The weather outside perfectly mirrored Ree’s attitude and the silence in the house wasn’t helping. She turned over in her bed with a sigh and stared out the window, watching as bare branches whipped viciously against the pane with an unsatisfying scratching sound. It had only been a few days since the move, and she was already wistfully remembering the way the sun back home seemed to burn through her hair, until her scalp nearly matched it in colour. Just thinking about it sent a shiver down her body, and she hugged the uncomfortably stiff duvet a little tighter around her narrow shoulders. The tree continued to scrape on the glass with increasing intensity, the sky beyond it a dull grey melting into the pale fog that lingered across the horizon.

How fucking depressing.

After a few more minutes of self-pitying moping, Ree swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up abruptly. She wanted to hate the plush carpet that covered her bedroom floor, but it was so damn comfortable. It was white, of course, and like the rest of the godforsaken house, looked like it was straight out of Home and Garden magazine. Everything about it felt too new and eager and desperate. They used to call it “new money” but now it was just called “being pretentious and rich”.  The walls of her bedroom were still bare, yawning over the furniture her father had bought, everything in a matching set, way too girly, and gleaming in the low light. Ree wrinkled her nose in distate. Maybe she was just being especially pessimistic, but who the hell cared, anyway? If she was going to be forced to live in this middle of nowhere suburb in Pennsylvania, she retained her right to be miserable about it.

She took the stairs in rapid succession, practically tumbling downstairs, which turned out to be just as empty as upstairs. The huge TV in the den reflected a distorted version of her body back at her, fuzzy around the edges and indistinct in the opaque, blank screen. For a second, she almost convinced herself there was a delay as she raised her hand in a half-hearted wave, like some X Files, Twilight Zone shit. But the illusion only lasted a moment, and she dropped her arm back down to her side. Where was that kid? Her… “step brother”, or whatever the hell. Conrad? Carter? Calvin. When her father had zipped off this morning, white trash wife number two in tow, rushing through the hall with hardly a glance at her, he mentioned that he would be around. If the utter lack of sound in the house was any indication, though, he was either dead or sleeping.

Growing increasingly annoyed, Ree spun around and stalked to the kitchen. At least she could always eat for entertainment. But she screeched to a half when she saw him sitting at the table, hunched over a bowl of cereal, his eyes almost completely covered by the long hair in front of his face. He didn’t even look up to acknowledge her. She scoffed quietly and steered straight for the fridge, pulling it open with a huff.

Rhiannon glanced at herself appraisingly in the full length mirror in her room, smoothing her hands over the curve of her ass, and narrowing her eyes as her gaze raked down her thighs. These jeans weren’t the most flattering that she owned, far less form fitting than she normally wore, but the only pair approved by her overbearing father. After she had shown up downstairs a few days prior wearing a tight, ripped pair that she had invested a fair bit of money in, fiercely protective Dan had sent her back to her room with very strict instructions. Nothing snug. Nothing damaged. Essentially, nothing that Ree had in her “parent approved” wardrobe. She didn’t even want to think of what her father would say if he found out about the clothes she changed into once she was far enough away from the house.

  Turning back towards the mirror, Ree gave a dissatisfied sigh and readjusted the straps of her red bra, her head tilted to the side. It really was a shame that her father didn’t let her flaunt what she had. After taking up yoga and running over the past summer, she was in even better shape than before, and yet Dan wanted it hidden beneath baggy sweaters and loose pants. Thankfully, she thought to herself with a mischievous smirk, the black tank top and tartan skirt she had stowed away in her bag would put it on display quite nicely. The only trick was getting out of the house without being randomly searched or questioned by dear old dad. And that would require some careful time management and exact planning. A quick glance at her watch told her she had eight minutes to finish getting ready before her dad stepped out of the shower, and Ree raced through her mental checklist before grabbing her bag and heading to the bathroom. She’d finish getting dressed after she brushed her teeth. Thank god for split level houses.

  But when she nudged open the door with the toe of her boot, her heart sank a bit to see Calvin standing over the sink, half dressed himself, and his mouth full of toothpaste. “Hey,” she said with a bit of a sigh, dropping her bag at his feet and reaching across him for her purple toothbrush. Despite living together for the past few years, she and Calvin didn’t have a reputation for having the most stellar conversations. They got along well enough – especially for step siblings, apparently – but that didn’t mean she looked forward to their somewhat awkward interactions. She’d been trying to lighten him up with some harmless jokes and flirting ever since their parents had gotten married, but Calvin was either gay or brain dead, because nothing worked.

  Grabbing the tube of toothpaste, she squeezed some over the bristles of her brush before hopping onto the counter and glancing over at her step brother. “So, what’s the haps, VQ? Totally psyched for Algebra, or what?” Not being a particularly strong student, Ree had been forced to retake Grade 11 Algebra, which wound up being the same course Calvin, at seventeen, was taking for the first time. Luckily, being a year apart and in totally separate social circles meant that they rarely ran into each other at school outside of that particular class, but it almost impossible to ignore each other when everyone knew they were related by marriage. Even though they sat far away from one another, their teacher somewhat always thought it was a great idea to partner them up together.