Jane Austen Lied

Casey

This isn't okay! Who the heck is this woman and why is she marrying my uncle? Esse's thoughts filled her head with a bunch of colliding thoughts. They made her uneasy. She didn't even know her uncle was dating anyone, let alone engaged to her until the Facebook post. Her uncle and future aunt standing on the Great Wall of China, hugging and kissing and sitting on the sides of it. This was a complete surprise to her and her family. Her uncle was usually obnoxious and liked girls who were supermodel material or Miss Texas. This woman in the picture was very simple and dressed comfortably rather than in skirts and dresses all the time. She didn't wear any makeup and always had her hair tied back in a low ponytail. She has lovely eyes, and her face is like the one you'd see in a portrait from the regency era in Europe. Plain, and modest, but not ugly, or too pretty, just average. Her uncle has worked for Disney On Ice since she could remember. When they went, which wasn't often, she always waved at him from the rails above their heads. He usually shined the spotlight on them for a second to gain the family's attention and proceeded to aim it back at the ice rink. Supposedly he met her there and they ran the lights together. Her new aunt has been working there two years before he showed up, but she never remembered seeing her. Perhaps it was the anticipated tricks the figure skaters performed and the audience interaction she craved. The love for the theatre is what she and her uncle had most in common. Now, this lady had to fit into the equation. The unfamiliar always bothered her, since new things were always the cause of the trouble.

It was mid-June. The family is readying to meet the mysterious bride and her family. One week of clothes and off to El Paso it was. The theme of the wedding is Disney-related and as flower girls, she and her sister were dressed as Disney princesses. Her sister would be Belle and she would be Aurora. The dresses were tailored to fit by someone at her grandmother's local flea market and looked fairly similar to the dresses in the film. It seemed she had connections for everything. Grandma was always over the top when it came to celebrations of any kind. She attended quite a few of them often. Weddings, baby showers, baptisms, christenings, confirmations, first communions, quinceañeras you name it, and she always looked glamorous at every event. If there was one thing she looked forward to, it was what surprise she had up her sleeve for this particular event. At a distance cousin's Sweet Sixteen last year, she had a bunch of paper lanterns cover the overhead of the dance floor. The theme was Chinatown and the colors were red and gold. When the birthday girl walked in they lit up and she was surprised and her happiness radiated off of her face the rest of the night. What was it this time? Her mind raced the entire way to the Tip of Texas as it was famously called by the locals. They arrived in the late evening as usual and had the town staples as they did every visit. It was a tradition, Chico's Tacos the night they arrived, Horizon Bakery pan dulce for breakfast, and Peter Piper Pizza for dinner. This time, however, it was different. They arrived earlier than usual and decided to wait on the last members of her aunt's family to join them before they left to eat. She and her older brother let out his dog as usual into the front yard, and as they did, a black car pulled into the street and stopped in front of the flower arched gate. Two women stepped out, one with short hair, the other with long hair, and a girl with fiery red hair. Last, there was a boy with straight, jet-black hair who stepped out. He was the same age as the girl, only tall for his age. He had the typical body for a boy at twelve, mildly round and rosy-cheeked. He had that irritating haircut that was slightly too long to be a bowl-cut, and too short for a skater do. His brows were thick and he had sad eyes between a hazel-green or green-blue. Their gazes met for a moment, causing Esse to look away in a huffed manner. The family entered the house quietly and was exhausted from their trip from Florida. "What was that?" Her elder brother asked. Esse stared silently at the floor glowing bright red.

Hours later, the large herd of people made their way to Chico's to eat, taking up two-thirds of the restaurant. After eating, the girl was given a quarter from her grandparents to play one of the arcade games. She picked the same one every time, Outrun. There wasn't a seat connected to it since one of the local teenagers broke it a few years ago, but it was still fun. Her foot was propped up against the accelerator pedal and her hands ready at the wheel after inserting the coin and making her selection. The model of the car was always different, but always pink. This time it was a topless Camaro, standard with a stick shift. The location was Malibu beach and she was in the back. Seems like the previous racer lost big time. She always had a talent for racing and fighting games and never scored below second. She couldn't drift on purpose either, but ramps were her favorite as they were always her point of advantage to make it to the front. Local teens sometimes crowded when they were present and tried to poke fun at her when they saw how good she was doing, but not this time, at least not till the end. She was in first place nearing the finish line when someone spoke. "Nice score." A boy's voice said. She swerved the vehicle causing her to hit the finish line pole. This hurled her vehicle into a rapid spin letting a green car pass her and her stopping across the checkered line immediately after.  She was mildly irritated at this but exhaled with a furrowed brow. "So close." She said. The boy stared down at her with a playful grin. "Bet I can top your score." He said with eerie confidence. "I'm Casey, but you can call me Kay." Approaching behind was the girl with the red hair. "No one calls him that. Don't let him try to make you either" She protested. "I'm Belle, yes that's my real name and I was born first. I see you've met my dorky twin." Now it was her turn to speak. Esse was never good at making conversation and she had this bad habit of rambling when she met new people to the point where she says something weird about her family or herself.  "Esse." She said in a hushed voice. "You're pretty shy aren't you?" Belle asked with a smirk making the mole on her lip lift. Her eyebrows were thick like her brothers', only her eyes were more rounded and doe-like and deep brown. Her hair was medium length with tight curls and half pulled back with bits of red-orange springs falling here and there about her temples. Her name suited her.