All That Glitters

"Braylen, wait! Wait for me!" A small girl with golden curls ran out into the wide open green field. Braylen laughed lightly as her breathing became steadied, her long legs stretching forwards as far as they could go. She looked to the young boy running ahead of her, sprinting even further. "Ethan! Braylen! Wa-wait!" The girl called out before she suddenly stopped.

"What are you gonna cry? Don't be a baby Audrianna!" Ethan teased, the same shade of light blue eyes they all had, but with the same dark locks as Braylen when suddenly she noticed the lack of whining coming from their younger sister. She slowed down and saw only an open field of fresh green grass growing wildly tall where her sister had formerly been chasing after them.

"Audrianna! That's not funny!" Braylen called out in a slightly mocking tone, her breath labored from sprinting away. She stopped, panic hitting her heart as she looked for a golden head peering over the grass, or a soft giggle from the field, but there was nothing but Ethan and Braylen's heavy breathing. "Audrey! Get out here right now! Momma's gonna be mad if you miss dinner!" Braylen scanned the same twenty feet of field again and again, but to no avail.

"Come on Bray, she probably had to sit down because she got tired or something?" Ethan nudged his sister, not fulling understanding why she was so concerned with it. Their little sister had pulled stunts like this numerous times, but Braylen couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

"Audrianna Rose Huntington! You get out here right now! It ain't funny!" Braylen called out in her most maternal voice, being the oldest of the four Huntington children left her with some power over them, she sighed and walked back towards their farm house, hoping to catch a glimpse of Audrianna, but instead there was a tattered stuffed bear, laying carelessly in the grass and Braylen's face paled as she looked at her brother. "Audrianna! Audrianna!" She screamed, no one was around, "Ethan! Go get momma!"

He nodded and sprinted faster understanding the direness of the situation, Braylen didn't want to cry, but suddenly tears started pouring from her eyes, all she wanted was to find her baby sister. The tears blurred her vision and almost on cue the sky began to grey, the bright perfect sunny day turned to rain and she scanned over and over again, but there was no one it didn't make sense.

"Bray! Braylen, baby, what's wrong?" Her mother came sprinting out with Ethan hot on her tail, her tall skinny frame almost drowning in the floral dress and apron. Braylen turned towards the southern voice melodically calling out after her and felt another wave of guilt hit her. Braylen couldn't get words out, tears choking her and her mother came and placed her hands gently on Braylen's tiny face. "Honey, are you hurt? What's wrong?" She cooed kissing the top of her head. All Braylen could do was lift up the old bear that Audrianna carried with her day and night, no matter how disgusting to got and then a single tear poured down her cheek as a rain from fell from the sky. The pitter-patter of rain hitting the soft grass surrounded them quickly.

Braylen rolled awake, she forced herself to awaken, she hated that dream more than any other nightmare she'd ever had. She could still remember Audriana's face perfectly as ran after her older siblings, and to this day Braylen cursed the fact she didn't slow down. She kicked her long legs over the side of the white queen-sized bed and buried her face in her hands, completely exhausted.

Braylen hadn't gone home in nine years, but she had no particular desire to. After Braylen stirred up trouble in school, her parents sent her to live with her aunt and uncle in Arizona, which was a long way from Tennessee. At first, the kids teased her accent, asking her if she had a crush on her cousin or if she had a pet chicken. It wasn't until everyone realized her cousin was the most popular girl in school that everyone stopped messing with her.

Braylen and Caitlin Huntington quickly became a powerhouse, they ruled the hallways and were known for their beauty, it was widely known that the Huntingtons were old money back East in Tennessee, and no one wanted to cross either girl. Braylen sighed, lifting her thin frame out of her plush bed and walked out into the oversized house, making her way to the kitchen. Rubbed her eyes and checked the time, 5:30 AM, she would've had to be up in two hours anyways, but it would've been nice to get those two hours. She poured a glass of water and checked her cell phone for any messages, just bullshit updates from Facebook tagging her in a photos from last weekend.

She sighed deciding simply to get ready for yet another day of school, it had been almost nine years since the day in the fields, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling the guilt. Maybe it was because everyday Braylen looked more and more like her mother, and her mother resented her. Maybe it was because so much had changed since then and if she could, she'd take it all back. Alas, she couldn't so she climbed up the stairs to her large bedroom and scanned her walk-in closet for wardrobe choices.

She finally settled on a dark wash pair of Hudson jeans, a cream silk tank top that flowed over her curves perfectly and a pair of Vera Wang flats before walking to the conjoined bathroom between Braylen and Caitlin's rooms.

Braylen was a relatively low-maintenence girl, after all she grew up on a farm, but something about being under a microscope from half the student population mixed with her inability to sleep gave her means to give a shit, so she sat down and curled her her long medium golden brown hair to perfection adding gloss so it shined and then started doing her makeup. She stared at her heart-shaped face for a while, wondering how on Earth anyone thought she was pretty. She had freckles all across her nose, she had a huge pimple on her hair line and the bags under her eyes looked heavy.

Then with some help from concealer, bronzer, mascara, eyeliner and eyebrow filler, she managed to look somewhat decent. She looked at her lifeless blue eyes and wondered if they would ever sparkle again, the way that they used to when she and Ethan were outside playing all day. Her eyes saddened with the thought of Ethan, he would be sixteen now, she wondered what it would be like to have grown up with him.

"Shit! You scared me! Fuck, Bray, why are you up so goddamn early," Caitlin walked in ripping her from her train of thought and Braylen immediately brought a fake smile to her lips. Cailtin yawned then saw the plastic smile on her cousin's lips and brought up an eyebrow. "You had the dream again, didn't you?" Caitlin asked sitting down next to Braylen in a pair of boxers and a white cami.

"Yeah, it's fine though, I just have to stop at Starbucks before school," Braylen stood up quickly to re-touch the golden eyeshadow that made her blue eyes glow, but a pair of arms stopped her and she saw Caitlin's skinny frame hugging her own. "Katie, I'm fine," She laughed awkwardly before patting the blonde's back.

"Bray, don't worry about the past okay? Shit happens and I love you more than- oh fuck! Is that the time?" Caitlin stopped mid-thought and her eyes bulged before running off to get dressed and do her makeup before she was late for school. Braylen laughed at her cousin before looking at her outfit one more time and placing a gold locket around her neck and tousling her hair for a mermaid look.

Braylen calmly collected her school things before putting them into her Louis Vuitton purse and piling her notebooks in her other arm, smiling lovingly at her cousin who was scrambling around trying to straighten her hair and do her makeup at the same time.

"Need help?" Braylen asked with a slight chuckle before the blonde opened her eyes widely and handed her the straightener. Braylen pulled the golden waves through until her entire head was perfect then went inside to get an outfit for her. There was already a light-pink floral dress laid out next to a navy blazer and Braylen laughed, loving how they had similar fashion tastes. Caitlin came running out of the bathroom and scrambled to change into the outfit laid out before pulling on a pair of nude flats and putting an identical golden locket on and smiled.

"Alright, now that we both look dashing, let's go get through this year and be done with this shit," Caitlin laughed, wandering the halls of her giant house until the two girls immersed out the front door and were greeted with an already hot day forming.