Arianna's Tale: The Beginning

Arianna’s Tale

The Beginning

D. J. Humphries

To My Father and Mother

Without whom I would have never believed I
could follow my dreams.

Here I was, starting my senior year of high
school, and moving halfway across the country; okay, that’s an
exaggeration, across two states.

Why?

Well, quite honestly, I had stopped to ask
myself that same exact question multiple times.

It happened about a month earlier, when we
were just finishing up the school year, but I guess really it
started years ago….

My parents got divorced when I was twelve,
my brother, Austin, had just turned fourteen, and our younger
brother, Jason, was eight.

My dad is a police detective, and a good one
at that, but he’s a workaholic, and he was never home. He missed
all sorts of things, and practically seemed to have forgotten that
he had a wife and three kids at home to take care of. That is not
to say he didn’t take care of us at all; we were financially
stable, and he made sure we had everything we needed, aside from
our dad. He wasn’t surprised when Mom asked for a divorce, and he
didn’t fight her for anything. He made sure we stayed well taken
care of, and left us in the house we’d grown up in, and he moved
away, into a new city and a new job a couple of states away.

So we grew up without Dad, and practically
without Mom, because she ran off and opened her own little boutique
in the town and spent all of her free time there. Austin, being the
oldest, and being as responsible as he was, took over.

Come to think of it, that’s probably what
made him become what he did: the super popular, brainy, athletic,
confident, gorgeous guy that all of the girls at school fawned over
and wanted to date; which is exactly what Jason was becoming as he
grew up, except he was a bit of a playboy. It’s hard to think of my
little brother being a playboy… But it’s harder to deal with the
fact that my small circle of friends, which consisted completely of
girls, liked one of my brothers at all times. Jason took to
flirting with them, but Austin had always been really respectful
and kept his distance from my friends. Honestly, he’d never really
brought girls around the house at all, and it wasn’t because he was
busy studying, those brains of his were some freakish natural gift
that skipped me; I wasn’t entirely sure he even dated.

Dating was another ordeal entirely! Mom
didn’t care if we dated, even Jason, and he was only twelve! But
Austin… Austin was definitely the over-protective, big-brother
type… and since he was so popular, and had so much influence in the
school, I couldn’t get a boyfriend at all. It wasn’t like guys
didn’t like me; I could see them watching me, the really daring
ones might chance flirting with me if they were really bold, but
Austin had somehow gotten word out to stay away from me.

So anyway, my world got turned upside down
at the end of my Junior year… Austin was graduating and going off
to college in the city where Dad worked, and things were just going
to continue as always. Or so I thought….

It was the day of Austin’s graduation party,
and I was upstairs getting ready when there was a knock on my door.
Now, you have to understand, at some point in time, things had
gotten… awkward… between Austin and me. I think I was about
fourteen and he was fifteen… and he hadn’t set foot in my room ever
since. We’d grown up almost inseparable, spending practically all
of our time together, all three of us, really, but one day, all of
that just stopped. So when I opened my door and six feet of lean
muscle stepped inside, closed the door, and leaned back against it,
I was not only confused, but also a little worried. Not to say he
didn’t look nice, he was dressed up in slacks and a light blue
button-up shirt that made his blue eyes pop against his tanned
skin; another one of those things he had that I didn’t, I burned if
I was out in the sun too long. Oh, and we can’t forget the hair,
despite his actual personality, his hair looked like it belonged on
a skater: shaggy, but cut just so it would always highlight his
best features, and a deep auburn color that matched Dad’s and
Jason’s, but a complete contrast to my dark brown waves. So when he
was leaning against the door and very slowly looked up from the
floor to meet my shocked gray gaze, he laughed faintly.

“Yeah… I know…” he murmured, and he did
know, we always knew, “Arianna… Please move in with Dad next
year.”

I gawked at him; he only used my full name
when he was serious. “What? Why would I move in with Dad? Dad’s
never home.”

“Neither is Mom, and I could keep a better
eye on you at Dad’s… I’d forego living on campus and live at Dad’s…
and I don’t trust Mom’s new boyfriend… Please?” There he went with
the puppy-dog eyes that he had mastered when he was a kid. My big
brother knew he was attractive, he knew that he could get any girl
he wanted, and while he didn’t typically use that to his advantage,
he still knew how to, but I shook my head.

“No. I’m looking forward to going to high
school and having a
normal
high school experience for a
year! You won’t be there, so I just might actually, finally, get a
boyfriend! My first kiss! My friends could finally quit giggling
anytime I walked in on them talking about…” I fell silent then, my
face flushing red and had to dart my eyes away from the flash of
anger in his gaze. “I’m looking forward… to getting those
experiences that you really only get to have in high school… For
Christ’s sake, Austin! I didn’t even have a date for my Junior
Prom! Do you know how embarrassing that was?”

“You went with my group,” he countered and I
looked at him again, there was pain in his voice.

“But I didn’t have a date. I’m about to be
seventeen, and I haven’t ever even been kissed!”

“Good.”

“Why is it good?” My face was scrunched in
confusion, but he smiled faintly and shook his head.

“Will you
please
move in with Dad?”
he repeated and I furiously shook my head. “Arianna… I have enough
friends in your grade… nobody’s going to mess with you just because
I’ve gone off to college.”

