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Post by MONA FAITH LANDRY on Nov 7, 2012 3:17:31 GMT -5
 Mona laid out on her bed, blond hair splayed across her pillow as she tried to read the pages of the book she was reading for English. She should have been enjoying Lord of the Flies. It was weird and morbid, and that tended to be her kind of thing. But she couldn't focus. Not a new story, of course. She couldn't focus on a lot of things lately. Especially schoolwork. In middle school, she had always been a hard worker. She got good grades, participated in extra-curricular activities, and didn't get into much trouble. There was the isolated fight or two, but otherwise she liked to keep to herself. Lately, she had been keeping to herself more than ever. It started nine months ago when her mother had been diagnosed with brain cancer and from then on, she seemed to have turned into a different person. She dropped her friends, her smiles, and the only time when she displayed any wild behavior was when she got really stinking drunk.
The thoughts of how her mother would not want this made her stomach clench and she rolled over to her side, dropping the book to the bed. It took a moment to collect herself. She hated crying, and she had done enough of it when she went over to Adam's house after coming back from the hospital. That was saying something. She hadn't sought refuge with her family, but her best friend. Because she just didn't know about her family anymore. They didn't talk about the death of their mother, just like the hadn't talked about the cancer. It had all been discussions of the fact that she wouldn't get the chemo and that they would be left in the hands of the insurance. It would take care of them, she had said to them all. But most importantly, the eldest would take care of them. Pearl had taken the helm, and instead of that making the sisters closer, having them form a bond, they were fighting as much as ever. It didn't seem possible for the two of them to get along. Mona knew it was the bitterness, the fact that Queenie had indulged everything to Pearl and not her. The freshman wanted to be included, but she had always felt shut out from everything when it came to her family.
And so she shut herself away, as well. If they didn't want to talk to her, include her, then she would just grow further away. The bitterness replaced her sadness, and she allowed it because she knew how to handle it more than she knew how to handle the grief. She'd rather hate her family than try to sort through her other emotions. She knew it wasn't real hate, but she tricked herself into thinking it was as she curled up on her bed in the room she shared with Pearl. The Fire graduate was working, as she always seemed to be lately, and Mona was thankful from the reprieve of listening to her rant about something or other. Once upon a time she enjoyed her sister's tangents and paid attention and offered her own opinions. And now she just wanted to stuff the pillow over her head and wait until she suffocated whenever the woman barged into their room and went off.
She didn't fare much better alone, either. She looked up at the ceiling for a long while before pulling herself up and trying to brush out the knots in her hair. It was near impossible, her hair always seemed to be a mess, but she needed to occupy her time. Deciding that it wasn't doing anything for her, she opened the door and took a step out. When she caught sight of Jack looking like he was about to go somewhere. And wherever he went meant it was going to be fun and there were going to be upperclassman. "Yo, where are you going?" she questioned him, stepping up closer. Hopefully getting out would pick her spirits up. But she knew it would only be for a short amount of time. "If you wait like, five minutes I could be ready." It was as if she predicted no argument from him, and predicted that he would allow her to come along. Despite how she usually acted, she'd always felt the closest to him out of all the siblings. He was the only other Thunder elemental, too. She supposed now she didn't feel very close to anyone.
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Post by julietxoxo on Nov 10, 2012 5:16:14 GMT -5
 The house was unusually quiet for the amount of people living there. Jack didn't mind it though. He figured that his siblings were probably all busy with their own thing. They hardly spent much time together since each was finding different ways of coping with the 'situation.' He had thrown himself into schoolwork and enjoying the company of his friends. That usually entitled drinking and other extracurricular activities but Jack embraced it. It gave him time to not have to think so hard about everything or to take self-pity on himself for his family's situation. It was his perfect escape.
Who wouldn't want to escape the life he had? Not only had his father abandoned him and left him wondering what in the world had happened, but his mother had gotten cancer. It had always made him wonder why the good suffered so much. Hadn't his mother had enough with the ongoing financial crisis? Apparently not, because she had received a fatal disease. He sighed to himself as the thoughts continued to leak out of the dark recess of his mind. Pushing them back away, he stared back down at the ink on the page. It blurred as tears threatened to pour. He wouldn't allow it though. He was at home and it was the last place he would ever show his vulnerable side. It didn't take long for the words to clarify once more. Jack had gotten great at hiding his emotions.
He finished scrawling down his answers to his last homework assignment and put it away. He had been told about a crazy party that was going to take place later and he was not about to miss it. Still, he felt obliged to keep up with school work and show that he wasn't his father's son. People never failed to smugly express theirs disdain for his family name. It always got under his skin and for this reason he was often in detention. His teachers always reprimanded him for getting into fights when he was such a great student. He did what he always did when he was being lectured by them; he brushed it aside. After he was sure that his homework had been completed, he went to collect his things so he could shower and clean up.
