it soon enough. That Charlie is getting pretty good." Said John, not as a compliment but as the truth.
"Yeah all he needs now is a personality and a better attitude and the whole town may even begin to like him." I answered as John shoved an elbow into my side lightly.
"No really. He is getting pretty good and I just hope he won't take my position here in town." He said, his voice doubtful of the town's loyalty.
"Never gonna happen." I answered with an encouraging smile.
"Yeah thanks. So how did Jess take it?" asked John as I sighed and looked at the phone.
"She wasn't home when I called so, I have no idea." I answered as the phone rang. John shot me a look and I picked up the phone.
"When the hell were you thinking of telling me you were moving, Ariane?" Jess demanded using my middle name as all my friends did while John mouthed, "Is it Jess?" and I nodded yes.
"I was going to tell you as soon as I got home but you were out." I answered with a shrug.
"And you couldn't have told me this at the summer school program where I would have smacked you silly?" she asked.
"Actually that's sorta why I didn't tell you at school." I answered as she sighed.
Jess was my best friend. She was usually the muscle or the self confident one and I was the one she would keep encouraging, not to mention protecting. I was sorta puny for my age. I was fifteen and still 5'1, which yeah, kinda sucked. She was always energetic and optimistic and I was always calm, laid back, and very sarcastic which is why John and I got along so great, we were almost twins in personality but then again Cherie and I were actual twins and we couldn't be more far from each other than we already are. Jess and I weren't in the "popular crowd" and we just enjoyed being ourselves, doing our homework, making fun of the rest of the student body and staying away from any testosterone driven boys on campus. But that's the kind of action Cherie lives for and thus the vast space between us. But Jess and I brought out the best about one another. We complimented each other's pros and cons and no matter what, we were always loyal. So no matter how far from me she was, it was obvious we would always be best friends.
"You know, you can't just drop a bomb on me and expect me to be fine with it." She warned as nodded my head and walked around the kitchen as I always did when I talked on the phone. I was also energetic and could not stay in one place once. In fact Jess was a great artist and tried to draw a portrait of me once for her art class. Unfortunately she was unable to keep me still for so long and had to draw her cat instead. She had promised me that when I got older, she would illustrate or just draw a cover for my future best selling novel for young teens, something that I agreed to on the spot.
"I know and I don't expect you to take this lightly because I'll be at least thousands of hours away from you and it'll take you hours to get here, if you would even be able to get here in the first place but I swear I will call you like everyday." I said as I imagined her nodded on the other side of the phone.
"And I'll IM you all the time." She continued.
"And it'll be like I never left only you'll have to go to school without me." I said as we both sighed at the thought of our first day of high school, or shall we say hell, without each other.
"Where are you moving to anyways?" she asked as I shook my head, I completely forgot to tell her.
"My grandpapa moves around a lot but his current residence is in England." I answered quietly knowing what her reaction would be.
"ENGLAND?! That's in a whole different continent, Araine!!" she said screamed.
"Yeah, I know." I answered.
"I don't know how I'll survive." She said as I took another sip of my water.
"How you'll survive?! Hello at least you'll know people in school. I'm going somewhere completely foreign and will have to make new friends and everything." I said as someone knocked on the door. I walked to the door that was at the kitchen and motioned for Zach to come inside. He did and I closed the door trying to listen to what Jess was saying.
"Who was that?" she asked knowing someone had just entered the house. For some reason someone was always entering my house/
"Oh, that was just Zach, probably coming to say good bye to John or Cherie." I said as he looked at me and shook his head, probably wondering why he was ever brought into the conversation.
Zachary Rayne, captain of the swim team, my older brother's best friend, auburn hair, beautiful green eyes, need I say more? He was perfect, nay more than perfect. The only problem was that he was my brother's best friend and a senior and he was staying far, far away from me. But that wasn't even the biggest problem, no; the biggest problem was that he probably didn't see me as anything more than a little sister. Of course my mother would never let there be anything between someone who is three years older than me because hey, Daniel, her second husband was three years older than her. Yup, Zach was a dream that would never become reality.
"Please tell me you're not turning to mush." Jess pleaded as I came back to reality.
"No of course not! Do I ever? Okay, don't answer that." I commanded as she laughed on the other line.
"You know you really should get over him or tell him that you are seriously and madly in love with him." Suggested Jess.
"Once again, never gonna happen. I gotta go and start getting packed, I'll call you later okay?" I asked.
"Duh, you'd better." She threatened as I shook my head with a smile and hung up. She would always say something among those lines.
"So how's it going with Jess?" he asked. I swear even Zach new me better than Cherie, which is sad if you think about it. Not only do we share the day we were born, but we also share a room, which basically calls for knowing each other. I know her best friend's name, her favorite band, movie, and lipstick, but I bet you she doesn't even know me eye color, and no our eye colors are not the same. Yes we're twins but we're fraternal, which means we don't really look alike and even if we did, I doubt you'd be able to tell with all the make up she wears. To tell you the truth we look very different. Cherie has light blond hair where mine's is completely dark, a dark black, something I inherited from my father, John's second father. Also, Cherie had his light brown eyes where I had received my mom's large green ones. My nose was the same as hers but our chins were completely different, hers, one that she claimed exactly like Julia Roberts and mine, which had a stubborn nature. So you'd probably never think we were twins but we are. In fact, if you didn't know my mom, you'd probably think we were all adopted by how much our appearances differ.
