Chapter 3: Family (Venus's POV)

I walked back into our house, letting out a sigh of exhaustion. I headed for the kitchen right away to grab a snack and saw Clarissa sitting on the counter trying to do her homework while our housemaid, Mrs. Betty was preparing for dinner. I walked around Clarissa, poking her stomach. 

She shrieked, looking up at me. "Don't do that, Vee," she said while chewing on her pencil. 

I frowned, pulling it away. "Don't do that. Tell me, where are you stuck?" I asked. 

"You'll help me?" She perked up. "I asked mom but she was going out with friends for tea," she shrugged. 

"I always help you, tell me." I leaned my elbows on the counter, peering into her notebook. I explained two questions to her and had her do the third one on her own. 

"And then I move the dot to right here?" 

"It's called a decimal. Remember that, hmm?" 

She nodded and then continued working. 

"What are you making for dinner, Mrs. Betty?" I asked, walking over to her and watching as she chopped up all the tomatoes. 

"I'm making some meatballs with spaghetti, garlic bread, and your father's favorite chicken." 

"Ew," Clarissa and I said in sync. "That chicken?" I asked. 

She nodded, her nose scrunching up. "Don't remind me, I'll throw up whilst making it." 

I chuckled, grabbing my bag from the counter, and turned to Clarissa. "I'm going up to my room, okay?" 

"Bye, Vee."

"Bye." I walked to the staircase and then up to my room, following the unnecessarily long hallway and stopping at my room, opening the door. I left my bag on my desk chair and kicked my shoes off while opening my closet. I need to shower. I grabbed a fresh pair of pajamas and headed for the shower. 

By the time I came out, my parents were both back home and dinner was nearly done. I take long showers. I sat on the barstool by myself, Clarissa was up in her room now. My dad came in, now changed into his pajamas as well. 

"Hello," he nodded at me, ruffling my hair. "How was your day?" he asked. 

Should I tell him? 

"It was fine," I shrugged. 

"Did Caden do anything?" 

I huffed, "Why do you always ask me about him? I'm your child, not him." 

"I only worry, honey," he chuckled, heading to the dining room and I followed suit. "What did he do? Your mood says it all." 

"He threw all my notes and notebook out of the window and then... gone with the wind were they," I huffed, rolling my eyes. 

"And what did you do?" 

"I tore his essay up." 

"You could have done more." 

"I'm not trying to start World War III with him. I even-" I was to tell him that I tried fixing things between us. I tried giving him another essay so we could end the torture, but I knew that would get me in trouble. 

He would automatically think that I was accepting defeat and bowing down to him. This is how his mind just runs. "Where's your mother?" he asked. 

We both looked to the door as my mother walked in with Clarissa behind her, trying a new kind of braid on her hair. "How was work, Tanner?" my mother asked. 

"It was fine. How was your evening with friends, Cassidy?" my dad asked her in return while glancing at me, both of us suppressing a laugh. 

"It was fine," she shrugged. 

I don't understand my family. I really don't. My parents... I can never tell if they're still in love or not. I'm a little closer to my dad than I am to my mom but we have our moments. Clarissa adores our mother, they have a tighter bond. My family is just blatantly weird. We all have a weird dynamic. But it's family and it's my family. I wouldn't trade it for another. Because when I think back, my parents never missed a performance of mine at school, nor did they ever neglect me. I had it easier than Clarissa. 

Now my mother is all about socializing. 

Clarissa gets less time with them, but luckily, I'm close to her too. We hang out all the time. 

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Betty sang, waltzing into the room. "Enjoy," she smiled before leaving. She's been working for us since Clarissa was born. She's like family now. 

We all ate while talking about a few things from our day and then everybody was dismissed from the table. I went up to my room, going to my bathroom to brush my teeth first. 

