Suck It And See | A. Turner

[Chapter 2]

"So, what's it like?" Rose asked. Jade laid flat out on her bed, staring at the cracks and stains in the ceiling while her best friend was on the phone.

"It's cold," she said, "Even for post-summer in England, it's cold,"

"What do you mean by cold?" Rose asked again, "That don't make no sense,"

"It's just very isolating is all," Jade replied, "None of these cousins have even come over to say 'hi'," 

She hummed from the other end in thought, "Well, perhaps they're waiting for you to come out of your room?" she inquired.

"That'd be fine," Jade said, "If they too weren't locked in their own rooms. Rose, the only sounds I hear are the odd car driving by or the birds in the trees. It's eery, there's no life here whatsoever,"

"They're a suburban family, s'pose. Suburbans do things differently," Rose said, "Remember my next door neighbour? The brownstone that always reeked of meat?"

"Rose, that whole neighbourhood smells of deli meat. You're round the corner from the artisan markets," Jade said.

"Don't matter," Rose said, "Fact is that we lived in a suburb and every single person in that bloody square-radius was whacked," 

Jade sighed, "I think I'd rather be in a Newcastle as oppose to this," she said.

"Well, what's this Auntie all about, then?" Rose asked, "You said she was rich?"

"That's the only cool thing about her," Jade mused, "She married into it. Think she's put out a pound for my mum's treatments? Think again, kid," 

"Perhaps taking you in is her way of chipping in?" Rose said, "You know, take the emotionally-distraught-teenager out of the equation?"

Jade rolled onto her side, staring glumly out the foggy window that overlooked the neighbourhood. It looked more like a still-life than a reality, with silent streets, strangled grass, nobody about on the streets. It was depressingly glum, a place that no emotional teenager could possibly withstand in her circumstances. 

"As far as I'm concerned, I should be at home instead,"

➿➿➿

Right at seven-fifteen in the evening, Jade was refreshed and redressed, this time in a simple white t-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans. Her long, thick brown hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, showing off her gorgeous, youthful face. The wonderful smell of roast meat and steamed vegetables filled her nose, and it suddenly dawned on Jade that she was starving. She hadn't eaten anything since she had left her house this morning. She had had a cup of coffee and a scone with her dad in a local cafe by the station, a little father-daughter time before she would have to chug off. It wasn't the most pleasant bonding time for Jade, she still had mixed feelings towards her father and his actions.

Aunt Joy looked to have her head in the oven, a cynically amusing concept to Jade as she entered the kitchen. It was twice the size of her kitchen back home, with jade marble counter tops, clean wooden cabinets, a big, beautiful stainless steel fridge, and a state-of-the-art oven and stove-top set. A few feet away was a grand dining table covered in a green and yellow patch table cloth. And in two of the seats were her younger cousins, Charlie and Noah. The boys were fraternal twins, both eleven years of age with dark bowl-cuts, pudgy and pasty faces, with a thick rimmed glasses sitting on both of their noses. They seemed to be fighting over who's turn it was to play with their video game console.

"Charlie, it's my turn!" Noah whined as he tried to make a grab for the gameboy, "Yeh said yeh'd let me play after yeh killed the dragon!"

"Yeah!" Charlie sneered back, "But now I 'ave to kill the mutant lava monster!" he exclaimed. Noah continued to whine at him and kept grabbing for the console. Soon afterwards, a little, wispy-haired boy came running into the kitchen, yelling for his life.