Winter of 2014
New years

It’s right before Christmas break when Miki texts Brooke and invites her over for New Years. It's shocking because Miki's never invites Brooke over for any holiday, they’ve only spent one Easter together. She always claimed that her family is very... “family orientated”. Brooke knows now that it's because her parents are all about business so even their family holidays rotated around that. Miki made it out that Brooke's presence is mandatory this time, and that this is a very special occasion and to dress at least somewhat formal. Brooke could do that. She was excited.

They don't have any contact except for a quick call on Christmas; Miki tells her that she wont be able to make it over for that evening. She got extra grounded last month because her and Flynn got into an argument the morning their mom got home. Flynn then decided to over exaggerate how she treated him over the weekend and Camilla of course believed Flynn over Miki. It's always been that way. So, Miki was on lock down, still, for the foreseeable future. Will she ever get a break? Her mother gave her a chance to redeem herself, and she didn’t. It was on Miki.

The days pass slowly and Brooke can’t fight off the excitement. For the simple act of being invited and also because she gets to see her girlfriend. Brooke misses her, it’s just not the same when she isn’t around. New years eve finally comes around and she dresses herself in a simple black dress that goes a little past her knees. It has a sweetheart neckline and the sleeves are short on her shoulders, slightly puffy. The dress is more of a stiff material. It used to be her mothers. It had gloves that came with it, but Brooke scrapped those. She wears her down with her blue bangs framing her face delicately. She also uses her mom’s white shoulder bag that has a silver chain.

Walking up to Miki's house is intimidating as it is always. Brooke's mother dropped her off and gave her a wave and a wish of good-luck, also shouted at her through the car window to have a good time before she drove off. There's a lot of people here, she notes, most of the cars are expensive. She swallows and wipes her clammy hands on her dress as she walks up. Brooke uses the front gate that leads to a path that goes straight up to the front door. Following the sidewalk- she looks at the expensive looking grass lamps as she approaches the front porch; where's she's greeted by Miki sitting outside sitting next to a boy. Said boy is Jacinth Chaire. Miki has a cigarette hanging from her lips and she's dressed in a peter pan collared dress. Its black, with a slight red plaid pattern and white cuffs. Brooke's seen her in it before, on last year's Christmas, so she can make it out even in the dim light of the evening. It's always strange seeing the tom-boyish styled Miki in a dress, but Brooke thinks she looks beautiful. Miki always prefers a romper if she's going to need to be dressed up; a romper or a suit. Miki says it’s more flexible for her that way, whatever that means. Brooke herself would find it more constricting.

"A-yo!" Miki says as she notices Brooke approaching, she stands up and dusts off the back of her dress. Her normal mary-jane shoes are on her feet. Brooke gives a bright smile, pink dusting her cheeks as Miki stalks up to her and plants a wet, sloppy, kiss to her cheek. It leaves a smudge of red from the lipstick she’s wearing. A small giggle sounds and she reaches to wipe most of it off of Brooke's cheek with the back of her hand that's holding the cigarette. Brooke cringes away from the hot cancer stick and Miki chuckles a bit louder this time.

"You look great!" Miki says slyly and gives her a dorky thumbs up, adding a clumsy wink which makes Brooke snort. Jacinth stands up from the porch, walking a few steps closer to them. The boy is in a gray suit with a blue tie and brown shoes to pull the outfit together. "You too!" Brooke smiles while she wipes her cheek off even after Miki already did.

"Long time no see, how have you been?" Jacinth asks with a friendly smile. Miki switches the cigarette to her other hand and slinks her arm around Brooke's waist, fitting flush against her side. Which makes Brooke blush shyly.

"I’ve been good!" Brooke smiles and he gives a gentle smile back. Miki takes a drag of her cigarette and blows the smoke through her lipstick clad lips- generously away from the direction of Brooke's face. Who appreciates the simple yet honest gesture.

"He's been working business, a real professional." Miki boasts, leading Brooke past Jacinth and up the steps onto the porch and towards the front door; which is muffling the commotion of the people inside.

Jacinth rolls his zircon colored eyes, that in the sunlight might look orange; maybe red sometimes. They are a very vibrant brown. "I don't know about that," He starts with a snort and turns to follow them inside. "I just do some office work."

