And You Smiled And Waved (Belle)

[Taryn Fisher G3]

Taryn smiled slightly at the thought of it being summer. It was only the second week in and she was already giving friends visits and things of that nature. She had first thought she would be spending every second of it with her boyfriend Cameron, but she hadn’t quite counted on him having a new job that took over most of his week days, but luckily not the nights so that was when they would spend their time together. At the moment Taryn was glancing at her appearance in her mirror trying to find what was wrong with it. Now that she was back home she had the horrible and unfortunate law that she couldn’t use magic, which also meant that she would have to get ready the old fashion way. And for her, right now that was a problem.

She was used to being able to just flick her wrist and look glamorous, but now it would all have to be done slowly and more carefully. At the moment her hair was half straightened, and it, to her, looked extremely funny. Imagine half of someone’s head in long luscious curls, but then have the other side practically board straight. Shaking her head like a retard she finished and then applied her makeup just like she had every single summer of her life. One thing she had learned was that she did not want to over do her makeup and look like a big over-friendly person. So she went for the all natural thing. Skin toned base with blush and light pink shiny lip gloss just to be fun. Add a bit of mascara to her eye lashes and you could color her purple.

Because it was summer her clothes were easy to pick out. Her closet pretty much consisted of only summer clothes with very few winter outfits for when she came home on Christmas break. She quickly chose some blue jean short shorts that were supposedly in style and paired them with flip-flops and bright blue tank top and she was ready to be presented to the world. She grabbed her bright blue beach bag and threw in her money, makeup, wand, and gum and the headed out the door and onto the sun covered street that seemed to scream soak me in.

Taryn grinned brightly and then picked up her feet and padded lightly on the concrete with every step she took. Lucky for Taryn, Belle on lived a couple blocks away from her, so as she walked she grew tireless of not being there yet and was almost jumping for joy by the time she was only one block away. By the time Taryn reached the doorstep of Belle’s house she felt like she had lost a gazillion pounds. She knocked three times and took a step, waiting for someone to come and answer the door so that Taryn and Belle could make their way to the stores and shops buying clothes and random accessories just to spend their parents money like they did every school year.

When Taryn had first come here she had no friends. She was horrid, rude, and didn’t want to like anyone. But then Belle had been full of attitude and Taryn had been her friend since. To her it had just been hilarious when Belle had been rude back and it made Taryn love her personality because she wasn’t afraid to be rude. Ever since they had made their new found friendship they have been going on trips together all the time over vacation, so this was only the first of many. Taryn’s thought was quickly cut off though when she realized someone was opening the door. Yay, she thought and took a step forward, stopping though, in case it wasn’t Belle at the door.

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

It was the second week of break and Belle was already dying to go back to school. Even though last semester things seemed like they would be better this summer between Belle and her mother, she soon found out she was under false assumptions. Her second evening her father came home. This was a first. A major first, summer was the busiest time for him at the company and here he was. That’s when her parents sat her down and told her they where going to have a trail separation. Isabelle knew what this meant, they would divorce soon. But even though she felt confused she also felt relief, it was about time. They hadn’t said I love you to each other in years. They where always too polite, more like two strangers living together instead of a husband and wife. That was about as much information they gave her on the subject. She knew her father was back to work, her mother would go back to her interior designing and Belle would be left to watch her baby brother, like some hired help. They had recently fired the nanny; she had supposedly been stealing her mother’s jewelry. So Belle was hiding out in her big bedroom hoping not to hear the clicking of Victoria’s shoes down the hall. It was Saturday and she had canceled her meetings for the day. Victoria said she needed some down time, Belle knew that meant she would have the massage therapist over, and possibly one of her really annoying friends, wearing there fine clothes in every shade of beige possible.

