652This first chapter of Where I'll Leave Tomorrow remains on this site as an indicator of my ownership of the work.
The following chapters are not in chronological order, but are instead one shots I have written for the purpose of developing These Lives I Walk into a more convincing trilogy.
Where I'll Leave Tomorrow
©HighOnBrokenWings
Crashed on the floor when I moved in
This little bungalow with some strange new friends
Stay up too late, and I'm too thin
We promise each other it's 'til the end
Now we're spinning empty bottles
It's the five of us
With pretty eyed boys girls die to trust
I can't resist the day
No, I can't resist the day...
~ Vanessa Carlton ~ White Houses ~
Thursday April 28th
Sienna's Point Of View
Living Life Over Again
~*~
Sometimes tomorrow seems impossibly far away, but the key is to keep marching on, no matter what. Because you never know what it is that tomorrow has in store for you…
Where was it that I left off tomorrow…?
"Welcome!" Spencer Cobain spread his long arms wide. "Welcome to The White House, Sienna." How creative. It would have been a shock if they'd called this massive cream-colored house something else… Like the black house, considering that it was actually painted a faded white.
I looked around, my bags heavy in my hands. Dramatic ceilings rose above me. More impressive than it had even looked from the outside. I attempted to whistle in awe, but it came out as something that sounded more like a strangled bird. I blushed in embarrassment, though thankfully, Spencer was too busy searching the place for something to really notice it.
Spencer had known me since the beginning of high school. He'd identified me as the rebel, the quiet girl, the picked on one… He'd seen me in a lot of my phases. Just not the more resent developments. Except he hadn't really known me. He was one of those people that were nice enough to me, but had been too afraid to befriend me. Not that he was doing it because it would have been a nice blow to his social status but rather that he'd receive a nice blow to the face from my… Um… Ex… If he did.
"Hellooo? Anyone hoooome?"
The sound of heavy boots clomped through the wooden floored hallway. Spencer and I had already progressed onto the drift on from the entranceway, but with a quick smile, he passed by me to peek his head around the corner of the doorway. It seemed that it was a good thing that everything in this house seemed to be upsized, including the doorframes.
It had been so much of a coincidence that I'd ran into Spencer. Though it wasn't as if I'd planned it, and was secretly stalking him… My memory of familiarity and direction had pushed up a name once I'd left South Ca…
Once I'd left.
Period.
As it turned out, that memory was one of Spencer telling me where it was he was moving.
From there the pieces had slotted into place.
"So, Amelia, here she is. You know, the girl I told you wanted to audition for the room…?" Audition… That word made it seem as if I had some special talent.
I carefully stepped around Spencer, attempting to wave. It proved harder than I'd initially thought. What, with bags in both of my hands. Instead I just settled for a simple "Hi."
Spencer snorted at my attempts.
"Wow. She's really tall." The little dark skinned girl seemed shocked. As if she'd been expecting me to be… Well, normal. I caught Spencer rolling his eyes. Must have been thinking something along the same lines of myself. "No, no, sorry. I-I didn't mean it like that… I was just… Um… Hi, I'm Amelia, like um… Thingy said."
"Thingy." With a wrinkled nose my eyes fell onto Spencer. "Remember that from your childhood?"
He looked vacant.
"You're a disgrace to New Zealanders around the world, you know that?" With a feeling of slight awareness, I dropped my heavy bags at my feet before I reached out for her hand and shook it. "Ignore him, he's obviously a douche, I'm Sienna." I'd been practicing my smiles for a while now, and I thought that they were beginning to look half genuine. But that was just my opinion, and by the look on Amelia's face, my opinion could have been a little off center.
"Nice to meet you." Her smile was a little forced too, but not in the I'm lying through my teeth way, rather in a way that was all too familiar to me. The kind of smile that let me know my presence wasn't quite enough to make her happy. She had a pretty accent though, with just enough of that Southern twang to make it seem rich like dark honey.
"Where are Janey and Chris?"
Amelia shrugged her shoulders as Spencer casually approached, her head angled down. Spencer had this kind of presence about him, it seemed to radiate with a bright light of authority. It was a little overwhelming, and I guessed living with the buffoon didn't really dampen it.