"Fine I suppose, only she's pretty bummed out about me leaving." I said my voice no longer animated.
"As am I." He said with a small smile. I looked up at him and returning his small smile as I shook off the weird tension happening in the room and called for John.
"JOHN," I yelled. Our house was very big and you couldn't hear someone if they weren't loud enough from some places. "Sorry, I know you came here to see him and all. He's probably in the basement working out." I added as he looked at me and nodded. John himself had turned our basement into a gym when he had turned fifteen. He walked over the door that led to the basement and looked back at me.
"You comin'?" he asked as I nodded and followed him down the steep stairs. I hated those stupid flights of stairs. I had tripped and fallen in them more than once and I was in no hurry to do it again. We reached the bottom and then were greeted by John.
"Hey Zach, little sis." He said as did some weird handshake thing with Zach and then moved on to ruffling my hair, an old time tradition since he was nine. I sighed as I tried to fix the miss that my hair probably was now. There was no doubt the raven black hair that fell down to my lower back had seen better days. "Jesus man, how long you been at it?" asked Zach seeing the sweat that was collecting at the top of my brother's white shirt.
"Not long, just a couple of minutes. I was hangin' with Araine before Jess called and started yelling at the poor girl." He said as he shook his head.
"She was that loud, huh?" I asked. He nodded sadly.
"I still can't believe you're both moving. This sucks." Said Zach as he handed my brother a towel and I sat down on the couch. Suddenly quick footsteps made their way down stairs.
"Hey Zach, I didn't know you were here." Said Cherie out of breath as she reached the bottom of the stairs. I looked to John and we both shared a knowing glance. Of course she didn't.
"Oh hey, Cherie." He said looking to John and I for help. It was obvious to all of us that she wanted him, and bad. Though I think her boyfriend Charlie would not like the idea.
"Hey, what are you doing down here?" she asked as she gave me an open glare. According to her it was my sisterly duty to tell her when someone important was over. Yeah, like I was going to abide by that.
"Just hangin' with John and Ariane. Talkin' about the move." He answered as he took a seat beside me. At this I smiled subconsciously.
"What?" Asked Zach with a smile.
"What, what?" I asked confused about what he was talking about.
"What are you smiling at?" He asked a smile on his face. Oops, oh no! Maybe he didn't know why I was laughing. Please don't let him know why I'm smiling.
"I...um...I just had the perfect idea!" I said trying to search my mind for what that perfect idea could be.
"What is it?" Asked John as he squirted water into his mouth.
"We should all go to the movies together one last time." I said quickly before even thinking about my proposition.
"That's not a bad idea. It's probably the last time we hang together, so this'll be a proper good bye. I like it." Zach answered as Cherie nodded ecstatically.
"Great idea sis. Our last time together should be fun so let's go. I'll leave mom a note on the fridge so let's get goin'." Said John as he ran up to his room to change.
And so there in the living room sat Cherie, Zachary, and I, waiting for John to come down stairs. Of course, Cherie was sitting next to Zach and I next to her, as usual. She wasn't very subtle.
"So Zachary, how's the swim team going?" asked Cherie.
"Fine." He answered as she nodded and looked to me for advice.
"Ask him about what he plans to do after high school." I suggested as she nodded and asked the question.
"Well I might get a job because that looks really good in your college transcript and then hopefully I'll get a scholarship so that I don't have to pay for a school." He answered as I nodded. It seemed like a good plan. I wonder what I would be like in high school. Or just how high school would be like now that I'm moving to a completely different place. Not to mention how many times I would get lost in the weird streets of England. I mean I got lost just last year because I took the train instead if the bus, which resulted in me walking around the same block five times before finally realizing which way I should go.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Cherie answered her voice almost worried, as she should have been. High school would practically decide the rest of her life. If she got good grades in high school, then maybe, just maybe she would get into a good college, which in turn ended up with giving her a good job that paid her a lot of money, meaning she would have more time to get a husband, have children and live happily ever after.
"What about you Araine?" he asked looking to me for an answer.
"Well the plan was to do as many extra curricular activities as I could the first two years so that in the last two I could study really hard on my PSAT's and SAT's, oh and get me a job doing something like a hardware store where I would hopefully become manager and get big bucks to pay for college but now that I'm moving, that's all down the drain." I answered thinking about what my new plan should be. I had no idea what kind of jobs people in England had and I really would have to know if I wanted to do my best to get into a good college.
"You really thought a lot about this, huh?" he asked.
"Well it is my life and I need to do the best that I can with it." I explained as he nodded as John came down stairs, finally.
"Alright lets go." Said John cheerfully as he got his jacket and we all walked into the middle of the quiet streets.
