Chapter Text
“Now, Vera, what is it that you need to do?” My dad hums as he taps his pen on his desk, giving me a hardened look.
Clearing my throat, I sigh. “Keep my head down and don’t get into any trouble…” I murmur, shifting anxiously where I was standing. Aaron, my older brother, was standing beside me - though he has already been through this once or twice, since he was a Junior. I was just a freshman, starting out at Phoenix Drop High. We practically had to beg my parents to even let me go to school - just like Aaron had done, to feel like a normal teenager.
“Good girl,” dad praises, making me cringe at the wording as Aaron and I share a look. “I don’t want to hear any nonsense happening with your name in it, Vera. I’ve already told Aaron this once or twice, however I want it to sink in for the both of you, understand?” Aaron and I nod our head, making our father sigh. “We have a reputation to keep, you two understand? You’re dismissed.”
Aaron grabs a hold of my wrist, making me yelp as he drags me out of fathers office. I wince as I tried to keep up with my brothers long strides. “Aaron, slow down!” I whine, feeling the cardio deep within my legs.
“Sorry,” he grunts, letting go. “I didn’t want to stay in there longer than necessary.”
I sigh, nodding my head in understanding. Our father was a strict parent. He expects us to follow his rules and nothing else, wanting us to go into their business and take over one day. Though that wasn’t what Aaron or I wanted, not that our parents cared about what we want. They at least had Melissa, who was more than willing to follow what was set out for her to do.
So why did we have to follow that as well?
“How is the school?” I ask as we walk towards our shared room. Even though we could have had separate rooms, Aaron and I chose to be together. Loneliness often plagues us, and neither one of us wanted to be without the other for long. Though mom did go ahead and set my own room up, in case I had changed my mind and wanted space from my brother. Which sometimes happened, but not often that I stayed in the spare room enough to call it mine.
Aaron shrugs as he places his hands in his pockets. “It’s not bad. Could be worse. Though it gives me that sense of normality,” which is what we want. A sense of normality in our lives instead of just being the son and daughter of Derek and Rachel Lycan.
“At least there’s that…” I trail off, grabbing my backpack - a dark royal purple bag with a Kuromi key chain - the most decoration that my parents would allow. They were simplistic, which meant that their children had to be too. Shoving some notebooks inside, along with my purple pencil case I turned to face him. “Any secret friends?” I tease him, earning a roll of his eyes as he gives me an amused look.
“Besides strictly academic acquaintances, no. I don’t need something that dad can yell at me for.” He huffs, “he already has enough invisible ammo as it is.” That was true. Dad didn’t need a lot in order to reprimand us. Not that we actually do anything wrong of any sorts, we stuck to ourselves and made sure that no one knew who we were. Though that made it easier for people to see us, especially if we just kept our heads down low and didn’t involve ourselves into any sort of activity.
I wanted to join a club. Maybe even join the Volleyball team, but I knew that was out of question. There was simply no way that dad would even consider letting me have an extra curricular activity that made him do something extra other than his job. Mom might be a little more lenient and let me join, but I knew it was wishful thinking that I could do anything fun in school. School was for learning, not for making friends and doing everything that teens can do.
“How mad do you think dad would be if I made friends?” I chuckle lowly to myself, already knowing the answer as I place my bag in front of my bed - walking towards our shared closet and grabbing my school uniform.
“Vera…” Aaron trails off with a sigh, “we can’t have real friends, you know this. The closest I have is Shu, and I couldn’t even see her outside of the game. I know if dad even knew I was friends with someone, even online, he’d get super pissed.” He warns me and I frown, knowing he was right.
Was it so hard that I wanted to know what it felt like to be a normal teenager? I wanted friends. I’ve never had those before, outside of Aaron - and maybe Melissa, even though we had a bigger age gap. Though Melissa was more focused on her own career within the family business.
“I just want a normal life, Aaron. Is that too much to ask for?” I grumble, falling face-first onto my bed.
“In this family? Yes…” He trails off with a chuckle, sighing as he pats my back. “Be careful, Vera, if you decide to go against his wishes. You know how he gets.” He warns me, “I can help you only as much as you let me, sis.”
“Yeah, I know bro…” I sigh as I roll onto my back, looking up at him with a warm smile. “I appreciate you too. You know that.”
Smirking he leans forward to ruffle my hair, making me swat at him as I act annoyed. “I appreciate you too, little sis. Even if you don’t help me as much as I help you.” I gaped at him, mock offended as I swat at him - hearing his boisterous laughter that made me smile. Only I could hear that in the confined space of our room, and it was the most beautiful thing anyone could ever hear.
Our life was not roses and rainbows, but we make do with what we have… together.