Jasmine was basically bouncing in her seat by the time the plane landed. It had been three weeks since she'd last seen her friends and family in person and she couldn't wait to see them again. Three weeks went by fast when they were filming but when she was stuck in her hotel room with only homework, her aunt, and Kyle to keep her company, things couldn't be slower. She couldn't wait for the hours where she could facetime Monet and Mark and they could talk about their days. Sometimes, she'd facetime with other members of their club, like Leo, Sasha, Cleopatra, and Aria, but it wasn't all the time and sometimes, they just talked for a bit. But now she was going home on Thanksgiving and leaving on Saturday to go back. There weren't too many people on the plane, since it was private and taking a few people home for their breaks, so it had been relatively quiet the whole time. And now they were about to land and she couldn't wait to see her family and friends.
Once they did land, Jasmine was quick to grab her bags and meet her aunt near the middle of the airport. All she had to do was find her family and they'd be on their way to Mark's house, since Rebecca was hosting Thanksgiving today. Her family found her before she did because the next thing she knew, she was hearing Rose shouting "Jasmine!" And she was swarmed in a four year olds attempt at a tackle hug.
"Hey Rosie!" Jasmine giggled, picking her up and hugging her tightly. Rose hugged her back just as tightly as she could. She missed this while she was away. Three weeks where she was only with her aunt was a little much, even if she did love Melissa a lot. Tommy ran over next and hugged Melissa tightly, no surprise there, and Henry was the last one over.
"Guess where we're going today?" Rose giggled, letting go of Jasmine so that she could look her in the eyes. Jasmine knew, but she let her explain anyway. "To Mark's house with Julia and Monet! Are you excited? Cause I'm excited!" Jasmine giggled and spun her around some.
"Of course I'm excited! I can't wait to see Monet and Mark!" She laughed. Rose giggled again before squirming out of Jasmine's arms so that she could go over and give her mother a hug. Rose was her number one fan, she always had been. Rose never hated her, no matter how often she was gone or had to drag her mother with her.
Once they were all done meeting up with each other, they got into the car to head over to Mark and Monet's apartment building. Her old apartment building. Honestly, she missed living next door to Mark and staying in the same house as Monet. Sometimes, it felt like the two of them weren't even sisters anymore, rather just best friends who'd know each other their whole lives. It was odd to think that at one point in time, Jasmine could just run into the next room over and jump onto Monet's bed whenever she was sad or upset to hear her parents fighting again. Those were the good days, before her life turned crazy and Jasmine wasn't sure what would happen.
She couldn't tell if it was safer for Monet for her to be out of the house or not. She knew that when they were together with their father, Monet always took the abuse for her. It was honestly probably why Monet enjoyed martial arts so much. Still, whenever Jasmine was over, she could never forget the day that Monet pushed her behind the couch and she watched her father actually beat her. So was it safer for her to be here or was it better for her to be there for it?
It was mostly selfish wishing, probably. She had her own family, sure, but what about her sister? Monet was her only biological sibling and so she had a connection with her more than Rose or Tommy. And Tommy hated her right now because to him, all she seemed to do was take his mother away from him. Maybe if she wasn't an actress any more, maybe if she quit being the center of attention for once, she could live a decent life. And yet, no matter how much she wanted too, she couldn't. Not until she graduated now.
Why didn't she just say something about Monet? Mark had been texting her his concerns about her, as they normally did when one of them seemed off, so it seemed like her father was being extra rough with her recently. It was probably because he wanted to impress his new girlfriend. Still, he shouldn't force Monet into meeting her. For whatever reason that Monet seemed to resent Anna, it seemed to have caused a lot of trauma, even to the point of where she was sure that Monet couldn't spend a few minutes in the same room as her father's girlfriend. Jasmine could fix it, tell her aunt that her father was abusing Monet, that he was a drunk, that he did whatever he pleased with little regard for his remaining daughter's safety and sanity, and she wouldn't get in trouble for it. So why was she so afraid? Why did she feel like she was drowning whenever she tried to speak to someone about it?
"You're rather quiet, Jasmine. Normally you can't help but talk about everything that happened on set," Henry commented, looking back at her through the mirror. Jasmine looked over at him and smiled, holding up a peace sign.
"Just planning on what I'm going to tell Mark and Monet about. So much happened on set this time," She laughed. Dang it. Why can't you just say anything? She thought to herself, looking back out the window as the scenery slowly turned more familiar. You could have done something to help Monet out. Obviously it's taking a toll on her. It would have been easy to help her out of it.
"Jasmine!" Rose said suddenly, tapping her on the arm. Jasmine looked over at her with a smile. "Let's play the ABC game, okay?"
