Chapter 14

AUTHOR

Thanks for waiting! Enjoy!

**

Ginny has been playing a game of hide-and-seek with her siblings. The moment she spots any potential-looking blonde heads nearby, she will immediately scatter away like a scared puppy being hunted by wolves. The tension was so thick she could cut it with Natalie's perfectly manicured claws.

Speaking of the devil, she managed to locate Natalie's whereabouts—handling fliers near the entrance to boost their booth. The colour on her face nearly drained when Ginny approached her and said, "Code Red. Twins are here."

She asked Natalie to babysit Prof. Beak, muttering prayers that she'd keep the devils away. For the time being, Ginny told the latter not to approach the twins, or she'd be sucked into their vortex of drama faster than a selfie gets likes on Insta.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots not one but two blonde heads, hair swaying in the breeze like golden retrievers on a convertible car, as they attract a lot of people's attention. 

Oh, son of a biscuit, she curses.

They were swaying in the breeze like they just stepped out of a stereotypical rom-com, or better yet, a convertible car commercial from the early 2000s. It was like witnessing the ultimate teen dream unfold—think "She's All That" meets "Clueless," but with extra glitter and cargo pants. 

Ginny just wanted to get out of this place, as stealthily as possible. She knows well that her siblings—especially her sister Guinevere—will interrogate her to death about Persephone, and she's not going to let that happen.

Her sister Guinevere has a sort of unhinge, kind of obsession when it comes to people who want to court her. Ginny sees it as a sign of affection because she wants to protect her. Although that's mostly the case, it's still weird.

Why weird, you asked? Well, it was back in high school, the time after she got released from her cell from being grounded. Ginny garnered a bunch of supporters and admirers after she stood up for her friend by waterbombing her bullies. Since she became a local celebrity for quite a while, it has become so much that bouquets are being sent to her house and school as a form of admiration, and some are asking permission to court her. As chivalric as it sounds, Ginny never paid attention to those requests. She only tolerated them because they irritated her haters even more.

But her sister Guinevere was not having any of that. Guinevere responds to all the letters that Ginny's already taken and has a fiance with bitterness. And to add more salt to the wound, Guinevere agreed to become the 'fake' fiance. She religiously plays the part of driving and picking up Ginny from school and acts lovey-dovey with her when people are watching. For her sister Guinevere, it was all fun and laughter, but for Ginny, she got labelled as a dyke that snatched a hot sugar mommy on Tinder. But of course, the insult didn't last long because payback is a biatch.

As Ginny manoeuvred through the crowd, she couldn't help but feel like a spy on a top-secret mission. She ducks behind a group of nerds, using them as shields to protect herself from her siblings, all while mentally rehearsing her escape plan. But just as she was about to make her getaway, she heard a familiar voice call out from behind.

"Ginny! There you are!" Guinevere's voice cut through the chatter of the area like a laser beam. 

Ginny winces, knowing there is no escaping her sister's relentless pursuit, but she is not throwing her white flag just yet without a fight. Ginny knew she was completely hidden. How did she even find her?

"No, you got the wrong person!" Ginny ducks as she tries to cover her face with her hands. She swarmed into a crowd full of people watching the St. Ives talent show.

"Ginny! I know it's you." Guinevere continues to pursue, her voice sounding near.

"I'm sorry, miss. But I'm not Ginny. You got the wrong person." Ginny tries hard to deny it. She even wore the ugly frog mask she bought a while ago to conceal her face from her sister.

"I'm just a harmless frog passing by."

"Ginger Green, stop covering your face with that hideous mask, I know it's you!"

Ginny was so focused on distancing herself from her sister that she accidentally bumped into something hard, and that something hard was her brother's big, sturdy chest.

"Hi, Bambi. Miss me?" Augustus smirks as he grasps her shoulders with his big hands to stop her from escaping. She yelled in surprise and tried to wiggle out, but struggled hard because her brother was just colossal in size and strong.

"Ginny." Ginny flinched, hearing how near Guinevere's voice was.

Augustus turned her around and removed the frog mask hastily. Ginny forces a smile as she faces an angry Guinevere. She was flanked between her siblings, making an escape seem impossible. They were like a tag team of relentless interrogators trying to silence a whistleblower in a high-stakes spy movie, except the whistleblower was just Ginny trying to navigate teenage life without being mortified.

"Uhh… Hey guys? How's it going?" She awkwardly greets them, feeling embarrassed because they're capturing a lot of people's attention.

"Ginny, how could you not tell us, especially me?" Guinevere looks so upset. It looks like she's about to cry.

"About what?" Ginny attempted to feign ignorance, which is something that she shouldn't be doing because upsetting her sister could only lead to more trouble.

"About Persephone! Who is she?" Guinevere demanded, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

Ginny sighed inwardly, bracing herself for the inevitable inquisition. Augustus leaned in eagerly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, spill the tea, sis," he chimed in, already reaching for the popcorn that magically appeared in his hand. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. But she doesn't want to resign to her fate yet. She has to find a way to distract these two and meet Persephone at the booth as soon as possible. This was going to be a long, dramatic night, she reckoned.