"Out, I guess." He answered his own question. "I thought we better have a bit of a vote to whether the new roomy should be this one." He nodded his head in my direction.
"Yeah… Probably… Yeah…" Amelia's head was still down, as she stuttered over her words. I ran my eyes over her. Her non-script faded jeans and her worn jumper. She looked so… Ordinary… Which wasn't fair. She was so strikingly beautiful, that it really didn't seem right to me, for her to be so down.
"I'm going to show her around the rest of the house." Spencer eagerly clutched my arm. "Call if you need anything."
He didn't wait for a reply; instead he led me through the various rooms, pointing out things here and there. I couldn't help but feel myself begin to smile as he told me a story about a little girl that he'd once had to baby-sit, taking her first steps in this exact spot. I knew that feeling of total and utter pride; it was making me feel warm.
Because it was over half a year ago that I left, and just over two since I'd given birth to my beautiful baby girl. The twenty thousand dollars hadn't gotten me very far, and now I was pretty much broke…
It turned out that I had no real option but to give Ariana away. It'd been heartbreaking. She wasn't just a symbol anymore. She was a real, living breathing person. With a soul and a personality. She was my baby.
Foster home, it's just a foster home, Sienna.
I took a deep breath in, managing to calm myself in record time. Now wasn't really the right time to have a little hyperventilation episode.
Gracefully, Spencer bounded up the old style stairs. The whole house had that slightly dated, majestic feel about it. I could sense the power it had within it. All made of wood, and beautiful carved paneling. The atmosphere of it was cozy and welcoming.
"Amelia's room, I would stay away from there, she'd probably bite your head off. That's… Well that room isn't exactly a room. That's Chris and Janey's room. Steer clear of that one too." I received a different look this time, something that spoke wild sex at the weirdest hours of the morning. He turned around in a whirl. "That there is… Well, I think it's meant to be a lounge, but Jane kind of has it claimed as her Zen room. Chicks only, apparently. There's the bathroom, want the hot water? You'll have to wake early. That's my room, feel free to come in there anytime, you know, just in less clothes."
I dug him in the ribs with my elbow.
"And this, is possibly your room." He finally opened a door, right at the far end of the hallway. "Yeah, come on, let's hear those complaints. You've kind of got the crap room, you know, that is if the jury decides you're worthy. First in, first served though, sorry." I took a step into the room, looking up as I did. How could he say that? It was beautiful. So much better than anything I'd lived in during the past months.
"Wow. No, this would be amazing." I breathed. "If you lot want me here."
"Don't sweat it, I'll definitely be voting for you, and I bet I can con Amelia into it too. Christian's nice, really. And Janey thinks she's nice, if that counts." He looked thoughtful for a moment.
With a brief hesitation I walked over to the large bed, wiping at the applicable lines of the sheets. I sat, before relaxing into it, staring up at the ceiling that was way too far above.
"What are they like?"
"The other two?" I tried not to pay attention to him as he leant casually against the wall. "Well, Chris is… Chris. There's no other way to explain him. You'll see what I mean when you meet him. And you'll fall head over heels for him as soon as you do, just like all the other girls. Though, watch yourself on that because you don't want to get on the wrong side of Jane. She'd scratch your eyes out, then wonder why you can't cook for her, oh, and no blonde jokes. She'll spaz, and say something stupid as shit."
"But you won't tell right? Blondes aren't my favorite people. They're all the same, I think, obnoxious, know it alls."
"Tsk tsk, stereotyping much?"
No direct reply from me.
"Do you think that they're going to be happy with this?" It was the question that had been eating at me ever since Spencer had suggested I come live here. Grinding the heels of my palms into my eyes was making them water. "'Cause I kind of need this quite a lot."
"Cheap rent?" He teased.
"Yeah, pretty much." He'd hit the nail on the head.
"Yeah. I'm sure they'll be fine with it." Spencer's low voice suddenly became a lot more serious. Same kind of words, just without the joking edge to them. "If they're not then I guess I can help you find some other place." He absently ruffled his hair. "Mm. I smell something. Bet Amelia's cooking."
