Elle [ON HOLD]

Moving In

"I think that's the last of them," Eloise said, putting the last moving box down on the kitchen table. "Girls, are you all good from the truck?"

Ashley walked in with a box full of sparkly pink... things. I couldn't see from my place on the couch. "I'm all done," she said. "I think that Lily still has a few things to bring in."

"Elle, can you go help Lily?" Eloise asked absent-mindedly.

I sighed internally, but paused my episode of Doctor Who and nodded. "Sure." When I walked out of the house, I saw Lily flirting with one of the moving guys, and I rolled my eyes. I had quickly learned that Lily was a player and that she loved to flirt with every male in sight.

It had been a week since the wedding, and they were finishing up the move into the house with my dad and I.

I picked up a box labeled, "Lily's things" and carried it into the house. Of the few things I noticed, there was a picture frame, some little knick-knacks, and, to my shock, a diary.

I thought that Lily would be too... busy to keep a diary. I mean, she's always out, and when she is around, she's usually texting a friend or talking on the phone... 

Before I could even think of touching any of her stuff, Lily came barreling at me. "You thief!" she screeched. "How dare you touch my things!"

"I wasn't!" I protested.

"You little--"

"Girls!" Eloise appeared from around the corner. "What is going on?"

Lily glared at me and pointed at the box of her personal items. "This little figwit is trying to steal my things! She thought she could get away with them when I was talking to the cute moving guy, and I caught her as she was coming into the house!"

Eloise closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Lily, I asked Elle to see if she could help you bring your things in. She's obviously doing a better job than you, since you just admitted that you weren't bringing your own items in. You were talking to the moving guy. Lily, I expect more from you than false accusations and yelling. Now, take your things and go up to your room to unpack, okay? I'll have Ashley and Elle bring in the rest of your things."

"But mom--"

"Now, Lily."

She huffed, and shot me one more evil glance, but turned and, with the last scrap of dignity she still had, she went and walked up the stairs to the room she and Ashley were sharing.

My dad had tried to convince me to give up my room since it's one of the biggest in the house, but I adamantly refused. I wasn't going to give up my room just because there were going to be more people living with us. 

That certainly wasn't very fair.

Eloise turned to me. "I'm sorry for Lily's... attitude. We're not exactly used to new surroundings, and I think she's just having a bit of a hard time adjusting. Please, if you could, can you give her a bit of grace?"

Her change in attitude surprised me, but I nodded. "Yeah."

"Thank you." She fanned her face with her manicured hand. "The girls will have a hard time getting accustomed to these... Smaller areas."

Immediately, the small speck of respect I had had for her disappeared. "Well, I hope you get used to it," I replied, trying not to be too rude. I turned around abruptly and plopped back down on the couch to finish my episode of Doctor Who.

____________________________________________________

It. 

Was.

Three.

In.

The.

Morning.

They were still up.

How could two girls who seemed like they were smart and respectable still be up at three in the morning gossiping about their first day of school tomorrow? It's, like, we humans need sleep to function. 

You, apparently, do not.

I came to a conclusion. They weren't human. 

How could humans be that gorgeous? I mean, if I tried going up to some moving man and flirt like heck, they'd look at me like, "what is this strange creature and why is it staring at me like that?"

And yet, Lily can do it almost effortlessly. 

Even though I hadn't seen what Ashley could do yet (she just seemed shy so far), I knew that she would be able to work her way into somebody's heart soon enough. 

Both of them were sure to get dates to prom. Their long blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes. All I had was brown hair and brown eyes. 

They looked like fashion models, and I looked like the before picture of a beauty ad. 

I heard another giggle from the next room over and tried my hardest not to bang on the wall and say, "Hey! Shut up!" It took all of my strength, but I succeeded. 

At the same time, I was envious. I wasn't close enough to anyone to be able to stay up all night talking about something. 

I... I wanted to be.

Hope sparked in my heart. Maybe, if these girls and I got along, we could all be like best friends and then I could have something even close to resembling sisterhood.

We could be sisters.

Even though Lily's attitude needed to be toned down a bit, and even though Ashley barely acknowledged my existence, there was a chance. 

All I needed was a chance.

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A/N

Aw, poor Elle. 

-Marcie

P.S. Sorry for taking so long on the update.