Rose Tinted Lenses

Chapter 6

Kendall returned home that afternoon without any great excitement. School was over, but dinner with Mother loomed hourly closer. This was her least favourite event of the month.

Mrs Lockwood was a mixture of characters in her daughter's mind - a Harvard graduate, a canny business owner, a wealthy entrepreneur, but not a mother. At least not to Kendall, who sometimes wondered why she ever had children in the first place.

Mrs Lockwood was away for weeks at a time on business trips. She'd pop back for a painful couple of days just to check all was well, before hopping back on her jet. Mr Lockwood had left home shortly after the twins were born for reasons that were never made clear. Their parents' absences had affected each of the children differently.

Austin had been the apple of his mother's eye. The only man she could trust never to leave her. She smothered him and never let him lift a finger. He had relied on her totally and grew into a spoiled, ignorant child. In his teenage years he began to acknowledge his bubble-like existence; he came to realise his father had indeed abandoned him. He blamed himself at first but trying to make sense of it all only upset him, so he accepted the situation and decided to be angry instead.

He turned to football as an outlet for his rage, which was not a bad idea since he was amazingly good at it. As for the relationship with his mother, it became more complicated as he got older. He wanted answers that she denied him. He began to see his mother as a person, rather than just his Mom. He began to see clearly that Mrs Lockwood's treatment of his sister was unfair, and that really bothered him.

He always said he was protective of his twin sister because his parents weren't there to look out for her. As a result, he took his big brother job very seriously. He knew he was too strict with Kendall sometimes, but it was his way of trying to act the way a dad would be with a daughter. That was very hard to do when you yourself had no idea what a good dad looked like.

Kendall felt she was in a state of blissful ignorance over her father's absence. She'd never met him or even known what it was like to have a father, so it wasn't like there was anything much to miss. It did bother her sometimes though, that he hadn't felt she was something worth sticking around for.

But her real issues stemmed from her mother. Mrs Lockwood made Kendall feel as though she was constantly under a microscope. It didn't matter that she was a straight A student or a well-rounded young lady; her mother wasn't interested. It was every pound Kendall gained or spot on her face that her mother noticed. She even teased Kendall for being unable to get a boyfriend and thus started inviting rich bachelors over for dinner in the hope of setting them up. She made Kendall feel like the most repulsive person on the planet. Nevertheless, and however much she wanted to stop trying to impress her, Kendall still held on to the dream that one day her mother would listen and respond with, "I'm so proud of you, Kendall."

She knew it was a stupid dream.

Kendall saw Austin scrolling through his phone at the kitchen table. He looked up and smiled warmly.

"Hey, little one."

Kendall rolled her eyes and headed to the pantry to grab a muffin. When she stepped back into the kitchen, she was surprised to see Austin looking at her remorsefully.

"You okay?" she said sceptically.

He sighed. "I'm really sorry for how I've been acting lately. I shouldn't have flipped out when you told me about tutoring Daniel and I trust you to study with him because I do trust you."

Kendall was taken aback. She wasn't even remotely annoyed at him so she couldn't understand what prompted him to apologise. Her heart leaped at his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you, Aussie." She pulled him in for a hug. Relief washed over her as she stood, wrapped in her brother's warm embrace. She needed as many people as possible to fight her corner when her mother arrived and it was nice to know he was there.

***

Kendall was right. Seated opposite her at the dinner table was a sweater-vest wearing, golf cart riding, cocaine sniffing, 18-year-old boy. His name was Chad... Kendall almost choked on her green beans when her mother introduced him.

Of course his name is Chad, she thought to herself.

Her mother had already insulted Kendall twice in one sentence. "Your eyes are looking dark and saggy," she said, "but at least it distracts from the weight you've gained."

She really knew how to twist the knife.

Over dinner her mother talked about her as if she were an angel. But Kendall wasn't oblivious to why she was doing it. Chad and his family were eating up her words with impressed nods. But Kendall felt humiliated as she poked her roast potato around her plate with her fork.

Once everyone's plates were empty and the housemaid had cleared the table, Mrs Lockwood came up with her worst idea yet.

"Kendall dear, take Chad upstairs and show him your room. You two can get to know each other a bit." She said this, putting on her most ladylike voice.

Kendall's face went hot and she knew she looked nervous.

"No."

Kendall thought she was the one who'd said it but quickly realised she was still staring at the table cloth in panic. It hadn't been her. It was Austin.

"Now now, Austin, leave them be," Mrs Lockwood warned.

After five minutes of bickering, it was agreed she must take Chad upstairs to her room but that the door must be left open and they could not be up there longer than 10 minutes.

Kendall was glad Austin had stepped in and she felt better about the situation knowing it would only last 10 minutes.

Chad followed Kendall up to her room. He hadn't said more than five words for the entire evening. Kendall smiled awkwardly and bobbed her head slightly. Chad looked at her, equally unsure about what to do or say.

He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. "I know this situation isn't ideal, but we can just talk if you want? Our parents are probably going to make us spend a lot of time together and it might be easier if we're friends," he finally said, looking at her with a half smile.

She breathed a sigh of relief. He had just made things a lot easier for her.

"Yeah that's a good idea. Come sit." She sat down on her bed and patted the space next to her.

Luckily, he was really easy to talk to and the conversation flowed smoothly. She felt bad for judging him so harshly earlier because he actually seemed sweet. She knew she definitely wasn't attracted to him but it was nice to have made a friend.