Opposites

The sound of the the chatter and laughter pounded through her ears and the music pulsed through her veins. Kaira squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again, trying and failing to paste a smile on her face. Thankfully, no one was looking at her.

But then again, no one ever did.

Gulping down another gulp of some unknown drink that had been shoved into her hand at some point during the night, Kaira turned around to go get something stronger, keeping her eyes trained to the cheaply tiled floors so as not to draw attention to herself.

She hated these get-togethers are dreaded the day that she knew she’d have to squeeze herself into another one of those damn dresses and coverse in strained small talk her bitter family. Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter. Her pouting step-mother had made it clear to her that any reunions missed meant being blasted out of the family tree. Obviously, Kaira wasn’t told this in any straightforward manner. It’d taken the her a full month, eight phone calls and two fits of temper to realise what her step-mother was implying and she was an Oxford graduate for goodness sake. 

Well, it was clear that brains in studies didn’t mean that a person had brains in their social life. That was clear from the moment that Kaira’s dad had married that horrible lady. He’d been an Oxford graduate as well and worked for good money at a bank, earning more than enough than was needed to raise Kaira himself, since her mother had died.

Should’ve known what would happen the moment he began dating again.

It was at that moment that a shoulder was slammed into hers and she was forced to peek up and see who it was.

Long black locks of painfully straightened hair framing a face coated with make up met her eyes.

Ria, or as she liked to be called ‘Ri’ -Kaira’s step sister.

“Oh my God!” Ria squealed, gasping theatrically as she stared, wide eyed, not at Kaira but at the fake-glass wine glasses, which had fallen to the floor at the collision. “The drinks!”

Staring at Ria’s antics, Kaira watched as a brown-haired girl with light make up and a twiggy figure came over to see what had made Ria so upset.

She gave Kaira a momentary, passing glance before turning her full attention to Ria, who was now furiously pouting. “It’s only a few glasses. They didn’t even crack.” The girl consoled, gesturing for someone in the vicinity to grab something to clear the spilt alcohol. Many were watching the scene unfold and so it was only a few seconds before someone’s young seven-year-old son came toddling up to them with a plastic, bright blue mop in their hands.

“She shoved them out of my hands, Aisha! Did you not see?” Ria exclaimed, glaring at Kaira, who tried not to look affronted at the very idea of causing havoc.

“I didn’t mean to knock you over. I was just going to the drink’s table to get a refill” Kaira said in a slow, matter-of-fact voice, holding up her almost empty glass. Many people were staring at now: eyes of many shapes and sizes. Kaira almost buckled under the weight of their gaze. She didn’t like attention. She felt like continuing, but didn’t really know what to say. If only she had a notepad and paper, she could write Ria a complete three-page thesis on why she shouldn’t be blamed for the situation.

“A fine story!” Ria scoffed, flipping her hair dramatically and talking in a booming voice, as if everyone was dying to see her next move. She completely ignored Aisha, who’d now bent down and was soaking up the wine that’d spilled. “You probably had that all planned. You and your father: always the ones trying to cause mess in this family. I don’t even know why my mum married him.”

Kaira stiffened at the mention of her father. How dare they talk like that about him. Sure, he’d made his mistakes, but he was a good man overall.

Ria seemed like she wanted to go on, but Aisha grabbed her by the arm and gave the girl a look that spoke millions. 

Imitating a peacock, Ria ruffled her feathers in annoyance, gave a loud “Humph”, before stalking off, followed by her sister to their group of friends, who were giggling madly at what had just occurred.

What was funny abut the situation, Kaira didn’t know.

Kaira watched them go before, eyes back down on the floor, she moved to the drinks table. Grabbing a fruity-looking cocktail, she leaned against a nearby secluded wall and simply stared.

Secluded corners weren’t stranger to her. At every single family occasion, she would find one and stand there the whole time. It was better and far more enjoyable than joining the crowd. She told herself that every time. Being part of the scenery was easy and sometimes…just sometimes, she actually liked it.

Sipping her cocktail, Kaira watched as Ria and the girls were slowly asked onto the dance floor, one by one, until only Aisha was left, engaged in conversation to a tall young woman, who had her back to Kaira. She was wearing a long sleeveless dress that fell to the floor in long velvet drapes. A large choker could be seen glittering on her neck, as she’d decided to tie her hair up in an elegant bun. Ruining the picture of perfection ,however was the sound of her simple, but fashionable heels clicking soundlessly, as the woman seemed to bounce on the tips of her toes with uncontrolled fervour. Cheyne, Kaira thought, the other family disappointment. It was wide knowledge that Cheyne was the one of the few daughters of the Witner family, who hadn’t dropped out of college half way to pursue modelling or fashion. Cheyne and Kaira had both broken family tradition by outrightly refusing to drop their studies for something they didn’t care about and follow what was now called ‘The Family ritual’. However, while Kiara maintained her distance from her family as much as she could, Cheyne chose to follow a different path.

Kaira watched as Cheyne turned around and spotted Ria and another two similar looking girls, watching her and Asha converse placidly. Ria walked up to them swiftly and whispered something in Aisha’s ear.

“But Ria, she’s my friend” Aisha protested, looking longingly at Cheyne. Ria leaned in to whisper something else, but this time a hand stopped her.

“Don’t bully my friend” Cheyne said firmly, glaring daggers at Ria. “She can talk to who she likes”

A muscle twitched in Ria’s jaw. “I can talk to my sister whenever I like” she grounded, through gritted teeth “and get your arm off me”

Cheyne obliged, “I didn’t know you were allergic to intelligence”

Ria ignored the comment and turned to face Cheyne full on. “You shouldn’t even be here, you know. You and that Kaira girl. None of you earned your right to be standing here, preening in the light of the Witner family legacy when you did nothing to achieve it”

Aisha gasped inaudibly at Ria’s implication.

“Dropping out of school isn’t an achievement if what you want to succeed on is college” Cheyne shot back “And this is a family union and so all family is accepted, even those who tried to play their life differently”

“You still went against the family ritual” Ria continued.

“Well, you know what, dropping out of college shouldn’t be a family ritual. I went against it and look where I am now.”

“Yeah, look where you are now, pretending to be a supermodel, while actually a stupid IT expert”

Cheyne laughed a humorous laugh. “The simple fact that you called me stupid just shows how less you know about the cause you’re fighting. I got a degree for this job. If anything, that’s not stupid.”

“It is when you could’ve simply followed the family ritual and got a job without much hard work”

“That’s because I didn’t want to” Cheyne fumed, seeming to have had enough of the argument “How many repetitions does it take you to understand that sometimes in life you just have to follow your heart?”

They both glared at each other for a moment before coming to a mutual draw and turning their backs on each other. Cheyne strode away, her face a blank mask.

Kaira let out a swoosh of breath she didn’t know she was holding. This happened every family gathering where the two of them were together and she hated it. 

Not because the two of them caused chaos or because the tension levels ran sky high, but because they were too blind to see the worry that hid behind each of these clouded words. They were worried for each other, worried that the other has taken the wrong path and that only the right one can guide them. 

Utterly worried.