The shower was another place that offered to much time to think. He would usually hum to pass the time but often his thoughts would wander to dangerous zones. He'd end up crying. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he believed a cry was good now and then, but in sheer solitude. It always felt better that way. Luckily, Jack didn't cry this time and he dried himself quickly enough. The clothes he chose to wear that night were all black. No surprise there. When he was glancing at himself in the mirror and buttoning up the last button on his shirt, he heard a familiar voice. Without looking back at his sister, he answered casually, "Out." When she tagged on that she could set to go in five minutes, he felt the corner of his lips tug down into a slight frown. "No. I'm going out. Without you." He emphasized out and turned around already heading toward the door. He wanted to leave before his sister tried to insist on going. Jack had noticed the drastic change in his sister and it silently killed him to see her do certain things that could potentially harm her more than she knew. He was determined to be the wall that kept her from doing something stupid which meant telling her no to a lot of things. Out of all his siblings, Mona was the one who was always around him. It was one of the reasons they were so close but now he pushed her away so as to keep her away from the negative influences that he had become friends with.
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Post by MONA FAITH LANDRY on Nov 12, 2012 2:31:40 GMT -5
It didn't take much for her to get irritated. Her siblings tended to do it the most, because they were her siblings. She lived with them, had to deal with them constantly. Most of the time they felt like thorns in her side. However, the girl could never deny that she loved them more than anything. Even when she fought and yelled and -- at this point -- ignored them, she loved them above all else. They always came first, and once upon a time she had done a very good job at taking care of them. She still did. She cleaned up around the house, because Pearl was definitely too busy and none of the boys really wanted to spare time picking it up. That meant laundry also went to her, but all of them did their chores. It was weird, now, doing everything without Queenie around. They had always been doing chores like every child, but their mother was there to either criticize or approve or give them more work to do. She felt her gut clench in the familiar way. She wouldn't cry, though. The pain was fresh but she refused to let her emotions show because she was the strong one here. She had always been responsible and confident and it really sucked when she felt like she was going to fall apart. Or had she already done so? Was this what it felt like, giving up? Was she going to just give in slowly but surely and become the girl her mother always warned her about? It sure looked that way. But she had convinced herself that it wasn't that way, that she didn't do things because of the reasons other girls did.
But it was too obvious, when she thought about it. What did she want? Attention. Any childhood who grew up with as many siblings as her had that kind of feeling, didn't they? Everyone wanted attention? And more than that, she wanted to forget. She wanted to make it go away. It was something that only a good smoke and beer could do for her. She was only fourteen, and she was already on the path that would end up with her like those other girls, the ones that everyone talked about. Mona didn't care. If she did, she wouldn't have started this. She would have been the same girl she had always been, the one who could be described as 'one of the boys', not the girl who tried to get with all of the boys. She used to play with her brothers in whatever they did, and she supposed that much hadn't changed. She leveled a glare at Jack. "Get over it," she said with a roll of her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't even say it, but he really was her favorite brother. On her end, they got along better than how she got along with Pearl. It wasn't saying much, since her and Pearl were in a constant fight, but it meant a lot to Mona. She didn't show it as she stared at him.
And when he began to walk out, she quickly grabbed her purse and went with him. "Nice try," she said, heading out with him. She was wearing clothes, at least, the only downside was that her mane, as usual, was still messy. "I won't hang around you, if that's what you're worried about. I'll do my own thing so you can be the coolest guy or whatever you want." She said it with an air of exasperation. She couldn't think any of her siblings were cool. People may have their views of them and consider them this or that, but she already had her opinion about them. It was like imagining parents having sex, it was weird and inconceivable, but it happened. In school, she didn't really associate with them. Mostly because they were in other grades and it wasn't like she could hang around them all the time. "So where are you going again?" She wore a cocky little smirk. She wasn't going to hang around him, that was true, because she would be hanging out with other people. Hell, she might not come back home. She used to care about that when her mother was alive, but now she just had Pearl to answer to. And she was completely all right with finding ways to piss her off. She didn't care about her opinion like she had cared about Queenie's, and so she might have stopped her behavior sooner if she were alive. Then again, if she were alive that would mean she wouldn't have been diagnosed with cancer and that was just all too much to think about.
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Post by julietxoxo on Nov 30, 2012 17:46:26 GMT -5
After his mother's death, there was a sweeping change in his family. He became more secluded and found more and more reasons to stay away from home. When he did speak with his family, it was in quick, curt replies. He didn't want to speak to them much these days. His older sister was always trying to run the house and it always reminded him of how poorly she was doing in comparison to their mother. It was true what he had read one day that the mother is the glue to most homes. She keeps them united. He wasn't the only one who was showing a dramatic change. His younger sister, Mona, was just as different. She no longer displayed that sweet nature she was known for when his mother had yet to be diagnosed. Now she tried to follow him to all the parties and places he went, but he hated to let her go. He didn't want her to follow into his footsteps. He already knew that there was no way he was going back, but he did know that there was no way his sister was coming with him. There was still hope for her and so long as that existed he would fight to keep her away from his friends and anything else that could potentially ruin her. Mona was his reason for fighting, but of course, he'd never mention that to her. He may not want to be around his siblings much these days but the ferocious over protectiveness that his mother had instilled in him still existed.