"Yeah and you dress in a suit when you go to work." Miki teases, pointing to his current clothes with the cigarette hanging from her fingers, “Like the one you got on now.” Jacinth blushes and Brooke chuckles at his bashful reaction,

"Oh, can it, would you? It's called dress code!"

"I liked you better when you worked at the beach, there were may more benefits to that. Like... free ice-cream and free floaties."

“Is that all I am to you?” Jacinth shakes his head with a sigh, feigning hurt, “Just extra perks?”

Miki laughs out loud, “Now you’re starting to get it…” which causes Brooke to snort beside her in amusement at Miki’s antics.

“Lucky for you, I’m applying to work part time at a bowling alley.” Jacinth lets her know. Miki cheers at that, tossing her cigarette away before they go inside. “More free stuff! You better let us play for free.”

“I don’t know about that...”

Brooke shakes her head as the two bicker; her focus being captured by the amount of fancy people inside and all the decorations that are put up around the house- and they’ve only just entered inside to the foyer too. It looks like royalty in here. There's a lot of older adults and she feels Miki's hold grip her tighter once they're entering the keeping room that's to the right. Brooke turns her head and fits her gaze to Miki's face, who gives her a reluctant smile before she lets go of Brooke completely, leaving the girl to send her a questioning look to which Miki avoids. It makes Brooke frown a little.

Miki steps away and brings a hand up to fit her slightly curled hair behind her ear and Brooke eyes the star ring that she got the girl for her birthday earlier in the current year. It makes her heart swell on emotion and her lips stretch into a warm smile. She also notices ear rings in Miki's ears, pretty and sparkly dangle ones. Brooke can assume that wasn't Miki's decision; most definitely her mothers. Miki doesn't like that specific earring type. She complains that they get caught in her hair and it hurts. Brooke smiles fondly, they’ve been through a lot these past few months.

"I'm going to have to go help." Miki tells the two of them, gesturing to the group ahead. She gives a funky expression towards everyone and then looks back to the two with a stern face, "If anyone asks who Brooke is, don't tell them at all. Just say she's our special guest."

Something about the way Miki words that gets a gross feeling pooling in Brooke's stomach. Her face contorts, but Miki's already wishing them luck with an obnoxious thumbs up before she bounces off in the direction of the kitchen. Brooke takes her contorted face and looks up at the boy standing next to her,

"The hell did that mean?"

Jacinth laughs nervously, "Nothing!" He brings his fist up to clear his throat… suspicious, "Nothing. Just Miki being Miki, you know how she can be.."

Brooke narrows her eyes, "Uh huh..." And at that he looks away from her, "Maybe she wants to be the one to introduce you!" Jacinth throws his hands up in a quick gesture as if he just came up with that. It could be true but Brooke's not buying it.

"Right." She deadpans, "Must be why I'm the 'special guest'." Brooke mocks Miki's previous words and Jacinth starts ushering inside,

"I'm getting really thirsty, are you? You hungry maybe? Lets go find a snack." He grabs her wrist and pulls her inside the group of people, leaving Brooke with a huge suspicion.

There's classical music playing in the background and Brooke finds herself wanting to laugh because now she knows why Miki hates classical music so much. She lets Jacinth drag her off to the little venue table; set up all beautiful. Holy shit, is that a chocolate fountain? Her focus is then re-captured by the mountain of champaign glasses set up neatly on top of each other. A champaign pyramid. On the opposite side of the table is another pyramid of red wine. This probably took hours to do, though Brooke figures they most likely hired someone to do that.

Jacinth notices her staring at it, "Impressive, right?" Brooke looks over to him and nods with a smile.

"Yeah and it’s pretty too."

"Miki and I spent ALL afternoon setting up," He boasts, and then laughs a little as he runs a hand through his choppy and very uneven hair, "Jeez, Miki threatened to knock it over so many times."

Brooke laughs through her shock. She can’t believe they built those. The Miki she knows has absolutely zero patients. "Yup, that sounds like Miki. I'm surprised she didn't actually do it."

Jacinth nods in exasperation, "Seriously! You should have seen the look in her eyes! Pure evil." He reaches up and plucks one off of the top to hand over to Brooke. He gives her a 'shh' gesture as if to say ‘our secret.’ She laughs again, graciously taking it and starts sipping on it. It was high quality, most likely top of the line and very expensive. Brooke almost felt weird drinking it. Jacinth takes one for himself,

"So, if you're hungry... there's cheese boards on every single corner. There's some other real fancy stuff too, like fois gras or pissaladière." Brooke looks up at him and gives the boy a weird look at his sudden French accent,

"Sorry? What the hell is that?"

