Silence

by Natasha Preston

In the morning, I woke up to Jasper shaking my arm.

  Could he really not just call my name?

  “Get up. We’re being forced to go to Aunt Ali’s.” He scowled.

  Visiting Ali was something we both dreaded. Ali was great though, the problem was my cousin, Lizzie. She was one year older than me and convinced she was going to be the next supermodel.

  I doubted anyone had seen her actual face in years – it was trapped under layers of inch-thick make-up. Her hair was bleached a white blonde and sat just above her shoulders in a sleek bob that was so shiny it looked like she sprayed her hair with polish.

  Lizzie strived for perfection. In her eyes if you weren’t perfect you weren’t even worth bothering about. In front of everyone, she was sweet and innocent, but once we were alone she was bitchy and judgemental. I wasn’t her idea of perfection, and she had no issue letting me know that.

  Basically she was a total cow and if I never had to see her again that would be fantastic.

  Jasper, seeing the distasteful expression on my face, said, “I know. I’ll have a flask of JD. Hit me up if you need a little help.” He then turned and left, closing my door on his way out.

  I didn’t drink, but every visit with Lizzie made me seriously question that decision.

  I dressed slowly because the later we arrived there the better. In the end, Mum yelled up the stairs. After the third time I figured that was as much as I could drag it out for.

  “Oakley, if you can’t get up properly in the morning you won’t stay out that late again,” she snipped, pointing to my shoes by the front door.

  Really not why I’m late, Mum.

  So I didn’t start an argument or give her any ammunition to refuse late nights, I did as instructed and got my shoes on.

  It took just under twenty minutes to get to their house. We hadn’t even gotten out of the car, and I already wanted to go home. As we made our way towards the house, the front door swung open and Ali rushed out.

  Ali and Mum both jumped into each other’s arms and laughed. They were close in age and were like best friends as well as sisters. She gave me, Dad and Jasper a kiss on the cheek and ushered us inside.

  Ali’s house was really modern. After she divorced Lizzie’s dad five years ago, she had received a lot of money from the settlement and used it to renovate. The place was decorated with the most expensive everything. The kitchen was stainless steel and looked like it belonged in a swanky restaurant. Every one of the four rooms had en-suite bathrooms and walk-in closets. If it weren’t for Lizzie, I would look forward to visiting.

  Ali led us into the lounge where she had laid on sandwiches and cakes. Lizzie was sitting on the sofa, tapping away on her phone with one hand and running her fingers through her hair with the other.

  As soon as she saw us, after a momentary greeting, she launched into chatting about how she was entering a modelling contest that was being held at our local mall, and how she was hoping that would be her big breakthrough.

  After what felt like half an hour of listening to her drone on about an outfit that cost her over a hundred pounds, Ali told Lizzie to take me upstairs and show it to me. Jasper was grinning as I reluctantly got up. Just because I was a girl didn’t mean I was going to go all crazy over a dress.

  “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” She gushed, running her acrylic nails over the fabric of the dress hanging on the outside of her wardrobe. I nodded in agreement and tried to hide my horror. The neon pink dress must barely cover her arse.

  “You should totally enter the contest! You’re not exactly ugly and you can just, like, nod or something if someone asks you a question. Although, you’d need to wear something nice.”

  I smiled and sat down on my hands as the urge to strangle her grew stronger and stronger. I wasn’t a violent person at all, but Lizzie really pushed me sometimes.

  “Ooh, how’s your gorgeous friend? You totally should have brought him with you.” Lizzie fluffed up her hair and smirked at me.

  If she uses the word ‘totally’ one more time…

  “I decided that I’m definitely gonna be a model, that’s why I’m doing the contest,” she said as if I’d asked. “Modelling is more glamorous than acting, you know?”

  I forced a smile, not that she looked away from the mirror to see my reaction. Thankfully, my phone buzzed as a text message came through, distracting me from wanting to murder my cousin.

  Cole’s timing was amazing. ‘Heard you’re at Barbie’s! Not killed her yet? Hurry up and come home! X’.

  I smiled and put the phone back in my pocket. I’d go home right now if I could.