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T h u r s d a y, 28 /3/19

Dear Diary,

It was late afternoon when the dreaded moment occurred.

"Josephine! My darling! Josephine!"

It all started with Andrea when her high-pitched voice squealed up the stairs.

Spencer and I were sprawled across the carpeted floor of my room, looking over summer outfits for the party that night. Apparently, a residing resident of the Hawaiian shore-line had hit the tender age of twenty-one and had invited all of the neighbouring youth to her flash, beach house.

I was used to going about life by myself and the idea of rocking up at a stranger's house filled with even more strangers really put me off. But Spencer had been looking forward to the evening for a very long time now and I didn't want to let her down.

"Why the hell does she think she's earned the right to call you Josephine?" Spencer rolled her eyes as she accompanied me down the stair-well.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Ignore the problem and the problem will go away. That's what my grandmother always says."

"Well, I highly doubt this problem is going away any time soon," Spencer guffawed under her breath as the two of us reached the lower level of the house. "The money's too appealing."

"Andrea?" I ventured out as I glanced up and down the polished oak of the hallway.

"My dear Josephine!" the petite, blonde woman gushed as she suddenly appeared and waltzed towards me. She stopped right in front of me, her taller form towering over my own. Scrunching up her nose, she bent down and placed a manicured finger underneath my chin. "That's Miss Melcox to you, darling."

I resisted the urge to pull away from her. Instead, I held perfectly still until she straightened up and stepped back. "Meet my daughter and your soon-to-be step-sister, Tiffany."

My eyes widened in curiosity and surprise when I saw the slim, agile figure of a pretty, blonde-haired girl make her way towards us. When she came to a stop next to her mother, I realised that they looked exactly the same: fake and sick.

"Hello, Josephine," Tiffany purred as she leaned over to kiss me on both cheeks. "What a pleasure to meet you. I hope that you are enjoying your stay here? Is it too overwhelming for you?"

I inclined my head to one side. "Er...a little."

"I trust you are coming to the party tonight?" she fluttered her eyelashes as she turned to gaze, disgustedly, at Spencer. "Ah. I see that you have already met your cousin..."

"Tiffany," Spencer sent her a stiff nod.

"Yes!" I hurriedly piped up. "I'm coming."

"Good," Tiffany sent me a wide, way-too-pleasant smile. Her sea-blue eyes trailed over me and she instinctively drew back. "Please, try to dress in something a little more - er - decent."

"See you tonight, beaut," Andrea sent me a small wave as she spun around on her high-heeled shoes and click-clacked from the room, her daughter not far behind.

Gaping, Spencer and I stared after the two of them.

"What the f..."

"...Fries?" I hastily cut in to finish.

Spencer turned astonished eyes on me. "Fries?"

"Yeah, Grandma doesn't like swearing, not in our house," I shrugged. "Guess it kinda stuck. C'mon. We have a party to get ready for."

As Spencer was going through my wardrobe, trying to piece together a suitable outfit for me, I questioned, "Sooo...you know Tiffany?"

Spencer stopped what she was doing and glanced over her shoulder at me in disgust. "Know her? I used to go to high school with her. Worst years of my life. That girl's a freakin bitch."

"I figured," I let out a lengthy sigh. "Welp. Tonight's going to be fun."

At six o'clock sharp, Dad rolled around to the front of the mansion in a stunning, freshly-painted Ferrari F60 America and tooted the horn.

Dressed in a pair of bleached, tight-fitting jeans and a sky-blue crop-top, I bounded down the stairs after a chattering Spencer.

We met Luna at the door.

"You forgot to brush off your clothes before coming into the house earlier," she scolded us. "There's sand everywhere."

"We love you too, Luna," Spencer sang out as she flung open the front doors and sauntered through them like a boss.

"Damn," I whistled under my breath as I watched her. "She sure knows how to put on a show."

"She definitely does," Luna chuckled. Touching my elbow, she smiled at me, "Stay safe and don't get into any trouble."

I nodded as a big lump suddenly rose up in my throat.

With Tiffany at the party?

Staying out of trouble was going to be Mission Impossible.

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