Sound Effects and Overdramatics

My mother’s new house was moss-covered red brick, spacious, and cold. It couldn’t even be called a house, but a mini-mansion. Ten rooms, at least, from the number of windows I counted. The driveway was paved and wound all the way around the back of the house, after passing through an iron gate, of course.

I wondered if she had picked the house after she had gotten married, or if it was just the house her husband had been living in when she found him. Either way, I wasn’t eager to step foot inside.

On the back patio, all cobblestone, my mother waited under an expansive umbrella that covered the glass table and the spread she had laid out for us, just a few feet away from her pool, which included a mini waterfall and a diving board. I rolled my eyes at the whole thing, and again when a butler opened my door as soon as Brian parked the Jeep.

“I got it.” I snarled. He backed off and let me step out on my own. I sighed and squared my shoulders. Jason stepped out beside me and gave me a pleading look.

“Can you at least try and be civil, please?”

“Hey, I can do civil. How do you think Matt and I get along so well?”

“You don’t. That’s the problem.” He grumbled. I rolled my eyes and walked around the Jeep to meet Brian.

When she saw us, Monica took the two steps down from her patio and met us halfway, her arms held out. Jason hugged her while I looked on with passive annoyance before following up the steps to the table. I sat down and poured myself a goblet of orange juice from the pitcher, completely disinterested.

“Glad you both could come.” Monica said with a smile, tucking herself back into the table. Brian reached for my hand and held it.

“It was rather rude of you to run out last night, Laurel.”

“Beth.”

She sighed. “Your middle name is Elizabeth for a reason. I’ll call you the name I gave you.”

“Well, I changed the name you gave me.” I snapped. We stared off, her green eyes a reminder of what I was trying to cover up in myself.

Finn hadn’t been the only reason why my appearance changed so drastically.

She relented and poured herself some water. “Fine.” She said tersely.

Jason gave me a pointed look. I just shrugged at him. Brian moved his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder, willing me to calm down. I lit a cigarette and waited for her to continue berating me.

“So, Brian, your friend last night said that you were in a band together?” She pried. Brian cleared his throat, nervous about being singled out.

“Yeah. I play the guitar.”

“You tour a lot, don’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. Usually. We don’t have anything planned until next year though. We’re still working on some stuff.”

“I see.” She pursed her lips, her disapproval written all over her face. I stabbed at a piece of pineapple off the fruit plate and stuck the piece in my mouth whole, my cheeks puffing out as I chewed.

“I see you lost all those manners I taught you.” She pointed out, making a point to hand me a napkin. Juice was running down my chin. I snatched it from her and wiped my face as I swallowed the fruit.

“Couldn’t teach me much of anything cheating on Dad.”

“Beth!” Jason hissed.

Monica waved him off. "It's alright. Your sister has feelings. It's important she shares them."

I sucked down my cigarette. The butler brought over an ashtray and set it in front of me. I leaned forward and flicked my ashes. "You want me to share my feelings?" I snapped.

She huffed, annoyed. "If you must."

"I wish you'd died instead of him."

"Cancer doesn't pick and choose, Beth. It just is. I'm sorry about your father, but don't blame me for something that couldn't have been helped."

"I don't blame you for his death, Monica. I blame you for what you did to Jason."

She didn't say anything. I finished my cigarette and then my orange juice. Brian cleared his throat, uncomfortable, and I felt Jason glaring at me although I didn't look at him.

After a minute of tense silence, Monica took a drink from her glass. "I suppose I have Brian to thank for that ghastly mark on your neck?"

My hand shot up to cover it and I winced. It was still tender and although I'd done my best at covering it, puncture wounds were hard to hide with makeup, even if they were small.

"What's it to you?"

"Aren't you a little old for that sort of thing? It's trashy."

"So is having five husbands."

"And so is having a boyfriend who's sleeping with your twin brother."

Now I did glare at Jason, but he seemed just as surprised at her statement. Brian paled and lit his own cigarette. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and turned back to face her.

"You think I don't have eyes on my children? I know more than you think I do."

"Like what?" Jason croaked out. However happy he was before that he'd finally located her, he didn't seem so sure now.

Monica smirked. Other than the piece of pineapple I ate, no one had touched the food she had laid out. It was all a facade. A battle covered up under the guise of a family meal.

"That you're on cocaine, and you have court next month, and you spend most of your nights downtown."

None of that was news, but she said it with a look that told me she knew why he spent his nights downtown. Something he had yet to divulge to me.

As for what she had dug up about me, I didn't want to know. Nothing good probably, and nothing Brian didn't already know.

"If you've been keeping such a good eye on us, why haven't you reached out?" I asked. I lit another cigarette just as Brian finished his. He was squirming in his seat, ready to leave. I shared his sentiment, but not before I got my answer.

"You didn't want to hear from me. You can't even stand to be here now. You have your mind made up. Far be it from me to try and change it. As for why I didn't reach out to Jason, I thought it best for him to reach out first. I didn't want to be disappointed twice."

I snorted. "Whatever you say, Monica." I pushed away from the table. Brian followed suit and I waited for Jason, wondering if he was going to leave with us or stay with her.

His faltering silence was enough of an answer. "I'll see you at the house, then."

Brian took my hand and opened my door for me. He got in without saying anything and backed out slowly. I wasn't really fuming. Angry, sure, but not overly pissed, because I wasn't really surprised.

It was Monica. She always thought she had the upper hand and she didn't. She knew how I felt about her. She wasn't worried about keeping me in her grasp. Just Jason.

And Jason was weak enough to fall for it and I wasn't sure I could keep him from falling into her trap.

"I have to go back to Ali's." I told Brian. He nodded. He was thinking hard about something, but I knew he wouldn't tell me if I asked. The silence between us was heavy but I didn't do anything to try and clear it. We both needed time to sort things.

He dropped me off with a kiss, not even walking me to the door. I watched him drive away before heading back inside, not in the mood to deal with a barrage of questions from my friends.