Persuaded

by Alicia J. Chumney

  Half of her classmates in her third-period class annoyed her; she would be the first to admit to holding a grudge towards the classmates that teased the artistic students when they were younger – middle school and freshman year – before they had begun to mature.

  Although, if she was honest with herself, she disliked them more because of the way they treated Mary. She could barely tolerate the two-facedness of her classmates and Mary’s so-called friends when all they wanted was what the Elliot sisters could give them before they turned around and made fun of them – mostly Mary – as soon as they turned the corner in the hallway.

  Suddenly, she saw Robin stand up and wave her arms in the air. “Anne! We’re over here!” she called out.

  Turning in their direction, she noticed that ‘we’ included Robin’s boyfriend Nathan and Nathan’s friend Charles Musgraves, and Charles’ girlfriend, - a girl that Anne did not know. His girlfriend turned pink as soon as Anne set her tray down on the table.

  “I’m Anne,” she turned and smiled at the girl.

  “Emilia,” she weakly smiled back. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she added.

  “Robin,” Anne turned to her friend with a teasing grin, “you shouldn’t talk other people’s ears off about me.”

  “If I can’t brag about my non-existent drawing skills, I’m going to brag about my best friend’s skills,” Robin acknowledged. “However, I wasn’t the person talking about you,” she added. “That was Charlie.”

  Wordlessly, she stared at Robin for a long moment, the friends communicating silently. Why would Charlie be bragging about her?

  Either not noticing or intentionally interrupting, Charlie leaned over Emilia and asked Anne how her vacation was.

  “It was incredible,” she gushed. Turning to Robin, she told her all about meeting Derek and everything else she had already told Robin. There was more than one way to show her lack of romantic interest.

  “Do you have a picture?” Robin asked. She suspected the reason Anne was rambling about stuff they had already discussed shortly after Anne had returned home from North Carolina.

  “Of course!” she grinned, taking out her phone and pulling up the album with all of the pictures she and Derek had taken over their six weeks together.

  Emilia leaned over Anne’s shoulder as she shared the pictures with Robin. “He’s so cute,” the girl sighed.

  The girls focused on the various pictures Anne and Derek had taken – not all of them were of Derek and Anne – while the guys silently communicated. Nathan nudged Charlie before cutting his eyes over at Emilia. He must have spent too much time with his girlfriend because he wondered why Charlie would start dating somebody while crushing on Anne.

  “It must suck,” Emilia commented.

  “What must suck?” Anne asked, staring at a picture of Derek a beat longer than the others before swiping to the next picture of the boardwalk.

  “Breaking up with your summer love.”

  “We didn’t break up. Why would we break up?”

  Shrugging, Emilia frowned. “I didn’t mean… I…” she stammered. “It’s long distance. Long distance relationships never work.”

  “I don’t know why not,” Anne countered. “Phone calls. E-mail. Real letters.”

  “But the level of trust you’d have to have that he won’t cheat on you or anything like that.”

  Robin narrowed her eyes at what Emilia was saying. “Why would Derek cheat on Anne?”

  “Because Anne can’t give him what he needs.”

  “Which is?”

  “Sex,” the junior blushed. “He’ll just get it somewhere else.”

  Anne shook her head at Emilia’s point. “We didn’t have sex anyway,” she commented. “I have to finish school and get into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and he has to get through Boot Camp. The last thing we need is an unexpected, accidental pregnancy to derail all of our plans.”

  “But birth control…”

  “Is not completely effective,” Anne interrupted right as her sister, Mary, plopped down at the table with them, wedging her way between Anne and Robin, forcing Robin and Nathan to move down a seat.

  “Anne,” she whined. “I have Mrs. Caldwell for English and Mr. Castleman for Computer Science.”

  “Why are you taking Computer Science?” Charlie asked, removing his arm from where it had been stationed around Emilia’s shoulders.

  Making a face, she answered, “My father thinks that my computer skills need work.”

