arranged marriage | hbr [ ✓ ]

Chapter 1: Beginning

published/ 12jan, 2017

completed/ 16apr, 2017

PROOF EDITED

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Alexa, a 17 year old girl who's pretty average. Got an older brother called Zach, who's 18. Both parents adore her as their child, but maybe not as much as Alexa presumes. Zach still lives at home, but is moving out once 21. Their house is in central Phoenix, Arizona. The family has a huge craze for NBA, and often spends their nights in front of the TV watching live games or re-runs. 

The Barton family aren't the rich, snobby family that has everyone begging at their doors for money, or the stereotype family that can blow racks of cash, and is everyone's least favourite household in the area. For the most, they're average in money. The double storey house with an in-ground pool and the neatly cut front garden is enough to make pleasure in the space they live in. 

∞

Janurary 23rd, 2013.

ALEXA'S P.O.V:

I woke up to calming sounds of... Rain. I love when it rains in Arizona, it doesn't happen often. The soft taps on the window sill and the clean, pure air once the drizzling's come to a halt. Most times I go out in my casual attire and dance in the rain, celebrating the rare occasion of the rain's visit. Today, since it's only 6:21AM, I'll just stay inside. I sat at the window bay, staring out into the distance. 

Once the rain has slowly stopped, I opened my window a slight and inhaled the air. It's such a relaxing scent, and I love it. I wish the air was always natural, and authentic like this. I hopped off my little area and grabbed my phone and sat on my bed. 

A lot of the time I don't spend all day on social media, but once in a while I do like to spend a bit of free time on it. I got on Instagram and scroll through my feed, reply to comments and look at current trends on the 'explore page.' 

I post a selfie because I'm quite bored, and why not?

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@alexabartonn: It finally rained in Phoenix again 😊

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My brother is an Internet star, so I just happen to be 'known', but not as well since I'm just "Zach Barton's little sister." I do make random appearances with Zach on YouNow, and I did happen to tour with Zach on Part of My Story (POMS) for a little while. His fanbase adores me, they always leave positive and kind comments on my posts, and question about me in Zach's broadcasts, according to him. Zach has a follower count of 407K, and I have 87.1K which majority of the followers are Barton supporters. 

I eventually fell into a doze once again, with my phone clutched to my chest tightly in my hand and a smile plastered on my face. 

When I woke up for the second time today, the time was 9:30AM. I changed from my long baggy sweatpants and tank top; into high waisted shorts and a white cropped t-shirt. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and slipped on Nike socks before happily walking downstairs to the kitchen. 

My Mum (Laura) was humming soft tunes as she was flipping pancakes. I slipped into a bar stool at the island bench and sat there, watching the pancakes turn golden brown as the heat from the cooktop enriched the flavour. The typical pancake aroma swirled around the kitchen, and sleepy Zach slumped down to the bar stool next to me. "The rain kept me up, ugh!" He grumbled, and I couldn't help but have a sudden outburst of laughter. "What? It's so loud!" He exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders whilst having a very, confused facial expression. 

As Mum served the pancakes for the 3 of us, I explained to Zach why I was heavily laughing at his gloominess, and exhaustion. "Zach, I was up too when the rain was coming down. I laughed because we're complete opposites! I cherish the downfall, and you get aggro every time it interrupts your 'beauty sleep.'" I say, mocking "beauty sleep." He simply rolls his eyes, and Mum hands us both food whilst she moves around and sit next to me. 

I happily munch on the glorious food, as Dad shuffles down the wooded floorboards over to the open living room and switches on the TV. He always has to check the NBA stats, before doing anything in the morning. Always, he always does it; it's been a ritual for the past 7 years of his life. 

Today I decided that I'll hit the mall with some friends, so I excuse myself and thank Mum for the food before leaving and heading back up to my room. 

To BESTIES ❤️  (Alana, Jesse)

A/N: Jesse is a boy!

Hey, wanna go to the mall today? (:

From Alana 😈

Yeah, good idea Lex. How about we meet outside Aéro at 10:30?

From Jessaye 😏

I'm in. See you both at 10:30

To BESTIES ❤️

Cool, see ya.

I kept what I was currently wearing, but added my Nike Free Run's, and rolled on deodorant and sprayed a couple rounds of Mango Temptation by Victoria's Secret. I went to my dresser and slightly filled in my eyebrows, applied one coat of mascara and curled my lashes and then used the original Baby Lips on my lips. I went into one of my dresser drawers, and got $75, shoved it in my front pocket of my light washed denim shorts, grabbed hold of my phone, slipped on sunglasses on my forehead. I stumped down the stairs, went to the living area and told my Mum and she nodded which was her approval of me leaving the house. 

"Love you!" I shouted from the front door, leaving the house and locking the door before getting in my car and semi-speeding off to the mall.