Heredity

Chapter 2

Sophie stayed in her bed until the familiar chirp of her mom's car alarm sounded below. Then, in a flash of stealthy speed she bolted from the bed, cracked open the window, and stood just off to the side to spy down below. Her mother looked perfect, as she had every day since they'd moved here. Not a hair out of place and a permanent smile plastered across her face. Her sister Regan walked beside her, golden pigtails bouncing from side to side. Sophie dug her nails deep into her palms holding down her anger. They were quite the pair. A matching set of clones giggling and chatting like school girls.

Stupid perfect Regan with her deep set dimples and spatter of butterfly patterned freckles. That kid had a lot to learn. Sure, mom loved her now. But soon, it won't be cool to be hanging around mom, then she'll find out what life's really like. In this family you're either a perfect dress up doll to be paraded in public, or you're trash.

When the car drove out of view she slammed the window shut and pulled the curtains closed. Screw it, she thought. Let Regan be perfect, less pressure for her. Mom can waste all her time and energy grooming Regan to be the next Langston ready for high society standing.

Grabbing a clean pair of underwear from her drawer and a pair of shorts and her favorite T-shirt off the back of her makeup table, she drug herself to the shower. Her mouth felt dry, and her head was pounding and felt too heavy to be supported by her shoulders. Today was going to suck ass.

Stupid Jessica Thompson. Last night was supposed to be girl night. Four good friends watching chick flicks and pigging out on junk food to celebrate the start of summer vacation. She should have known it would turn into a party. Jessica couldn't survive a night without Tyler Yorkstone attached to her lips. Especially a night free from parental supervision.

The hot water made her skin tingle and the blood rush to fire up her foggy brain. She lathered on conditioner and shaved while scheming up ways to get back at Jessica.  It was one thing to trick her into coming to what she believed was 'girls night', but another thing entirely to make her look like an idiot when she wanted to leave at ten. Of course, she probably could have called home for a lift instead of  getting pissed and drinking more- but it was too late now. Trying to avoid a lecture that she knew would come with calling for a ride had been an epic failure. Lesson learned. You're damned if you do, and damned if you didn't.

She'd made the choice and now she had to suffer the consequences. A pissed off mom with a plan, the perfect summer disaster.  She took the time to slather on lotion and blow dry her hair. Maybe her mom was bluffing. Doubtful, but sometimes desperate people did desperate things. And her mom was desperate. She had been since they came to this town. She wanted to be in the inner circle so bad she'd changed everything about herself. And, expected the rest of them to follow suit, or else.

Their lives changed from being a semi-normal suburban family who took vacations and went to movies to tightly wound upper crust snobs in a single year. For the first few months Sophie had been happy to play along. After all, Dad was just fulfilling his father's dying wish. Having his heir take over the house, his place in the community, and carry on the Langston name. But it didn't take long for Sophie to realize it was was more than strange here, it was hell.

Every day consisted of stupid shit that didn't matter. Dressing up, always being on your best behavior, pretending to be better than everyone else because you just happened to be born into a family that started a town. The creepiest town in history no less, but no one seemed to care about that. Maybe living with Neal wouldn't be so bad. At least she'd be able to leave the house in flip flops and not give a shit what everyone thought about it.

There were some major drawbacks to living with Neal though, like missing electricity. Uncle Neal, mom's brother is...unique.  An ex-army guy who now lives as an off the grid survivalist, whatever that means. He probably doesn't have cable, internet, or phone service. And tragically, no pizza. Living a year without pizza would probably mean death. Maybe that's what mom is hoping for. Living in the deep woods and probably getting eaten by a bear the first day would be a tragedy. Bad past experiences like that were gold to the society ladies, instant rockstar status. No fucking way would Sophie give her the satisfaction.

She marched down the stairs fueled by anger and grabbed some orange juice while weighing her options. Babysitting couldn't be that hard. Especially overnight. The kid would sleep, and she'd sleep until the parents came home. Her mom would get off her back, and she'd have an excuse to get out of spending time with the family. Maybe it would be fine. But even rationalizing didn't stop the pit in her stomach. That Family. Those stories that couldn't possibly be true....

Popping two Motrin to help her pounding head she crept back up the stairs and into her parents room. Her hands plunged into the darkness of the back of their closet until her fingers felt the cool smooth rectangle of her cellphone. She was spiraling, it was time to call her best friend for a sanity check.

"Sophie, is it really you? Did someone die?"  Chris's voice was thick and warm despite the snarky comment.

"It hasn't been that long!" She whined back pacing circles while she spoke.

She waited, willing the silence on the other end to disappear.

"It's been six weeks." He clipped. "That's a lifetime. I figured you've probably been hobnobbing with famous people and forgot I existed."

It was her turn for silence. Six weeks, could it really have been six weeks since she'd spoken to him?

"I'm so sorry. School exams, trying to fit in, become the perfect daughter. You know." She laughed weakly trying to smooth it over.

"Sure, I've seen Cinderella. What's up? Why are you up at  9:30 in the morning when schools out?" His voice cracked and she heard the squeak of his bed frame. She felt herself flush, she'd woken him up.

"I'm just sick of all of this shit. Missing home." Missing you. She'd wanted to say it, but she couldn't. They were over. Different worlds and too many miles between them to pretend it could survive.

"Chin up, little pup." He sighed. "We miss you too. Come home for the summer. You can stay with me."

She gripped the phone tighter and sat on the bed grabbing her pillow and pulling it to her chest. "Yeah. I'll hop on the family jet. I'm sure my mom would be cool letting me stay with a guy for a few weeks."

He cleared his throat and her mind sent an image of  him rubbing his hands through his messy hair. His deep chocolate eyes lined by now from squinting in the summer sun.

"Seriously Soph, you okay?  I could juggle some shifts and come for the weekend?"  He sounded concerned and sad all at the same time.

"Chris." She cooed. "You know me. I'm Teflon. Nothing sticks. Just needed to hear your voice. It's all good." Her fingers crossed quickly, the lie tumbling out smooth and easy. "I'm eating caviar as we speak."

She could hear someone yelling in the background, and imagined his brothers and sisters fighting in the living room over who got to pick the channel.

"Sounds like your family's exactly the same." Her voice quivered and she pinched her arm to prevent herself from crying.

"Not exactly. They all miss you. Mikey's still taking pictures of all the cool bugs he sees to show you." 

Silence now. Not even the sound of his breathing to connect her. It was too much. Sophie pulled her knees to her chest for support. Chris's family had been as much a part of her life as her own and the pain of missing them stabbed at her gut. She assumed every conversation with him would be fluid and familiar, but even that had been cracked by the move. This, was torturous.

"I gotta go. Tell them I love them. And you. I love you, too. I'll call again soon." The words tumbled out and she ended the call before he could say more.

She buried her head in the pillow and screamed. This was it, her link to everything sane and comfortable was fractured and there was no going back. She was on this road alone. Her mom, like always, would win this round too.

Babysitting. She could to it. She liked kids, they liked her. The rumors about Charlie were stupid. He was probably just a kid who didn't fit the mold here in wacko-ville. Just like her.