Jacinth laughs through a breath, "Goose liver and a fancy type of pizza, I guess." He hums and points over to another table, "There's some deserts over there; macaroons, crepes, palmiers, and I think even some mille-feuille- those are so good I really recommend those. "

Brooke's face sours at 'goose liver' and takes a generous swig of her Champaign all while she pats Jacinth on his shoulder "I really have no idea what you're saying anymore." he barks out a laugh, "But I do know what macaroons and crepes are so I'm going to go get some of those."

They make their way to the other table and Brooke gets a small party plate to put some sweets on it. These all look way better than whatever goose liver was. Brooke leans against the wall next to the table and takes a macaroon of her plate to take a bite, she notices Miki's mom talking to some guests in the entry to the kitchen. she's dressed in a really fancy emerald green evening gown. Camilla keeps looking around, seemingly trying to find Miki if she can. Jacinth gets called by his mother, who apparently is also helping host this party. Brooke nods at his departure and lets him go, deciding then that she'll go look for Miki herself.

The first place she goes is upstairs to Miki's room, which is locked. Brooke knocks a few times and calls out, "Miki?"

A few seconds pass and there's no answer. Brooke sighs and steps back from the door. She turns around to walk back down the hall. It's dead empty up here. There's a few family photos, just pictures in general, hanging on the walls. Miki looks stiff and forced in mostly all of them, she can only imagine Miki's mother trying to get the girl to sit still AND smile at the camera. Brooke chuckles to herself at the thought as she folds her arms across her chest and stops by the staircase. Should she attempt to check further upstairs? Brooke's never explored Miki's house before. Out of respect she scraps the idea and makes her way down to the party again. Miki probably wouldn't be up here anyways, no one else seems to be.

Brooke passes through the foyer once again and back into the group of overly dressed old people. Her eyes dart around to no such luck and then she decides to make her way into the kitchen.

She finds Miki in their overly large pantry, of all places.

"What are you doing in here?" Brooke asks, “I’ve been looking for you all over.” She startles Miki. The redhead spins around, and a smile coming to her face immediately.

"Brooke!" Miki heaves breathlessly, "You found me!" Brooke gives her a suspicious glance along with a lopsided smile. Was she supposed to be looking for her?

"Are you hiding out in the pantry?" Brooke wonders aloud, looking at the shelves stacked much higher than the two of them. The light isn't on and it’s dark in here, what a weirdo...

"I wish! I was actually ordered to come get a can of artichokes, but the damn light is burnt out!" She scoffs, gesturing above them. Brooke chuckles under her breath,

"Yeah and our phones come with flashlights for no reason.”

Miki clicks her tongue at the sarcasm, "I'm grounded!" She folds her arms across her chest, pouting. Brooke wonders where the phone that Felix gave her a long time ago was. She comes to the conclusion Miki wouldn’t want her mom finding it.

"Luckily I'm here." Brooke boasts after a small chuckle and takes her phone out of her white clutch that’s hanging from her shoulder and sitting on her hip. Miki's face lights up, "That's so true!" and she takes a step forward to plant a kiss onto Brooke's lips. Brooke kisses back and laughs.

"So where are the artichokes?"

"I'll give you an artichoke." Miki says lowly, right over Brooke's lips and Brooke's face flushes as she smacks the other girl on the arm, groaning in annoyance- also from being flustered, "Miki!"

Miki cackles and pulls the girl in for a deeper kiss, the light from the phone bounces around them as Brooke flails her arm to wrap around Miki. The girl grins against Brooke’s lips, their teeth bumping for a moment before she pulls back barely an inch.

“Let’s just stay in here all night.” Miki all but whispers, staring into Brooke’s emerald eyes- which are dilated from the lack of light, also maybe from something else. Brooke smile, pecking another small kiss to the taller’s lips, who chases back for more.

“What would be the fun in that?” Brooke eventually asks and Miki giggles in reply.

 

-

 

It's around mid-eleven o'clock, the party is still buzzing. Most of the adults are now buzzed, maybe even fully drunk. They somehow keep it classy though, it's very eerie. The only parties Brooke attends are the one's Miki drags her to, and those are.... Insane. Everyone here keeps their cool, they keep their voices low and composed. Every now and then there will be a boisterous laugh from an older gentleman.

