1 Family First

Jake, Roxie and I are going to stay the summer at our older sister's house. She lost her little girl, Louise, earlier this month. We thought we might try to cheer her up. Lily hadn't really been her cheerful and upbeat self since then.  Our sister lives in Cookham, Berkshire, England, a small town outside of London. Her house is quite small and modest, big enough to hold Lily, Jake, Roxie, Louise and me. Jake, Roxie and I are triplets, but we couldn't be any more different. Jake and I are like typical twins, Roxie is like a bratty older sister, well that's exactly what she is.

Once we gathered our luggage, we walk onto the platform and see a tall man approach us. He is dressed in a tailor-made suit

"Hello, Roxanne, Jacob and Alice. I am Alex, Lily's boyfriend. Before we head to my house, I would like to ask one thing of you. Don't speak of Louise. Pretend like she never existed."

"Your house? What happened to Lily's house?"  While they were going crazy over where we would be staying, I was more worried about  what he had just said about Louise. The words echoed inside me, filling me with rage.

"But she did exist. How could you say something so heartless?! The only way to get over losing a loved one is to accept it, not pretend like they never existed! And why are you picking us up instead of Lily? Where even is she?"

You need not worry." His calm demeanor only served to fuel my rage.

"Yes, I do actually. She is my sister! She is the one we've come to see, not you!"

"Alice, stop it. You're causing a scene!" How could they all just go with what this man said?

"This doesn't seem sketchy to you all? A man we don't know claims to be your sister's boyfriend and tells you to forget your niece even existed!"

"Who cares? He's got a limo. A limo people. Which means he's got money."

"Really, Roxie? Can't you care for someone other than yourself for once?" None the less and no matter how angry I was, I went with them.

    Once we got back to his home, I realized something was very wrong. A mansion stood on the hilltop. There to welcome us, was Lily. Dressed in a long, gorgeous gown and sparkling diamonds.

"Look at you! Finally ditching your old shawl and flannel t-shirt for something more classy?"

Roxie was straight out the door and to our sister in seconds. None of this was making any sense.

"Yeah, this is Alex, my fiance."

"He said he was your boyfriend. Not your husband-to-be!" I exclaimed, but my words were trampled by Roxie's excited squeals.

"Congratulations! When is the wedding?"

"That's why I invited you, I wanted some help planning it. What do you say Roxie?"

"Do we get to help. Lily?" It was the first time Jake had spoken since we had gotten off the train.

"Sorry, Jake. You and Alice can go explore the woods, though. Wouldn't that be more fun?"

"Yeah! Let's go Rosie!" Jake grabbed my hand and took off towards the forest.

"Jake! Slow down!"

"Not until they can't hear us."

"What?" I had to shout to even hear myself, so whatever Jake said was lost to the wind. Hand in hand, we ran into the woods and left Lily, Roxie, and Alex far behind.

"There. Now we can slow down and stop." He let go of my wrist and sat down on a log.

"Jake, why are we all the way out here?

"Alex is weird. His house and car are the most lavish and expensive in the whole town, and Lily never liked him before, why would she just completely change? She was the one who said to never change for anyone."

And she isn't happy."

"How do you know? Are you a mind reader? Or an empath? Quick! What number am I thinking of?"

"Alice, a person's demeanor can say a lot about how they're feeling."

Ok, bad choice on my part. "Well, I'll have to take your word for it. So what do we do?...Did you hear that?" We both look for the source of the sound as a letter falls out of the branches above. Parchment, with a wax seal. Like the ones you see in really old movies.

"Open it, Rosie."

"Why me?"

"Because, you have ahold of it. And you're older."

"Fine."