Beauty of Blue Hills [SAMPLE]

Apprehension

The flashes were blinding. Anna couldn’t see a thing because of them. She couldn’t hear, either, what with all the people around them shouting, “Richard! Smile!”, “Marianne, you look gorgeous!”, “Annabelle! Look here!”

Anna stood silently between her parents, a dazzling smile plastered upon her face. She had to keep turning her head at the various photographers taking pictures of them. It made her look like a bobble-head doll; everything about the movement hurt her neck.

Each time a camera snapped a picture, Anna’s eyes wouldn’t have time to readjust to the light before another flash covered her sight. She was pretty much blind, but she never flinched even once, having grown up surrounded by them and gotten used to it. She knew her eyes would readjust quickly when they were away from the flashes.

“Richard!”

“Marianne!”

“Annabelle!”

On and on the screams repeated their names. It usually took no more than a few minutes for the Righettis to reach the end of the red carpet, stopping a few times for more pictures and only once for a quick interview. Normally, Anna would be loving every second of those precious passing minutes and enjoying herself as they walked on.

But not tonight.

Tonight was the first night her parents ignored the interviews requests. It was the first time Anna’s smiles were fake, her silence heavy. Because tonight was the first time she witnessed her parents arguing so loudly.

It happened in the limo on their way to the premiere of her father’s new movie. Actually, it had started much earlier than that, when they were home getting ready. Her mother happened to mention that Anna’s dress was too short, to which her father replied that the dress was almost knee-high.

“Well, it’s the almost I’m not comfortable with,” Marianne had countered. “This is a movie premiere. What’s wrong with a long dress?”

“Like you said, Marianne, it’s just a premiere,” Richard had continued. “Not a formal party where everyone is forced to look like stuck up idiots.”

Anna hadn’t understood the implication in his tone, but her mother had, and she had gone pale.

“Formal parties aren’t like that,” she’d protested while Anna’s alarm started to rise at her mother’s tone.

Richard had snorted. “Whatever you say, honey.”

Marianne had simply tightened her lips together, effectively ending the conversation. At least she did until they reached the car, and then the argument picked up again, and even intensified. It started over Richard’s comment, but after many twists and turns of the subject, Anna wasn’t even sure anymore if it started over her dress. She could say nothing as she watched them with horror exchanging negative over negative arguments.

Their tones had risen just as fast, and they reached a point where they were acting like the photographers; screaming over each other’s sentences. Anna had finally had enough when she heard the first insult, directed at her mother.

“Dad!” she had shouted in shock, causing them both to shut up and stare at her in surprise.

That had been the moment she realized she had tears in her eyes, because her mother had said, “Now, look what you’ve done, Richard! You’ve made your own daughter cry!”

Marianne had gone over to comfort her, and remind her not to cry for she would ruin her make-up. Richard was the one who actually calmed her down, though, and not because he made her feel better. He just reminded her that it was important for her to keep a straight face for the next few hours until they were home again. After that, he’d declared they would have a family meeting.