"Hey, Spencer?"
"Yeah?" He turned around from where he'd begun to walk down the hallway towards the stairs, his eyes a comforting blue-hazel color. Wow. They were so… Mesmerizing. Snapping myself out of my little half trance was harder than I would have thought. Wow. Why is my heart pounding like that?
"Why aren't you living with your parents…?" I had been so sure that he'd told me he and his parents had moved to America… But from the look that flashed in his eyes… Well, it didn't quite seem right. My weirdness alarm was going off, full blare.
"GuessIjustlikethisplacebetter." He mumbled incoherently. With that, he turned back around, and impassively continued his way to the stairs. I was waiting for more, but it seemed that it was all I was going to get.
There was a ruckus from downstairs. The slam of a door, the click of high-heels on floorboards, people talking and muttering. We were at the bottom of the stairs before I could see them.
Who I assumed had to be Christian, was tall and blonde… For a striking moment there was something about the way he held himself that reminded me of… I shook it off and looked at him properly. No, he didn't look anything like him, his bone structure was different… Verging more on pretty than… The angles that made up his face were different. I breathed out a quick sigh, and shuffled behind the human wall that I'd made Spencer into.
Beside Christian was a haughty looking blonde, her long hair was straight, tangle free, and overall, she looked like she could have just stepped out of a shampoo commercial.
Jealous, Sienna?
Not at all, at least I don't look like a slut, even if I was one.
As I'd told Spencer, I wasn't exactly fond of the fair-headed side of humanity. And these two weren't exactly changing that outlook I had. Though, Christian had a warm sparkle in his eyes as he took off her coat.
"Who left their bags in the middle of the walkway?" Janey's voice sounded stressed and majorly pissed off, it echoed around the house in a somewhat eerie way. Riding over that soothing music, the thrum of a television in the living room, and the sizzle of something cooking in a pan in the kitchen.
"Don't look at me." Spencer raised his hands to the attack, as her wood brown eyes pierced into him. "It was that one."
Coward.
With his thumb still pointed in my direction, Spencer attempted to saunter off.
"Hey, I'm Sienna, you're Janey right?" I tried to push up that fake niceness. Just so that I could get over the introductions, and maybe a little because I was trying to grease myself into that room…
Her perfectly waxed eyebrows rose. She was wearing a typically clichéd cheerleading outfit, and far too much makeup. Maybe I'd have to teach that girl a lesson in not looking like a slut. In the nice way, of course…
Her initial wave of bitchiness disappeared. Instead she called out to Spencer again, a teasing smile pulling on her lips. "Always have to bring in the strays, don't you."
"Definitely. Live on the fun side of life, girl."
With a quick tap of soles against the floor, Spencer fully disappeared. Somewhere a few rooms over I heard a fridge door swung open, and the rattle of what I assumed had to be beer bottles.
"Yeah, yeah I'm Janey." She had that face of a cool, calm, collected person, but I knew that underneath she wasn't, she was just like every other girl. A little insecure, a little unhappy. Never quite fitting in the way she wanted. No. Not the stereotypical cheerleader, but that was all right. "Bet Spencer's already given you the lowdown, huh? Man that guys a pain in the ass sometimes. Can we kick him out Chris? Sienna can replace him."
I was ninety nine percent sure that she was joking about the whole kicking him out part… Ninety-nine.
Christian had been surveying me with a critical eye. I could feel the warmth and smiles seeping out of him, but I could feel that he thought something not so positive about me.
Janey sighed. "Uh, don't mind him. He thinks it's his job or something to run over everyone before they're even considered as a possibility." She linked her arm loosely through mine, tugging me towards the living room, and away from Christian.
"My family house, remember?" His voice was just how I'd expected it to sound. Comforting, hospitable and plain out nice.
"Yeah, distantly related. You pay rent too, remember?"
"We all know why that is." Christian rolled his eyes and followed us to wherever it was that we were heading, his hands slung easily in his pockets, and a nice smile spreading across his lips and into his sparkly blue eyes.