For the time being the baby was at the grandparent’s, where Belle would have killed to be at. Nothing was stopping her from going out. But something told her, that her mother would be more then happy to keep her in the house as much as possible. Probably something from the earlier mentioned friends. Most of them had no children of their own and all of their advice came from magazines and self help books. She over heard her mother’s and Olivia’s, one of her mother’s more annoying then usual friends, conversations the other day. Olivia was saying that teens need to be more controlled as they grew older or they would go out and make reckless mistakes since they had no discipline. “You have let your eldest child run around crazy for too many years Vicky, and look at her. As beautiful as she seems, she’s loud, sarcastic, and seems not to care about your reputation at all. As your friend I’m telling you to get a hold on her before she gets brainwashed by her fantasies of being an artist or photographer or whatever it is.” She had said the word artist the same way people might say scum, it all made Belle’s blood boil. From that day on she vowed she would be as terrible to Olivia as possible, starting with ‘accidentally’ spilling her morning tea on her fine linen pants that resulted with her being punished. Now she was stuck here instead of down at the beach with her grandparents and brother.

She heard the knocking distantly. Sounds seemed to carry in their house. It was always empty, and quiet. She felt like she lived in a museum case. Sighing deeply she climbed out of bed gingerly and walked towards her locked door. She’d go get the door; at least it would give her something to do. Her brunette hair was in loose waves as it was normally was in the summer, and she pulled it to one side and tied it up in a loose ponytail with the black elastic band on her right hand. As she took the stairs one by one she admired her reflection in the many mirrors around the house. She was still rather pale; she preferred it to being tan, it looked better on her. So the blue tank she wore looked striking against her skin. Her army green short shorts also looked good against the paleness of her skin. The whole effect was surreal. But as she got down to the last step she saw her mother already opening the door to show Tayrn Belle’s friend standing on the doorstep. “Well look what the cat dragged in.” Belle called with a laugh from where she was. It was her first since she arrived home.

[Taryn Fisher G3]

Taryn couldn't help but smile at the uptight way the door had seemed to be answered by Belle's mother and the way Belle had reacted with that sly comment. It was normal though. Back and forth they could go, all day long, yet neither of them would truly hold it against each other because even if what they were saying was true, which most of the time it wasn't, they had been brought together by their personalities and Taryn doubted that one simple insult coming from Belle would do anything because Taryn could always fire one right back when she wanted to, although most of the time she didn't just because she was to lazy to think fast enough to get a good one. Putting one foot forward and then the other Taryn pulled off that neat trick called walking and entered the the household of Belle, who in the flesh, was on the stair case less than two feet from where Taryn now stood with a challenging look on her face. "Puh-lease. If ignorance was bliss, you'd be in heaven right now.'' Taryn said, bascially calling the ''look at what the cat dragged in'' comment retarded, which in some cases it definitely was. "Anyway, rude confrontation is not why I am here my dear friend!" Taryn said trying not to laugh. "Mrs. L, I'm like kidnapping Belle for a while if that's okay. We have some serious issues to discuss because of recent and horrifyingly terrible events."

Taryn sent Belle's mom the nicest smile she could muster on her own sour face just because she seemed to always look un-naturally unhappy almost twenty-four/seven unless she truly tried to smile, like in a picture, video, or something along those lines that a lot of people would see. Pracitcally crossing her fingers, Taryn waited for Belle's mom to answer, truly hoping she said yes because Taryn did have a lot to fill Belle in on. Like one of the most pathetic but hilarious pick up lines tried on her in years the other day when she had gotten off the train and had to take a muggle cab to get home from London. It had been quite the crazy encounter as well. She had been hailing a cab and had gotten one, not because of her amazing skills at getting their attention but because a guy around the age of fifteen had been getting out to get on a train and had been wanting her ''number'' or some other way to get ahold of her. She had just laughed and told him his train would be boarding by now and then climbed into the cab letting the door shut quickly as she had said the address of her destination to the driver. Her luggage, she had magically downsized by her wand and was shrunk and all in her pocket.

Shaking this memory from her head seeing as Taryn had the attention span of a rock she remembered what she was doing and then tried to completely shake the memory of the guys looks from her head completely, well at least for now anyway. Tugging at the hem of her T-shirt Taryn noticed a loose string and to look a little less pathetic as she stood there and waited for an answer she gave it a small tug and yanked it from her shirt, glad for the minor distraction.

