Chapter 8

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful." --John Wooden

After dinner, things had pretty much settled down. We all gathered in the living room as conversation continued to flow even after we had left the table. That is until a sudden awkward silence overcame us when Jaxon suddenly decided to bring up talents.

"So, Serena and Alexander, your father tells me that you are both extremely talented...?" Jaxon said it as a question but you could tell he sincerely wanted to know.

Serena replied first. "I am actually the model of the family. I've been modeling for Lianne for a while now but I dabble a bit in art and photography," She said politely keeping eye contact the entire time.

Jaxon smiled a genuine smile. "Interesting. You and Callista have a lot in common. She takes art and photography as well."

He said it with pride and I was shocked. I couldn't believe that he actually remembered that considering the fact that he never actually acknowledges my presence.

Kierra by this time was glaring holes into his head, anger flashing in her eyes and Terra glared at me with narrowed eyes. Brooklyn yawned.

"I'm sure we will get along perfectly," She said the bright smile never leaving her face as she turned to look at me. I gave her a small smile in return.

"And what about you Alexander? What are your talents?"

Alexander glanced at Jaxon for less than a second and firmly pressed his lips together, turning his jade eyes to the blue carpeted floor. Silence. Hunter cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Um...Alexander is actually a child prodigy. He started playing piano when he was five, guitar when he was seven, and the drums when he was ten. He also took after me in the acting department," He answered.

Huh, I was impressed and by the look on Jaxon's face he was too.

"And what about you girls? What are your talents?" Lianne directed the question towards Terra, Brooklyn, and me.

"I dance. Specifically hip-hop." Brooklyn said with a lazy smile. She did dance hip-hop and she was pretty good at it too. I had seen her dance every now and then and even though it looked like she didn't care about it, you could tell she had a passion for it.

"Callista? What about you?"

I folded my hands in my lap and sat up straighter. I bit my lip unsure if I was allowed to really talk about myself.

From the corner of my eye I saw Terra roll her eyes and snort. A look of pitied disgust crossed Kierra's face before she hid it though it wasn't unnoticed by Jaxon who threw them a warning look.

Irritation flared in my chest and without an ounce of nervousness, I faced the Kings.

"Well, Lianne, it is actually quite a long list. I dance, contemporary, rhythmic, ballet, Aerial silks. I sing. I play many instruments like Alexander. I am in theater and I draw and take photography."

"Wow, what a list of talents you have there!"

"Yeah, well, years of performing arts school will do that to you," I laughed.

Except for the usual suspects, everybody looked impressed. Even Alexander who had turned to watch me as I was speaking.

"What instruments do you play?" Hunter asked.

"I play piano, violin, flute, the drums, and guitar."

"Impressive. I look forward to your future performances, if that is alright?" Lianne asked, her brown orbs shining.

Jaxon beamed from his spot next to the wicked witch and I swear if she frowns any more she will start to look like a sea otter.

"Yes, of course," I replied smiling at her.

"Oh puhleeeease! I could do more than that in my sleep," Terra snarkily cut in.

"Really? Like what? Do you dance?" Serena asked.

"God no! That would ruin my pedicure," Terra replied.

"Draw?"

"And get those awful callouses? No, thank you."

At this point she had started to sound like Regina George. Huh, Regina George Wannabe. Maybe I should start calling her that.

"So then what can you do?" Alexander asked impatiently.

He had a rich, velvety voice like a smooth chocolate waterfall flowing into a stream. I could have been lost in the memory forever if the RGW's nasally voice hadn't assaulted my ears.

"I can sing, too!" She said.

"Oh, lovely why don't you sing something for us?" Lianne said.

"Now??" RGW exclaimed.

"Yes, in fact Callista would you mind playing the piano for her?"

I nodded and stood up, walking towards the black piano standing on a platform in the corner of the room. I sat down, running my fingers over the keys lightly to make sure they were all tuned. I turned to look at Terra whose confident facade was slowly slipping. Her face was tight, an even tighter smile plastered on.

"I'm going to sing Problem by Ariana Grande."

I began to play the notes of the beginning of the song as she began to sing.

"Hey baby even though I hate ya!
I wanna love ya
I want youuuuu!
And even though I can't forgive you
I really want ta
I want youuuu!"

