Chapter 5-11: Sorry for Party Rocking

                With his father’s guidance, Emerson soon begins a weekly workout routine. He doesn’t particularly like running, just for the sake of running, but Donovan assures him that running is just as important as weight lifting.

                True to his word, Donovan schedules a vacation for himself and Camille. They’re heading to Sunlit Tides for a week to soak in the sun and stay in a small hut over the water.

                “Oh, Watcher, it’s so early,” Evangeline rubs her eyes as she trudges downstairs to see her parents off. Their flight leaves early so they head out as the sun is rising.

                “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do while we were here,” Donovan advises his daughter.

                “Of course not Daddy.”

                “Have a good time! No siblings though, please,” Emerson jokes.

                “Ew, gross Em! C’mon, visual image,” Evangeline grimaces.

                Camille manages to look appalled while Donovan fights a smile. They may not be planning on having any more children but he doesn’t plan on letting that stop him from enjoying this ‘honeymoon’.

                After school the next day, the twins head over to the fall festival. They didn’t get a chance to go as a family before their parents left but they want to check out some of the seasonal attractions, especially the haunted house.

                “Emerson, seriously? Winking at the judge is NOT going to help you win,” Evangeline sighs at her brother. Maybe I should just lock him in a closet for a day or two.

                She may be right about winks not earning points but her apple bobbing skills only net her 2 apples. Emerson takes the lead and wins. Does physical exercise make you better at sticking your head in freezing water and grabbing fruit? Emerson would like to think so.

                Eager to prove to the world that she’s a tough, unique girl, Evangeline starts riding her father’s motorcycle in his absence. She hopes he didn’t check the odometer before he left.

                Though they had promised their parents that they would behave, the twins decide to throw a Spooky Day party instead of going house to house for candy.

                “I’m pretty sure they’ll be pissed when they find out,” Emerson points out.

                “We’re being safe. It’s much safer at home than out on the streets late at night,” his sister argues.

                “Yeah…somehow I doubt they’ll see it that way.”

                “It’s Thursday. They’re not going to be home until Sunday so they won’t even know.”

                “Don’t we have school tomorrow?”

                “Watcher Em! Do you want to throw this party or not? You can always go hang out at the library and, IF they find out, I’ll tell mom and dad you knew nothing. Just remember it’s a costume party. And I invited girls. Hot girls.”

                “Hey! I didn’t say I wasn’t coming. Just playin’ devil’s advocate here.”

                Because of the school holiday, Emerson and Evangeline are able to spend the morning decorating the house for the party. While she puts the finishing touches throughout the room, she sends Emerson out for a few things.

                As she waits for him to get back, Evangeline showers and starts assembling her costume. She knows that most of the girls will probably use the party to dress as skanky as possible but she wants to stand out. She chose her costume ages ago, after catching a TV marathon of Lightning Bug.

                When she’s done, she hears Emerson in his room and goes to check out his costume. He hadn’t told her what he’d be dressing up as.

               

                “Your eyes!”

                “Just contacts. I wanted to look creepy,” he laughs.

                “It works. What are you?” Evangeline wrinkles her nose.

                “A zombie of course. Didn’t you watch The Staggering Corpses with me?”

                “I hope you’re not planning on hooking up with anybody dressed like that. What girl wants to make out with a corpse.”

                “Shows what you know.”

                The two head downstairs to carve some jack-o-lanterns for more decorations.

                “We should be doing this outside,” Evangeline protests.

                ‘It’s flipping cold out there.”

                “Mom would kill us if she knew we were doing it in the house.”

                “That’s what the newspaper is for. And you’re more concerned about some pumpkin guts on the floor than them finding out about the party? I think you need to straighten out your priorities sister.”

                The party guests start to arrive and Evangeline quickly flips off the lights and turns the stereo on. She notices Emerson removing a cover from a lump in the middle of the room. Apparently, while he’d been out getting things, he’d managed to secure a keg. We’re gonna be so dead.

                “Your grandma let you out of the house in that,” Evangeline asked, shocked that Renata’s strict grandmother allowed her to come to a party with so much skin showing.

                “Not exactly. I had the top stowed in pocket of my jacket,” she laughed.