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

No matter how rude Belle could have been to Tayrn she would have waved it off. This was normal behaviour for them. Most of the things she said, the way she acted, it was all an influence from Tayrn. This girl would be Olivia’s worst nightmare. Oh, now that was a thought. The best way to scare her mother’s uptight friend, send in the expert, the one the only pain in the rear, Tayrn. They where a good pair, Belle and Tayrn, they both had the sarcasm, they had the attitude, they had the look, a few more years and they would rule their school. It was fact. “I’d find bliss in far better places then heaven. You know being all goody-two shoes isn’t my style. I’m surprised heaven is even in your vocabulary.” Belle replied slyly as she walked over to he friend who was now standing inside her house. Some how she seemed out of place there, radiating against the white. She gave it life. That’s what her house was missing, life. She sighed deeply, this was quite depressing really. Tayrn was happy and upbeat, her house was lifeless and depressing. Perfection, just the way Victoria liked it. Not to mention her friends.

Belle bit back a smile, Mrs. L; Victoria hated to be referred by that name. She felt it hurt her reputation. Isabelle could almost see the gears turning in her mother’s head; she could see that fake smile ready to slip of her well applied made up face. But she had self control and kept her tight, polite, smile pasted on. Belle also saw her mother thinking what these, ‘horrifying’ and ‘terrible’ events. Belle rolled her eyes; Tayrn was always a bit of a drama queen. “I’m sorry, but Isabelle is grounded. She is not allowed to leave the house for another few days. Come back then, maybe she’ll be a good girl and control herself and be off this punishment.” Her voice was cold. “Yes Tayrn, I’m not allowed to go out, but you come in. I can’t wait to hear all about these events that will surely cause more reason for you to seek professional help, and I have issues of my own. I’m sure you’ll enjoy my little stories.” Belle said shooting a smug look in her mother’s direction. Those where the rules, her mother wouldn’t, couldn’t change them now. Perhaps she would after Tayrn left, but until then Tayrn would have to be allowed in.

“Well, I suppose your staying then.” Victoria said with a sigh as she closed the door. The last drafts of warm air faded away, what a sham. “Let’s go to the kitchen and get something to eat, I don’t know about you, but I’m ravenous.” And she was, but Belle wanted to keep an eye on Victoria in case evil friend Olivia arrived. She knew Tayrn would not only be on board with the plan, but she would have some good ideas of her own.

[Taryn Fisher G3]

Taryn raised her eyebrows skeptically at Belle's mother, wandering if Belle was just going to stand there and let her mother tell her she wasn't doing anything. And then Taryn watched as she basically worked the little gears in her head so that she could work around her mothers stupid rules. "Heck yeah, Mrs. L!" Taryn said with a straight face. "I could eat a dad-gum cow right now I'm so starved." And with that she flashed a quick grin in Belle's direction and then stepped in behind Belle's mom, glad for some food, seeing as she truly hadn't eaten, although she most definitely could not eat a whole cow. Heck, Taryn doesn't even eat beef. She hates it, actually. To her beef, chicken, and pork was like eating a human. She believed strongly in animals needing to live, yet not strongly enough to do something about it. When she didn't know what she was eating she was fine, but when told she couldn't eat any more so most of her friends had learned not to tell her what she was eating. Funnily, she would still eat eggs, cheese, and things like that only because it had not occured to her what she was truly eating. As she entered their kitchen she was hoping it would like a little bit more alive than it had in their entryway, or where she had come in from, but it hadn't. Still completely bland. It was slightly depressing in a way, so depressing it made Taryn slightly understand where Belle got all of her sarcastic, disturbing remarks from.

Grinning slightly at her own thoughts of trying to figure out where her own sarcastic remarks had came from, Taryn vaguely recalled when her parents split up and thinking about this she felt a flood of memories just suddenly hit her and she began remembering all the screaming and yelling she heard between her parents every night. She recalled all the times they had pulled her into the fight, almost forcing her to choose a side, where she would always end up getting grounded for calling them both stupid idiots who didn't even know how to have a rational conversation. She also recalled getting grounded for telling her mom something she had decided to take her dads side over and the same vice versa. That had been crazy times. Taryn felt like she had been forced to become extremely mature way to soon, and way before she was even in the double digits. Which was completely sad. Being forced to be a grown-up at age nine. Now that was just horrifying.

