C A M E R O N
I was recently witness to my siblings, Nicholas and Josephine making a protein shake in the kitchen, before school, while I had my morning coffee.
Nick was mainly preparing everything while Josie helped him by chopping the fruit and some veg.
They'd both come back from a run, still clad in their activewear.
"Okay, time to blend." Nick commented, about to start.
"Wait, I think I'm gonna go take a shower now." Josie suddenly stopped him, turning to make an exit.
Nick looked at her, with a mockingly disapproving look. "Hold it. It's better to take protein within thirty minutes to an hour after, it's already been 25 minutes, just drink this before you go."
Josie hesitantly nodded and fiddled with her hoodie sleeves, nervously.
Despite knowing what was coming, I watched as she jumped in fright as the noise of the blender filled the kitchen.
Her hands were now clamped over her ears, eyes closed as she backed herself into the wall.
Nick didn't notice as he was too busy focusing on the blender but I did, I always did.
I watched every little quirk, noticed every little peculiarity.
I had to, I owed it to her— to all my siblings, really but to her especially for she had no one who cared enough, before she lived with us, to even pay attention let alone do anything about it.
I couldn't help but wonder how things would be if Josie had grown up with us.
How different things would've been.
"Drink." Nick spoke, before starting to drink his own glass.
Josie approached it tentatively, peering inside the cup and tilting it, the thick liquid inside moving around before she finally took a sip.
Her face was frozen as if she was thinking.
"It's good, right?"
"Yeah..."
"But what? You don't like it."
"No, just...the texture is kinda weird." She commented, still not taking another sip of it.
"Oh, well it won't bother you the more you have a it, you'll see. Drink up."
Except I knew she wouldn't, Josie was picky about certain textures in food and drink, certain materials and patterns.
It took a little while to figure out what she preferred and what would bother her, even then I was still discovering new things about her events mix
I was proven right as she nursed the glass for the next five minutes whereas Nick had already finished his.
It was a Friday and the staff were always off for the weekend starting today so Nick had started making himself a real breakfast, he hadn't noticed that Josie's glass was still full.
"It's fine, I'll drink it." I reached my hand out waiting for her to pass but she looked back at Nick, who was paying us no mind, worriedly. "It's okay, go take your shower."
After she left, I managed to finish her protein shake quite quickly.
Nick had just finished up and was about to sit down with his food when he realised the glass was in front of me.
"She didn't like it?" He looked down at then back up at me, confused. "She could've said, I wouldn't be upset."
"No, she liked it. I liked it." I shrugged, then suggested. "Add more water next time, though."
I stood up and straightened my clothes out, before leaving the room.
J O S I E
Today I was so happy.
It was Friday so that was a given but what made it so much better was that it was a half day, and I was spending it with my big sister.
Just us two, a true sisters day.
It turns out our family were part of a country club which Madison regularly visits.
Although it was the end of the week, it was still Friday and the club was a little more full than I'd expected for a weekday, but at this time of day it was mainly women here.
We went shopping first and then we came here.
"You're good." I huffed, taking a moment to breathe.
We were playing tennis and Madison was beating me.
"Well, I am a professional tennis player." She shrugged, a grin on her face.
I playfully rolled my eyes till I realised she was being serious. "Wait, really?"
"Yes." She laughed lightly. "What did you think all those trophies in my room were for?"
"Well, I didn't fully understand it. Kai told me it was for the NYAL championships. Guessing that's some sort of tennis thing?"
"NYAL?" She questioned.
"National yap a lot." I sounded more unsure the more I went on.
My cheeks heated up and I rubbed the back of my neck, realising I'd been tricked.
"That boy..." My sister rolled her eyes, then she shook her head. "Okay, let's take showers and then we can get our messages."
"Okay." I agreed.
After we showered, we went to another section of the club where we would get massages.
Madison so naturally settled in with the rhythm of the room as she greeted the masseuses and started to chat with them.