                “Shannika, I don’t recall inviting you,” Evangeline confronts the girl in the cheerleader uniform.

                “See honey, that’s the thing about parties. Word gets out. Then, if they feel like it, the cool kids show up and make sure it’s a good party.” Shannika moves towards the keg with a smirk on her face. Evangeline, boiling at the girl’s self-important attitude reaches back, ready to punch her. Just then, Emerson grabs Genevieve and plants a kiss on her.

                Genevieve looks more than a little surprised and less than interested but must quickly change her mind because soon, she and Emerson are wrapped on the couch around each other, sucking enough face to last an entire lifetime.

                “Wanna dance,” a hotdog shouted above the music.

                “S..sure,” Evangeline tried to keep the stammer out of her voice. Neal Carlyle had just asked her to dance! He was one of the cutest guys in school and Evangeline hadn’t even been sure he’d show up to the party or not.

                The party was certainly a success. That is, until the neighbor called at midnight to inform them that if the music was turned down in ten minutes, the police would be arriving. Quickly, the guests dispersed, not wanting any trouble with the law, especially when a keg was involved.

                Renata was one of the last guests left at the party and Evangeline took a moment to tell her about Neal.

                “He’s so cute. And brave, coming dressed like a hotdog. He’s so confident,” she smiled. “But, I mean, I know you two were kind of hanging out and stuff, since you’re both in art club together.” Her smile turned to a frown, realizing that she might have a crush on her best friend’s boyfriend.

                “Nah, we’re just friends. He’s not my type. You should totally go for him!”

                “Are you sure,” Evangeline checked, wanting to be absolutely positive Renata was okay with it.

                “Absolutely. I think I like Lowell. He looked really cute in that wet suit, don’t you think?”

                ‘Lowell! Like the boy I grew up with that’s practically my brother? I don’t think I could ever think he was cute!”

                “It’s settled then. Come the Snowflake Dance, we’ll both have boyfriends and go together; you and Neal, and me and Lowell. I gotta get home.” She stood, giving Evangeline a hug goodbye.

                “Don’t forget to change back into your jacket,” Evangeline called down the stairs before falling into bed, dreaming of her perfect guy.

                The next morning, as the twins’ alarms clocks went off simultaneously, they both awoke, realizing that they hadn’t cleaned the house from the party the night before. Both sighed with relief, knowing they still had 2 days left before their parents got home, then showered and headed off to school.

                Unfortunately for both of them, St. Claire had a rather large snowstorm pending and Donovan and Camille had caught an early flight home, rather than risk being snowed out and unable to get back. When their key clicked in the latch and the door swung open to reveal leftover party remnants, rotten food, and a keg, they were certainly not happy.

                “We’re so dead,” Emerson hissed at Evangeline as they walked in the front door after school to their parents’ scowling faces.

                Winter came to St Claire and as the season turned, the Avendale twins stayed locked in their rooms. Unwilling to force them to quit their afterschool activities, Camille and Donovan had allowed them out of the house for their clubs and school, but other than that, both were grounded. Even their phones were confiscated while they were home and they were only permitted 20 minutes of talk time a piece with their friends.

                Genevieve, unpleased that Emerson had not asked her to be his girlfriend, showed up at the house every day to knock on the door and ask “Mrs. Matter” if she could see him. Emerson was rather thankful he was grounded every time his mother said no. He had avoided using his daily 20 minutes to call her and had managed to convince Evangeline not to mention it to her either. He would be out of luck though when the sentence ended in time for the Snowflake Dance. Genevieve was his friend and a pretty good kisser but he didn’t really want a steady girlfriend in high school, especially one that was as needy as she was.

                When Sasha snuck over and was waiting in the yard one morning before school, Emerson immediately asked her to the dance. Her boyfriend had recently become a young adult and wouldn’t be permitted to attend a school function so she said yes. Maybe now Genevieve would get the message and leave him alone.

                With just a week left before the dance, Evangeline was stuck trying to find a dress. Not that she really blamed her parents for grounding them and was grateful they were lifting the punishment after only two months instead of an entire school year but she now had to rush to find a dress instead of spending weeks looking and shopping for something with her friends. Rushing to one of the boutiques downtown, she ran right into Neal coming out of the nearby bookstore.