  “She doesn’t know the difference between Word and Excel,” Anne joked, giving Mary a slight nudge.

  “Because you are my favorite sister, I’m going to ignore your teasing,” Mary grinning.

  “What do you need?” Anne countered.

  “Introduce me first,” she commanded.

  Rolling her eyes, one of her few non-verbal habits, she held back a sigh and said, “Everybody, this is my sister Mary. She’s a sophomore. Mary, you know Robin and her boyfriend Nathan already. This is Charlie Musgraves…”

  “I heard about you,” Mary purred. “Your father owns that furniture store over on the corner of College and State Streets, right?”

  “One and the same. I worked there this summer to earn some extra cash. I’ll probably be working on Saturdays now that school has started back.” Glancing at Nathan and Emilia, he leaned back.

  “Awesome,” Mary smiled, leaning forward with her hand on her jaw, pretending to be fascinated.

  Emilia, still sitting between Charlie and Anne, hissed, “Charlie.”

  “Oh. Right. Mary, this is my girlfriend, Emilia.”

  None of the girls at the table appreciated the face Mary made with that last introduction.

  Chapter Twelve

  The weeks went by in a blur of classes, messages to Derek, and attempts at keeping Mary away from Charlie.

  The last one was a bit harder than Anne expected it to be. Mary had quickly learned that Charles – as she insisted on calling him – was to inherit his father’s furniture store when Mr. Musgraves decided to retire.

  It didn’t matter to the youngest Elliot that technically Charlie was in the relationship with Emilia, and the junior was going to do whatever it took to keep the sophomore from stealing her boyfriend.

  “Mary,” Anne said her sister’s name in an attempt to get the girl’s attention away from the makeup she was applying in the mirror. “What are you doing?”

  “Putting on lip gloss,” the younger sister sarcastically replied.

  “I can see that. Why are you trying to split up Charlie and his girlfriend?”

  “Emilia doesn’t realize the catch she has.”

  “It’s high school,” Anne countered.

  “And? So? You are making long term plans with Derek even though you are still in high school.”

  “But I didn’t try to ruin a relationship Derek was already in.”

  “What difference does it really make?”

  “It makes a huge difference, Mary,” Anne slowly tried to explain. “Derek was never in a relationship. You can’t just break up people, relationships, just because you want somebody that…”

  “Charles is going to be worth millions someday,” Mary interrupted.

  “Charlie,” Anne corrected, “is still in high school. If he makes it through college in four years, there is still his Masters to get which is another two to three years. And that doesn’t mean anything because there is no guarantee when Mr. Musgraves is going to retire. It could easily be when Charlie is in his thirties and even then, I’m certain that Mr. Musgraves will be getting a percentage of the profits.”

  She left out the fact that the furniture store wasn’t likely to result in the millions that Mary fantasized about.

  Mary said nothing, merely cut her eyes in Anne’s direction, before she resumed applying makeup in the mirror. She couldn’t understand why her sister insisted on maintaining a relationship with Derek Worth. He had no money – that she was aware of. He was going i
nto the armed forces – that she saw no reason for. He had no political clout - although she was unaware of the power that his father did in fact weld.

  Nope, in Mary’s mind, Derek Worth was worthless towards Anne’s future.

  Unlike Charles Musgraves – why anybody insisted on calling him Charlie was beyond her – who had the potential and merely needed the right force behind him to gently nudge him in the right direction.

  Meanwhile, Mary pictured all of the various ways that Charles could spoil her. It didn’t matter that he was dating Emilia for a ‘good’ reason and was unlikely to ever view Mary as anybody other than Anne’s annoying baby sister.

  “Mary,” Anne stated, pulling Mary away from her thoughts and mascara. “I’m serious. Charlie told me to tell you to back off,” she lied. “He’s happy with Emilia and only sees you as my little sister.” One truth out of three wasn’t that bad.