Miki kept Brooke occupied in the pantry closet for a little while before once again disappearing with the few cans of artichoke she initially went to get. It was for a short amount of time, a good thirty minutes at most. She did return this time, however, Brooke found familiarity in her jerky movements and dilated eyes from the party they attended a few months prior, making her throw looks of concern towards Miki. She really wants to ask about it but doesn't exactly know when to shove a question like that in. A question that could ultimately turn into an argument and ruin the night. The red head is bickering with Jacinth to her right all while being pressed close against Brooke on her left.

"Miki, stop messing around with the glasses." Jacinth scolds seriously while he reaches out to shove Miki; who bumps into Brooke and they stumbles over a couple steps. Miki huffs out a laugh, bringing the Champaign glass to her lips and taking a generous swig. Brooke narrows her eyes, and takes the glass from her. Miki eyes her but doesn't comment when Brooke makes it look like she just wanted a sip. Brooke doesn't return the glass though.

"I wasn’t!" Miki tries to protest through her giggles, glancing around the room at all the stuffy adults with a sharp inhale of air.

"You most definitely were." Brooke says, "Like a moth drawn to the flame."

"I built this!" Miki protests or brags, and Jacinth throws in a counter remark; "We built this." Miki waves him off and starts to talk over him.

"I'm not actually going to knock it over." Miki states with a stern facial expression- looking between the both of them, her lips twitch. "But if it were to fall over, I wouldn't be mad."

Brooke and Jacinth roll their eyes in sync. Miki turns and tries to take her drink back from Brooke's grasp, but the other holds the drink up in the air and back out of Miki's reach; despite being the shorter of the two. Miki gives a toothy smile and presses her body again Brooke's in an attempt to grab it- though she would be able to grab it perfectly fine from where she was. Her hand’s trembling in the air.

"Miki!" Brooke laughs as Miki's hand nudges the glass, nearly causing Brooke to drop it and some of the drink sloshes out of the rim and down onto the floor, splattering everywhere from the height of the drop. Miki hollers a laugh, but eventually gives up and stands up straight.

"Fine! I'll just get a new one." Miki turns to reach for another glass, but Brooke's empty hand locks around her forearm. Miki turns back to face Brooke, a little startled and wide eyed. Brooke can see a line or irritation or confusion start to crease between Miki's brows. "What?"

 

"Just... No." Green meets blue as Brooke stares into Miki's eyes. Brooke gives another stern look and a beat of silence stretches through them. Jacinth looks at the two of them with confusion at the sudden tension. Brooke silently speaks with her eyes, moving them to gesture to Miki's hand, which is twitching and trembling.

"It's fine." Is all Miki says, taking the hand Brooke was looking at and placing it on top of the other girl’s hand that's still gripping her arm. "I’m fine." Miki tries to reassure her girlfriend, emphasis on her words. Brooke sighs deeply,

"What's going on?" Jacinth asks, "I feel like a third wheel all of a sudden." His words break their icy silence, and Miki turns to him with a sudden grin and laughs. Her words come out loud and obnoxious, "Of course not, Jacinth!"

He gives her a look of confusion, and Miki's hand tightens on Brooke's and then she lets go. She opens her mouth around her smirk to continue speaking,

"You were already the third wheel."

"Hey!"

Miki clumsily swipes another drink from the top, now down to the middle, of the pyramid. Her elbow knocks one and Jacinth frets to catch and steady it, Miki rolls her eyes. "What a priss." She says to the side at Brooke. Jacinth gasps, then mocks her and Miki throws out another insult; letting go of Brooke to get in his face, the two ending up in a little wrestling match, their drinks caught in the middle and making a mess. Brooke sighs inwardly and ignores them, she swallows down the nerves in her stomach with the rest of Miki's first glass that was still held in her hand. She glances around the room and finds it a little odd that she's barely seen Miki's parents, they were hosting the party weren't they? No ones even sparing the teenagers any glances, it's a little unnerving. You'd think seeing a group of under-aged kids hanging out by an alcohol pyramid that they'd at least be getting some disapproving glances. It's almost like they were invisible.

Miki's arm slides around her shoulders which pulls her attention back to present time. Brooke snaps her head to the side to meet Miki's bloodshot eyes and sharp grin, "What'cha thinkin' about?"

