"Lucy! Amy! The Logans will be here soon!" Carolyn called upstairs, straightening her husband Benjamin's tie. The Cahills were the elite of the elite in Rittenhouse, and usually, they would be one of the families who welcomed new families into the organization. The Logans, they're the new ones tonight. Soon enough, Lucy and Amy came running down the stairs.
"Hello, mother," Lucy said, nodding and guiding her little sister to stand beside her. Amy was 10, so she didn't know much about Rittenhouse, she only knew she shouldn't ask her parents about it and that they had dinner guests over every other week. Lucy, being 17, knew. She knew about all the terrible things Rittenhouse has done but had to agree so her parents wouldn't kick her out.
Lucy's mother, Carolyn, turned her attention from her husband to the two girls. "Now, girls, how are you to address our guests?" She asked. "Mr. and Mrs. Logan, and their son Wyatt." The girls droned in sync. Their mother nodded, straightening the girls' dresses. "That's right. And Lucy," she said, looking her eldest daughter in the eye, "nothing against the organization. Or the cause. You got that?" Lucy took a shaky breath in. "Yes mother."
There was a knock at the door and Carolyn went to open it. Benjamin, Lucy and Amy were standing in the entryway, awaiting their guests. Mr. and Mrs. Logan walked into the foyer of the house, their son Wyatt trailing behind them. "Lucy, why don't you and Amy lead Wyatt to the entertainment area. Dinner will be served at 7:00, so be in the dining room at 6:55. Understood?" Lucy nodded at her mother's command, looping her arm in with Wyatt's and Amy leading the way.
"I apologize in advance for my sister. She's a kid, and sometimes kids do things that are questionable, but I just roll with it. I'm just assuming she'll say something unintelligible at dinner tonight." Lucy whispered quietly to Wyatt. He nodded and smiled, which made Lucy blush slightly. No, she couldn't have. Rittenhouse wouldn't allow her dating such a new member at a young age like she was now. But still, the blush crept up on to her cheeks, failing to hide it. Thank goodness Amy walking over to the pair took Wyatt's attention away from her so she could get herself in check.
"Wyatt, let me show you our movie collection," Amy said innocently enough, dragging Wyatt towards a bookshelf full of movies. He turned and flashed a quick smirk to Lucy before turning his attention back to Amy. Lucy turned her back to the two of them even though they weren't already facing her, still trying to stop blushing from before. Soon enough, she looked up at the clock to see it pointed to 6:52. "Amy," she said breaking the silence of the space between herself and her sister along with Wyatt, "we should probably head down to the dining room. Now."
Amy rolled her eyes but strode past her sister, leaving Lucy and Wyatt standing together in the doorway. "You go first, ma'am." Lucy stepped through the door frame first leaving Wyatt behind her and to close the door behind them. "Your sister's version of entertainment is quite interesting." The two laughed and left the silence in the air for a minute. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was anything but awkward. The two stood in the hallway when Wyatt leaned closer as to kiss Lucy, but they were interrupted by a "Lucy!" coming from downstairs.
The two stepped back and laughed, still in shock from what had almost happened. "Coming Amy!" Lucy called back. Wyatt held out his arm, and Lucy held onto it as they walked back to the dining room.
~•~
"And that's when I told him, "You call "fore" not only because you're terrible at aim, it also takes you that amount of times to actually hit the ball." All the adults laughed as Mr. Cahill told one of his many golf stories. Wyatt didn't find them amusing, and by what he was guessing Amy didn't either, obviously trying to force a laugh. He looked around at the chairs at the dining table and noticed there was one missing. He counted all the guests-himself, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cahill, Amy, which left out one person-Lucy.
Wyatt slowly got up from the table, hoping no one would notice him leaving. Amy looked at him and shrugged him off. It's not like she could blame him, she was used to getting bored at these parties. But for the risk of severe punishment, she had to stay sitting. Wyatt was almost out of the room when his mother called from across the table, "Where are you going dear?" He slowly turned around, trying to think of a quick, believable lie.
"It appears I left my journal with all my drawings in the entertainment room. I was going to go retrieve it. Sorry for interrupting." He lied. Mrs. Cahill acted as if she waved the apology away. "It's perfectly fine, dear. Just make sure to bring it back so you can show us." After smiling back at her, he quickly walked down the hallway to the entertainment room. Just before the left to go into the room, he took a quick right and saw the hallway ending in patio doors. He remembered Amy saying something about gardens she and Lucy used to play in when they were children. He only assumed that Lucy would've gone there.
After exiting the patio doors, he jogged slowly around the garden looking for Lucy. He found her sitting alone on a bench next to some bright pink and white roses. He walked towards he slowly and noticed she was crying into the palms of her hands. "Lucy?" he asked softly, with a hint of concern in his tone. She turned to face him, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry you seem like a really nice person and I don't want you to get tangled in this Rittenhouse mess like I did. Run, while you still can. Convince your parents. Do something. These people are monsters." She shook her head and stuttered the words out, still sobbing like before.
Wyatt sat down on the bench next to her and embraced her. She buried her face into his shoulder and stopped crying slowly. Abruptly, Lucy sat back and wipe the excess tears from her face. "I'm sorry I'm not used to this." Wyatt gave her a confused look. "Really I thought Amy said you guys had visitors like every other week." Lucy laughed softly at his response. "No, not that, even though she is correct. I meant someone truly caring about me. Like you're out here, avoiding the terrible dinner party, and talking to me."
Wyatt smirked. "Well, it wasn't that terrible. I met you." The two laughed together, breaking the silence of the garden at night. "That was incredibly cheesy, but it wasn't so bad. Neither are you. God, I wish Rittenhouse didn't track everything I do on my phone. We could make some elaborate Romeo and Juliet plan to run away together." Wyatt thought about that for a second. "Hey, my friend Rufus has a bunch of these burner phone things, they can't be traced. I could pick one up for us, maybe?"
Lucy didn't answer, she just nodded and hugged Wyatt tightly. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. Wyatt nodded slowly. "Hey, um, do you go to David's Academy of Knowledge? My parents are transferring me there on Tuesday and I'm guessing it's a Rittenhouse school because of the name. I did some research before coming here." Wyatt asked.
"Yeah. It's an alright school, cares a lot about academics and proving Rittenhouse is the only true thing you can believe in. All the teachers and other staff treat David Rittenhouse as if he were some God. It's terrible, but the nearest public school to here is 15 miles, and I'd like to not walk that every morning." Lucy explained. "Just a warning. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Plus, we're almost done school anyway! Well, Rittenhouse schooling. Then university. Yay?" The two laughed.
~•~
The evening had soon come to a close, and Lucy was left standing outside her entryway with Wyatt opposite her. "I guess I'll see you on Tuesday, then. Don't be late, 7:30 am sharp for first attendance." Wyatt smirked as Lucy reminded him. "Right. I'll be there!" He called as he started backing up to get to his family's car.
Even after the car had driven out of the driveway and onto the adjacent road, Lucy stood outside. "Lucy," her mother said quietly, "don't stay outside. You'll get a cold! It's November!" Lucy rolled her eyes quickly, then turned to face her mom. "I'll be right in mother," Lucy replied as sweetly as possible. She turned back around and saw no light coming from the road, meaning the Logans were long gone. At least until Tuesday.
