Alone, Together

Prolouge

       I stood at the stern of the ship while the salty air whipped my blond hair behind me. I glided my hands over the rail's cool metal surface. The morning sun sitting on the horizon, casting a pale glow onto the deep blue of the sea. I smiled while I watched the waves crash onto each other, spraying me in the face.

"Aubrey!" I hear a familiar, fiery voice call from behind. I flip my hair around, batting my perfect eyelashes, a smile growing over my face. Though my smile was award-winning, I could tell Eve was still unimpressed with my overwhelming looks.

"Stop showing off," An evil grin grew over Eve's face. I roll my icy eyes at her. "Breakfast is ready."

"Will the rest be arriving today?" I say in a faked, classical voice. I could tell Eve was trying to hide her amusement as I pull my hair up to my upper lip, faking a blonde mustache.

"You think Mage is missing pancakes?" Eve's sparky tone rose. "Now, come on, slowpoke! Venga! Venga!"

As Eve sprints up to the dining table, I slowly follow. My hands dug into the pockets' of my expensive, silky vest, colored pale with erotic, thick, neon blue and orange stripes crossing over it.

I enter the dining room with fashion. I flip my blonde hair, brushed to its natural perfection. But, my grandparents aren't impressed, neither are any of their butlers or servants. They all just dip their head in respect. Though I wince at their lack of excitement, I flash a pearly smile at them before taking my seat right next to Aster and Eve.

Across from me sat Macy, still sniffing from her decreasing cold, and the lion we call Mage, who was immediately towering over everyone at the table, even my grandparents. Next to Mage sat a young child who was probably a child of one of my grandparent's butlers, who clutched a teddy bear in both hands.

Down the line of chairs sat another child, about my age, who was owning his attractiveness. Probably another child of the butlers or sailors, I thought with a wince as he winked at Mage.

Next to the creepily charming boy sat Caroline and Annabelle, where Caroline was attempting to steer the conversation from something along the line of death to something positive. But, talking to Annabelle, that was nearly impossible. The girl was the living definition of death, and it was for everyone's best interest to not get too close.

The sound of a spoon pinging off someone's fingernail brought me back to reality.

"Hey!" Mage said, a smirk on her face as the spoonful of egg bounced off her shirt. She playfully tossed a scrap of pancake back at Eve, who had a calm, evil grin on her face. Soon everyone was fully engaged with the fight, and even I had the decency to throw a few pieces of my royal food into the crowd.

Suddenly a startling shout stopped everyone in their tracks. "What is going on here?" My grandfather raised his voice. His voice rang through the hollow dining area as he stared at us. I could feel his judgmental eyes bore into me. We all guiltily stared at each other.

"I'm sorry, we were just..." I started to speak then stopped. Clearly nothing I said would matter. I knew I needed to meet his eyes, but I kept my head down and stared at my plate.

With a huff, my grandfather sat back down. Though I kept my eyes down at my plate, I could hear a few of my friends snickering at each other. Though I couldn't blame them for their foolish behavior after the scolding, I could feel my ears burning in embarrassment.

I looked up as Aster focused her attention on me. Her eyes looked a stinging empathetic. I flash a cheesy, mischievous grin over my face.

"Wasn't that fun?" I whisper in a low tone. Though my beautiful face was still etched with a fading red, I hoped my pearly smile was convincing enough to fool Aster that I was indeed a part of the "hip dudes."