The Girl Next Door - Ellenor Percival

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SIX: ENTER LOTTIE
"Why can't we talk about the Barcelona Trip of 2015 again, I'm lost?"
All generations of The Brambles alliance are gathered in my living room. I have Naomi as backup and we are preparing them all for meeting Lottie and her mum. Though I'm not sure whether she's coming alone or has deployed a buffer in the form of her mum. After our talk by the lake, Lottie gave me her phone number. I took it as her call for me to make the first move, she didn't need to grovel. I did.
ME: HEY IT'S FLEUR SAVE MY NUMBER
LOT: You're yelling.
ME: DINNER IS AT 6
LOT: Okay.
ME: SEE YOU THEN :)
"No further questions, you have your rules. She was very clear."
The younger ones are spread across the lads' laps and Naomi is wearing white platform Doc Martens to add to her already 5,11 height so she's in charge of this inquisition.
"Naomi, this isn't a courtroom." Typical Dylan shouting comments to Naomi, we would all typically find it amusing and he's definitely trying to lighten the mood but they don't get it. This isn't a joking matter. Lottie Fowler is coming for tea.
"You're right, this isn't a courtroom, it's an initiation." Naomi is typically found in blazers and academic wear. All figure flattering co-ord suits  paired with a crazy pair of platform boots. Their pink hair makes the entire look both authoritative and cool.
"Yeah I don't like how that sounds." This catch up was meant to be a quick conversation and it has turned into a 5 hour talk into every single story of my childhood. My mum kept asking me "Do you remember when you did that?" Oh, yes mum! I remember the short story I wrote as a kid about a caravan. It's a vivid and groundbreaking memory I hold close to my core memories alongside the time I locked myself in my Barbie house for the first time. A Lot of my memories have warped and drifted, they got replaced by ones which I am not too fond of. Thanks, brian!
"I'm defending your honour here unless you really want them spilling your secrets." Naomi is right, they always are. But I also think the approach to this should be more calculated . All the things they are asking about lottie admittedly i want to know too. She's in control of every detail I know about her, every single personalisation. We've had everyone hundled and listed every single blacklisted subject of the night. The biggest including the night of my brain bleed. Lottie has no clue the reason I ran away was because of that. Nobody had a problem blacklisting that subject, but getting them not to share the embarrassing tales of when a once lonely 7 year old me created two Movie Star Planet profiles and interacted with myself on different tabs. See not wanting that to get spilled into conversation is incredibly reasonable. My mum thinks the story is adorable. At the time she went mental at me for speaking to strangers online. I didn't tell her the real story until I was 14. I was just a lonely kid who needed to practice before talking to other people,  still am truthfully. No amount of experience with the brambles made me able to talk to new people without perfectly piecing together conversation topics beforehand. That's also why I love them so much. Because when with them all that anxiety and preparation isn't necessary. I just am.
"It's simple. No divorce talk, no stories on the black list, and no Brian talk."
Brian is the nickname we all have for the tumour which bled in my brain. I get it's better to process if I actually admit to what's going on in my head not metaphorically but all in due time.
"Well, I need to get the tea on." And on that note the majority of the parents rise and leave all us kids behind in the front room. My dad set up a little snack table that the majority of it was devoured during my lecture but I grabbed a pretzel and chewed on it anxiously. These are the final conversations before she comes over. They need to go count.
"She's nervous." Lowen, beautiful, kind and considerate. Please spare me of your honesty.
"Course she is Low, but we have to make sure this goes well. This doesn't just affect her. New neighbours are important."
"Flo looks like she's going to sprint away in the opposite direction when she arrives."
"That was the plan, Oliver."
"What happened with you both?" Tom readjusts and lifts himself off Tyler's lap and comes to hug me at the waist. I kiss the top of his head.
"It's all going to be sorted don't worry.'' I put my hands on his small cheeks and brush is black hair out of his forehead.
"Okay everyone, it's not like we haven't prepared for this for our whole lives." Naomi says with the most serious expression i've ever seen she is going to be the most badass lawyer. The world is not ready for them.
"We are so dramatic. I love you all." Tyler says whilst wrapping their arms around mine and Naomi's shoulders.
"Assemble." I say with a smug smile on my face. We typically say the same thing when preparing for big street parties, it's often a massacre in a very PG and entertaining way but you need to stick together. A flock, a unit. We need to assemble and conquer all. Our own bootleg version of the avengers. Preparing for socialisation, scary.
"Assemble." we all say in unison, tom breaks from my hold and runs off with ivy and lowen. Tyler however keeps hold of mine and Naomi's shoulders.
"This will be fun." Will it be?
Almost as if she can hear me, I see a familiar outline approaching the front door from the living room window. Before I can reach the door my dad gets it.
"Lot, it's nice to meet you. I'm Flo's dad David."
He's instinctively using the nickname I chose for her, why didn't I think of that?
"Thanks for having me." She offers a toothless smile, I remember the first time Lottie smiled at me. And not for show. A genuine real smile. It lasted for such a small amount of time, you could have missed it if you blinked. She caught herself and immediately stopped. I noticed the bump in one of her front teeth. So many parts of Lottie I wouldn't notice on something else but when it's her. It's just so "Lottie ''. As if these features were made specifically just to be a part of her.
