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"We want you to meet someone," her mother was saying. Tor wasn't really paying attention, and instead she was focusing on the pictures paintings she was supposed to be studying for an upcoming history test. God how she hated-
"He's a very nice boy." Tor's head snapped up. She knew that phrase. Oh how she knew that phrase well. It meant that her mother was trying to pair her up again.
"Mom, you know I don't-" she started to protest, turning her attention from her book.
"You don't what dear? Every single time I see you, you look like you're missing something and I just think that having a nice young man-friend would be beneficial to your happiness." Her mother fidgeted absentmindedly with her prized pearl bracelet, eliciting a snort of disbelief from her daughter.
"Not this again mother," Tor groaned, shaking her head. "I've told you a thousand times that I don't need a boyfriend to keep me happy. I am perfectly content with hanging out with Camila and Eli." There was a pause while her mother considered this. And that's when Tor had to open her mouth.
"And if you'd only let me know who those guys were who live across the street I would-"
"You would what, Tor? You would do what?" Her mother hissed. She was furious now, her eyes blazing with anger. "How many times have I told you that you are not to associate with those people? Those- those- those ridiculous excuses for human beings! You are going to go to this party, you are going to meet Rafe and you are going to enjoy yourself, Tor."
"But I don't understand why-"
"You don't need to understand why! Just listen to what I say!" Her mother shouted and hopping to her feet, her voice echoing through the spacious parlor. After a moment, she sighed and sat back down, cradling her head in her hands. "Just go to your room and get ready. We will be leaving soon."
And so that was why she was sitting upside-down on her bed, contemplating what she was going to do. She took a deep breath, flipped to her stomach and got off her bed. She pulled out her favorite sun dress from the closet and changed into it, not forgetting to put her bathing suit on under it. She checked her appearance in the mirror, frowned and grabbed a hat from the closet as well, sticking on her head an smiling at the choice. That was much better.
As she made her way down to the foyer to meet her parents, she thought about what the night had in store for her.
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She looked around the beach. There were a few people already there, mostly some family members whom she had already talked to and whom she would see later in the night, so she wasn't concerned about going over to them. As she looked on some more, she could see that there were a group of people, guys by the looks of it, who wer sort of hanging a ways from where her family was set up. They looked as if they would be part of the party, but she wasn't sure. So, she decided to go ask. As she grew closer to their group, she could see that they were all around her age, maybe a year or so older. They looked as if they were having a good time on their own, too.
"Hello," she said pleasantly, holding on to her hat as a breeze picked up. "Are you here for the party? We're all over there if you want to come over." There were three of them, they all had drinks in their hands, which she was not unused to (her parents allowed her to drink, under the conditions that she did it in moderation). They seemed pleasant enough though. She couldn't help but feel like she knew them from somewhere, but because the sun had set and there were only a few lights on this part of the beach she couldn't see very well.
"I'm T-" she started, but was interrupted by a voice calling her back from the other side the beach.
"Hey Graceful, come over here and say hi! There's someone here to meet you!" It was Eli, her older cousin, calling her to come over to him. He was standing with her mother and another person, so she knew that it was time for the big bomb to drop. She turned back to the guys in front of her.
"I'm sorry, I must go," she apologized, smiling sheepishly. "Maybe I'll see you later?" Without waiting for a response, she took off down the beach, her feet sinking into the sand with every step. She had long ago taken off her shoes and was holding them in one hand as she ran, the other hand holding on to her hat to keep it from flying away.
It was in no time that she made it to where her cousin, mother and the new comer were waiting for her. She came to a stop before them, slightly winded from her sprint across the sand. She adjusted her hat and tugged at the hem of her dress, taking a big breath before finally speaking.
"Hi Eli," she said, flashing him a big smile. "You said you had someone to introduce me to?" She turned her attention to the guest, who stood in between her cousin and mother.
"Ah yeah," Eli said, smiling nervously. She could tell that her mother had put him up to this, for she knew that he knew how he felt about her mothers match-making schemes. "This is Jacob Doyle. Jacob, this is my cousin and Sarabeth and Michael's daughter, Torrey." Tor stuck out her hand for him to shake.
"You can just call me Tor," she said, trying to smile despite her discomfort. "Nice to meet you Jacob."
"And a pleasure to meet you, too, Tor," he said, flashing her a smile a accepting her handshake. "You look very nice tonight." Tor had to keep herself from snorting in disbelief. This was not the first time she'd had one of these encounters, and so she knew that there was almost a script like manner in which they seemed to take place. But in order to please her mother, she always took it in stride.
"Thank you," she replied, again flashing a not so sincere smile. "I trust that you didn't have a hard time finding your way here? Or did you come along with Eli?" She was trying to make small talk, but it was strange to be standing there with her mother and doting elder cousin hovering over them. She wished instead that she could have finished her conversation with the guys from before; at least they would probably have a better chance of not caring who her parents were.
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"I think that he had some other meaning in mind when he- May we help, you?" Jacob was saying, but became distracted by the appearance of someone behind Tor. She only had time to give Jacob a questioning look before she felt an arm loop one of hers and pull her away towards the now roaring bonfire. When she looked to see who her savior was, she was surprised to find one of the guys whom she had greeted before.
"Oh! You're one of the guys from before," she said, with a sigh of relief.
