We Are Home

chapter 6

I was actually considering hiding under my bed to get away from Jenna. She was determined to torture me by forcing me to go to a party, where I was sure she would try to set me up with the arrogant, oddly named Hawk. I had locked myself in my new room the moment that I got back from dinner-lunch. The bedroom was aggravatingly nice, even if I would never admit that I actually liked it to any member of my family. The space under my bed would probably be clean and spacious, like the rest of the room.

A knock at my door interrupted my planning. I sat up from where I had been laying on top of my white bedspread.

"Lena?" I heard Jenna ask through the door. I stood up and walked over.

"Yeah?" I asked without opening the door.

"I'm sorry that I've been so mean to you today. It's just that Mom and Dad never told me that I had a sister. So I apologize for how I've treated you," Jenna said. I was immediately suspicious. She sounded fairly sincere but she was probably very good at lying.

I didn't respond for a moment, mostly because I had no idea what to say. I couldn't accuse her if lying because what if she was actually being truthful?

"Thanks," I said cautiously, "I'm sorry too."

"If you go to the party with me tonight you can meet my friends. You'll have classes with some of them when you start at Merkley in a few days." Jenna said.

"I don't know if I want to go," I told her. I opened the door to find her standing there in a short red dress, meant to attract attention at the party. I pictured Tom's face when he saw her.

"Please?" Jenna asked. She actually sounded like she wanted me to go. But why?

"Um."

"I won't make you talk to Hawk if you don't want to," my sister said.

"Fine," I found myself agreeing. She smiled and jumped up and down in her stilettos, making me even more suspicious.

"Get ready and meet me and Brandon downstairs in twenty minutes, okay?" Jenna said, then turned and strutted away, leaving me confused. I wondered what I had just agreed to.

Twenty minutes later I was in the same clothing as before, plus a black windbreaker and Doc Marten boots. I didn't own any dresses or skirts and I didn't plan on borrowing anything from my sister. Her taste in too-short everything combined with the fact that I was taller than her would make for a very uncomfortable Lena.

I walked down the gigantic staircase, marveling at how much space stairs could actually take up. Jenna and her boyfriend were waiting downstairs. Brandon kept looking at my sister's butt.

When Jenna saw what I was wearing, her face was temporarily wrinkled in disapproval before she forcefully put in a smile. I was right. She was good at acting. I wouldn't have known that her smile was completely fake if I hadn't seen that frown.

"You didn't change much." Jenna's statement made me want to smirk.

"I don't own anything fancier," I said.

"You could have borrowed something from me," Jenna said.

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother." My answer made her smile waver. She knew that I was subtly insulting her wardrobe.

"Have fun, guys," my mother said enthusiastically, mostly to Jenna. Jenna gave an innocent smile and hugged her mother. I stayed back, not wanting to be caught in a hug. I wasn't fond of hugging strangers.

"Where is the party, anyway?" I asked as the three of us walked outside, where Brandon's BMW was waiting in the driveway. I glanced back at the house. In the semi-darkness it looked like one of those dream houses that show up in rich people architectural magazines. Maybe it was already in one of those magazines.