The Ballerina

“Where’s Tuck?” Luke asked as Acelynn sat across from him on the dining room table.
Acelynn took a deep breath at the mention of Tuck. Oh God. “Um, I have no idea. He was in his room the last I knew.”

And that much was true – Acelynn left Tuck’s room about ten minutes before she came down the stairs. She wasn’t sure when he did – she had left the room as soon as possible. She went to the bathroom and tried to make her heart rate go down and her face to turn her normal fair skin. After the two had shared a long kiss, Acelynn’s face grew hot and red; she had to make herself look as normal as possible before she went downstairs to eat lunch.

When Acelynn did leave Tuck’s room, she pushed the older boy away and tried to keep a safe distance away from him. She couldn’t afford the chance to initiate physical contact again – or they may never stop. How odd it was; kissing. Tuck had stolen both of her only two kisses. Each so bitter sweet… each so addicting…

So if they hadn’t separated, Acelynn feared that they wouldn’t be able to go to lunch in one piece. That Luke would know something was wrong and awkward. The last thing Acelynn wanted was for Luke to know there was something between his brother and the girl. For some reason, it would seem cruel to tell the blue-eyed teen about their secret affair – no matter how small and insignificant it may seem.

“I’ll see you down stairs.” Acelynn had told Tuck as she scurried out his bedroom door.

The older boy had suddenly become incredibly stony and emotionless. He nudged his head towards the door when Acelynn said she had to leave. He instantly became aloof and acted as if nothing had happened. It scared her slightly to know that Tuck could recede back into his old, chilly self.

“Fine. I’ll see you at lunch then.” He replied curtly and began to focus his concentration on anything but Acelynn. A stab in the heart. But Acelynn accepted it and quickly scampered off as far as she could get from Tuck.

“Maybe I should go talk to him.” Luke suggested, mostly to himself. “I’ll go see where he is.”

Acelynn’s heart began to beat even faster at the thought of being alone with Mr. Spencer. The cold, heartless man that had fathered Luke and Tuck. “Sit down, Lucas.” Mr. Spencer ordered before Acelynn had even the chance to say anything. “If Tuck is late for lunch, it is his fault. He knows what time food is served here.”

“Uh oh, I think someone’s talking about me,” Tuck said from by the staircase, almost on cue, “my ears are ringing.”

The middle Spencer took a seat opposite of his father. The dining table was a long, dark oak table that looked fit for a king. It had two heads of the table, each taken by the two eldest Spencers, and the two guest places were taken by Luke and Acelynn. In front of each person was a plate of salad.

Acelynn was never a big fan of salad and barely picked at it through the silence. Luke also barely ate, as well as Brian Spencer. But Tuck was munching at biting at the greens as if it was his last meal. He sprinkled pepper and salt as well as blue cheese dressing on the extravagant appetizer. He dug at the salad and stuffed it into his mouth as quick as he sat down and placed the cloth napkin in his lap.

Tuck was like a vacuum; he was sucking up anything edible that came in an arm distance of his plate. The fresh bread roll the maid sat next to him was gone before an oil stain could appear on the napkin it was set on. Acelynn tried not to watch the green-eyed boy too closely, but it was like watching the otters eat at the zoo; messy and intriguing.

“We were just noticing how late you were, Tuck.” Mr. Spencer replied drily. “You should work on being more punctual.”

“I’ll get right on that.” Tuck said without looking up. Acelynn noticed that his remark was also very dry and not a lot of effort put into it. It sounded very nonchalant and aloof; like the boy was on pilot mode and couldn’t be even bothered to think of a real answer.

“So, Mr. Spencer, Luke told me you were a business man.” Oh god, why was she talking? Acelynn already knew it was a bad idea to initiate conversation with this man – he had already called her a whore before she even said two words to him. “What exactly do you do?”

Brian Spencer glanced up at Acelynn for only a second before looking back down at his plate. “I buy business and then sell them off piece by piece.” He growled darkly.

Acelynn shivered. It said it with such malice and coldness it scared her to know that he could rip apart something so easily. Something whole, like a business, couldn’t possibly function unless every part was there. Slowly, piece by piece, something torn apart like that loses its heart as is no more.

Like a little boy.

