The Sea of Dreams

Chapter 1 'And here we go again, more guests'

Chapter 1 'And here we go again, more guests'

*Dedicated to AmyValentine for being a great friend and helping me to get this started- I wouldn't have published it without her support!!*

"Ariana, come on! We've been waiting for the last 20 minutes for you to 'fix your hair', seriously, hurry up." my best friend Rubes hollered up the stairs. "Yeah Ariana, your Mum wants us all to have a nice, friendly dinner together," came the most annoying, infuriatingly mocking voice of Matt, your stereotypical English version of a jock. God, I hate that guy. "Shut up, Matt, I'm coming," I yelled back. 

"Oh you are, are you? Wow, I know I'm sexy, but I didn't know I had that much of an affect on y... Ow! What was that for?" I smirked, Rubes was famous for her silent but deadly attitude. She was quite reserved and shy usually, but wasn't afraid to pack a punch if it was deserved, and trust me, with Matt, it was always deserved. His big-headed comment just then was enough to prove that. I took one last look in the mirror, and smiled to myself, pleased. I had done good tonight. I actually tried a little, I even put some thought into my make-up. I mean, of course I wear make-up, I'm just like any other girl, but usually I only bother with eyeliner and a bit of mascara. Since Mum had told me she'd invited round her new work partners, a.k.a the people who'd just moved in opposite, I decided I'd make an effort. Yeah, I was fed up with all the tea-parties my parents throw, but they're new to the area, so it can't hurt to impress. If I'd known she'd invited that jerk stood downstairs as well, I probably wouldn't have bothered.

I was dressed in a little strapless white dress with black patterns, which came to just above my knees, and it had a black belt around the waist. I'd bought it when shopping with Rubes last Summer, I fell in love with it, but never had the chance to wear it, there had never been the right occasion, but for tonight it seemed perfect. I had paired it with some simple black pumps with little flowers on the ends, because, they were cute and, although I was really good at walking in high heels and they looked amazing on me when I wore them, I wouldn't doubt it for a second that Matt would take pleasure in tripping me up in front of everyone, just for the sheer hell of it. I'd left my hair as usual, perfectly straight (without straighteners!), and it was a dark red, which looked brown, and can only be noticed as red in certain lights. I'd dyed it that colour last Summer too, with Rubes, and only touched it up a few times since.

I took a deep breath, to calm myself just in case I had the urge to scratch Matt's eyeballs out just for standing there, and left my room. As I walked down the stairs, I heard a sharp intake of breath, and turned to the noise. "Oh, sweetie, you look so beautiful!" my Mum gushed as I frowned at her annoying comment, before she rushed back to the kitchen to check on whatever concoction she was brewing. Lets just say I preffered my Dad's cooking, but he was never home early enough to get to the kitchen first. Just because my parents worked together, didn't mean they had the same hours, sadly for my stomach. I value my food, don't judge.  

I got to the bottom of the stairs, to find both Rubes and Matt staring at me, in astonishment and, in Rubes face bemusement, but in Matt's face, well, he looked impressed. I had a hilarious idea, and reached my hand tenderly towards his face smiling softly, he looked so shocked and almost scared, that when all I did was push his jaw upwards and bring my arm back to my side, smirking, me and Rubes burst into fits of laughter. He frowned, turned on his heel and walked into the dining room muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "I would never kiss you, you don't even look that nice..." 

"Don't forget about Sadie, Matt, I mean, I know I'm irrisistable and all that, but I'm sure she'd be more than happy to cut your balls off if she thought you had looked at another girl. Oooh" I mocked. He put his middle finger up to me without even looking and sat down at the end of the table, out of sight. Me and Rubes shared a glance and giggled again, before she nudged me and whispered, "Oooh, feel the burn Matt, that'll teach him. You look hot girlfriend! And by the way, I've heard about this new guy, who's moved over the road there, Dan, I think his name is, and apparently he's an absolute heartthrob, looks, personality, everything about him is nice" "Sounds too perfe..."  