It was at least seven o'clock by now and there were no car in view. We all walked in silence, just trying to think about what was yet to come in our lives as suddenly a teardrop fell on my nose. I giggled at the drop sliding down my nose and onto my mouth where I licked it from my lips. It was as salty as a raindrop. I looked up as more raindrops followed. I tilted my head upward and smiled as the rain poured down lightly on my face.
"What's she doin'?" asked Zach as I looked over to him and then went back to savoring the wonderful rain.
"She has a friendly obsession with rain. She says it's one of the world's many miracles." John answered as I heard Zachary laugh.
"Dude, just wait till it starts snowing." John answered with a laugh of his own.
"Ariane, come here. You're gonna get all wet." Said Zach as he opened up an umbrella.
"I don't mind." I answered as he gave me a look. I sighed and went under the umbrella with him. We all walked into the movies theatre and decided to watch something about friendship for something reason. Don't' ask, it was Cherie's idea. So here we are watching some mushy movie about life longs friends when suddenly I feel something drape over my shoulders. I look over to my left about to lean on John when I remember Cherie is sitting on my left, which of course leaves John at my right. I shrug and lean into John for the rest of the movie, happy that I have him for a brother, even if he is a little over protective at times.
Sometimes, I watch these movies about people with brothers or sisters that have the exact sane situation as John and me, that my dad is his second father. Usually they don't get alone and hate each other and this is why I'm so happy that we have the relationship we have, because without him, I would be truly alone in that house. My mother has a knack for buying things that are way too big or way too much, in simpler words, our house is huge. And with the extreme loneliness I would feel in that house by myself or even with Cherie would be unbearable.
As the movie ended I snapped out of my chain of thoughts.
"Ariane we gotta go now." Said the person to my right. I turned, noting that something was definitely weird about John as my eyes went wide with shock. What was Zach doing with his arm around my shoulders?! And better yet, what was I doing leaning on him like that?! Oh no! This was a total nightmare.
"Zach! I. um. yeah." I said as I got up hurriedly and pushed through Cherie to get to John. At least there I couldn't let things get weird between my and Zach.
"Well that was some good sleep." Said John as I nodded and we all walked out the theatre. I noted that the rain had stopped, to my disappointment and the walk home was just as quiet as the walk here. We all waved to Zach, as we were about to walk inside the house. Suddenly I felt a hand on my hand. I turned and found Zach looking intensely into my eyes. I blushed and mustered up my courage.
"Sorry about the thing at the movie. I thought you were John. I didn't mean to do anything inappropriate." I answered looking towards the ground as Zach shook his head.
"How come you always shake you head when I talk?" I demanded somewhat annoyed now.
"Because you are so naïve." He answered.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I asked indignantly.
"Because I've been wanting to do that for the longest time." He answered and I could feel all the blood rush to my head.
"Oh." I answered quietly. He had? Why hadn't I detected this? Was I really that naïve? I looked up to see him smiling at me. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you around." He said before walked away toward his house. My hand moved instinctively to my right cheek. I knew I smile must have been on my face. It was still tingly and my body temperature must have risen by at least five degrees. I sighed and then answered the truth.
"Not really." I said as walked back to the house my heart braking. He had wanted to do that forever and he chose to do it now, now that I was moving away from him. Great.
The next day I hugged Jess goodbye and then hopped into a car to go to the airport. Goodbye life. I sat in the same seat for God knows how many hours while the ten year old girl next to me told me in depth stories about her dog who was name Booboo, poor dog. Finally as soon as the ride was over I got to complain to John about everything.
"At least you had a ten year old. I had to deal with a seventy two year old man. Back in my day." he mimicked the old man's English accent causing me to smile.
"Children come along. Your grandpere is waiting." She told us as we nodded her and followed her to where we found our grandpapa standing and waving at us.
"Pere! Je mange tu." My mother said in French that would translate to father I missed you. Yeah, I'll probably be translating a lot of stuff. Don't worry I got your back.
"I missed you more." Answered my grandpapa.
"And children. You have grown." He told us, pulling us all into a hug.
"We missed you too grandpapa." I answered as he took me by the hand and lead me out of the airport and to his car.
"Why do people here drive in the right side of the lane?" I asked curious.
"Why do people in the states drive on the left?" he countered.
"I dunno." I answered furrowing my brow. This is one of the things I hated most about my grandpapa; if he didn't know the answer to something he'd counter using a question that you would of course know the answer to. I frowned at the long drive and the sighed at the moving of our bags.
"Come one. You people must be hungry. No one eats that airplane food anyways." He said as he made scrambled eggs for everyone.
"No daddy, I was wondering about the kids and school. I mean, we moved them here in the middle of the school year, do you think they'll be able to transfer somewhere?" my mother asked.
"Elle, I am after all the headmaster of one of the best schools around. I got them in after talking to the council and doing a lot of favors. They weren't very bent on it." He explained.
"Wait, what kind of school is it?" asked John suspiciously.
"It's the best private in this part of England." Answered my grandfather proudly.
"Private school? As in snobby rich kids?" John asked as Cherie smiled.
"Rich kids." She said running some weird daydream through her mind.