"Okay, sure. That sounds like fun!" Jasmine nodded her head before looking in the back where Tommy was. "Do you want to play the ABC game, Tommy?" The boy shook his head. He didn't play it recently because he thought it was for kids, so Jasmine didn't take it personally this time. Recently, he'd been avoiding her altogether.
"Okay, so, A!" Rose giggled and they looked out their windows for something that started with an A.
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"Let's go see if my mom needs any help," Mark said, tapping Monet on the shoulder. She looked up at him, nodded her head, and she abandoned the game of cards that she had been playing only moments before. They disappeared into the kitchen and that was probably the last she'd be forced to sit for long periods of time with Jess until Jasmine left again.
"Do you need any help, Rebecca?" Monet asked as they entered the kitchen. Rebecca turned and offered her a smile.
"No, I think I'm just about done," She said with a sigh, looking at the mess that was the kitchen. Normally, they had it at Jasmine's house because it was bigger, but since Melissa and Jasmine were out for filming until today, it had fallen on Rebecca to make the Thanksgiving day meal.
"No, like, please give us something to do," Mark rephrased, leaning against the counter. "I'm getting too impatient waiting here for Jasmine and Monet can't stand being around her dad's girlfriend for another second. So, please, Mom. Give us something to do." Rebecca chuckled and pointed over to the sink and dishwasher.
"Dishes need done, if you really want to do something," She said, turning back to whatever she was working on, which Monet figured was stuffing. Mark and Monet looked at each other before shrugging and heading over to the sink and the dishwasher.
"If I scrub, you want to put it in the dishwasher?" Mark asked, rolling his sleeves up. Monet shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really care how they did it, just as long as they were doing something. He nodded his hands and reached into the sink, pulling out the first dish. "How much do you wanna bet Jasmine's going to be wearing that fuzzy sweater she wears everytime she comes home?" Monet giggled and took the dish from him as he held it out to her.
"That's not even fair. You know she wears it every time without fail and then says that she doesn't," She replied, rolling her eyes slightly as she put it into the dishwasher. Mark chuckled and nodded his head.
"That's true. She does like to deny that she does it. Okay, how about a more fair bet. How much you wanna bet she's wearing that headband that you got her for her birthday two years ago." He held out another dish to her and Monet took it, thinking about the question.
"I bet you two bucks that she is," She decided, placing the cup on the top rack. Mark nodded his head.
"That's a good bet."
"She doesn't wear that headband too much, does she?" Rebecca asked, looking over from whatever she just put into the oven and whatever she just took out of it. Monet looked over at her like she had just grown another eye.
"Are you kidding? She wears it all the time!" Mark protested, turning away from the dishes. "You need to pay more attention, Mom. It's in, like, half of her videos, I'll have you know."
"And she puts it with just about anything she can." Monet took the dish that Mark held out to her. Mark just nodded her head.
"Good thing that it's multicolored or else she'd have an issue."
"Yeah but her closet is mostly pastels anyways," Monet pointed out.
"That's very true. It'd probably work anyway," Mark replied with a nod, handing her another dish. They worked on the dishes for a while, keeping up some small talk while they worked on them and waiting for Jasmine to arrive. The days felt like months when the three of them couldn't hang out together and so they were more than excited to spend even just two days together.
When they heard the knock on the door, Mark and Monet left the rest of the dishes and rushed over to the door, throwing it open. Of course, there was Jasmine and the rest of her family, ready to spend the day together.
"Jassy!" Monet exclaimed. Jasmine squealed a bit and hugged her tightly, swaying from side to side with the excitement. After a second, she opened her arm out to Mark and pulled him into the hug. It had been too long since the three of them were all together and Monet couldn't bare to think that it'd only be a few days before Jasmine would be gone for another three weeks.
"Okay, okay, let them into the room," Rebecca said, lightly pushing them out of the door. Jasmine giggled and grabbed onto each of their hands.
"I have too much to tell you!" She giggled, squeezing their hands carefully.
"Of course you do, Missy. It's not like you can just facetime us all the time," Mark replied, rolling his eyes slightly. "Wanna go to my room?" Jasmine nodded her head, though they had to wait for Tommy and Rose to run past them to get over to Julia, who was still playing cards with Jess and Timothy.
"So that's Jess?" Jasmine whispered, leaning into Monet's side to whisper in her ear. Monet nodded her head and sighed. "Oof. It looks like her actually sobered up for today."
"He has been for the past two weeks. It's really strange," Monet whispered back. Jasmine hummed slightly and gave her hand a squeeze.
"What are we whispering about?" Mark asked, leaning into their little group. Jasmine giggled and shoved him away slightly.