"Girls stop chatting and get the door will you? I'm a bit busy here, if you hadn't noticed. Go!" Mum said from the kitchen, motioning towards the door, with a pot of steaming something in her hands, which looked gross. Just bread for me tonight, I think.

Honestly though? I hadn't even heard the damn doorbell. I moved swiftly towards the door, away from that scalding pot that my Mum was swinging my way, with Rubes following, and put on my best guest face. Years of dinners and tea parties with whoever my parents wanted to impress had taught me well, so no matter how much I hated somebody or if I was in a bad mood, I was always very polite (it was so tiresome), and many of my parents clients and business partners thought I was just the most 'well-manered daughter they had ever chanced to meet'. Even my parents themselves had snorted when they repeated that to me. Matt didn't shut up about it for a month, until I threatened to punch his face in if he mentioned it again. He soon stopped, he's in love with himself and his pretty face too much to ruin it with such trivial things.

Good times.

Anyway, as I opened the door, I smiled sweetly at the middle aged couple stood there. The woman had curly blonde hair which flowed down her back in soft ringlets. The man however, had straight brown hair, cut into the usual style that all men seem to have. Have you ever noticed that? Men... No sense of adventure with their hairstyles at all. "Hi there! Welcome to the Lepton household, my name is Ariana, pleased to meet you," I said cheerily, sticking out my hand. Rubes chuckled softly beside me, "I'll never get used to that, you pro," she whispered under her breath. I ignored her as the man reached out to shake my hand firmly, "Hello dear, I'm Jacob Reddan, and this here happens to be my lovely wife," he motioned to the lady stood beside him, "Rose, and this," a boy stepped forward, and my God, was he eye candy. Trust me, I'd seen good looking, and this boy was off the scale. But, if he was anything like Matt, who I admit, is handsome, then I already hate him. Rubes leaned into me slightly and I knew what she meant, swoon. We had our own kind of language for this exact kind of moment. "is my son, Daniel, whom I do believe is your age- he's 16?" Mr Reddan finished. I looked at him, digesting what he'd just said, and smiled once again "Yes, I'm 16 and so is Ruby here, as well as our," I paused, "friend, Matt. I'm sure we'll get on really well. We'll be in the same year at school too, so I"m sure we could help you get settled in, if you're enrolling at the local school. If you would like, that is," I said, looking at Daniel. He nodded, smiling softly. "It's great to get to meet you all, please, do come on in, you can put your jackets up there," I pointed to our coat rack, "and follow me into the dining room." "Sit wherever you would like" I sent them a big smile and waved my hand over the table, where Matt sat, giving me an amused look. I glared at him and he looked away, focusing on Daniel. He stood up to greet him as I exited, entering the kitchen to find my Mum stood stirring something over the oven. It was boiling in there and I felt myself almost melting as I opened the patio doors, breathing in the night air deeply. I relaxed my face, sighing loudly, as the relief of not having to smile anymore kicked in. My cheeks hurt like hell, Mum was gonna pay for that. She turned around and smiled innocently, "Everything okay honey?"

I scowled, "Oh yes, everything is just dandy, I just had to smile for a solid 10 minutes, and be friendly to some people I probably really won't like because if they're anything like the other people you usually invite over, they'll just be snobby cows that think they're better than us, and cleverly insult us while making it sound innocent, plus you invited Matt and you know how I feel about him, and I'm going to have to look happy for another few hours because of those people you invited round and I'm not happy and I'm fed up of pretending to be the perfect daughter, and now I have to pretend to like the Reddans, and enjoy their company even though I'm sure I WON'T!!" I was out of breath by the time I had finished and suddenly felt bad about what I had said. I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "Sorry, I didn..." but Mum wasn't even looking at me, she was staring at something behind me. I slowly turned around and nearly screamed and cried when I saw who was stood there, in the doorway to the kitchen holding a bottle of wine. None other than Daniel Reddan, who I'd just indirectly insulted, multiple times.

I was so screwed.

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