Shaking these awful memories from her head Taryn remembered where she was and what she was doing. She took a glance at Belle and saw that same old mischievous look in her eye. What is she up to, Taryn wondered knowing the look extremely to well, being one of the first ones to inspire Belle into mischief. Heck, Taryn was probably Belle's mom's worst nightmare. The devil's spawn herself, Taryn barely kept herself from bursting into hysterics. Being as quiet as possible Taryn glanced over at Belle, "Hey, what are you planning." she mouthed, while her mom was looking te other way.

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

It always amused Isabelle how very un-English Tayrn sometimes was. She acted so much like an American, one from the south. It was always funny when she used phrases like ‘dad-gum’ and ‘heck yeah’. Her British accent was no where close to a southern one and the words sounded strange and foreign, but Tayrn didn’t mind, it hardly bothered her. “Food is in the kitchen of course, I’m not sure id we have any cows, but we have some stir-fry if you’d like.” Belle told her friend walking in the direction of the kitchen. She snuck a look at her mother. Her face seemed unreadable, but Belle had known her for a long time and could catch the slightest clue on what her mother was feeling. She was clearly annoyed; Isabelle could see that she was gritting her teeth together, as if to stop words slipping through that superficial smile of hers. Her arms where crossed across her chest and she was tapping her fingers across one arm, she was becoming awfully impatient. She knew her mother was thinking that her daughter and her friend where out of line, and needed controlling, but Victoria Leynette didn’t know the first thing about controlling her daughter. All she could do was walk back into the family room and pick up the phone to call her friend and tell her friend to come earlier then was intended, she need advice on this matter. Belle smiled victoriously, it wasn’t hard to win these battles with her mother, but she still felt good when she did. Walking into the very modern kitchen Belle turned her attention to Tayrn. “So It’s stir fry, right?” She asked as she headed for the refrigerator where last nights food was waiting. She placed the container in the microwave and sat down on the counter waiting for the plastic container to stop spinning round and round.

“Ah, Tayrn you know me to well.” Belle replied smiling when her friend asked what she was planning. Belle wasn’t quite sure herself. She wanted to do something that would make Victoria furious. She was already in a mood, and it wouldn’t take long to achieve that state Isabelle was hoping for. “Well, mom’s had that Olivia woman over and Olivia tells my mom that I need more ‘control in my unstructured and dangerous life.’ As if right?” Belle began. On hearing the microwave announce the food was finished, Belle spilt contents into to bowls, adding two forks so they could eat. The passed one of the bowls to Tayrn. “So then I spilt my afternoon tea on Olivia, hence why I’m grounded.” She continued in between bites. The food was warm, and Belle treasured every bite. She normally didn’t eat vegetarian, but around Tayrn she tried. She would just enjoy a steak later. “So, now that you’re here, and mom hates you, she’s sure to call Olivia and invite her over for some more advice, you still with me?” Belle asked, her story was one that could be hard to follow. “Now, all I need is something devilish and awful to do to Olivia because thanks to her and her advice I’m grounded.” Belle said the last part with a huff. If she wasn’t here stuck at home with her mother she could have been on the beach. Olivia would just have to pay the price for being nosy.

The door bell rang shortly. “Right on schedule.” Belle said pleased, as she heard voices in the hallway. Her mother seemed happy, and the other voice seemed stuffy and cranky. It was sure to be Olivia. Belle smelt her before seeing her. Her perfume was Chanel no.5 but she wore too much, Isabelle almost stuck her nose in her bowl trying to make the smell go away. Victoria ushered her friend into the family room and the sat across each other discussing the latest gossip. It was all so sad. They need hobbies, the needed something to distract them from their horrible lives, they needed Belle to do something.