The Flower Children

Chapter Ten

For once, Maia had a peaceful sleep, totally void of waking up in the middle of the night to console Micah. Sitting up in her bed, she peered over at him while he was currently in a state of deep sleep, with his mouth wide open and arms stretched out haphazardly towards the one end of the bed.

Maia giggled softly and reached over to her bedside to grab ahold of her phone and tried to inconspicuously snap an photo of him, not realizing that her flash and sound were on. Maia tensed up for a few seconds before she realized that Micah wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, which caused her to smile softly.

He looked so young and more relaxed and she hoped that he'd have more moments like that while they were both here at their grandparents house.

After a couple of more minutes of just staring at him, Maia eventually decided that her actions were rapidly approaching "creepy psycho" territory, so she hopped out of bed and merrily made her way towards the kitchen.

As she neared the kitchen, she could hear her grandparent's voices. However, what struck her was the addition of a third new voice. A voice that sounded so familiar and yet foreign all at the same time. When she rounded the corner, she was faced full on with who the owner of the voice was.

"Granny, how many times have I told you? It's whhhy-fie. Say it with me now. Whhhy-fie."

"Harriet, I don't even know why you bother. Your grandma is as stubborn as... well. Your grandma. I honestly think they should change that saying "as stubborn as a mule". Instead, it should be as stubborn as Vivienne Georgina Anderson," Grandpa Davis joked, directing a very pointed look at grandma Viv who scowled and reached over to smack him semi-harshly on the shoulder.

As soon as her grandfather confirmed who the third individual was, Maia couldn't help but feel shocked at the transformation that her cousin had undergone over the last couple of years. Quite honestly, she looked so amazing, that Maia barely recognized her. Harriet had gone from short, stick-like, wide-eyed girl with frizzy dark hair, to tall, slim but curvy-looking socialite with interesting long ombré purple hair.

Maia didn't have time to admire her cousin's new appearance because soon enough, her grandparents were back to their little argument.

"Why, I never! Davis Michael Anderson, you can forget about me whipping you up some breakfast. Or dinner as a matter of fact. You can go to bed hungry," grandma Viv huffed, causing grandpa Davis to throw his head back and laugh ruefully before he cheekily added," Thank goodness. I didn't feel like increasing my chances of dying tonight."

While the couple bickered playfully, Harriet rolled her eyes and said, "Grandpa I told you not to call me that anymore. And gross, can you two please go flirt somewhere else."

Just then, her cousin looked up from her phone and spotted Maia at the doorway, but before Maia could attempt to smile or wave, Harriet looked down and continued typing away on her phone.

Ouch. Maia thought incredulously. I mean, sure they hadn't seen each other in years and the last time they might've actually spoke was when they found that Flower Child in the meadow but she had expected a warmer welcome from her estranged cousin at the least.

"Harriet! Don't be rude! Say hi to your cousin Maia!" Grandma Viv scolded, as she had obviously noticed Maia at the door as well.

Harriet's head shot up and immediately her whole facade changed.

"Maia?" She squealed, setting down her phone on the counter next to her before elegantly walking towards Maia, arms wide open, in her way-too-tall-and-serious-Christian-Louboutins-for-8-in-the-morning heels.

When she had finally made her way to Maia she squeezed her tightly and pulled back to look at her.

"Oh my goodness! I didn't recognize you, you look so much older. And cute! But kinda tired at the same time. And short! I don't remember you being this short? How are you? How's life?" She asked excitedly, looking into Maia's eyes as if she'd receive her answers there.

"Um," Maia started, unsure how to feel with all this direct eye contact that she was receiving. "Firstly, I'm not short. You're kinda just, really tall in those heels of yours. And secondly, um, I'm good. As good as any expelled teen, kicked out of her house by her mom to come live with her grandparents could be, I guess?" She stuttered uncomfortably, before adding, "how are you Harriet?"

Maia's eyes bulged when Harriet released a shriek of laughter and she briefly wondered whether her cousin hadn't escaped from a mental asylum because her flat joke really hadn't been all that funny.

"Oh my god! You're so funny! Isn't she funny granny?" Harriet laughed, while proceeding to squeeze her cheek like some kind of old aunty. But Harriet wasn't even that much older than Maia, just one year in fact.

"I'm great! Fabulous even! I guess the first thing you should know is that, I sadly don't go by the name Harriet anymore. When I turned 18, I legally changed it to Farrah Riot so I could be taken seriously within the world of the arts," she added in a tone that was dripping with glee.

"The arts?" Maia asked confusedly.

"Yes, the arts. I'm auditioning for broadway. In my spare time I'm an artist, a songwriter slash singer, I model part-time and I'm a photographer. I basically do it all," she added bashfully.

"Wow," Maia managed to say.

"Wow indeed. Except, I don't know how you're going to manage singing on broadway honey. You don't exactly have the best singing voice. You know, there's a reason why you were cast as the understudy's understudy for Annie," grandma Viv offered.

Harriet sharply turned on her heel and glared at her grandma. "For your information, granny Vivienne, when I auditioned for Annie, Mr. Elliot told me that I had a distinctly unique singing voice. A voice that he would never forget, for as long as he should live," Harriet said.

"That's probably because he'd probably never forget the voice that possibly lead to his premature hearing loss," grandma Viv snickered, which lead to grandpa Davis laughing along with her.

"Ugh! You do not appreciate the arts at all! One day, when I am famous and I've sold millions and millions of records, you will not be mentioned in my acceptance speech at the Grammy's. Or in fact, I'll make a slight at my haters and if you guys are watching, you should know that you two are my implied haters," Harriet said haughtily, to her grandparents who chuckled even louder, before turning around to face Maia.

"Maia, what do you think? I'm going to get a Grammy and be on broadway right?"

"Um... can I please get some breakfast before I can answer that, um, very stimulating question?" Maia asked cautiously.

And that kitchen incident, pretty much set the tone for the beginning half of the morning. But what Maia didn't know, was that later on that day, things were going to take a turn for the uncertain.

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Yaaay. I finally updated! Anyway, please comment, share, vote and show some love if you're enjoying the story so faaar!✨ Hope everyone is doing well 😁

Love love love,
Wen ❤️