Settle For Less (A Before You Exit Fan Fiction)

You're Better Than The Rest

“Hey, Dorothea,” I said when I saw Dorothea in the kitchen baking some homemade cookies for my mom’s council meeting this evening. “Have you seen Chloe? I checked her room, there was no evidence she was ever there.”

            Dorothea had turned 360 degrees to face me, leaving her cookies in the oven unattended. “She left with Daniel last night. They haven’t returned yet. I guess she slept over at Daniel’s.” She had pronounced Daniel’s name as Dán-iel with a Spanish accent. I had once envied her for her accent when I was younger. She was born in Mexico. She had worked for us for almost 20 years; she practically raised my mom and therefore had raised us. We love Dorothea. She’s like our second mother. Since she was an orphan and was a widow without a child, she stays with us.

            My jaw fell. “What?” I had expected that Chloe and Daniel were doing something but the confirmation of the fact still seemed to shock me. “Do mom and dad know about this?”

            “Dios mio,” Dorothea exclaimed. “Of course they know. Your sister is unlikely to sneak out the house.”

            “Right, that was just me, I guess.”

            Dorothea blinked. “What?”

            “Oh,” I said, pushing back the smile on my face. “Nothing.”

            I left her in the kitchen with her eyes widely open. What am I supposed to do now? I though. Chloe and I were supposed to go shopping today for the Homecoming this Friday. I had canceled all my plans for that. Now what am I supposed to do? When I reached the door of my room, there was a pink square shaped post-in posted on the door. I had to confess, it’s odd that I haven’t seen it when I had woken up and went immediately to Dorothea. I reached for it and saw it was from my parents.

It’s our anniversary tonight.

Going to be out all night, do not wait up for us.

XOXO Mommy & Daddy

            Great, not only do I have nothing to do I was also home alone. Of course there was Dorothea. But she wouldn’t be here all day since it was a weekend and it was her time off. Chloe wouldn’t be home until midnight or so since it was her turn to attend the council meeting with our parents. The council was all about meeting family friends—the oldest families in Orlando. My mother’s family, the Cambriels, was one of the oldest families in Orlando and since they were the “founders” back in the medieval era. Yearly, our family throws a ball celebrating the founders of the city: the Vanderbilts, the Nightshades, the Northwills, the Collins, the Fraylands, the Andrews, the Morgans, the Gregorys, the Cigrianos, the Bamfords, the Arisons, the Williams, the Ronzans, the Di Angelos, the Graces and the Gardners.

            I had sat on the bed, thinking of what I could do for the day. Then I had been slapped by a glorious idea. I reached for my phone which was on top of my vanity table and immediately dialed a number. My heart was pounding.

            “Hey,” Connor said from the other end of the line.

            “Are you busy?”

            “Miss me already?”

            “No,” I said immediately, smiling widely. “I’m kidding, of course I miss you. Every second of the day, actually.”

            There was a pause for a moment. Was it right to admit that I miss him? What if he thinks I’m too clingy? At last he said, “I miss you too. I’m at the studio right now, but I’ll be out in a while. What’s up?”