I was less open to the idea, I just stood there looking around even after they'd left to give us privacy to disrobe.
"You okay?" Madison checked with me, tilting her head as she had already got herself comfortable on the massage bed.
"Yeah."
I reluctantly took off my robe and put it aside, the cold air hit me as I was now only in my sports bra and shorts.
I grabbed the towel and covered myself with it as I lay down on the bed.
The masseuses returned and the room was quiet as they prepared except for Madison who was talking to them both, telling them a story.
I was tuned into the conversation, I loved getting to know more about my siblings and their lives, until I felt the oil hit my back and then the hands that rubbed it in.
My breathing quickened.
In hindsight, a massage sounded fun but in reality, I don't know if I was a fan.
It was uncomfortable for me and only a minute or two into the massage, I decided to stop.
"Sorry, I—" I sat up abruptly. "I'm sorry."
"Jo, what's wrong?" Madison pushed herself up slightly.
"Sorry." I apologised, still feeling uncomfortable.
"Could you give us a moment, please?" Madison told the two ladies, she was now sitting up properly and once they'd left, she walked over to me. "You okay? What's wrong?"
"I don't like it, I don't like her touching me and.. and I can't even see her!" I explained, panic present in my voice. "And I don't like the way the oil feels."
It was like saying that triggered something in my body that immediately made my back itch as I moved around uncomfortably.
"It's okay, it's okay." Madison reassured me, she grabbed my abandoned towel and began wiping the oil off my back as best as she could. "Is this better?"
"Yes, thank you." I sighed. "I'm sorry...I don't want to waste your money, I'm sorry."
"Hey, you're not wasting a penny, don't worry about it." She passed me my robe. "Would you like to go home?"
"No, it's okay."
"Are you sure? We could always just pick up lunch and hang out by the pool at home." She had a concerned look on her face.
"I wanna stay, I can just sit here while you get your massage."
And I did just that, despite feeling awkward from the drama that I'd just caused.
I'd gotten over that by the time we'd sat down for lunch outside.
"I have a boyfriend." Madison suddenly revealed.
"What? When did this happen?"
"Well...a few months but we made it official last week." She smiled, her cheeks heating up.
"That's amazing!" I beamed at her, launching over to give her a hug. "I'm so happy for you! Have you told anyone else?"
"No! No, I— you can't tell anyone else." Madison forbade me. "They can't know, it can just be our little secret, okay?"
"Oh, okay but...why? Do you not think they'd be happy for you?" I questioned.
"Have you met our brothers?" She scoffed at the thought. "Cam and Rome would freak and there goes my chance of ever moving out."
"You're moving out?" I sat up, startled.
"No, not anytime soon but in the future."
I gave her a sullen look.
"Don't be sad, I just mean like eventually we all grow up and we all move out...and I have no plans of it as of yet but one day I will have to leave."
"Nick, Kai—" I stopped myself and restarted. "Nick and Caleb would be happy for you."
"Not Nick either." She mumbled.
"Well... you're older so I think if they don't like it...screw them."
Madison giggled before that faraway look returned.
"I mean Caleb is no issue, I just— I don't think...he'd keep it to himself. I don't have a good track record when it comes to relationships, the rest of them won't like it." She continued. "It would be bad, trust me."
"Oh." I muttered.
Curiosity was killing me but I could tell by the look on her face and the tone of her voice that this was not something she wanted to delve deeper in at the moment.
"That's okay, I won't tell anyone." I lifted up my pinky to her.
Madison smiled and linked her own pinky with mine.
"What about you, any cute boys at school?" She teased.
There weren't any cute boys, no.
"Nope, no boys."
THIRD PERSON
The eldest of the St. Claire siblings were confused.
Each day, the youngest of the bunch had returned to the household in a terrible mood.
They were told that on the rides home from school, she was short in conversation. When someone would go up to talk to her, she'd pretend to be asleep or, actually be asleep.
