7CHAPTER TWO: To Be A Sister
'B, I'm home!' Stephanie shouted up the stairs. She was carrying a large sketchbook and a selection of acrylic paints and coloured tissue paper.
'I'm in here, Steph!' Bianca cried from the kitchen, 'Making Bouillabaisse.' Bianca despised housework; in fact there were masses of dust in every room but the bathroom and kitchen. However, when it came to cooking, she had been lucky enough to inherit her father's culinary brilliance.
'Why wasn't the chain on the door?' asked Steph, 'Living dangerously were we?' She sat down at the kitchen table dumping her art stuff in front of her. Bianca turned around stunned; she had left the front door unlocked after her visit from that strange man.
'Because I knew you'd be coming home soon,' she replied in a distracted voice, 'Um could you go lock it now please?' She turned back towards her pan and continued to stir, as her sister went to put her mind at rest. 'Orange zest,' she spoke the words out loud. She opened the fridge and found the half eaten orange she'd been eating earlier and removed two strips of its peel.
Stephanie was in many ways converse to her older sister – the ultimate Anti-Bianca. She wasn't clever or sensible, but she was laid-back and rational. She had a good head for common sense. She looked more like their dad than their mum, despite having inherited blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pout that could get her out of all kinds of troubles.
She was standing in the doorway thinking of the day she had just had. Billy Branson had been boasting about his new tattoo, a 'flame' on his right shoulder that looked more like he had been self-harming and tried to cover it up with a biro all the guys were crowded round listening. A bunch of girls were sniggering at her from behind. Apparently she had a reputation for being a slut for only ever hanging out with boys. 'And they wonder why?' she thought this to herself, without moving her lips; she wasn't quite as crazy as her sister just yet. She turned away from Billy and his admirers, making her way towards the art department.
'Steph! Wait up!' A familiar voice was calling her from behind. Her heart leaped, it was Michael. She slowed down so that he could catch up with her, but didn't turn around; she didn't want him to see how red her face had become.
'Hey,' she grinned back at her crush as he drew level with her. In her head she was busy laughing at the rumours of being a slut. The frequency of her voice must have exemplified her frigidness to him.
'It's you're birthday soon, isn't it?' It wasn't a question, 'The big 1-5!'
'Yeh it's in 2 weeks. Me and the guys are be going to a concert I think,' she was glad to have an excuse to talk to him, 'Well actually it's a "surprise", so I don't know much about it.'
'Oh right. Hey you wanna do something this weekend?' Michael had blurted the question out when they were standing outside the Main Hall. Stephanie's heart had sky-rocketed.
'Just me and you?'
'If you want.'
'Yeh. I'd like to.'
'OK so it's a date?'
'It's a date.'
Stephanie was still replaying the conversation in her head as she walked back into the kitchen with a giant grin on her face. She was going on a date with Michael Hill; she'd liked him since their trip to Switzerland the previous year. She sat back down at the kitchen table, where her art material was still laid out.
'I'm almost finished here Steph, so can you go and lay the cutlery for me?' Bianca was transferring the bouillabaisse into a serving dish, 'I've just got to cut up some parsley.'
Stephanie didn't argue. She opened the sliding doors that lead into their dining room. It still felt eerie when the two of them ate alone at the large table, but she didn't say anything, after all, she was the rational one. She opened up the top drawer of the dresser and pulled out two plates, two knives, two folks and two spoons and laid them at the end of the table. She then continued to fill up two water glasses and place these over the knives.
Little under a minute later, Bianca brought in the bouillabaisse. It was evidently very hot as she was wearing oven mitts and the steam rising off it was glistening in the gentle light of the room.
'Just like dad used to make,' murmured Steph.
From the Author: Yeh nothing much happened in this crappy lil' chapter; 'tismostly about Steph ... building up the suspense ;) Let me see some reviews anyway LOL! What do people think of Stephanie and Bianca's relationship? Oooooh and what do people think's inside the box from Chapter One? I'm intrigued ... no really! I was originally gonna put this in the first chapter but I thought it best to leave it as just "The Old Man"; kinda an introduction! I was also going to carry this chapter on but it seemed unneccessary. Steph kinda said it all in her last line. :)
Btw LulaR (my one review thus far)you really think Bianca is like me ...? I guess she is in some ways but then she's got a lot of issues. Probs I'm a combo of Steph and Bianca Oh and look I UPDATED! Aren't I good? (A) Or maybe I'm just one happy typer!