iii. constellation
CHAPTER THREE:
CONSTELLATION
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A WEEK HAD PASSED since the Cooper-Song family arrived in Washington. Mae woke one overcast morning to the smell of smoke, thick and bitter in the air. A woman's voice cursing the frying pan resonated from the other end of the house, causing a groan to slip from the sleepy teenager's lips as she rolled onto her back, the blankets swamped around her thin frame.
"Since when do you sleep in?" Lina asked from her open bedroom door, causing Mae to flinch in shock.
"Jesus, Lina, do you not know how to knock?" she muttered, slumping back against her pillows when her sister merely smirked. "And since I stayed up all night watching Back to the Future."
Thankful it was Saturday, Mae wrapped her blankets tighter around her body, bracing herself when she heard Lina approaching her. "Oh, no you don't. Rise and shine, Mae."
"Go away," she grumbled but Lina wasn't having it.
She ripped the blankets away from Mae, ignoring her whines of defeat as she dumped them at the end of her bed. "Come on, breakfast is almost ready."
"Is that what Kira's doing?" Mae wrinkled her nose when another waft of smoke drifted into her room, followed by a curse that Kira Song would normally gasp at in disapproval.
"You know mum," Lina chuckled in fond amusement. "She tries her best but cooking anything that isn't traditional has always been James' forte."
The girls made their way to the kitchen where they found Kira hunched over a blackened pile of bacon and an equally burnt stack of toast. James was sitting across from his wife with a fond smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, sipping at a mug of coffee he'd fortunately made himself.
"Good morning, girls," Kira greeted at the sight of her daughters, nudging the platters of food towards James as if to pass on the blame to him. "Did you have a good sleep?"
"I did," Lina beamed, skipping forward to press a kiss to her mother's cheek. "Mae, on the other hand..."
"Back to the Future again?" James asked as Mae dropped onto the stool next to him.
"Mae," Kira sighed, though her scolding was light as she smiled down at her step-daughter. She'd had a long time to get used to her antics.
"What? It's the weekend," Mae shrugged carelessly, making Lina roll her eyes. "So what's for breakfast? Charcoal?"
"Very funny," Kira grumbled, though there was no malice to her tone as she looked down at her ruined breakfast in defeat.
"Us three will have toast," James declared as he rose to his feet, pressing a soft kiss to his wife's pouting lips. "You, my love, have to get to work."
Mae groaned at the sight, covering her eyes and curling her lips in distaste. "Save it for when we're not in the room. I'm too old to become a sister again."
James chuckled, ruffling his daughter's hair before he took Kira's place in front of the oven. The woman in question ducked out of the room to clean up, coming back a few minutes later with her stiletto heels on and her handbag slung over her arm. She moved to stand by James' side, the two sharing another kiss despite Mae's playful protests.
"Now you two," Kira declared with her sights set on her two daughters. "Be good."
"Oh please, when aren't we good?" Mae scoffed as if she was offended by Kira's words.
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"You know what? I think I'm good."
With another fond smile, Kira bid her family one last goodbye before leaving for a long day in the office.
Kira Song was a prestige lawyer with a job in Port Angeles' top law firm. The woman had applied for the position when James was accepted as a teacher at La Push Middle School, and despite having only worked there for a week, she already loved it to bits. It was quite the drive from Forks to Port Angeles every day but Kira would drive for hours if it meant she got to have the job of her dreams. That was something Mae admired a lot about her mum for all intents and purposes. She knew what she wanted and would go to the ends of the Earth to get it.
"So what are your plans for today?" James asked as he popped four slices of bread in the toaster. He turned to look at the girls behind him. Mae was sipping conspicuously from his cup of coffee while Lina scraped the plate of burnt bacon into a rubbish bag.
"I'm going to the library in Forks," the latter said. "English paper."
"Mae, are you going with her?" James asked her as she groaned at Lina's reminder.
"Nah, the paper can wait," she decided, ignoring her sister's disapproving look as she grinned in a burst of excitement. "I brought some records from the store on Thursday. I'm gonna decorate them."
"That's nice," James smiled at the genuine grin that graced his daughter's features.
It was no secret that Maeve Cooper adored all things art and craft. Her mother was a painter before she died, having opened up her own art gallery where she displayed and sold her best paintings. Mae had distinct memories of sitting behind her mother's desk, a proud grin stretched across her chubby cheeks as she stared around the room in awe. She knew then that she wanted to be just like her mum, so she had the woman buy her a bunch of tools just like her own and she created her first 'masterpiece' never looking back from that moment on. Not even when her mum passed away did she stop creating. She knew that her mum would always be remembered through her art. While she strayed away from the traditional paint on a canvas to her own unique forms of craft, she still stood by her word.