A lopsided grin starts to tug at the corner of Brooke's lips, "Nothing." Miki's grin widens as Brooke brings her arm to circle around Miki's waist. The redhead comes forward and plants a kiss to the corner of Brooke's lips. Brooke catches Camilla and Bentley coming from the kitchen out of the corner of her eye. Miki lets go of Brooke swiftly, but locks their hands together; her smile not leaving her face. Miki's eyes narrow though and the two watch the adults talk overly polite to some of the guests. There's some cooks coming from the kitchen, filling the table that the girls only noticed have been cleaned off. They're placing down dinner entrees, for once midnight hits.

"What time is it?" Miki asks, not having her phone on her. Their grandfather clock that is set to go off when twelve in the morning hits is in the other room. Brooke opens her purse and fishes her phone out, unlocking the screen, she tilts her head back towards Miki with a soft smile; "It's eleven fifty."

Miki's face brightens, her lips tugging on an excited smirk. She can hardly contain herself as she brings the hand resting over Brooke's shoulder to play the other girl’s blue hair. Brooke's eyes soften at the gesture and Miki places a kiss on the temple of Brooke’s head, she keeps her lips there for a few seconds and then move's her mouth to hover over Brooke's ear.

"I have something planned." Miki whispers with a smile, which causes shivers to go down Brooke’s spine, and then pulls back to gauge her girlfriend’s expression. Brooke's eyes jump, then her face contorts into questioning confusion.

"It's a surprise. Just trust me."

Famous last words, really. Brooke slowly nods, not wanting to have suspicions of Miki right now. Even though it’s hard… Miki’s surprises are never good. She convinces herself its a new years gift or something alike. Miki's smile goes tight lipped as she lets go of Brooke. Camilla and Bentley have finally joined the crowd, ready to start conversing with the people now that everyone has arrived. Miki's mother clinks her wine glass with a small serving spoon; the noise catching the room's attention and people quiet down, turning towards the two who stand in the front of the room by the entry to the kitchen. Some people come in from foyer, most likely moving in from the living room on the other side.

"May I have your attention?" Camilla boasts out, standing tall in her heels. There's a slight murmuring through out the room, "Thank you. I hope you all are enjoying yourself this fine evening. It’s so great to see everyone together like this."

Miki rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, shifting on her feet. Brooke gives a nervous glance around the room, feeling small and out of place.

"As you know, it's been a big year for the company!" Bentley interjects, a good-man smile adorning his face, "To start with, we'd like to thank everyone here for that!"

A few people cheer and some laugh.

"It wouldn't have been possible without any of you." Camilla says, nodding along with her husbands words. Brooke hears Miki scoff from beside her, then feels Miki nudge her elbow,

"Time?" Miki says in a hushed tone, as her parents talk about more business stuff. It blurs in with the background as Brooke brings her phone up and checks again; then shifts it so Miki can look down at the screen.

11:56 p.m

"Perfect!" Miki exclaims while Brooke slides her phone back into the bag and freeing that hand up. Miki moves and grabs Brooke by the wrist, pulling her to the opposite corner of the room, over by the sofas sitting under the three big arched windows that look out into the front of the house. "Miki!" Brooke hisses under her breath, stumbling behind the girl who's pushing through people. They actually get a lot of disapproving glances at this.

"So we would like everyone to please enjoy this dinner and welcome another amazing work year to come!" Camilla finishes with a bright smile, Bentley wrapping his around his wife's waist. "Yes, please enjoy! We will be announcing the new recruits next Monday!" He lets everyone know and the couple smiles together. Bentley fixes his suit as most people flock to the newly brought out dishes; famished from their glasses of Champaign and non-filling delicate snacks.

Miki swipes a fork from an empty plate on the glass coffee table and steps up onto the couch, the white couch, with her dirty shoes. She yanks Brooke, who is trying to protest, along with her jerky movements. They catch a few of the closer people's attention, other people were staring to notice the commotion. Brooke feels the heat of embarrassment color her face, her heart speeds in her chest from the now public attention. Her stomach spins in disdain, her brain swirls in confusion.

"Miki!" She hisses again, tugging her wrist back; trying to rip it from Miki's strong grasp. Miki tightens her grip, and for such a small girl she pulls Brooke up with a harsh yank; Brooke steps her shoe's onto the sofa reluctantly to avoid being injured or, worse, tripping and making a huge fool of herself in front of such fancy, rich, people. She glares at Miki.