Josie routinely locked herself away in her room until dinner, where she stayed subdued, retreating back upstairs once the meal was over, not to be seen for the rest of the night.
It was Nick in particular who'd raised concerns about this.
This is why all of the brothers were gathered in the eldest's home office while their sisters were out of the house.
"Is someone picking on her?" Cameron leaned forward in his seat, meeting his youngest brother's eyes. "You can tell me, it won't be betraying her by saying so."
"What? Is someone picking on her?!" Kai sat up abruptly, turning to Caleb.
"Christ." Nick whispered, pinching his forehead in distress.
"What? No, I— I don't think so?" Caleb responded, looking worried. "She always looks fine at school, she's mostly with her friends or sometimes with me."
Cameron and Roman exchanged looks.
"I bet it's that little shit, Brayden." Kai rolled his eyes. "He's always with her."
"What do you know about this boy?" Roman questioned, getting extremely serious. "What family does he come from? Tell me."
"Aiden, Astor." Caleb corrected, rolling his eyes. "He's cool. Kai just doesn't like him 'cause of what happened at the restaurant, remember?"
Roman looked deep in thought and then it clicked. "Ah."
"Nick? Have you seen anything? Has she said anything to you?" Cameron looked at him.
Nick stayed quiet before he shook his head. "We have a different lunch period, I haven't really seen her around."
Cameron looked down, nodding before dismissing them all except Nick.
"Was there anything?"
"I mean she was feeling a little down after tryouts but I noticed that she was shutting us out before this." Nick mentioned. "She hasn't acted like this since before we went on vacation, I think that was 'cause Kai was being a dick."
Roman's eyes darkened. "Has he said something to her that's hurt her feelings?"
"I don't think so. Kai's an idiot but even he's realised that Josie's different and that he needs to treat her with a little more sensitivity."
Cameron rubbed his chin, curious to see what his little brother would say, he prodded. "Different how?"
Nick shook his head, defensively. "No, I don't mean in a bad way or anything just that...she's different from us in some ways, she's not gonna know that this is just the way he acts."
"Josie's tough." He continued. "But she's sensitive to a lot of things, Caleb's the opposite and at first, Kai didn't realise that but he does now. She's different, it's probably because she grew up with..yeah, I don't know...I feel like I can't explain."
"No, that's okay, bud. Thank you." Cameron told Nick.
Cameron allowed him to leave but just before Nick left, he told him. "Keep an eye on the Astor boy, you hear me? Both of you."
When it was just the two of them left in the room, Roman turned to Cameron. "It's this shit with Ella, I know it is. Josie was doing fine, she was adjusting and then..."
"Yeah, she really came and fucked things up." Cameron agreed, taking a seat at his desk. "Josie will be okay, don't worry."
Roman just stared at him before saying. "I think now...now would be a bad time for this."
Cameron quickly caught on to what he was referring to. "You're not serious?"
"It'll be too much for her, she's already going through a lot and the Ella situation has only made it that much worse."
"This would be the best thing for her, it's already long overdue."
Cameron tried to explain to him but Roman only sighed as he shook his head, he was still unsure.
"You're being too emotional." Cameron told him straight. "It will be..strange for her to come to terms to but she has us and a formal diagnosis would help her a lot, in school and in life."
"I'm just worried." Roman muttered, his eyes were downcast unlike his usual self.
He cared a lot for his family, it was more than obvious but never did he let his vulnerability show in front of anyone other than his older brother.
In moments like these, Cameron still saw him as that same sad thirteen year old boy with abandonment issues.
"I know."
Roman sighed. "Okay, yeah. Let's do it."
unedited.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I know some of you have had thoughts & theories, all will finally be answered soon...
Has anyone seen that new film, Mickey 17? Mickey 18 is lowkey Kai...I saw it on Friday and it's amazing, you guys should check it out if you haven't yet!!