  Derek,

  I’ve been taking Mama to most of her appointments. Father could, but he’s so busy doing something in his office. I couldn’t tell you what. I don’t even think Beth knows what he is doing.

  So, even though Beth isn’t in school and I am, I’m having to take off class – thankfully my last two period teachers understand and send the work home with me – to take Mama to her appointments.

  I end up sitting in the waiting rooms and doing my assignments. It isn’t easy having to teach myself this stuff. Thankfully my required math class is in the morning. I think I would have issues if I was having to teach myself math. But I have Graphic Art during my last period and most of these assignments are done on computers. Mama insisted that I download the necessary software to my new laptop so that I wouldn’t get terribly behind.

  There is one thing I’m certain about. I do not like Graphic Art. I hope I can avoid some of these classes at the art institute. I’d like to get into illustrating, but I’ll know more about possible courses and majors when I get there for orientation.

  Thankfully, English is the other class that I sometimes miss. It isn’t easy working on a research paper in the waiting room at a doctor’s office, but I manage to get it done. Thank you, smartphones and Wi-Fi.

  I’d like to say that Mary doesn’t complain about having to take the bus on the days that I take Mama to appointments. Eventually, she wheedled my friend, Charlie, into taking her home on those days. Robin refuses to and I really can’t blame her. But Charlie could only take so much of Mary coming over to our lunch table and whining about having to sit with ‘that smelly Osbourne boy’. She swears he hasn’t bathed in a year.

  I used to babysit him when I was a freshman and he was a sixth grader – please don’t ask why his parents wanted a baby sitter for their middle schooler (it involves blowing up a microwave) – and I can almost believe that he doesn’t bathe on a regular basis.

  Oh. Mama is coming out. I have to go.

  Miss you more than anything.

  Anne

  Anne,

  I can’t believe I’m going to ask this. Who is Charlie? I shouldn’t be worried that he’ll steal you away from me, should I?

  I thought Boot Camp was going to be the worst thing that I ever endured, but waiting for my Dad to determine that he has prepped me as much as he possibly can is killing me. Literally. Laps. Lots and lots of running. Weight training. Swimming at the local indoor, and sometimes outdoor, pool. Hopefully, I’ll get to come see you before Dad deems me ready.

  Love you more than anything in the world,

  Derek

  Derek,

  Oh. I never told you about Charlie. He is Nathan’s best friend, but he isn’t a threat. By the way, I’m rolling my eyes at the idea. He has a girlfriend named Emilia. She’s a sweetheart.

  You can’t know how thankful I am that you had us take all of those selfies. Robin didn’t want to believe that you existed until I showed her those pictures on my phone. She was so ready to set me up with her new boyfriend’s best friend as soon as I got back from North Carolina.

  I still end up playing the third wheel with Charlie sometimes when Emilia joins her other friends at lunch, but he’s easy to talk to. He’ll be going to one of the local colleges because they have an excellent Business program and he’ll be inheriting his father’s furniture business. I know he’s sick and tired of hearing me talk about you.

  Robin can’t wait to meet you. She has it all planned out down to the smallest detail. You’ll get to meet my sisters and father, if Elizabeth doesn’t find some way to escape the house. But don’t expect any of them to pay any attention to you. Father might ask some questions, but whatever he thinks doesn’t matter to me. I know Mama keeps asking when you’ll be coming down to visit.

  I miss you and can’t wait to see you in a few weeks.

  Anne

  Chapter Thirteen

  With Christmas Break came many things.

  Much to Mary’s excitement, Charlie and Emilia ended their relationship. Much to Mary’s disappointment, she was already dating one of the baseball players and it had been firmly suggested to her by the other baseball girlfriends to not break Roger Hunt’s heart before baseball season was over.

  Considering the amount of spoiling Roger did – his father owned one of the car dealerships in a neighboring town – Mary had no intention of ending her relationship.

  Derek snagged a ride with Edward and Ava to visit Ava’s parents for the holidays. It was standard procedure for this branch of the Worth family as their father never celebrated the holidays after their mother had passed away.

