The End is Only the Beginning

(x: Old Version) 1: One Big Happy Family

Cherry Charming- September 8th

"Get out of the bathroom Cherry! You've been in there for an hour and I have to pee!"

"Actually, it's only been fifteen minutes, and go use a different bathroom, I'm not leaving this one!" I shouted at my cousin Rudy while leaning over the sink to apply my mascara. Our first year at Ever After High starts today. It's our Legacy Year, and after all those years of waiting, I'm actually excited to see what story Aunt Darling assigns me.

"But the other bathroom is downstairs and I'd have to walk past the kitchen and if I smell food before I go pee I might go all wolfy," he complained.

I opened the door and stuck my head out just to tilt my head like a little puppy dog at him. "Control it, don't you know how?"

"Sorta. Now move I gotta pee." He grabbed my head and yanked me out of the door, then rushed into the bathroom and shut the door in my face.

"HEY! Fine, you get two minutes." I counted to 60 once and then warned him that he was running out of time. In a few seconds, he rushed out of the bathroom without washing his hands. Idiot.

"WASH YOUR HANDS!" I shouted at him. We may be partly wild but that doesn't excuse hygiene.

"Breakfast!" My mom shouted from downstairs. I knew that meant that my cousins had arrived and the pancakes that I'd been dying for all morning were ready.

I raced Rudy down the stairs, won, and then took a seat around the large family table in the kitchen. Our family is really close and we have cousins over a lot, so a lot of times we eat meals together.

I took my seat next to cousin Aria and across from cousin Bryce. Aria had a sword scabbard to her side and a large camera around her neck. Bryce's black guitar hung by its strap on the back of his chair.

"Dude!" Bryce yelled, fist bumping me. I'm the cool cousin. Well, sort of. I don't really view myself as cool, but my cousins do. Even Rudy.

"DUDE!" I yelled back.

My redheaded girly cousin Hayden rolled her eyes at us. For some reason, she's not a fan of me. I thought I was hilarious!

Shea, my favorite of Aunt Duchess and Uncle Sparrow's kids (the others being Hayden and Bryce) was served her pancakes first. Shea is quirky and cool, and really underrated compared to Hayden. Hayden is basically your typical queen bee- but she won't tell me why she doesn't like me. She just rolls her eyes when I ask. She rolls her eyes a lot.

Sitting next to Shea was my most mysterious cousin, Taylor. She's the only blond Charming kid from the generation. Strangely, neither of her parents have blond hair. The purple and black hair my Aunt Raven has is evident though- Taylor's hair has streaks of her mother's natural colors. She wore thick glasses over her pretty purple eyes, and never went anywhere without headphones. She currently had headphones in and was diligently typing something on her MirrorPad.

"Taylor, socialize!" Her dad, Uncle Dex, called to her from the griddle.

Taylor popped one headphone out of her ear. "Great advice, dad." She was poking fun at how Uncle Dex had been sort of socially awkward in high school. She smirked at her dad and I felt kinda bad for him but didn't say anything.

Taylor and her parents are really close, but I don't think anyone is closer than my family. That's why I was so worried this morning. I've never been to a boarding school before, and I've never been apart from my parents for longer than about 24 hours before, and that's just because of sleepovers at my cousins' or at my best friend Cali White's house. The plus side to boarding school is I can be more independent, but it still scares me.