"Oh, Persephone, what about her?"

"Playing dumb, are we? Well, I heard from a friend of yours and other sources of mine that this person is trying to court you, is that right?"

"Apparently, your sources are all wrong. Persephone is not trying to court me. She's too high maintenance to be doing such irrelevant stuff." Ginny tries to convey that Persephone is a high-profile person who doesn't need to concern herself with someone like her. It was supposed to be sarcastic, but it seems like it backfired on her.

"Ginny! How could you say that? You are not irrelevant." Guinevere squashes her cheeks together as she continues saying, "You are the sweetest, smartest, and most beautiful younger sister of mine." She pinches Ginny's cheeks as she emphasises each word a bit harshly, "Never say that again. Do you hear me?"

Ginny could only nod in submission, not trying to anger her sister more.

"Well, aside from these clothes, they're hideous!" She commented with a look of concern and proceeded to say, "I told you to never wear this sort of—dull clothing. Do Mama and Papa give you enough allowance?"

It always fascinates Ginny how Guinevere can compliment and insult her at the same time. Well, there's no doubt that they're sisters. Meanwhile, Augustus stands by their side, munching on the popcorn with a bored expression on his face.

"I'll make sure to inform both of them. They shouldn't be neglecting you like this. They're gonna hear an earful from us when we get back."

"Eve, calm down." Ginny firmly states, "I'm receiving enough money. I just like wearing these sorts of dull clothes because they make me feel comfortable."

"I understand." She states with understanding but still looks troubled, then pauses for a bit and says, "But they look so ugly!" 

Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes. As much as she loves her older sister, she can be very childish at times—like right now, for instance. How blasphemous!

"I miss the time when we hung out and went shopping together," she weeps, and she proceeds to tell stories that Ginny just wants to forget. "I miss the time when you used to scare the hell out of all the saleswomen in the boutiques because they didn't have your favourite colour!"

"I-I reckon that's hardly worth remembering," she said, trying not to get irked.

"I miss the times we used to terrorise the neighbourhood and throw eggs at random people."

Ginny's eyes twitched in annoyance and she responded, "Now, you're just making me sound like a prick. We never did that!"

Despite her slight outburst, Guinevere still continues, "I don't like it. I feel like you're not even my sister anymore…" Ginny winces at her words. It seems like they're no longer having a playful conversation.

"I want my sister back… I want her back." Guinevere keeps repeating, her upper lip curled in disdain. "It's all because of that person."

"Eve," Augustus warns. Ginny just stayed mum, simply lacking the strength to speak. 

"It's all her fault! Ginny wouldn't be like this if it weren't for her." The look of contempt was clearly plastered on her sister's face; it all reminded Ginny of that unfateful day.

"Eve, stop," Augustus continues to warn.

She scoffs in mockery as if she's remembering something and continues, "What's her name again? Kristine? Krystal? Whatever, I hope she—"

"I said stop!" Augustus shouts firmly, attracting the people around them. Ginny just stayed silent with an expressionless look on her face.

They all fell silent for a moment until Guinevere began to weep.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to shout at me," she said between sobs as she used her sleeves to wipe away her tears. "I'm just upset and miss my little sister. Can you blame me?"

"I'm sorry I shouted at you." Augustus gave a long sigh. "But you don't have to mention the past, especially that one." He scratches the side of his head, a habit that he always does when he feels anxious. "I do believe we've already done enough damage. What happened already happened. We just have to move on from it."

"I know. You don't have to remind me." Guinevere meekly replied, lowering her head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Bambi. I think we won't be meeting Persephone today," Augustus announced.

Guinevere tried to argue but got cut off, "Gus! We just got here. I don't—"

"Yes, we will." He firmly states, "you're too emotional today. And I believed we already traumatised our little sister for tonight."

Guinevere lowers her head in shame even more. Ginny feels sorry for her sister. Although she dislikes what she did a while ago, she couldn't stay mad at her for too long.

With a reassuring smile, Ginny gently patted Guinevere's hands. "Eve, I'm so sorry for worrying you," she began, her voice soft but sincere. "But I want you to know that I'm doing alright, and you don't have to worry too much about me."

Guinevere's eyes brimmed with tears, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Oh, my baby Gin-gin, forgive me! I just care about you a lot."

Ginny chuckled, feeling the warmth of her sister's affection. As Guinevere playfully squished her cheeks, Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "If this Persephone ends up hurting you, we'll hunt her down, right, Gus?" Guinevere turned to their brother for support.

Augustus, still munching on popcorn, replied nonchalantly, "Of course."

Trying to ease the tension, Ginny quickly interjected, "You don't have to worry about that because that's not going to happen." She stammered nervously, hoping to reassure her siblings. Despite her dislikes about Persephone's advances, she wouldn't want her to face the wrath of her protective siblings.

With a collective sigh of relief, it appeared as though Ginny's dilemma regarding the twins had been resolved. However, unbeknownst to her, the very person they were discussing stood just a couple of feet away, staring blankly at them, especially at Guinevere, who was very much showing her constant affection to Ginny.