After breakfast, Mae made her way outside to sit on the porch. She had a stack of plain black vinyl records tucked under one arm while the other gripped the handles of a wooden basket cluttered with tubes of paint and various brushes. She eagerly took a seat on the wooden floor, dishing out a pile of old newspaper so she wouldn't get paint on the boards. Then she set to work on the first record, humming along to the music coming from the radio in the kitchen.
Hours went by but to Mae it seemed like only seconds as she dived into her art, carefully tracing shapes and lines of bright coloured paint onto each vinyl. Her favourite by far was the first, which was covered in fine planets and constellations. She knew this one would be going up on her wall.
Just as she was stacking her paints back into their box, hands stained with splotches of ink that reminded her of bruises, her phone rang. Careful not to get any paint on the buttons, she pressed accept and tucked the device between her shoulder and ear.
"Hey," she said, unsure just who she was talking to since she hadn't paid attention to the Caller ID.
"Hi, Mae!" Even over the phone, Kim Conweller sounded enthusiastic.
"Kim, how's it going?" Mae chuckled, scrunching up the paint-stained newspaper to throw away later.
Not one to beat around the bush, Kim said, "There's a party tonight and I would love it if you and Lina wanted to come with me."
"A party?" Mae frowned, wondering if she'd heard her right. There was a lot of noise coming from the other end of the line. "What's the occasion?"
"No idea," Kim admitted, causing Mae to laugh again.
"I don't know," she hesitated. "Lina and I don't really know anyone yet."
Despite the week they'd spent attending La Push High School, the two sisters had only made one close friend and that was Kim. Sure, they'd spoken to other people but no one really stuck around to get to know the new girls.
"Oh, come on," Kim whined. Mae could practically feel her pleading gaze burning through the phone. "It'll be fun."
Mae snorted. "Maybe for you but have you met Lina? Parties are so out of her comfort zone."
"Please," she continued to beg. Mae could already feel her opinion starting to sway. "You won't even have to socialise. You can sit with me and my friends for the night. I promise they won't mind."
At the mention of Kim's friend group, one face immediately appeared in Mae's head. Letting out a sigh, she was just about to answer when she caught sight of her dad's car pulling into the driveway with a beaming Lina sitting behind the wheel while James feared for his life at her side.
"Let me ask Lina and I'll call you back," she said, making Kim cheer happily. "No promises, though."
"At least you're asking."
With that, Kim hung up the phone, leaving Mae to get up from the floor and cross the driveway to where Lina and James were getting out of the car.
"Mae, how's the painting going?" James asked as he caught sight of his daughter, grinning at the stain she'd rubbed on her face without realising.
"Just finished," she said but she had her eyes locked on her sister. The girl in question was busy piling her books into her arms, oblivious to their conversation. "So, Lina..."
"What do you want, Mae?" she sighed, leading the way up to the front door. She knew Mae Cooper well enough to recognise when she wanted something from her.
"How do you know I want something?" Mae wrinkled her nose in confusion, but sighed when Lina simply shot her an expectant glance. "Kim called. There's a party tonight and she wants us to come."
"A party?" Lina frowned, already displeased with the idea.
Mae nodded, stepping inside the house and making her way to the bathroom. Lina dropped her things in her room before coming to stand by the door. "Kim seems pretty determined to have us there."
Several emotions crossed Lina's face before she eventually nodded. "Okay."
"Alright cool," Mae grinned before doing a double take. "Wait... okay? Who are you and what have you done with my antisocial, book-smart sister?"
"Very funny," Lina rolled her eyes, arms crossing defensively over her chest. "It's not a crime for me to want to go to a party." At Mae's raised eyebrows, she shook her head and turned to leave. "Just call her back and tell her we're coming."
"Got it," Mae said, washing the paint from her face before heading back outside to grab her things. As she lined up her vinyls to dry in the setting sun, she dialled Kim's number.
"Well?" Mae could already tell Kim was smiling.
"You win, Conweller," she said. "We'll be there."
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A/N: So no Embry in this chapter but there was Kim! I honestly love her so much and I can't wait to explore her friendship with Maeve. Spoiler alert: they're going to be besties.
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