"When do we start grandpapa?" I asked getting to the real issue.
"Tomorrow." Answered grandpapa as we all groaned. Fantabuluous, not only did we have to move to this stupid country, and go to a new school, but we had to go to school the day after we arrived. Parents have no mercy.
"I have to pick my clothes!" said Cherie excitedly as she jumped from her seat.
"I really don't feel well. I can't believe I'm missing my first day of school!" Cherie huffed the next morning when we tried to get up.
"Oh honey, it must have to do with the move. It's all right you'll go tomorrow. Just try to get better okay?" asked my mother as she kissed Cherie's forehead also checking her temperature.
"Okay mama." She answered as my mom left closing the door behind her.
"Okay," she said to me as she sat up in bed, "now remember the plan. I'm not going to school today but you have to go so you can tell me what the people there are all like, okay?" she asked as if this were the most important thing I had going on in my life.
"Sure." I answered as I put on a pair of snug low ride gap jeans and a light blue top. Suddenly a knock came from the door and Cherie collapsed on her bed coughing.
"Calm down Cher, its just me." Said John as Cherie sighed and threw a pillow at him. I inspected him and tried to hold back laughter but to no avail.
"You look so adorable." I said between laughs as John looked down at himself. He was wearing the school uniform, which consisted of navy blue dress pants, a white shirt, navy blue tie, and a dark brick red sweater with the letters AG on it.
"Jee, thanks." He said his voice monotonously.
"No problem." I said with a giggle.
"Well I think he looks like a proper gentleman." Said Cherie, her voice filled with superiority.
"Yeah, well I don't understand why you guys don't have uniforms." He said annoyed.
"Because they haven't come yet." I answered as I looked at the mirror one last time.
"Yeah, whatever, lets just go." He said as he grabbed my lower arm and pulled me out of the house.
"Hello Jonathan and." said someone who must have been a teacher.
"I'm Simone but you can call me Ariane." I answered with a polite smile.
"Welcome. Now please some this way Jonathan and Simone." He said as we did as we were told, giving each other disgusted glances.
"We're about to start our second class now so you will be able to observe the students during sessions." Advised the man and we both nodded. The school bell rang and thousands of boys piled into the halls. I looked at John and John looked back at me.
"Welcome both of you to New England's Academy for Accomplished Young Gentlemen." Said the man, his voice booming in my head. Young gentlemen? What? No wonder he had to do so much to get Cherie and I in. I hate my grandpapa.
"I can't believe our mother! This is her fourth divorce and now she decides to move us to the middle of nowhere?! It's not fair! It's just not fair! I am a growing and blossoming young woman and I need my space and freedom to grow. I need a familiar environment. I don't adapt well to new places! I don't have the whole school loving me in new places! Did you know that these next few years are the most fun and interesting years of our lives? Everyone from our old school is going to Eleanor and now that everyone loves me and I am basically one of the most popular girls here, we have to leave? It's just not fair!!!" Cherie complained as she sat down on her bed, in her side of the room with a sigh.
Yup that was my sister Cherie. She was the drama queen of the family. Her life was always more important than anyone else's and of course the world would now and forever revolve around her. When I was younger I had learned how to deal with my annoying sister, humor her.
"Oh Cherie, that must be awful!" I said, sarcasm written all over my voice.
"Of course it is! And just think what Charlie will say about this!" she said as she searched her side of the room for the phone. Despite her "look at me" attitude; she was a complete and utter mess. Her things were always unorganized and it was always up to me to come to her rescue.
Charlie, of course, was her varsity football player boyfriend. My sister always wanted the best and always got the best. He was tall, blond, blue eyed, and a total jerk. My sister obviously had no idea how many times he had made a move on me or any other walk talking girl in the school, nope. She was too busy living out her fantasy life. She finally found the phone and began calling her co-captain cheerleader best friend, Stacey.
"Stace? Ohmigod, you are not gonna believe this! No you idiot I did not have sex with Charlie. I'm moving away!" she said as I heard a scream escape the earpiece from the phone.
"I know! I dunno. It has to do with my mom and Clark. No, they're getting divorced. Yup, her fourth husband. No he's getting the settlement. I know she should have been prepared. You've only done this like what, three other times? No we're moving to my grandpapa's house. We call him that because he's French idiot, how many times have I told you my mom was French? Duh, grandpere is grandfather in French. I dunno, we just call him that. Well I gotta go and pack everything. Tell everyone about the moving thing, bye." She said as she turned the phone off and threw it back into the pile of clothes she had found it under. I sighed, getting up and putting the phone back into its regular place on the drawer that was put between our beds.
"Did you call your friend Sassy yet?" she asked as I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone.
"Her name is Jessie." I reminded her as I picked up the phone and dialed the number. Right, what did I say?" she asked as if I was the one who had made the mistake. I shook my head and decided to walk away before starting my conversation.
"Hello who is it?" asked a voice in the other line.
"Hello misses Baker, it's Simone. Could I talk to Jess?" I asked as I walked down the stairs noticing the bare walls as I walked. Pictures of Cherie, me, and John and been hung here once but now, there was nothing.