"Don't be alarmed, these lot never leave." He says this sarcastically. My dad isnt too sociable but he makes the effort when it matters. I told Lottie I had a big family but I understand this scene will be a bit overwhelming. She once revealed to me that she hadn't had a family dinner since she was 6. We weren't too close at the time but it saddened me to my core, me and my family have dinner together every night. From that secret onwards I never took advantage of another dinner again. He then does the gentlemanly gesture indicating she can come in. The same way I did the first day we met. I'm having so many full circle moments today. A familiar pair of earthy eyes reach mine.
"Hey, Let me introduce you to everyone."  The hallway gets busy so I instinctively hold her elbow to keep her from being trampled on by the herd of 10 year olds flying in and out of the doors playing Avengers.
I hurry her through the hallway and she finishes her brief goodbye with my dad. I bring her to this nook in my kitchen which the walls are filled with years of holiday magnets, cinema tickets, photo booth stacks and my personal favourite, the photos in the top left of all of us as kids at Sophie and Ruby's wedding.
"Okay, so I'll reintroduce you to the alliance later, but the parents are the people to know. The younger ones don't bite." Her eyes are focused on mine but her hands mess with the blanket beneath me. She anxiously braids the free strands.
"Noted." Lottie isn't a fan of socialising so her joining me today definitely does surprise me, but she evidently has ulterior motives. Our truce.
"Ready?" To that her response is just a simple nod.
We leave the nook and I take a deep breath and prepare to make this awkward situation, somehow bearable.
"So you've obviously heard the horror stories, so I thought I'd introduce you all to Lottie Fowler. My nemesis."
"It's very nice to meet you all." She's a debater, she knows how to look genuine. I knew Lottie for nearly 5 years and she hates small talk more than me. But she's still painfully capable of holding a conversation with a fly. I don't know how she does it . She just always knows what to say.
"Okay so that's Sophie and Ruby , they are Oliver's mums and also you'll meet ivy and tom in a minute they are both nightmares"-
"- hey don't call my kids nightmares, they are a lot better behaved then you were Aimes i promise. It's nice to finally put a face to the name Lottie. It's nice to meet you."
That was Ruby, she has long red hair to match her name and she's huggled against her wife Sophie who's looking protectively in my direction, I smile reassuringly. Sophie is a tall slender woman who's long black hair is cascading down her shoulders. The grey of her roots elegantly blended to the ends of her hair. She will always remain as one of the coolest people I know.
"I'm Sophie nice to meet you, you've been partners with Oliver in the past. That was the first time he got an A. I guess I have to thank you for that." Lottie looks approvingly in my direction. I'm often the person teachers choose to pair with people who chat during lessons with Lottie. Although it just means I do all the work because I'm terrible at working in teams. I'm convinced the only way I could work in a team is if I clone myself 5 times and work with myself. Sophie connects the dots and smiles at Lottie; she often communicates with facial expressions, so her letting on to an outsider is a big sign of approval to the rest of the parents.
"That's Victoria and Paul, they are the poor owners of Dylan and naomi."
"I would argue with you Aimes but Dylan ate all the remaining out of date donuts at the bakery in Tesco the other day because he didn't want to waste him. He took 3 days to recover from the food coma. But yes, poor us." His dad says this with eyes and a smile which screams affection. He loves his kids so much, doughnut hoarding and all.
"And Victoria actually works in PR Lottie so I'm sure she could help you out." I remember the day in the first year of college when Lottie admitted she wanted to pursue PR instead of becoming a lawyer. Admittedly she would be the most expensive lawyer around because nobody can convince you to do anything better than Lottie Fowler can.
"That's awesome, Lot. I'd be willing to talk over helping you anytime with applications or shadowing opportunities."
Her false persona and debating facade drops ever so slightly as you can see the genuine appreciation and excitement in her face. Our family is a perfectly operating well oiled machine of love and affection and I hope she gets the opportunity to get used to it.
"That is very kind, thank you." She meets everyone's eyes whilst saying this, Lottie is a tough nut to crack but once you finally get a ticket it's adorable. I made the mistake of betraying her trust and being kicked out.
"And then finally we have Maya and Elliott, the high school sweethearts and people to go to if you need lifts. Elliott is a bus driver and Maya is an ex-pilot."
"I'm not sure if Lot will be going on a plane anytime soon so maybe one of e's buses would be best for a lift. It's nice to meet you Lottie, fleur hasn't stopped speaking about your debate performances over the past year. It's admirable how quickly you can shut down an argument. You're like the goddess of arguing."
And secondly this amount of love and  affection is overwhelming for people who don't wake up to it everyday. A level of kindness and unfiltered love with no intention of giving that amount back can be a lot to take in so I grasp her elbow again. She doesn't necessarily back away; she just goes rigid for a second before accepting my gesture.
"That means a lot, thank you so much." Her appreciation is genuine.
"Now no pressure to learn all their names, these guys are boring. Let's go meet the others. Oh! ALSO mum we are all going to the spot later. We will be back before the sun goes down."
"Alright be careful. Maybe get a new sofa sometime, or that actually fits you all."
"You know what Claire, I said the exact same time." She meets my eyes with a smug smile playing on her lips.
"Keep an eye on her Lottie, her giddiness is worrying me." That's quite a weird thing to say but I brush it off.
"Let's meet the others."