                “Oh, gosh Neal, I’m so sorry.”

                “S’okay. Where are you rushing to?”

                “I still need to find a dress for the dance. Being grounded kinda cramps your style a bit,” she joked.

                “Do you still need to find a date,” he grinned.

                She couldn’t believe it. Was Neal asking her to the dance? She figured he’d have been snatched up already and had put all hope of going with him out of her mind.

                “Well, I was planning on going alone.” Why did you say that you dummy?

                “Oh, okay then. I suppose I’ll see you there.”

                “No, Neal. Wait. I mean, if you aren’t already going with someone, I’d love to go with you.”

                “It’s a date then.” He grinned again and then waved as he headed out to finish his errands.

                “No drinking tonight, I mean it,” Donovan asserted as he took their picture.

                “I promise,” the twins said in unison.

                “If you so much as get pulled aside by a chaperon tonight, you’ll be grounded until you graduate. Don’t make us regret going easy on you.”

                “Oh my Watcher, you actually came,” Renata squealed when she saw Evangeline. She leaned into the whisper in her ear, even though the music was pounding. “Genevieve heard that Em was coming with Sasha, she’s pissed!”

                Everyone seemed rather surprised to see Sasha and Emerson together. Sasha was a senior and graduating soon and to be seen with a senior was pretty cool, to most of the guys. That was the thing that Emerson liked most about Sasha. She was cool and didn’t really care what people thought of her. And since she was graduating soon, she didn’t expect anything serious from Emerson. They were just in high school, they should be having a good time, not making commitments for forever to each other.

                “I think I might be falling in love with you,” Neal whispered to Evangeline just before kissing her. She felt her heart soar. Ohmywatcher, ohmywatcher, he loves me!

                Emerson and Sasha snuck out to the hallway for a little privacy. Their absence did not go unnoted however.

                “Man, she’s really desperate for your attention,” Sasha smirked as Genevieve attempted to make Emerson jealous by kissing the nearest boy when he and Sasha walked back into the cafeteria.

                “Who,” he replied, pretending not to notice.

                Before leaving, a photographer had the all of the students line up for prom pictures. They each would receive their print in the mail in about a week.

                Emerson and Sasha jokingly spelled out love with their fingers. No way were they in love with each other but so many of the kids in high school believe that “OMG s/he’s the one” that they decided to turn it into their own private joke.

                Evangeline draped herself over Neal who posed like a playboy for the camera with a hot girl on his arm. She gazed adoringly at him until the photographer called to her to look up.

                When the finally arrived home, exhausted, Evangeline trailed her brother into his room.

                “I think Neal’s my soul mate,” she said, sinking into Emerson’s bean bag dreamily.

                “Seriously sis?”

                “Yeah.” She sighed happily. “He told me he’s falling for me.”

                “And you believed him?”

                “You’re just jealous,” she snapped. “You don’t know what you want. Well, I do.”

                “It’s not that. I don’t think he’s good enough for you. He’s a dirtbag. I think he’s just saying what he wants to get what he wants.”

                He waited for a sarcastic retort but his sister seemed lost in her thoughts. He wondered if she’d even heard him.

               

Chapter 5.10                                                                                                                                                                                 Chapter 5.12

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I’ve got the next chapter lined up, yay! Didn't think I'd be so prompt, did you? :P

Just a random update on the Legacy stuffs since I usually forget to mention that. Camille and Donovan go out on dates, a lot. Camille also gets invited to a lot of parties, usually hosted by either Ian or Sylie so she and Donovan also attend those. They don't usually make it into the story but it happens. Camille has earned her LTW and is a Super Secret Spy. Hands Off is awful and I'm taking it out of my rolls. Some stuff you just can't not use the hand of the Watcher (like pictures). Donovan is still working on Perfect Mind, Perfect Body and is about midway through the Journalist career.

Last, and most important of all, the Heir Vote is now officially up. You've got about a week to cast your vote. I have 2 chapters left of this Generation. I may or may not get another out before the chapter is up so if you want to wait until last minute, go for it!

PS. I hate full moon lighting. Ruined my party scene. :(