  They learned early on that Edward’s in-laws lived in the same town as Anne.

  “Derek!” Anne squealed as soon as she saw him. Running towards him, she jumped into his arms before kissing him. “I missed you,” she whispered, pulling back as much as she could with her arms clasped around his shoulders and neck.

  “I wasn’t entirely certain that you had with that greeting,” he grinned at her.

  A throat cleared from behind Anne.

  “Oh, right,” Anne mumbled, her face turning bright red as she slid down his body until her feet landed on the sidewalk.

  “I wish Anne would greet me like that,” Robin smirked from where she was standing behind her friend.

  “What are you talking about?” Nathan quipped. “I wish you would greet me, your boyfriend, like that.”

  “I do,” Robin retorted, a sly smile on her face. “On occasion.”

  Nathan’s response was to shake his head before holding out a hand. “Nathan Smith,” he introduced himself to Derek.

  “Oh! Right!” Anne blushed. “Where are my manners?” Gesturing towards her friends, she said, “Derek, this is Robin Moore and Nathan just introduced himself. Robin, Nathan, meet Derek.”

  Robin, taking her time, checked out Derek before nodding her head and stating, “You’ll do for my best friend in the entire world.”

  “Hey!” Nathan protested. “What was that?”

  “What was what?”

  “You just checked him out in front of your best friend and boyfriend.”

  Rolling her eyes, Robin responded with, “I don’t say anything when you are checking out the cheerleaders and their short skirts on T.V.”

  “That’s on T.V.!”

  Shrugging, Robin took his hand and gave Nathan a quick kiss on the cheek. “And you will always be my favorite person to check out, but I had to make certain he was good enough for my best friend.”

  It took everything Anne and Derek had to not burst out laughing at the exchange. Finally, the dam burst, the echoes of their laughter causing more than one person to turn in their direction and shake their heads.

  Robin, not missing a beat, asked, “So, ice cream, pizza, or bowling first?”

  “Why would ice cream be first?” Nathan asked. “And it’s December. Why would we get ice cream?”

  “It’s never a bad time for ice cream,” Robin retorted.

  “Are they always like this,” Derek asked, leaning towards Anne’s ear to whisper the quest
ion.

  “Only about eighty percent of the time.”

  “What about the other twenty?”

  “Robin is asleep.”

  From her place in front of them, Robin called back, “I heard that.”

  “Did I lie?” Anne responded.

  Thinking about it for a moment, Robin replied, “Nope.” After a brief pause, she added, “How about bowling first. We’ll work up an appetite and miss the crowds.”

  “The bowling alley is crowded?”

  “There’s only so much we can do in this town.” Once Robin and Nathan were out of earshot, she asked, “How often do you come with your brother here?”

  “Every other holiday and summer vacation for the last five years, before he was even married to Ava, while they were still dating. Ed would rent a house or apartment for the summers and hire a manager or our sister to run the rentals.”

  “So, we might have bumped into each other and didn’t even realize it.”

  “That is a possibility,” Derek confessed. He wanted to admit that he would have noticed her if he had, but also knew that with two nieces being herded around, he probably wouldn’t have seen her during his niece-sitting adventures. “One of my nieces also got me banned from the cupcake place that’s down the street from Scoops.”

  “That was you!” Anne and Robin – who had stopped walking to let them catch up – exclaimed.

  “We were there,” Robin added, “when your niece decided to climb up on the display case because the girl behind the counter was taking too long.”

  “Yeah,” Derek sighed, shaking his head. “She didn’t get the cupcake either, even though I had to pay for it.”

  “She was what, three?”

  “Yeah, almost.” Derek wished he could forget that memory. “Ava warned me that little Katie had figured out how to get out of the stroller, but I didn’t listen. Instead, I was examining the cupcakes and the mini cupcakes for something we’d both like. Then the girl behind the counter was taking care of the customer in front of us…”