"My name's Lucas," he said simply, as he grabbed two sticks, put marshmallows on them and hand one to her. She gave a quick once over as they sat side by side on on the less populated side of the fire. He was handsome and judging by the way he came and whisked her away from Jacob, was not lacking in confidence. She could get used to his company.
"Name? Age? Any other personal information you'd like to share?" He asked her with a smile, holding his marshmallow to roast near the fire. She followed his lead, watching as the fluffy marshmallow browned next to the heat.
"I'm Tor," she said, skipping directly to her preferred name. As much as 'Torrey Lindsey Caelum' was beautiful, it was also a mouthful, and she didn't want to think of the consequences of introducing herself as a Caelum to someone who seemed to not already know. "I'm 17, and..."
She paused to think, unsure of what to say next. Usually, these were the kinds of questions one answered during a summer camp icebreaker, but given the present setting, she supposed that she could come up with something.
"I really like playing frisbee. I could play it for hours with a good group of people," she grinned and checked her marshmallows cooking progress. Satisfied with it's golden brown color, she slid it off the stick and bit a chunk out of it. "What about you, Mr. Confident?"
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She spoke of the man she'd been talking to before Lucas had come along. Though he'd never admit it, he felt jealous. He already didn't like her talking to other guys; another thing that was unusual. But she had thanked him for taking him away, so he supposed that was a good thing. "Sure thing. If it had looked like you two had been having an intriguing or enlightening conversation, I would have left you alone. But you looked bored. And I wanted to be a part of the party tonight. So I stole you," he smiled.
Lucas wondered if she already knew that he hadn't been an invite. If she didn't, she probably knew now. He wondered how she'd feel about that. Before they could return to their conversation, Phillip and Will came rushing up to him and Tor. Phillip, of course, was the one to blurt everything out.
"Dude, we found out the hosts. The Caelum family is throwing this gig."
"We should probably bail, Lucas," Will stepped in. "Your parents and mine will bury us six feet under if they find out we were here. Especially yours."
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"Dude, we found out the hosts." The first guy said, and though she could tell he was more than slightly inebriated, he had his wits about him enough to looked concerned. "The Caelum family is throwing this gig." It was at this that Tor perked up, her interest piqued. Again, she was going to ask why they didn't know this is the first place when the other guy cut it.
"We should probably bail, Lucas. Your parents and mine will bury us six feet under if they find out we were here. Especially yours," the friend warned. Tor was confused now. Why would they get in trouble for being here? The only people she knew weren't allowed were the-
"Monroe," she said quietly to herself. She stood up and eyed the three boys with curiosity. "You're all Monroe's, aren't you?" She had never seen, much less met one of the family that she was supposed to hate.
"Of course you wouldn't want to be here. You weren't invited," she realized, smirking at the ridiculousness of the situation. She focused her attention on Lucas. "And you didn't know that I was a-"
"Tor!" She turned to find her little brother, Orion, and Eli heading their way. If they got there before the guys had time to leave, they would be in for a not so pleasant experience.
"Quick," she told the Lucas and his friends. "I am more than positive that Eli knows who you are and wouldn't hesitate in beating the crap out of you." Acting fast, she pulled a slightly wrinkled piece of paper from her dress pocket and handed it to Lucas.
"That's my cell phone number," she said, and with that, she ran to meet her family members, hoping to give Lucas and his friends time to get away. She smiled to herself as she moved, thinking that what she just did was the ultimate act of rebellion against her family.
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Lucas Monroe.
She grinned to herself. She had finally met a Monroe -- no, three Monroes -- and they all seemed to be pretty nice guys. Granted, they had been slightly drunk, but she concluded that they were probably just as nice without the alcohol. It was a close call though, just before they left.
"Tor!" her little brother, Orion, was calling her from down the beach. He was with Eli, and she knew that if they reached her before the guys left, there woud be more than a little bit of trouble to own up to.
She handed Lucas a piece of paper with her cell number written on it, and ran to meet Eli and Orion halfway, only glancing back once to find that Lucas and his friends were taking off.
"Who were they?" Orion asked, after giving his older sister a hug. "Friends of Tor's?"
"Yeah, they were just dropping by for a quick chat," Tor nodded, hoping that he wouldn't press the issue any further. Eli narrowed his eyes, suspecting that she was hiding something, and she looked away from him, unable to hold his gaze.
"Cool," Orion said, smiling. "Next time, you'll have to introduce me. But for now, we have to go meet dad and that kid Jacob and his parents. They want us to meet and "mingle". Oh, joy." Tor had to hand it to Orion, he had a wry sense of humor, that one.
As they walked back down the beach, Tor risked another glance backwards, but Lucas and company had already disappeared into the night.
"Tor?" there was a knock on the door and her father entered, closing the door behind him. He made his way over to her bed and sat down, and a comfortable silence fell over the two of them. She continued to look out of the window, feeling the ocean breeze blowing through her hair.
"Your mother is sorry about her earlier outburst," her father finally said, twiddling his thumbs. "But you have to understand that the Monroe name is not a welcome name in this household. We've gone over this before."
"I know. It won't happen again," Tor said. Inside, she was grinning maniacally, thinking about how she had completely defied everything her parents had drilled into her.
"Good then," Her father said, standing up. His job was done. "I hope you had a good time at the party." And with that he left her room. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she climbed into bed. In the morning, she would take her daily morning walk on the beach, and if she was lucky, Lucas might appear.
((OOC: Not a problem. Hope everything is better! You can start on the next day if you wish.))
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