“That’s… Very interesting. I’m guessing by the size of your house that your job gives you a lot of money.” Acelynn replied slowly. She began to rip apart a green leave on her plate so she didn’t have to look up at Brian Spencer.

“Yes, it pays very well.” The darkness in his voice had vanished; now he sounded like a vase when you blew on the top of it: hollow.

The girl nodded and continued to play with her food. It was only a few seconds later when a maid took her plate without even asking and whisked all four dishes to the kitchen. Acelynn was left with nothing to fiddle with but her cloth napkin on her lap.

It was the same as everything else in the house; clean, crisp, perfect, and valuable. Well, the same as everything but the people who lived in it. All three men seemed to be smokers, sloppy (except for Mr. Spencer, who always seemed to be in a neat suit), messed up in the head, and expendable in every way. Except Luke, of course, who had saved Acelynn’s life.

The maid brought back four plates of baked chicken and green beans. Tuck, of course, attacked it. He cut up the chicken quicker than Acelynn could pick up her knife. He inhaled every scrap of meat and vegetable; but he did it with such grace and with such manner somehow it wasn’t quite something to frown upon.

Acelynn once again picked at her chicken, occasionally eating a sliver of the meat or a slice of green bean. But even though the poultry was cooked to perfection, she wasn’t hungry. Even though she hadn’t eaten for twenty four hours, she didn’t want to consume any nutriance. The news of Brian Spencer’s awful past with his two boys made her want to throw up. And now she had to be in the same room as him for god-knows how long. Acelynn didn’t know how Tuck managed to devour everything on his plate after what they did and knowing about his father’s past and treatment towards Luke. But somehow he managed.

It was like Tuck was a robot with four personalities installed: arrogant, annoying, vulnerable, and manipulative. And he could switch those personalities in an instant, becoming either Prick Tuck, Fucked up Tuck, Sad Tuck, or Prince of Douchbaggery. Tuck had absolutely no middle ground to work with – it was either the Jerk Tuck, or Lover Tuck. Both aggravated Acelynn to a point where life would have been much easier without Tuck.

And yet somehow, that wasn’t really a world Acelynn wanted to live in.

The brunette looked up across the table to Luke, who was staring at his father intently – who also seemed to have no idea he was being watched. A pain coursed through Acelynn’s heart as she observed the engagement between the two. It was heart breaking, really, to see a father neglect his son. How could Brian Spencer possibly resist Luke’s big, blue, doe eyes?

“Well it has been a very pleasant lunch, but I have some business to attend to. I’ll be in my study until dinner is served.” Mr. Spencer announced and got up from the oak table.

Luke’s eyes got wide and his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something like ‘Stop! No! Sit down and talk some more! I need you!’ But nothing came out. He just looked like a sad puppy watching his father get up and leave. Acelynn wanted to say something to Luke, but she had no idea what to say. What could she say?

“I also have some stuff to do.” Tuck said, mimicking his father and getting up from the table. “I’ll be in my room.”

Then both of the eldest Spencers walked slowly up the staircase to their distinctive sanctuaries, while Luke and Acelynn just sat there. Luke looked torn between staying his normal, quiet, submissive self or jumping up and screaming at his relatives to sit down. But it was completely obvious that he was just going to sit and do nothing while his heart tore in two.

Though, it wasn’t fair for Acelynn to judge; she also had no plans to do anything to get the two older men to come back to the table and talk. But she also didn’t really want to; she already hated Brian Spencer for the way he treated Luke and for calling her some cheap whore. And being around Tuck just made her feel panic and claustrophobic. So no, she wouldn’t be the one to bring Tuck and Brian back to the table.

Even if it didn’t make her personally awkward, she knew that Luke had to be the one to do it. Everyone knew that. Tuck knew it, Acelynn knew it; and probably deep down inside, Brian Spencer knew that when the time came where Luke would speak up, he was going to have to sit and listen.

Everyone seemed to know that Luke really held the power in the house. He was the pride and joy of his elder brother and the outcome of a tragic love from his father. Luke was the strong one in the family. He had to be the one to unite them once again. Luke had to be the one. But no one seemed that eager to tell him so, and he had absolutely no idea what power he wielded.

But Luke was the one. Of course he was the one.