Cracks In Glass

Chapter One

I broke down the last box and stepped back to look at my handiwork. The room was organized, everything in their assigned spot and not a thing was out of place. All I had to do was take the pile of cardboard boxes to the garage and everything would be perfect. My clothes were all hung in the closet, the shirts hung according to the color and sleeve length, the jeans and shorts separated and dresses hung according to style and length. My shoes were in their proper place, lining the bottom border of the closest. My underclothes were the only things in the dresser next to my closet door. My make-up and toiletries were in my bathroom, which was attached to my room and was reserved for my use only. My bed was made, without a single crease in the sheets. Everything was perfect.

"Melanie." My sister sung, her body coming into view. She stood at my doorway, with her hip resting against the frame. She was clad in a cream dress that had been ironed and reached exactly to her knees. "Are you almost ready?" She asked, running her fingers through her thick, blonde hair. It shone like silk and I knew that it felt like silk as well. Her make-up was professional and I would be convinced that she was the proper twenty-one year old, if not for the mischievous glint in her eyes. I knew that she was uncomfortable it her outfit, it covered too much skin, it was too prudish in her mind.

"Do I look ready?" I snapped. I was, of course. I wore an off white blouse with a soft pink blazer thrown over top and a black pencil skirt. My shoes were a pink velvet and were an acceptable three inches tall.

My sister looked me over, analyzing my outfit. She had put it together, so I knew that she was making sure it was perfect. "Then let's go because the faster we get there the faster I get the hell out of these clothes. God, I feel like someone is suffocating me."

"Why do we have to attend this anyway? So what, out parents are donated money to another charity, how does that even involve us?" I asked, slinging my purse over my shoulder.

"It looks good for the family to be there or some shit like that." She replied, leading us out of the room. Her hips swayed as she made her way down the hall. She stopped in front of the door leading to the room that our brother was staying at, and knocked her knuckles against the door.

"Joshua," Felicia called. "Are you ready to start this circus?" She laughed.

Josh opened the door, revealing the image of perfection. He was dressed in black slacks, black dress shirt and a light grey tie. His blond hair was styled in a way that made him look professional and smoldering at the same time. His dark blue eyes stood out beautifully. The three of us looked like the picture of misleading perfection. Little did everyone know that my sister was the town whore and my brother was the biggest man whore in the state. But that was behind closed door, away from the public's eyes.

"You're so fucking impatient." Josh growled as I reached forward and re-adjusted his tie.

"And you're so fucking dumb." Felicia bit back.

"Wonderful comeback." I commented before tugging on Josh's tie, telling him to follow me. I may have looked like my siblings, so much so that we were often mistaken for triplets, but I wasn't much like them at all. My siblings cared about clothes, images and petty things. I didn't even shop for my own clothes, I left that for the stylist that my mother hired for me. I honestly had no style or fashion sense, I simply put on what I was told to. My siblings liked the party scene, while I focused more on academics and school related life. That isn't saying that I didn't go to the occasional party, after all I was in high school, I just preferred not to make it my main focus in life as my siblings did. My brother was on his way to takeover my father's business and my sister was on her way to take over for my mothers while I didn't even know what the hell they did and they were in no rush to tell me. It seemed that you had to receive a special invitation to be included in the family business and mine had been lost in the mail.