Adjusting his jacket, he opened the door and stepped out into the night. With a roll of his eyes, he glanced behind him in time to see the wild head of hair follow him out. This would not do. He sighed in exasperation, but not in resignation, he was still very much determined to keep her home whether she liked it or not. It was not her call. He was the older brother and despite her current fights with their older sister, he was going to remind her that she was not the one calling the shots. Not tonight. "Don't bother, Mona. You're not coming and that's the end of it." His voice was low and there was a hint of irritation to it. When she spoke about not even hanging around him, his blood boiled. He didn't particularly care about his circle of friends but his sister was something else. If she came along, which she wasn't, he wouldn't leave her. He'd be sure to frighten the male population to the point where they would never consider his sister as a potential lover. "I already told you where I'm going. I'm going out." He stepped in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest. "And you're going back home." His cool eyes narrowed at her.
There were a hundred things that came to his mind if his sister were to follow him, but one thing remained true. He would do some serious damage to her social life is she came. He was done joking around with her. She seemed to think that she could now do what she wanted and this caused more rifts between her and Pearl. It was often entertaining to hear them argue over something petty but the humor always dried itself out whenever their arguments grew bitter. Jack didn't like to step in and his younger brother was hardly around either to step in. As his thoughts cleared, he spoke to her again, "Besides, don't you have friends of your own? Do you have to try and take my friends? That's quite pathetic, little sis." He emphasized little because he could imagine how much it would eat at her. She acted so big but deep down he was sure she was just as lost and scared as felt. Still, they weren't exactly as vocal as before. In fact, they didn't speak much after the death. It was easier that way, at least for Jack. It was his way of coping.
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Post by MONA FAITH LANDRY on Dec 2, 2012 0:07:31 GMT -5
As much as Mona wanted to be the responsible one in every situation, she'd always made a habit of being completely irresponsible. Immature. Quite babyish, as a matter of fact. She didn't like it, of course not. She narrowed her eyes at him. Planted her feet down, crossed her arms. Thoughts of vehemence swirled in her brain. Look at him like he knows every damn thing with his stupid hair and his stupid face and his stupid...stupid. Those thoughts were quite similar to ones she had had as a child after the boys would kick her out of their fort because she was a girl. It felt very similar, being banned from somewhere. "You know I'm going to be at a party tonight, one way or another. You'll just be my ride. If not, I'll get a bus." She shrugged, like it was as easy as she said although she had about three bucks, which was enough for one way. I'll stay the night, then. She was dead set on it, like she got with everything. Completely stubborn. "I might end up with you anyway. Might as well just take me." She shrugged a shoulder. Her way of being completely cool and confident about all this.
His calm and coolness just irritated her. They were of the same element, but sometimes they were completely different in personality. And the fact that he was so damn placid all the time pissed her right off. What didn't, these days? A part of her brain said give it up, he had put his foot down. He wasn't moving, and it was clear in his eyes. She shifted on her foot a bit, the sound of pavement beneath her shoe scuffing. Mona was also stubborn, and that was a downfall in the relationship. And if she were true to herself -- deep down, all the way in the depths of her wants and needs -- she would know that she wanted to tell him to stay and talk to her about their mother and their siblings. But she couldn't. She wouldn't, not now, and maybe not ever. It was always too painful, and she felt somehow betrayed by her siblings, even though she betrayed them as well. "Think you're so damn cool," she muttered under her breath. Then louder, with a huff, "Like people even like you that much. I mean, come on." She rolled her eyes, understanding that she was insulting her brother when it was undeserved.
However, the next comment made her not regret that she said it. Anger flashed in her blue-gray eyes. Somewhere inside her she understood he hadn't meant it like she took it, but she got offended by it nonetheless. "Fuck you, Jack," she seethed. On one hand she hated how he knew her so well. He was her brother, what could she expect? On the other hand, she hated the way they had become. And how much she just wanted to hit him. And so she did. She punched him in the arm and glared hard at him, frustrated tears in her eyes. She hated how they made her seem weak, when she was really just irritated. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. The Thunder girl repeated it over and over in her head, her body shaking. "I can do whatever I want. And it's not like you own them, jizzbag, they're not off-limits." Her voice was shaking as well. And really, only family could fuck her up this bad. When she was messing with Annabel, she hadn't come anywhere near this level of frustrated. "Besides, not like you have many friends, with how much of a dick you are." She was being incredibly irrational, but that's how her anger worked. And she hated it, the fact that she just could not help it when she became so worked up.
omg i love these two so much. and mo got so angry I AM SORRY. |
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