(I just thought id say the end of this chapter is sort of just a filler and sort of just establishes her style a little more, i know the pictures are a little cheesy but just keep an open mind, also the people wearing  the outfits arent supposed to resemble the character. Enjoy)

I wake up pretty late and get dressed before Danny can wake up from his place on the small corner couch. I wear my cheer hoodie and jean shorts, my hair is pulled from my face in to the same tight ponytail i only take out at night and i have light make up done. Danny wakes up and watches me apply finishing touches to my makeup with a smile. 

He stands up and comes behind me wrapping his arms around my stomach and placing his head on my shoulder. I giggle slightly, "You look so beautiful with makeup" he says, "so without it i look horribly disgusting?" I ask teasingly, "Thats not what i mean" he smiles. 

"I missed these abs" i say turning to face him and placing my hand on his bare chest. "I missed your beautiful smile" he says. "Dont say that!" I laugh, "What?" He asks with the same smile as before, "You say how you missed my smile whilst i missed your abs" i say. "Fine.. I missed your boobs" he jokes. My jaw drops in shock and i laugh slightly.

"What do you want to do today?" I ask. "whatever your doing" he says, "well I've made plans with the boy you met yesterday -Jameson- and Avery" i inform, "I'll be there" he says, "I don't know about that" i say. "Why not?" He asks with a pleading look. "Well you can come but im not sure about helping.. we're looking for a book in the library" i tell him. "Which book?" He asks, "We don't know" i say, "Interesting.. I'll watch then" he decides. I smile excitedly even though he and Ave don't get along well.

I lead him to the library we're working in and open the door, holding his hand in mine. "Pear?" Avery asks, "Avery" i say sternly, "I own this place and he is not welcome" my sister says. Danny takes a single step back so he is no longer in the room, "I mean the house" Ave argues. "Be mature about this Ave, he's my boyfriend and hes staying or im not" i warn. She stays quiet and i take that as her backing down so i pulls Danny in the room with me. He sits down in the middle of the room whilst I walk up the stairs and stand above Grayson Hawthorne -who is apparently involved now- and opposite Jameson. 

The four of us work in silence and Danny watches me and only me. Grayson places his book down on the shelf pretty hard to emphasis his point "There's nothing here." I sigh loudly.

"Coincidentally," Jameson comments behind me, "you also don't have to be here."

"If she's here, I'm here." Grayson talks about my sister.

"Avery doesn't bite. Frankly, now that the issue of relatedness has been settled in the negative, I'd be game if she did." He says.

I snort and try to contain my laughter. "Jamie?" Grayson sounds almost too calm. "Shut up and keep looking."

After hours of work we have almost met in the middle. Im close to Jameson when Grayson and Avery start talking quietly, i don't think Jameson can hear as he is a little behind.

"My brother's grieving for our grandfather. Surely, you can understand that." Grayson says.

"He's a sensation seeker. Pain. Fear. Joy. It doesn't matter. He's hurting, and he needs the rush of the game. He needs for this to mean something." 

"And you don't think it does," Avery says, "I don't think that you have to be the villain of this story to be a threat to this family."

I find it harder to listen after Jameson turns to me, he shows me the book hes holding and i smile when i see a book with a different cover to the actual book. A smile grows on my face. "Heiress?" he says. "Yes?" She asks "I think I found something."

She begins racing up towards us, "Sail Away." She reads the cover out loud. Someone else hurried up the stairs and i presume it is Grayson.

"And on the inside..." The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. I answer in my mind.

"Faust," Avery says.

"The devil you know," Jameson replies. "Or the devil you don't."

Taped to the inside is something red. "Jameson." I say. "There's something here."

Jameson brings his fingers to the red square. It is thin, made of some kind of plastic film, maybe four inches long on each side.

"What's this?" I ask.

He takes the book and removes the square, he holds it up to the light.

"Filter paper." That came from down below. Grayson stands in the center of the room, looking up at us. I swear he just started coming up the stairs. "Red acetate. A favorite of our grandfather's, particularly useful for revealing hidden messages. I don't suppose the text of that book is written in red?"

I take the book and flip to the first page. "Black ink," a voice behind me says. I keep flipping just in case. The color of the ink never changed, but a few pages in, I find words that had been circled in pencil. A rush of adrenaline shoot through my veins. "Did your grandfather have a habit of writing in books?" I ask.