"Wha are you doing?!" Brooke frantically whispers closer to Miki, trying to keep it discreet as people start to turn and stare up at them- their faces are more annoyed than interested. Brooke can see Camilla and Bentley talking to someone in the corner, their backs turned. The chance to stop the crazy girl is lost when Miki snags the empty glass out of Brooke's other hand, letting go of her while also ignoring her questions. Miki brings the glass in front of her with shaky hands and the fork up next to it. She taps it with more effort than needed, closer to the top.

"I also have an announcement I'd like to make." Miki's words come out fast, tumbling over one another as the girl stands high and mighty on the couch. She doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Brooke, on the other hand, wants to shrink into herself and disappear from this situation entirely. Miki makes sure she hits the glass harder with the fork so that it breaks. It does so, the top part cracks off and falls to the marble floor beneath them. She's moving fast, wanting to make sure she gets this before the grandfather clock in the opposite room goes off and echoes through out the vast house. The glass shatters loudly, startling and shutting up anyone who wasn't paying attention.

Camilla turns around quick at the sound, almost loosing her footing if it weren't for Bentley standing sturdy next to her. They both stare at their child with wide eyes, Camilla looks enraged. The group shuffles closer, very few with dinner now- shoveling food into their mouths and watching the teenagers as if they were one of the sit-coms on the television.

"What is the meaning of this?" Camilla voices out, politely strained. Her eyes read danger, and Miki just smirks. Some guests start whispering amongst themselves. Brooke feels a cold sweat cover her, looking between Miki and the crowd with a nervous expression.

"As you know, the new year is upon us in probably less than two minutes." Miki rushes out, bringing her hand up to gesture to everyone, "The company is doing so great!"

It's sarcasm, but most don’t pick up on it and cheer drunkenly.

"Which is why, I will NOT be joining the team next spring."

Many of the somewhat sober employees start looking around, trying to locate Camilla, whispering confusedly as Miki had been announced to join one of their higher teams a few months ago. She was supposed to start working, as one of the leads in the marketing department. No one had any idea she didn't want to, who wouldn't want to? She's born into wealth, born into a good job that will keep her stable if not for her whole life. Is she not ready? What's going on?

"Miki! Get down from there, you don't know what-" Camilla tries to coax her daughter, but Miki talks over her, putting her hand up quickly. She needs to hurry.

"This isn't about that though.” There is no time for pauses, “I would like to introduce you guys to someone," Miki drops the broken glass onto the couch, it bounces and luckily rolls into the crease where they are standing rather than the floor. Miki grabs Brookes wrist again and pulls her to stand beside her instead of half behind. Brooke makes a noise in the back of her throat, a noise of protest.

"This is my Fiancee!" She announces to the entire room. Brooke's eyes bug out, much like many of the suit clad people standing under them. The clock in the other room dongs loudly, echoing the stone floor and ringing from one corner of the house to the other. Fiancee? Brooke’s head is spinning, flooding with so many thoughts she can’t keep up. They've only been dating for around a year and a half! What the hell is Miki talking about? The girl starts to get dizzy.

"Happy new year!" Miki yells out to the group, smirking proudly at her mother and father's shocked face. Well, Bentley is shocked- mouth parted and eyebrows raised. Camilla has a look of rage. Miki tops it off by turning to the side, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend, pulling her in for a harsh kiss to the lips, which she doesn’t respond to. Miki stays like that for a little longer than necessary and then releasing her. Brooke's in shock, her face red and body frozen due to nerves. Fiancee?

"Miki Miya!" Her mother scolds out. The group of people snap out of their shock, or their applauding, turning toward the source of the voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

Miki hops of the couch and helps Brooke step down, then links their arms together; starting to lead Brooke to the buffet of food, blatantly ignoring her mother. They receive a few confused looks and congratulations- but it all comes out more like a question than a celebration. It's clear people don't know what to say, but Miki has no care for these old people, they weren't the aimed audience. They pass by Jacinth, who tries to grab Miki by the shoulder but she shrugs his grasp off quickly and keeps moving. She hears him mutter, "Miki, what the actual fuck?" and she ignores that too, pushing past him. That's the exact reaction she enjoys, the reaction she wanted. Of course it's not going to look good if it seems the head of the company's daughter is completely abandoning her 'duties' and running off to get hitched before she’s even an adult. She hope's she succeeded in embarrassing her parents.