When I had flicked all my lights off and I was getting ready to climb in bed, I heard a knock. I thought it was at my door so I said, "Come in!" But then nobody did. And then I heard a knock again. It took a second to realize it was coming from my window. I pushed the black velvet curtains back quickly, my eyes widening at the sight in front of me. I rushed to my door, locking it and then back to the window. I only opened it a tiny bit. "What the hell are you here for? I thought we keep the tormenting away from our homes," I huffed. 

"Open the window," he demanded. 

"Don't be stupid, Caden. Go away." 

"Open the window, will you?" he huffed. 

I pushed it open, leaning on the frame. "What?" I spat. 

He sighed, glaring at me and pulling out a notebook from behind his back. 

"What's this?" 

"Your notebook. With all the notes and worksheets you lost." I blinked in surprise, taking it from him. I flipped through it and sure enough, everything needed was there. 

"Can I get that essay back now?" 

I put the notebook down on my desk and turned to him. "You came here just to get that essay?" 

"What else would I come here for?" 

"Vee!" 

I jumped, hearing Clarissa at my door. "Go. Get out of here." 

"My essay!" he whisper-yelled. 

"One second, Clarissa!" I called out. I opened my bag, glaring at him, and shoved the essay at his chest. 

He caught it, scanning it quickly. 

"Get out." 

"This isn't my first time sneaking over here, Jesus." 

"Last time, you came to prank me while I slept. Now get the hell out." I closed the window and the curtains and then let Clarissa in. "Hey, what's up?" I asked. 

"Does this braid look better or this one?" 

I looked between the two. One's a normal braid, one's a fishtail. "That one," I pointed to the fishtail. "For when you need to look fancy," I added. "And the other one, the easier one," I smirked. "For when you're at home." 

She nodded, looking at her braids. 

My eyes fell down to the scrape on her knee. "Hey, what happened here?" I asked, pointing to it. 

"Oh, I fell during recess," she shrugged, not looking at me. That's how you know she's lying. She can't look you in the eyes. 

I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for her to crack. 

"He pushed me during recess." 

"Who did?" 

"Axel," she sighed. 

"Axel Locke?" 

She nodded. 

That's Caden's younger brother. He's the same age and Clarissa and he's also in her class. It's safe to say their relationship is like mine and Caden's, just a lot more pure and fewer mind games. 

"Did you two fight after that?" I questioned. 

"No, he said sorry, it was a mistake." 

"And what did you say?" 

"I said it's okay but don't tell anybody. That's all," she said nonchalantly. 

If my parents heard that... dear god. 

"Clarissa, go to your room, okay? Get ready for bed and then go to sleep. You've got school tomorrow, right?" 

"But tomorrow's Friday," she whined. 

"It's the last day of the week. Come on, off you go," I patted her shoulder, leading her out of my room. 

"Night, Vee." 

"Night Clarissa." Axel and she are just like Caden and me. They don't really hate each other. I just can't have anyone knowing that. Or ten-year-olds will have major consequences to face. 

I grabbed my notebook, flicking through it one more time. The only new addition was the doodle of a frog on the very last page. I let out a laugh, closing the notebook and tucking it into my bag for tomorrow. 

Carden and I are... complicated. If you put us alone in a room together, it'll become clearer than day that we don't hate each other, we just pretend to. I have been alone with Carden before in places and while he does still tease me and mock me, he doesn't say anything offensive or do anything annoying. He talks to me like a normal person would. 

But when you throw other people into the mix such as our family and our classmates and the rest of Cadara's population that is very invested in our drama, he flips the switch. And he acts like the biggest jerk in the world. But then there are times when he annoys me solely because it brings him pleasure in a twisted way. 

Which is why I was wary to let him in because a few months ago, he had snuck into my room while I was sleeping and stolen all of my bras. Which of course, he had to return. Because I'm sure his parents wouldn't be very pleased finding a plethora of bras with him now, would they?

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 3

OMG YOU GUYS

I wrote this like four hours ago and thought I uploaded it but it was just sitting here as a draft are you fucking kidding me???

sorry, ya'll

next chapter: morals