folklore- a taylor swift inspired fanfic

Chapter Six

Mom calls for us to stop before we even get our seat belts unbuckled.
“Once everyone else gets here, we have some… things… to discuss. So don't go upstairs yet. Just go into the sitting room and wait.”

Another car pulls up beside us. It contains Grandma, Inez, Aigustine, and Aunt Elizabeth. They all pile out, and we take that as our sign to do the same. Once all the luggage is unloaded, the cars are driven into the very large garage on our right. We all walk inside and go into the sitting room.

“So, what do you need to tell us?” Inez asks.

Aunt Elizabeth and Mom look at each other. “Well,” Aunt Elizabeth begins looking at us, “um…”

“Oh, enough! to get to the point that William Sinclair and his family will be staying with us this summer. That includes his son, James.”

I find Inez's eyes from across the room, and we give each other a look. We have a lot of history with James. We have been close with the Sinclairs for a long time. Like, before I was born. James Sinclair is a year older than me. Me, Inez, and James all used to play together as well as some of the local kids when we were let out of the house. James was always like a cousin to us, but I hadn't seen him in a few years. From what I heard, Aunt Elizabeth and William had a falling out. They were ex lovers in college, too, making their argument more extreme. There's no way she's okay with this.

To make it even better, last year Augustine and James dated for a few months. James used to go to our school, Harkness High School, but transferred before high school. He then got a private tutor, or so I’ve heard. According to the stories, and Inez has neither confirmed nor denied, he was at the same party that she was at, they hooked up, exchanged numbers, and started dating.

They were sixteen at the time, so I’m not sure this story is entirely credible. They just don’t seem like the type, but I have also never even kissed anyone, so.

I look over at Augustine, and she looks smug. This will definitely end well.

“...and,” Grandma continued, “There was a fire this fall, and they haven't attempted to rebuild. Yet. They are going to be working on it this summer. James will be the only one staying with us later this summer. His parents will be gone overseeing the rebuild and other business matters. I'm sure you girls will give him a warm welcome.”

Grandma motioned us up the stairs. “Girls,” she calls. We all turned back to look at her. “James will be staying on the same floor as you.”

“Okay,” Inez and I say, smiling back at her. We look at each other again.

Shit.

I lead Alisa up to the third level where our rooms are. There are basically two wings to the lake house. The East and West wings, besides the three floors. Of course, they’re not legitimate ‘wings’ but it just sounds cooler.

We climb two flights of stairs and walk to the opposite end of the house. I lead Alisa to her room. We have a conjoined bathroom, so I just walk through there to get to my room. The bathroom is huge with a double sink, toilet, and shower, with a divider between them. There is a mirror that stretches across the wall behind both sinks, wall to wall.
I drop my things in my room and go to help Alisa unpack hers. Alisa opens the suitcase and takes all of her makeup and skincare bags to our bathroom.

I help her unpack everything and then she helps me, which takes about two hours total, because we go for a lunch run, too.

Back at the cabin, the last thing to come out of my suitcase is a bikini.
Alisa looks up at me, eyes pleading, but I already know what’s coming.

“Let's go swimming, B!”

I smile. “Why not? Let's go!” She runs to her room, and I put my bikini on. It's light green with little white flowers dotting it. I open the door to go into the hallway, add Alisa is waiting for me, already changed. We run back through our floor, down three flights of steps, and into the Great Room. It’s pretty much a movie room, sitting room, and game room combined with a big fireplace under the TV.

“Where are you girls going?” We’re just barely in the Great Room, and I see Grandma busy in the kitchen, unpacking.

“We're going to go swim,” I tell her, eager to get out to the lake.
“Alright. Have fun!”

Grandma doesn’t care about much when we’re up here.

We hurry out the back door and into the yard. I walk down to the little shed and get out two pool noodles. We leave our towels and sandals on the shore and run off the end of the dock, noodles in arms.

“Damn! That’s freaking cold!” Alisa exclaims.

I swim back to the dock and check the water temperature on the thermometer that stays in the water. One of the caretakers must have brought it out. They think of everything.

“50 degrees!” I call to Alisa.
She just shakes her head. “What are we doing this summer?” she asks. “I mean, what do you usually do when you’re up here?”

I float towards her a little more, enjoying the cool feel of the water. “We usually just swim, shop, and hang out.” I splash a little. “There is an annual fall ball that is hosted at the town hall, and that’s pretty fun to go to. It's more of a charity gala than a ball, but it just doesn’t have the same ring, you know?”

Alisa looks at me blankly, and I roll my eyes.

“What? It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Alisa isn’t easily impressed. “It’s not like the guys in this place would be that hot anyway,” she says.

“You’d be surprised,” I murmur.

“So who is this James Sinclair?” Alisa asks with a mischievous look in her eyes, splashing me.

“Too cold!” I shriek.

Alisa gives me a look. “So? You're avoiding the question,” she sings.
I give her a small smile. “Inez and I’s childhood and family friend. We used to be really close, like cousins. But then my aunt came in.”
“Elizabeth? Inez’s mom?”

I nod. “I think something happened between her and James’ dad. They dated in college and then went their separate ways. I think Aunt Elizabeth got between William and Catherine.” Now that I think about it, that’s what I heard between my mom and grandma when I was packing the other day.

“Damn,” Alisa says.

“Yeah.”

“Well, is he hot?”

“What?” I exclaim.

“James! Is he hot?” she asks.

I’m not sure what to say to that. I didn't notice him when we were little like that because we were basically family. I suppose when he was older, he looked a little cuter, but we were still maybe ten at the time. I tell Alisa as much, and she stops asking.

We talk about idle gossip that was going around and what junior year will be like. When we get cold and finally get out of the water, it’s already 3:00 in the afternoon, and we got into the water around 1:00.

“By the way,” I say as we are passing the shed, “he dated Augustine last year.”

Alisa looks confused. “Who?”

“James.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

As we walk back into the house, towels wrapped around our shoulders, I catch sight of someone standing in the Great Room with Grandma and freeze.

He's so blonde, handsome as hell, and has a devilish smirk. He’s carrying a suitcase, and there’s another man behind him holding two more.

“Hey, Betty,” he says, winking at me.