When Miki finally looks back at Brooke to ask if she's okay because the girl is moving so stiffly and slowly, she see's her head is bent down to hide behind her hair and can see the small tremor in Brooke's shoulders. Miki curses herself, swallowing roughly and then redirecting the course of her movements to go upstairs. She embarrassed Brooke too. Not her goal. Shit…

The two can hear Camilla in the background, apologizing for the behavior and for the commotion: happy new years, please ignore this incident, enjoy the food, have a couple more drinks. Miki wants to laugh so hard, but she has a bigger issue at hand.

Miki and Brooke are halfway up the stairs when the sound of angry clacking heels sound behind them, she looks over the railing and see's Camilla speeding after them in a hostile manner. Miki rushes up the rest of the stairs, careful not to cause Brooke to trip, and into the pajama lounge, the fork between the right or left hallway.

"Miki!" Her mother growls, rushing up the steps after the two girls. Her fury is extremely visible. "What in the world was that?!" Brooke rips her wrist out of Miki's grasp and takes many steps back behind Miki. She isn’t accustomed to family arguments, she grew up with only her mom- and her mom wasn’t the type of woman to argue with people.

"What were you thinking?! Fiancee?! What the hell is that about?" Camilla demands, throwing her hands up in exasperation- in confusion. Miki crosses her arms over her chest, scoffing and looking away.

"I was introducing Brooke as my girlfriend to you, I don't see what the big issue is." Miki down plays it, bringing one hand up to fiddle with her curled hair; almost being dismissive. It does what it’s supposed to and successfully pisses her mom off.

"No, that was you embarrassing me on one of the most IMPORTANT nights of the year." Camilla steps forwards, looming over her daughter; a few inches taller than normal because of her fancy heels. Miki gapes for a second before glaring daggers,

"What the hell is embarrassing? Is it because I'm dating a woman? Is that embarrassing?" Miki throws her arms to the side, her fists curled as she scowls at her mother. Then she throws out a voice of accusation, "Are you homophobic?"

Camilla blanches and her face turns red as she brings her hand up, smacking Miki square on the cheek,

"What the has gotten into you lately? I'm not homophobic! You're disgracing the company, Miki! I did not raise you to be this way!”

Miki's hand is up at her cheek, cradling the now reddening skin and Brooke's eyes widen as she brings her own hands up to cover her mouth, shrinking in on herself.

"Stop acting like this! I'm so tired this. It's not about homophobia. You getting engaged at the age of sixteen.” Camilla scoffs as if to say ‘oh please.’, “You're not even an adult yet! It looks awful on the company!" Her mother scowls, her breathing coming out faster, "It looks awful on me and your father! What the hell are you thinking, wasting your perfectly good potential on some girl? None the less a Kelly. Everybody knows the Kelly's are trailer trash!"

The last name of Brooke is said almost as if its a slur and Brooke freezes behind Miki, her body going rigid. She stares at Miki's back, completely losing focus on the argument they’re having around her, it sounds muffled now. Feelings of her being out of place claw at her skin.

"What the fuck?!” Miki yells, her hand still cradling her face, "That's far from the truth!"

"Is it?" Camilla scoffs, "Sure." She rolls her eyes too, regaining her posture, "You are NOT marrying her, call of the engagement. Your father and I will never allow it."

Miki lets out a frustrated growl through her teeth, "I LIED! Okay?! I was just over exaggerating, joking around and you all are idiots to fall for it so easily! We aren't engaged-" Miki pauses, a haughty smirk pulling onto her face, "At least not yet! You don't own me! You're hardly even a mother to me!"

Camilla's mouth is gaped slightly, about to reply before someone else does, "Miki Mallory Miya! That is enough!" Her father's booming voice cuts in between them as he rounds up the last steps of the stairs.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, kid, but we've just about had it up to here. You will NOT talk to your mother this way. We provide a lot for you, which is way more than we should be doing at this point."

Miki scoffs, folding her arms over herself and looks down at the ground. Bentley glares, walking forward and taking grab of Miki's arm, she hisses at him and tries to yank it away from him; whining out protests as he starts to pull her down the hall that goes to the right from where they are standing.

"That's it, young lady, you're going to your room. As for you, Brooke? Just go home."