"Of course Simone. How are you?" she asked as I smiled at her kind question.
"Oh, I'm fine. But I'm going to move away and I wanted to tell Jess." I said as I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the counter.
"Oh shoot! She just stepped out but I'll tell her about the move as soon as she come back in, okay?" asked misses Baker.
"Yeah, that would be fine. Thanks misses Baker." I answered as I hung up and sighed. Great, Cherie could talk to her friend about absolutely nothing but I had to wait to talk to mine? Now that was not fair.
I sighed as I walked over to fridge and looked for something to drink.
"Ugh!" I complained as I slammed the fridge shut annoyed that there was absolutely nothing in it.
"What's the matter squeaky? Nothing in the fridge?" asked John as he walked by and passed me a bottle of water.
"I still don't understand why we have to move away. Mom's gotten divorced three times already. Why move on the fourth?" I asked as I opened the bottle and sipped it.
"Because I wasn't here to push her in court. I will never take another summer vacation ever. You people can't survive without me. It's sad really." He said as he sat down beside me and took a sip of his own bottle.
John was my older brother. He was seventeen and was psyched about his senior year. To tell you the truth, he was just as popular as Cherie and was basically was the God of the town, the best at almost every sport but swimming. He had a phobia when it came to pools. It all started when he was four and was playing with our cousin Mason, someone who we all thoroughly detest, and was tricked into playing a game of lifeguard. Doubtless to say, he was the one being saved. Now since Mason is just as dramatic as Cherie, he decided to wait longer to make it really exciting. My brother almost drowned and he never went near a pool again.
Even though John was three years older than me, he was closer to me than Cherie was, and for obvious reasons. Though John was popular, he wasn't self-absorbed. He was just a normal guy who liked to joke around and happened to be good at sports. The only problem with him though, was that he was a little over protective of me, emphasis on the me. Though Cherie and I were the same age, yes that means twins for those of you who aren't so bright, she was constantly going to parties and making out with boys, which hey, there was not much else to protect her from now. But me, I was not that interested. Sure I could go to some stupid party and intoxicate myself but what's the appeal in that when I'm just going to wake up with a massive hang over the next day anyways? Especially when I'm not even at the right age for that stuff. But John was more than a brother, he was a friend, which was not easy to accomplish with Cherie. I just couldn't relate.
"So how did the town take their super star moving away?" I asked as I looked around the kitchen and noticed that it was not only the walls on the staircase that were empty but the kitchen too. There were no more fruits in the fruit basket and various other things like old pictures we had drawn for our mother that were held up on the fridge by magnets of the old looking blue mat that was place in front of the sink. Nope, it was all gone and packed.
"They were all majorly bummed but hey, they'll get over it soon enough. That Charlie is getting pretty good." Said John, not as a compliment but as the truth.
"Yeah all he needs now is a personality and a better attitude and the whole town may even begin to like him." I answered as John shoved an elbow into my side lightly.
"No really. He is getting pretty good and I just hope he won't take my position here in town." He said, his voice doubtful of the town's loyalty.
"Never gonna happen." I answered with an encouraging smile.
"Yeah thanks. So how did Jess take it?" asked John as I sighed and looked at the phone.
"She wasn't home when I called so, I have no idea." I answered as the phone rang. John shot me a look and I picked up the phone.
"When the hell were you thinking of telling me you were moving, Ariane?" Jess demanded using my middle name as all my friends did while John mouthed, "Is it Jess?" and I nodded yes.
"I was going to tell you as soon as I got home but you were out." I answered with a shrug.
"And you couldn't have told me this at the summer school program where I would have smacked you silly?" she asked.
"Actually that's sorta why I didn't tell you at school." I answered as she sighed.
Jess was my best friend. She was usually the muscle or the self confident one and I was the one she would keep encouraging, not to mention protecting. I was sorta puny for my age. I was fifteen and still 5'1, which yeah, kinda sucked. She was always energetic and optimistic and I was always calm, laid back, and very sarcastic which is why John and I got along so great, we were almost twins in personality but then again Cherie and I were actual twins and we couldn't be more far from each other than we already are. Jess and I weren't in the "popular crowd" and we just enjoyed being ourselves, doing our homework, making fun of the rest of the student body and staying away from any testosterone driven boys on campus. But that's the kind of action Cherie lives for and thus the vast space between us. But Jess and I brought out the best about one another. We complimented each other's pros and cons and no matter what, we were always loyal. So no matter how far from me she was, it was obvious we would always be best friends.
"You know, you can't just drop a bomb on me and expect me to be fine with it." She warned as nodded my head and walked around the kitchen as I always did when I talked on the phone. I was also energetic and could not stay in one place once. In fact Jess was a great artist and tried to draw a portrait of me once for her art class. Unfortunately she was unable to keep me still for so long and had to draw her cat instead. She had promised me that when I got older, she would illustrate or just draw a cover for my future best selling novel for young teens, something that I agreed to on the spot.
"I know and I don't expect you to take this lightly because I'll be at least thousands of hours away from you and it'll take you hours to get here, if you would even be able to get here in the first place but I swear I will call you like everyday." I said as I imagined her nodded on the other side of the phone.