There was a collective uh-huh noise from everyone else, as well as numerous other mumbled comments. Spencer waltzed into the room as I was being forced into an overly stuffed armchair. Christian pulled Janey into the sofa beside him, and Spencer lazily stood leant against the doorway with a beer in his hand.
"You're not meant to be drinking that." Christian pointed out.
"Stop me." Spencer drawled back, tipping his head and slowly letting the contents dribble into his mouth.
Christian scoffed something that sounded a lot like underage drinking, what more do we need?
"Spencer's been talking about you for the past two weeks."
Christian had obviously risen to the challenge; because Spencer did stop drinking the beer in his hand, instead spat it all over the room.
"Asshole." He directed towards the blonde guy sprawled on the tan sofa, as he wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. "Nah, not like that, I just suggested that we should offer to put a roof over your head, here." Call me paranoid, or bigheaded enough to think that others would see me like that, but I had a feeling that it was exactly like that.
Janey rolled her eyes, and Christian made a choking noise. "Right, about that, Sienna – it is Sienna, right? – We have a room spare, and as you probably know, rent split five ways, is better than rent split four." He shrugged; perhaps he was suggesting that I didn't know that. "We divide things evenly around here, groceries and everything, though if you like to shop like, this thing here," Janey hit him in the shoulder "Then, of course you have to pay for that. But the general things are kind of money pools. Yeah, we work it how we work it, we don't really have a system. Chores are another must." I nodded along with his voice. "And well… Is there any more ands?"
"Don't hog all the hot water in the morning, right Spencer?"
"Don't piss Janey off, double warning for that one. She's like an unexploded landmine, especially when she's on her… Hey!" Spencer got a pillow in the face, and his beer nearly tumbled away from his fingers and to the ground.
"That's right, you eat that ass fluff you gayshit!"
Christian moaned.
"Is this normal?" I asked, attempting to suppress a smile.
"Just because I get more cock than you do!"
"The madness? Yeah… Sadly, it is." Christian slumped a little hopelessly in his seat.
"Yeah right. You just get ass, ass, ass. You give cock into guy ass-"
"Guys. Shut up." Christian said mildly.
Spencer opened his mouth to retort, but didn't bother. "Are we going to have a vote on this? Because I vote for her to stay." He raised his hand in the air, and I couldn't help but notice the firm way that his muscle moved behind his skin…
Spencer caught my eye, and smiled lopsidedly at me. An automatic blush creeped up into my face. His brown hair was ruffled from where the pillow had hit him. "Come in here and show them your hand being up, Amelia!" He called through the door into the kitchen.
The beautiful caramel skinned girl wandered into the sitting room, her arms awkwardly crossed in front of her stomach. "You want Sienna to stay in Janey-Jane-Jane's room, don't you?"
She didn't look at Spencer; instead she tried to do another one of those half smiles at Christian, as she shrugged. "She seems nice."
She didn't say anything more, and no one else was surprised that that was it. It must have been normal for her.
"That's a yes." Spencer clarified.
"Well, I think she's the most normal candidate we've had."
Christian nodded. "Welcome to The White House, Sienna." He smiled fully at me, and Spencer snuck up behind me, crushing me into a hug from around the waist.
"Woo! Fresh-meat!"
Starting my life over again for the second time was proving much easier than the first. I guess it's true – what they say – practice does make perfect.
And for once, tomorrow didn't seem that bad of a prospect.
15/12/13
UPDATE
Hello again readers!
So, I have decided to post up oneshots of theoretical situations that the characters from my These Lives I Walk trilogy never actually got up to, or did, but things that occur outside the narrative.
I've been writing these irrelevant pieces to develop character and understand the function of the story outside of what was actually written. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to share more of the series with any of you old readers that may still have the stories on alert :)
The following chapters will be these said writings. They are not in any order - chronological or otherwise - and do not function together, but rather as individual snap shots. If you are interested in reading something meatier - with a plot - then please do check out my new story Pretend to Chase.
Thanks again, definitely tell me what you think!
HighOnBrokenWings