Brooke tenses on her name, bringing her head up to look at the two- only to see Miki looking back at her with a worry riddled expression. She’s flailing and she's pushing at her father's grasp; yelling out at him to let her go. Camilla is staring at Brooke with judgmental, narrowed eyes, her arms are crossed. Brooke feels a surge of unsettlement go through her body and swallows hard, feeling as though she can't move.

"Look what you're doing to Miki." Camilla says as she moves in closer to Brooke, who only cringes back, "She's going off the wall, and I know it’s because of you. She has always been a problem child, but ever since you came into her life it's been worse."

All she knows about Camilla is her calm and composed, maybe snobby, exterior. She’s never heard the woman talk like this- she feels anxious at the words being thrown at her. Her heart is thumping loudly in her ears, dread pooling in her stomach and making her throat constrict tightly.

"Get out of here, and don't come back. Stay the hell away from my daughter. You come near this family again and we'll make your life hell." Camilla chuckles, "I know a few things your mother wouldn't want brought up again and used against her. So lets keep this professional, shouldn’t we?"

Brooke goes even more rigid, she was being blackmailed. She didn't know what the hell Camilla was talking about, but whatever it was; she doesn't want any trouble for her mother. Karen Kelly has enough on her shoulders.

“If you don’t listen to me then you might as well consider you and your mother homeless.” Camilla spits out, and then walks away. Brooke watches as she tries to compose herself before re-entering the party downstairs. Miki’s mom is nasty and Brooke gets a little more of an understanding of just why Miki never wants her to come over.

Brooke just stands there, utterly frozen. She couldn’t even just tell you what happened if you asked, but she knows it all just went to shit.

 

Eventually she finds the means to move and stumbles down the steps towards the big front door, she opens it and slides out quickly, shakily moving off the porch and down the front path through all the grass lamp lights. Her body is trembling, what the hell was that?

All she knows is that Miki’s parents hate her now, and she didn’t even do anything wrong and it’s the worst feeling ever. Suddenly, Brooke wishes she never came here tonight.

“Brooke!”

As soon as Miki’s voice sounds out she stops in her tracks and just freezes, taking a second to turn around with her eyes scanning everywhere around the yard only to see Miki hanging out of one of the windows on the second story.

“I’m sorry!” Miki shouts out through the cup of her hands that are around her mouth, her voice strained and cracking. Brooke clenches her jaw and turns around, “Hey!” Miki tries again, but Brooke just moves towards the gate quickly; opening the squeaking metal and closing it behind her. Miki yells out one more time, a curse following behind the attempt, but then there's nothing. Brooke feels tears well up in her eyes as she pulls out her phone to call her mom; freezing on the call button and eventually sighing and putting her phone away.

She’ll just walk home, even if it is kind of a long distance.

 

-

 

The girl dodges Miki’s calls and texts for the following week. She feels so mad and so scared at the same time. One hand she’s scared of Camilla, on the other she’s so pissed off Miki would use them getting engaged to get at her parents. As if that was some joke.

The job at the cafe she had applied for had called her right before their winter break ended, bringing Brooke good news, so the seventeen year old has been busying herself with work- completely throwing herself in so hard to the point where eventually she’ll burn herself out. She can’t bring herself to care. Winter break ended causing school to start up and it’s a lot easier to get to school now that she’s back staying with her mother in Downersgrove. Her mother wouldn’t let her go on homeschooling, so she had to make the twenty almost thirty minute drive back into town each day of the week by bus- for school, while she was with her aunt. She had been losing sleep because of it, for a whole school year.

It’s not that she stopped staying at her aunt’s because of Miki. The only reason she was staying there was for the girl, after all. Just so that she could be closer to Miki- even though Miki still went home everyday. Brooke doesn’t know how her family did the almost two hour drive every day of the week for Miki, though she knows Miki normally took the bus. It was just bad timing. The shit show on New Years and then her getting the job right after, bad concoction of events. She just can’t stay in Morris while working. So she went back home to her mom. She was happy to be home.

Her cousin Grace had called Brooke one day and told her about how Miki had apparently gone over to her aunt’s house after school looking around for her. It made Brooke upset, but she just doesn’t know what to say. She doesn’t know what to do.

Camilla Miya’s words keep ringing out in her head, bounding her to something she doesn’t want to be bound to. Brooklyn Kelly feels trapped and she doesn’t know what to do about it.