"And I'll IM you all the time." She continued.
"And it'll be like I never left only you'll have to go to school without me." I said as we both sighed at the thought of our first day of high school, or shall we say hell, without each other.
"Where are you moving to anyways?" she asked as I shook my head, I completely forgot to tell her.
"My grandpapa moves around a lot but his current residence is in England." I answered quietly knowing what her reaction would be.
"ENGLAND?! That's in a whole different continent, Araine!!" she said screamed.
"Yeah, I know." I answered.
"I don't know how I'll survive." She said as I took another sip of my water.
"How you'll survive?! Hello at least you'll know people in school. I'm going somewhere completely foreign and will have to make new friends and everything." I said as someone knocked on the door. I walked to the door that was at the kitchen and motioned for Zach to come inside. He did and I closed the door trying to listen to what Jess was saying.
"Who was that?" she asked knowing someone had just entered the house. For some reason someone was always entering my house/
"Oh, that was just Zach, probably coming to say good bye to John or Cherie." I said as he looked at me and shook his head, probably wondering why he was ever brought into the conversation.
Zachary Rayne, captain of the swim team, my older brother's best friend, auburn hair, beautiful green eyes, need I say more? He was perfect, nay more than perfect. The only problem was that he was my brother's best friend and a senior and he was staying far, far away from me. But that wasn't even the biggest problem, no; the biggest problem was that he probably didn't see me as anything more than a little sister. Of course my mother would never let there be anything between someone who is three years older than me because hey, Daniel, her second husband was three years older than her. Yup, Zach was a dream that would never become reality.
"Please tell me you're not turning to mush." Jess pleaded as I came back to reality.
"No of course not! Do I ever? Okay, don't answer that." I commanded as she laughed on the other line.
"You know you really should get over him or tell him that you are seriously and madly in love with him." Suggested Jess.
"Once again, never gonna happen. I gotta go and start getting packed, I'll call you later okay?" I asked.
"Duh, you'd better." She threatened as I shook my head with a smile and hung up. She would always say something among those lines.
"So how's it going with Jess?" he asked. I swear even Zach new me better than Cherie, which is sad if you think about it. Not only do we share the day we were born, but we also share a room, which basically calls for knowing each other. I know her best friend's name, her favorite band, movie, and lipstick, but I bet you she doesn't even know me eye color, and no our eye colors are not the same. Yes we're twins but we're fraternal, which means we don't really look alike and even if we did, I doubt you'd be able to tell with all the make up she wears. To tell you the truth we look very different. Cherie has light blond hair where mine's is completely dark, a dark black, something I inherited from my father, John's second father. Also, Cherie had his light brown eyes where I had received my mom's large green ones. My nose was the same as hers but our chins were completely different, hers, one that she claimed exactly like Julia Roberts and mine, which had a stubborn nature. So you'd probably never think we were twins but we are. In fact, if you didn't know my mom, you'd probably think we were all adopted by how much our appearances differ.
"Fine I suppose, only she's pretty bummed out about me leaving." I said my voice no longer animated.
"As am I." He said with a small smile. I looked up at him and returning his small smile as I shook off the weird tension happening in the room and called for John.
"JOHN," I yelled. Our house was very big and you couldn't hear someone if they weren't loud enough from some places. "Sorry, I know you came here to see him and all. He's probably in the basement working out." I added as he looked at me and nodded. John himself had turned our basement into a gym when he had turned fifteen. He walked over the door that led to the basement and looked back at me.
"You comin'?" he asked as I nodded and followed him down the steep stairs. I hated those stupid flights of stairs. I had tripped and fallen in them more than once and I was in no hurry to do it again. We reached the bottom and then were greeted by John.
"Hey Zach, little sis." He said as did some weird handshake thing with Zach and then moved on to ruffling my hair, an old time tradition since he was nine. I sighed as I tried to fix the miss that my hair probably was now. There was no doubt the raven black hair that fell down to my lower back had seen better days. "Jesus man, how long you been at it?" asked Zach seeing the sweat that was collecting at the top of my brother's white shirt.
"Not long, just a couple of minutes. I was hangin' with Araine before Jess called and started yelling at the poor girl." He said as he shook his head.
"She was that loud, huh?" I asked. He nodded sadly.
"I still can't believe you're both moving. This sucks." Said Zach as he handed my brother a towel and I sat down on the couch. Suddenly quick footsteps made their way down stairs.
"Hey Zach, I didn't know you were here." Said Cherie out of breath as she reached the bottom of the stairs. I looked to John and we both shared a knowing glance. Of course she didn't.
"Oh hey, Cherie." He said looking to John and I for help. It was obvious to all of us that she wanted him, and bad. Though I think her boyfriend Charlie would not like the idea.
"Hey, what are you doing down here?" she asked as she gave me an open glare. According to her it was my sisterly duty to tell her when someone important was over. Yeah, like I was going to abide by that.
"Just hangin' with John and Ariane. Talkin' about the move." He answered as he took a seat beside me. At this I smiled subconsciously.
