Everlance Academy

Chapter 6

"Wait, let me recap this...", Ivy says while putting her paintbrush down and propping her chin on her hand.

"You have a little brother called Sam, short for Samuel. Nine years old. He's the son of your father and your stepmother, Maria."

"Correct."

"But Maria is not the woman he's with right now. Her name is Chrystal, and she is twenty-six?"

"Yes. It's... an interesting relationship dynamic."

"And your mother, whom your father cheated on with Maria, is currently dating some French guy who has three kids from a previous marriage?"

"Yes. Juliette, Louise, and Alexander. Triplets. They're a little less than a year younger than me."

"So your parents have been with other people for the past ten years, cheated on each other multiple times, and are just now getting a divorce?"

I nod my head, sighing, while dumping my brush into the cup filled with water. I had been called to the office just an hour earlier, where my father had waited on the phone to inform me that he and my mother were finally getting a divorce.

Other kids would have been sad about that, but honestly? I'm just relieved. This whole situation had been going on for a couple too many years, it had become awkward.

"Wow," Thalia rags a hand through her black hair, "and I thought I had family drama."

"I can promise you, family dinners were... an adventure."

Yeah, I gathered that...", Nora mumbles, furrowing her eyebrows, fully concentrated on her painting.

The four of us, all in the same art class, were sitting under a cherry tree in its panumbra, painting simultaneously. The task was to paint something in Monet's style, and the teacher had allowed us to go outside for that.

Thalia had brought her music box, and together we had created a "painting under the cherry tree" playlist that was playing in the background, giving the situation a very scenic vibe.

"So what are you guys doing after this?", Ivy asks, drenching her brush in purple.

"Your mom," Nora mumbles, still focused on her painting. That is, until Thalia takes her brush and splashes Nora's nose with red paint. "Stop it!", Nora squeaks. "What the hell?"

"You stop it with the mom jokes. They're so old."

Nora looks over at her. "Just like your mo-"

The next moment, she's lying in the grass, with Thalia sitting on her stomach and straddling her while tickling her aggressively. Nora tries to protest, but her words are swallowed by her loud laughter, and soon enough she gives up, settling for lying on the ground and smirking up at Thalia.

Ivy next to me is laughing even louder than Nora, even though no one is tickling her, to the point where I'm scared that she might choke. But even I can't stifle a smile. Being here with them on a day when no clouds dare cover the sun makes me almost euphoric for the next two years.

"Red really suits you, Nora," Ivy says after everybody has calmed down and returned to their spots on front of their canvas. "You look like that one deer. What was his name? Herbert? Peter?"

"You mean Rudolph? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?", I ask.

"His name was Rudolph? Damn. No wonder he got bullied," Nora comments while dipping her brush into yellow paint and walking over to Thalia.

"This is payback," she continues, and drapes the brush over Thalia's cheek, painting a star.

"Thalia is a star person. And Ivy a sun. And June is definitely the moon. I will not elaborate, argue with the wall," she adds.