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Vanya was not pleased to begin with. She’d forgotten to take her pill that morning, and she remembered in the middle of an orchestra practice. She stopped in realization, earning her a scolding from the conductor.
Vanya dragged her feet on the way home, tired from the day. She should be rushing to get that pill, but she didn’t feel interested. Whenever she was off the pill, she’d get mood swings like this.
As she walked, something caught her eye. On a magazine cover was a picture of her sister. In a bold, red font, it said: Interview with Allison Hargreeves! New movie, engagement, and possible Umbrella Academy reunion?
Vanya scoffed. Since when were they having a reunion? Her eyes widened. Since when was Allison engaged?
She bought the magazine with shaky hands and rushed home with a new sense of purpose. Despite what people thought, she wanted to know about her siblings’ lives and be filled in. If this was the only way, she’d take it. Pay $5 to hear a page worth of What’s-New-With-Allison.
Vanya unlocked her apartment. Momentarily, she forgot about how she needed to take her pills. Sometimes she got like that when off her pills: fixated on something, emotion-driven.
She flicked through pages and began reading.
Interviewer: Today, I’m here with Allison Hargreeves, star of the new movie, Love on Loan. Can you tell us what it’s about?
Allison: It’s about a young woman whose house is in danger of foreclosure. The banker, her childhood friend who may have romantic feelings for her, tries to help her raise the money to keep the house.
Interviewer: How fascinating! What genre is it?
Allison: Romantic comedy.
Interviewer: Speaking of romance, can we talk about your fiancé, Patrick? How is life with him?
Allison: He’s absolutely amazing. We both have busy schedules, but we try and make it work. We have movie nights and make each other breakfast. He helps me run lines all the time.
Interviewer: Movie nights? Do you watch your own movies?
Allison, chuckling: No, not really. We love watching movies that some of our actor and actress friends are in. In particular, we have a love for Sandra Bullock movies. I suppose it’s strange, knowing her in real life and seeing her movies, but she is such an amazing actress and person.
Interviewer: High praise. You would know best, since you worked with her on movies previously. Does the love you share with Patrick make it easier or harder to film rom coms?
Allison: It’s easier in the sense that I channel what I feel for him into it, but hard in the sense that it’s not him that I have to share scenes with. Like I said, I run lines with him, so that makes me feel better about sharing romantic scenes with other people.
Interviewer: While we’re on the topic, how is wedding planning?
Allison: Stressful. We’re both busy people, but we make time. It’s always nice to come back from a long day at work and be with each other.
Interviewer: Let’s talk guest list. Is there going to be an Umbrella Academy reunion in the cards?
Allison: Hopefully so! I’ve invited all my siblings. I’ve missed them all, but we keep in touch. We’re all just doing different things, so it’s hard to get us all in one place at one time.
Interviewer: Anything else to spill about your siblings? What are you up to?
Allison: They’re all doing so good. Luther is still training with our father. Diego and him are both off saving lives, but Diego is becoming a police officer. They feel a need to protect the innocent; they’re such good-natured people. Klaus has been taking some time to himself. He’s a bit reclusive, less into the saving lives thing. He has hobbies to keep himself busy. I know he enjoys music. He’s probably at a concert right now.
Interviewer: That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you so much for joining us, Allison.
Allison: Thank you for having me.
Vanya gritted her teeth at the outright lies that Allison so easily spat. Allison hadn’t invited them to her wedding at all. Or maybe... Vanya’s head spun. Maybe the others had gotten invites and she simply hadn’t.
Her hands shook and her mind went into overdrive, picking apart all the lies Allison told. Luther and Diego weren’t good-natured people. They had a hero complex and a need to be the best. That wasn’t good-natured at all, it was borderline selfish.
Klaus taking time to himself? That was one way to put it. Klaus was probably high right now. Or drunk. Allison had a way to twist words to make them sound glamorous, to spin half-truths and lies without blinking. She mentioned he was into music. Was she confusing Vanya with Klaus?
Vanya couldn’t help but feel hurt that Allison hadn’t included her in any of her lies. What was she to Allison? Apparently not a sibling. Another trainer? A ghost? That awkward person who showed up to family meals?
Was she that forgettable? Not even worthy enough to lie about or mention.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Vanya picked up the phone and dialed Allison’s number. It rang and she hoped that Allison hadn’t switched phones again. It had happened numerous times, where Allison would change her number and call Vanya months later, only to tell her that this was her new number and then hang up.
It rang out, leaving Vanya with Allison’s sugar-sweet voice. “Hello, this is Allison. I’m busy right now, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I can.”
Beep.
Vanya took a deep breath and the words formed before she could filter them. “Hey, Allison. I read your interview for Us Weekly. Nice to know that I got an invite to your wedding. Maybe you’ll spin another lie about it getting lost in the mail. I read the entire article, and I’m angry. Just because you were given the power to spread rumors doesn’t mean you should.” She hung up, slamming the phone into the wall.
Deep breaths. She wished people weren’t so disillusioned with the Hargreeves family. They were perfect, powerful, everything a family should strive to be. Everything that people wanted to be.
Vanya chuckled darkly. She would show them. She’d show them just how perfect her family could be. She grabbed her wallet and marched to the nearest bookstore. She remembered there being a typewriter in the window when she walked past earlier. Hopefully, it was still there and she could enact her plan. Her pill bottle lay forgotten on her kitchen counter.