I now take a chance to turn around to see the voice behind me, its Danny, i forgot he was even here. "In a first edition of Faust?" Jameson snorts.

"Where," I read the word out loud. Neither brother provides any commentary, or my sister or my boyfriend so I flip another page and then another. Its fifty or more before I hit another circled word.

"A..." I keep turning the pages. The circled words are coming quicker now, sometimes in pairs. "There is..."

Jameson grabs a pen off a nearby shelf. He doesnt have any paper, so he starts writing the words on the back of his left hand. "Keep going."

I do. "A again..." I says. "There is again." Im almost to the end of the book. "Way," I say finally. I turn the pages more slowly now. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Finally, I look up "That's it."

I close the book. Jameson held his hand up in front of his body, and I stepped closer to get a better look. I hold his hand and Danny coughs slightly, i turn my head and give him a look.

"Change the order of the words?" Avery asks. "Where there is a..." Jamies eyes light up.

Avery finishes it "There is a way."

Jameson's lips curve upward. "We're missing a word," he murmurs. "Will. Another proverb. Where there's a will, there's a way." He flicks the red acetate in his hand, back and forth, as he thought out loud. "When you look through a colored filter, lines of that color disappear. It's one way of writing hidden messages. You layer the text in different colors. The book is written in black ink, so the acetate isn't meant to be used on the book." Jameson is talking faster now, the energy in his voice is contagious.

"Hence the message in the book, directing us where to make use of the film." Grayson speaks up.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

"What do you think the chances are," Avery says slowly, "that somewhere, there's a copy of your grandfather's will written in red ink?"

———

Today after sleeping on my couch so Danny could sleep on my bed, I have an incredibly sore back as I work with the siblings who appear to be 'reinventing' my style, Avery is next to me turning down everything whilst i tell them i dont care to every option they give me.

"Classic. Natural. Preppy with an edge." The woman reiterates our options.

"I could not care less" i sigh whilst cracking my back violently. "I have philosophical objections to colored pants," Avery says. "So that one's out."

"Don't just look at the clothes," the man instructs. "Take in the look."

"The way you dress, the way you do your hair—it's not silly. It's not shallow. This..." She gestures to the rack behind her. "It's not just clothing. It's a message. You're not deciding what to wear. You're deciding what story you want your image to tell. Are you the ingenue, young and sweet? Do you dress to this world of wealth and wonders like you were born to it, or do you want to walk the line: the same but different, young but full of steel?"

"Why do I have to tell a story?" Avery asks.

"Because if you don't tell the story, someone else will tell it for you." I turn to see Xander Hawthorne standing in the doorway, holding a plate of scones. "Makeovers," he tells us, "like the recreational building of Rube Goldberg machines, are hungry work."

"What do you know about makeovers?" Avery grumbles. "If I were a guy, there'd be two racks of clothing in this room, max."

"And if I were White," Xander returns loftily, "people wouldn't look at me like I'm half a Hawthorne. Scone?" That caught me off guard.

I wonder, suddenly, what its like for him, growing up in this house. Growing up Hawthorne.

"Can I have one of the blueberry scones?" Avery asks. Xander hands her a lemon scone. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." 

I try on a massive variety of outfits, each making me feel as uncomfortable as the last.

"How about gothic?" The boy asks after taking half an hour to get me into this outfit.

Avery laughs at how i look like a different person. "No way!" I warn.

"Boho?" The girl asks after giving me a dress to try on.

"I like it.. just not on me" i say.

"Preppy?" She holds up an outfit this time, not bothering to waste the time getting dressed into it.

"Its an option... maybe not my first choice" i say. They siblings look at eachother and smile having achieved something from me.

"Sexy!"  The man says, immediately having me hooked.

"This is the one" i say. "Absolutely not!" Avery and Libby say simultaneously. "Its not that bad!" I complain. "Its too provocative!" Avery asks. "Xander are you provoked?" I ask. "I don't think im allowed to answer that kind of question without getting hit by one of you" he replies. I groan a long and exasperated sigh. 

"I have it!" The guy says. "Sporty" he says. "How come i never got this many options?" Avery asks. 

"It shows a little skin but not too much so the sisters are still happy?" He says. "I like it but i would like preppy, sexy sporty more... how about like split personality? I can be preppy and a little sporty?" I suggest. The man sighs and nods having finally achieved my style.

Preppy but a little sporty sometimes.

(Look at me go! Three chapters in one day!)