"What?" Asked Zach with a smile.
"What, what?" I asked confused about what he was talking about.
"What are you smiling at?" He asked a smile on his face. Oops, oh no! Maybe he didn't know why I was laughing. Please don't let him know why I'm smiling.
"I...um...I just had the perfect idea!" I said trying to search my mind for what that perfect idea could be.
"What is it?" Asked John as he squirted water into his mouth.
"We should all go to the movies together one last time." I said quickly before even thinking about my proposition.
"That's not a bad idea. It's probably the last time we hang together, so this'll be a proper good bye. I like it." Zach answered as Cherie nodded ecstatically.
"Great idea sis. Our last time together should be fun so let's go. I'll leave mom a note on the fridge so let's get goin'." Said John as he ran up to his room to change.
And so there in the living room sat Cherie, Zachary, and I, waiting for John to come down stairs. Of course, Cherie was sitting next to Zach and I next to her, as usual. She wasn't very subtle.
"So Zachary, how's the swim team going?" asked Cherie.
"Fine." He answered as she nodded and looked to me for advice.
"Ask him about what he plans to do after high school." I suggested as she nodded and asked the question.
"Well I might get a job because that looks really good in your college transcript and then hopefully I'll get a scholarship so that I don't have to pay for a school." He answered as I nodded. It seemed like a good plan. I wonder what I would be like in high school. Or just how high school would be like now that I'm moving to a completely different place. Not to mention how many times I would get lost in the weird streets of England. I mean I got lost just last year because I took the train instead if the bus, which resulted in me walking around the same block five times before finally realizing which way I should go.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Cherie answered her voice almost worried, as she should have been. High school would practically decide the rest of her life. If she got good grades in high school, then maybe, just maybe she would get into a good college, which in turn ended up with giving her a good job that paid her a lot of money, meaning she would have more time to get a husband, have children and live happily ever after.
"What about you Araine?" he asked looking to me for an answer.
"Well the plan was to do as many extra curricular activities as I could the first two years so that in the last two I could study really hard on my PSAT's and SAT's, oh and get me a job doing something like a hardware store where I would hopefully become manager and get big bucks to pay for college but now that I'm moving, that's all down the drain." I answered thinking about what my new plan should be. I had no idea what kind of jobs people in England had and I really would have to know if I wanted to do my best to get into a good college.
"You really thought a lot about this, huh?" he asked.
"Well it is my life and I need to do the best that I can with it." I explained as he nodded as John came down stairs, finally.
"Alright lets go." Said John cheerfully as he got his jacket and we all walked into the middle of the quiet streets.
It was at least seven o'clock by now and there were no car in view. We all walked in silence, just trying to think about what was yet to come in our lives as suddenly a teardrop fell on my nose. I giggled at the drop sliding down my nose and onto my mouth where I licked it from my lips. It was as salty as a raindrop. I looked up as more raindrops followed. I tilted my head upward and smiled as the rain poured down lightly on my face.
"What's she doin'?" asked Zach as I looked over to him and then went back to savoring the wonderful rain.
"She has a friendly obsession with rain. She says it's one of the world's many miracles." John answered as I heard Zachary laugh.
"Dude, just wait till it starts snowing." John answered with a laugh of his own.
"Ariane, come here. You're gonna get all wet." Said Zach as he opened up an umbrella.
"I don't mind." I answered as he gave me a look. I sighed and went under the umbrella with him. We all walked into the movies theatre and decided to watch something about friendship for something reason. Don't' ask, it was Cherie's idea. So here we are watching some mushy movie about life longs friends when suddenly I feel something drape over my shoulders. I look over to my left about to lean on John when I remember Cherie is sitting on my left, which of course leaves John at my right. I shrug and lean into John for the rest of the movie, happy that I have him for a brother, even if he is a little over protective at times.
Sometimes, I watch these movies about people with brothers or sisters that have the exact sane situation as John and me, that my dad is his second father. Usually they don't get alone and hate each other and this is why I'm so happy that we have the relationship we have, because without him, I would be truly alone in that house. My mother has a knack for buying things that are way too big or way too much, in simpler words, our house is huge. And with the extreme loneliness I would feel in that house by myself or even with Cherie would be unbearable.
As the movie ended I snapped out of my chain of thoughts.
"Ariane we gotta go now." Said the person to my right. I turned, noting that something was definitely weird about John as my eyes went wide with shock. What was Zach doing with his arm around my shoulders?! And better yet, what was I doing leaning on him like that?! Oh no! This was a total nightmare.
"Zach! I. um. yeah." I said as I got up hurriedly and pushed through Cherie to get to John. At least there I couldn't let things get weird between my and Zach.
"Well that was some good sleep." Said John as I nodded and we all walked out the theatre. I noted that the rain had stopped, to my disappointment and the walk home was just as quiet as the walk here. We all waved to Zach, as we were about to walk inside the house. Suddenly I felt a hand on my hand. I turned and found Zach looking intensely into my eyes. I blushed and mustered up my courage.