I stopped playing. By the time the word "you" had left her mouth, my ears had begun to bleed. Terra was beyond tone deaf, and hell she might as well have been deaf. Terra singing was like a mixture of a baby wailing, tires screeching, and seagulls crying.

I spotted Brooklyn pulling something out of her cleavage and realized it was an mp3 player. An mp3 player that she then proceeded to plug into her ears. I had never envied Brooklyn as much as I did at this very moment.

"Tell me, tell me babaaayyy
Why can't you leave meeee?
Cause even though I shouldn't want it
I gotta have it
I want youuuu!"

Terra still hadn't noticed that I had stopped playing. She was still singing and her body had begun to twist and convulse in a way that made it look like she was having a seizure. Her already skimpy dress slipped down a little and opened up in places it shouldn't be open. She threw a wink at Alexander who simply scowled in disgust.

"Head in the clouds
Got no weight on my shoulders
I should be wiser
And realize that I've got!"

As she finally stopped singing, I took the time needed for my ears to recover to observe everyone else. Everybody looked pale and dazed. Even Kierra who had a grimace on her face was now in the process of unpoping her eardrums. Lianne's ever present smile had completely slipped off her face and her eyes had become glassy.

Alexander was covering his face with his hands and poor Serena looked like someone told her she was going to die in three hours. She reached up and swiped at her eyes but not before I saw the tears that were leaking from them. Hell, even I wanted to cry. Terra bowed once, twice, three times before sitting down again.

"W-wow...words will never ever express how...how I felt listening to you," Lianne stuttered. Terra beamed thinking it was a compliment.

"And that's not all I can do!" She boasted.

"Really? What else can you do?" Hunter asked causing everyone in the room to shoot him wide eyed glares.

"I can do anything of course," said Terra, flipping her hair over shoulder.

"Oh, really?" asked Lianne a skeptical look on her face. "Like what?"

"Well aside from singing, I'm the most popular girl in school and I'm the goddess of shopping. Besides, look at me," she said. "I'm absolutely gorgeous."

We were looking at her and all we could see was a wannabe hooker in a red dress. I kept my face as schooled as possible as I tried hard not to burst into laughter.

Serena bit her lip as Jaxon and Hunter looked away from her. Brooklyn rolled her eyes, smirking. Alexander snorted and Lianne pursed her lips, eyebrows raised.

Kierra frowned at her daughter like the failure of a mother that she was, any pride she had once felt flying out the window, though I wasn't really sure what it was that she would be proud of.

"No, no, no sweetie I meant what are your other talents? Like how Brooklyn dances, Serena draws, and Alexander plays piano. What else can you do?"

"Oh..." replied Terra. "Umm...does extreme shopping count?"

No one said a word as the awkward silence enveloped us.

"Well then, maybe we could all go sometime while we're here? Just us girls," Lianne said, trying to diffuse the awkward tension.

"That would be wonderful, and um, how long will you be here?" asked Kierra.

"What do you mean?" asked Lianne. "Didn't Jaxon tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Kierra asked, confusion sneaking into her voice, her eyebrows creased, and she frowned.

No one answered and the third awkward silence of the day took over the room.

"Jaxon," said Kierra. "What is she talking about?"

Her eyes flashed as she shot daggers at him. Jaxon looked at Kierra coolly and just a bit condescendingly and said, "Hunter and his family will be staying here indefinitely starting from today."

He leaned back in his chair, a triumphant smile on his face obviously enjoying the power he had gained over her.

"Oh, is that so? Why is that?" Kierra asked voice tight.

"Well if you must know, Hunters family owns half of this estate and my family owns the other," Jaxon replied.

Everyone except for the Kings stared at him in shock. How come he never told anyone? Why now?

"What?" hissed Kierra.

"Jaxon, why don't we move this conversation to your office?" Hunter stood up, pulling Lianne to her feet. Jaxon stood up with a sigh, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Callista?" my head snapped up as he said my name. Eyebrows raised I looked up at him in surprise. "Why don't you show Serena and Alexander around? I am sure this is going to take a while..."

I nodded my head obediently and stood up nervously. The adults left the room, Brooklyn and Terra following after them though not before Terra sent me the stink eye.

Serena turned to look at me with a huge grin on her face and I gave her a tight lipped smile back. I looked up at Alexander to find him watching his sister with narrowed eyes.

"So, how about that tour?"