More gawking on my part, which shifted to
anger rather quickly and I spun around to take a deep breath. “No.
I will not move in with Dad.” I managed a relatively even tone, but
didn’t dare look back at him.

“But….”

“Is that all you wanted?”

“Not really… I want you to move in with
Dad…” he whispered and I felt the heat from him before he actually
wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on top of my
head.

My anger was gone, replaced with instant
shock, like a splash of cold water. The hugging had stopped when
the awkwardness had begun and to have him holding me made my heart
skip.

“Austin… what is wrong with you?” I wanted
it to sound angry, but it came out as a whisper and I wiggled
enough to look directly over my head at him to find that distant
smile on his lips which he gently pressed to my forehead.

“Please move in with Dad… I’m begging here,”
he faintly chuckled, but his soft blue eyes widened when he
realized my face was pink and I shifted my gray gaze down to the
floor.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it…” I mumbled and
he laughed, slipping around in front of me and lifting me off the
floor when he hugged me tighter.

“I guess that’s all I can really ask,” he
finalized, still holding me after he’d set my feet back on the
floor. “I should… finish getting ready….” I nodded and he was gone,
slipping back out the door and closing it silently behind him.

I fell onto my bed, staring at my beige
carpet until there was another knock on the door.

“Anna! Your friends are here!” It was
Jason’s voice. Normally he would’ve walked off right after he said
that, but I guess normally I would’ve shouted something back at
him. “Anna?” his voice was quieter and he knocked again, lighter,
and pushed the door open. “Hey, Anna, what’s wrong?” I jumped when
he was standing right in front of me, and darted my attention up to
his blue-green eyes.

“Oh, hi, Jason… sorry,” I faintly laughed,
running my hand over his spiked hair, but unlike normally, he
didn’t back away or swat my hand away.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, brushing his
fingers across my cheek, “Why were you crying? Did Austin ask you
about moving to Dad’s?”

I nodded; it wasn’t that surprising that
they talked to each other. “What about you? We can’t leave you here
to fend for yourself….”

“I’d love to move; but I’m not going if
you’re not,” he admitted with a shrug, “I want the three of us to
stay together, Anna, you know that.”

“I forgot… you’re starting high school next
year…” I mumbled distractedly.

“What of it? Nobody messes with my sister,”
Jason grumbled and I laughed, standing up and hugging him.

“You’re my
little
brother!” I blurted
with a smile, but he wasn’t
little
, he was already as tall
as me and maybe even an inch or so taller. I’d stopped growing when
I hit 5’5” and I was fine with it, until my little brother at
twelve years of age, got his physical and reported he was 5’4”.

“Yeah… speaking of, I had my end-of-the-year
physical yesterday,” he started, standing up straight and my eyes
widened, “I’m 5’6” now. Looks like I might catch up to Dad and
Austin.”

“That’s just… not fair…” I grumbled, but
hugged him again, “You want to go live with Dad… don’t you?”

“Change of scenery would be nice,” he
reasoned with a shrug, “Austin said he doesn’t trust Mom’s new
boyfriend… and quite honestly, neither do I.”

Mom’s new boyfriend… they’d been dating for
a couple of months, and we only really saw him at night after they
both got off of work. I didn’t get what she saw in him… Mom was
really beautiful, even though she kept getting plastic surgery to
keep herself looking younger and dyed her hair constantly, worrying
about nonexistent gray hairs. Mark, on the other hand, was this
bulky, heavyset guy who just wasn’t very attractive. He was
average, and nothing against him for that, but then he’d open his
mouth and he just wasn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch, and I
wasn’t even sure what he did for work. I really felt like Mom could
do better, but it’s not like she ever asked my opinion on anything,
especially not her boyfriends. I paused long enough to consider
that before I shook my head.

“Get out, I’ve gotta finish getting ready…”
I insisted, pushing him towards my door when I heard the bell chime
downstairs.

“Are you okay?” Jason questioned, pressing
his hands to either side of the doorframe and refusing to move
despite my pushing,

“I’ll be fine; it’s a lot to process,” I
admitted quietly and his eyes scrunched with worry but he sighed
and stepped backwards while I pushed the door closed.

I had to hurry then, I was running late. I
slipped into a cute slate blue dress and matching heels, pulled my
hair into a half-ponytail with my favorite clip, and rushed to put
on a little makeup. I darted a glance in the mirror and rushed out
of my room and downstairs only to stumble down the last stair and
thankfully Jason caught me.

“Klutz,” Jason laughed, waiting until I was
steady to step away from me again, “You look great.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, catching my friends
hovering around Austin out of the corner of my eye, “Jay… stay away
from my friends today, okay?”

“Why? I like your friends,” Jason countered
playfully and I laughed, but swatted his arm.

“You’re too young. Just for today, please,”
I requested and he shrugged, “Thanks.”

Austin was graciously accepting all of the
attention that was thrown at him, he was good with attention, but
when his bright blue eyes landed on me and he didn’t look away, my
heart skipped. Boys that like you were supposed to look at you like
that, not your brother, but he did get really serious about stuff…
that could be making him have that intense look in his eyes.

The doorbell rang, distracting both of us,
and I took the onslaught of new arrivals as an excuse to slip off
to the kitchen. The kitchen was nearly empty with only Mom and her
boyfriend, Mark, in it, plating various foods and setting them out
on the island in the middle of the room.