"Sorry about the thing at the movie. I thought you were John. I didn't mean to do anything inappropriate." I answered looking towards the ground as Zach shook his head.
"How come you always shake you head when I talk?" I demanded somewhat annoyed now.
"Because you are so naïve." He answered.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I asked indignantly.
"Because I've been wanting to do that for the longest time." He answered and I could feel all the blood rush to my head.
"Oh." I answered quietly. He had? Why hadn't I detected this? Was I really that naïve? I looked up to see him smiling at me. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you around." He said before walked away toward his house. My hand moved instinctively to my right cheek. I knew I smile must have been on my face. It was still tingly and my body temperature must have risen by at least five degrees. I sighed and then answered the truth.
"Not really." I said as walked back to the house my heart braking. He had wanted to do that forever and he chose to do it now, now that I was moving away from him. Great.
The next day I hugged Jess goodbye and then hopped into a car to go to the airport. Goodbye life. I sat in the same seat for God knows how many hours while the ten year old girl next to me told me in depth stories about her dog who was name Booboo, poor dog. Finally as soon as the ride was over I got to complain to John about everything.
"At least you had a ten year old. I had to deal with a seventy two year old man. Back in my day." he mimicked the old man's English accent causing me to smile.
"Children come along. Your grandpere is waiting." She told us as we nodded her and followed her to where we found our grandpapa standing and waving at us.
"Pere! Je mange tu." My mother said in French that would translate to father I missed you. Yeah, I'll probably be translating a lot of stuff. Don't worry I got your back.
"I missed you more." Answered my grandpapa.
"And children. You have grown." He told us, pulling us all into a hug.
"We missed you too grandpapa." I answered as he took me by the hand and lead me out of the airport and to his car.
"Why do people here drive in the right side of the lane?" I asked curious.
"Why do people in the states drive on the left?" he countered.
"I dunno." I answered furrowing my brow. This is one of the things I hated most about my grandpapa; if he didn't know the answer to something he'd counter using a question that you would of course know the answer to. I frowned at the long drive and the sighed at the moving of our bags.
"Come one. You people must be hungry. No one eats that airplane food anyways." He said as he made scrambled eggs for everyone.
"No daddy, I was wondering about the kids and school. I mean, we moved them here in the middle of the school year, do you think they'll be able to transfer somewhere?" my mother asked.
"Elle, I am after all the headmaster of one of the best schools around. I got them in after talking to the council and doing a lot of favors. They weren't very bent on it." He explained.
"Wait, what kind of school is it?" asked John suspiciously.
"It's the best private in this part of England." Answered my grandfather proudly.
"Private school? As in snobby rich kids?" John asked as Cherie smiled.
"Rich kids." She said running some weird daydream through her mind.
"When do we start grandpapa?" I asked getting to the real issue.
"Tomorrow." Answered grandpapa as we all groaned. Fantabuluous, not only did we have to move to this stupid country, and go to a new school, but we had to go to school the day after we arrived. Parents have no mercy.
"I have to pick my clothes!" said Cherie excitedly as she jumped from her seat.
"I really don't feel well. I can't believe I'm missing my first day of school!" Cherie huffed the next morning when we tried to get up.
"Oh honey, it must have to do with the move. It's all right you'll go tomorrow. Just try to get better okay?" asked my mother as she kissed Cherie's forehead also checking her temperature.
"Okay mama." She answered as my mom left closing the door behind her.
"Okay," she said to me as she sat up in bed, "now remember the plan. I'm not going to school today but you have to go so you can tell me what the people there are all like, okay?" she asked as if this were the most important thing I had going on in my life.
"Sure." I answered as I put on a pair of snug low ride gap jeans and a light blue top. Suddenly a knock came from the door and Cherie collapsed on her bed coughing.
"Calm down Cher, its just me." Said John as Cherie sighed and threw a pillow at him. I inspected him and tried to hold back laughter but to no avail.
"You look so adorable." I said between laughs as John looked down at himself. He was wearing the school uniform, which consisted of navy blue dress pants, a white shirt, navy blue tie, and a dark brick red sweater with the letters AG on it.
"Jee, thanks." He said his voice monotonously.
"No problem." I said with a giggle.
"Well I think he looks like a proper gentleman." Said Cherie, her voice filled with superiority.
"Yeah, well I don't understand why you guys don't have uniforms." He said annoyed.
"Because they haven't come yet." I answered as I looked at the mirror one last time.
"Yeah, whatever, lets just go." He said as he grabbed my lower arm and pulled me out of the house.
"Hello Jonathan and." said someone who must have been a teacher.
"I'm Simone but you can call me Ariane." I answered with a polite smile.
"Welcome. Now please some this way Jonathan and Simone." He said as we did as we were told, giving each other disgusted glances.
"We're about to start our second class now so you will be able to observe the students during sessions." Advised the man and we both nodded. The school bell rang and thousands of boys piled into the halls. I looked at John and John looked back at me.
"Welcome both of you to New England's Academy for Accomplished Young Gentlemen." Said the man, his voice booming in my head. Young gentlemen? What? No wonder he had to do so much to get Cherie and I in. I hate my grandpapa.