"You're so nosey. Secrets between sisters," She replied, dropping Monet's hands and putting her hands on her hips. "Now, come on. Are we going to your room or not because I have too much tea to tell you about this movie." Mark chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, come on then. Let's go to my room then," Mark said, starting out of the room. Jasmine was quick to follow him, followed by Monet. She honestly just couldn't wait to get out of the main rooms and listen to what Jasmine had to say about her movie adventure. She missed having her around. It wasn't like she hadn't had fun with Mark but things seemed a whole lot more lively when Jasmine was around. Or maybe that was just her.
They only got stopped once and that was for Timothy to introduce Jess to Jasmine. Jasmine handled it a whole lot better than Monet had but maybe that's because she hadn't known Anna the same way that Monet had. The two of them chatted for a few minutes before Jasmine said that she was going to catch up with Mark and Monet and they left.
"She seems nice and all. Daddy needs to stop bragging about me though. He's got no parental rights," Jasmine said, making an annoyed face as she sat down on Mark's bed. Mark shut the door behind Monet and shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you want him too?" He asked.
"Heck no! I like being with Aunt M and Uncle Henry any day. They're more like parents to me than Daddy will." Jasmine huffed, laying down on the bed and kicking her feet up.
"Keep in mind I still live with him so you have no room to talk," Monet reminded her. Jasmine giggled and nodded her head.
"Oh trust me, I know," She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I can't speak at all about it. But still. She seems nice."
"So did Anna and look at me now."
"Between Anna and this talk about your father, I feel like you're keeping something from me," Mark interjected, making sure that they were reminded that he was still in there. He sat down in his desk chair, turning it around so he could face them. Monet just sat down on the floor, leaning against the bed for support.
"What makes you say that?" Monet joked, though it was clear that she knew exactly what he was talking about and just chose not to say anything. Mark sighed and shrugged, looking back at Jasmine.
"I thought you were spilling tea about your movie, Missy. So tell us. What's happening in your Hollywood world?" He said, resting an arm on the arm rest and resting his head on his hand. Jasmine laughed a bit and laid her head on her arms.
"Boy do I have the biggest tea for you."
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"Sucks that Cleopatra had to miss this," Jasmine sighed, sitting down on the mat and crossing her legs over each other as she scrolled through her phone. "And Anthony. And Sasha and Leo." The rest of the group could only nod in agreement. A few of them were getting snacks from the table that was always in the warehouse but Kyra didn't really care that much. She just sat down in a chair not too far from Jasmine and watched what was happening.
"Yeah, but Tatra's on a date so I guess she's the only one with a valid excuse," Kyra replied. Sebastian pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, offering her a drink. To be nice, Kyra took it, though she wasn't really sure if she wanted it. Jasmine laughed a bit.
"Sucks. I won't get to see any of them till I get back in December. That's way too long," She frowned and looked up. It was true. The group without Jasmine didn't function too well. Despite trying their best with Cleopatra and Anthony, the two of them struggled to get along and it put some tension on the club. What made it worse was that Jasmine seemed to be the only one who could handle it. So now, while they were continuing making videos, things just didn't seem right.
"Oh well. We just have to continue things without them," Jasmine sighed. She looked back down, scrolling through something on her phone. Oh, what Kyra would give to have hot chocolate right now. That sounded really nice. The rest of the club settled around them, sitting down in various spots around the room to have their meeting, with Jasmine and Mark in the middle, of course.
"So, first of all, I applaud you for actually making a few videos while I was gone. They seem to have done well. Who edited them?" Jasmine started off, looking up from her phone. Sebastian raised his hand and Jasmine smiled at him. "Nice job, Sebastian! It looks good!" He held a thumbs up and shifted in his seat, flipping in backwards so he could lean against the back of it. "I hope that you all know that making these videos aren't required or anything. It's just something fun that I started and if you wanted to be in it, great. If you don't, just let me know and you don't have to be a part of it. Now, onto the serious business..." The already silent room got even more quiet. "What the heck is with the tension in the club? It's not obvious in the videos so I'm forced to conclude that those times are the only times that it didn't happen, but someone explain to me why Mark and Monet send me numerous texts and videos about the club fighting. You realize that they are my eyes and ears while I'm gone, right? I'm not the only one in charge of this place. Mark has just as much authority as I do. So what's going on?"
"It's Cleopatra and Anthony... Again," Isa was quick to speak. "The two of them seem to be getting into fights every day now."
"It's not normal for them to fight?" Aria asked, looking back at Isa with a surprised look. Jasmine sighed, laying a hand on her forehead, like it'd ease what was happening rather than express her annoyance.
"Oh, come on. It's not like Anthony's nice to her," Sebastian called over to Isa. Isa glared at him.
"Then maybe Cleopatra should shut up for once!" Isa replied.
"Guys enough!" Mark shouted, rubbing his temple. Jasmine groaned and Kyra sighed. This had to be a lot of work. She felt bad for them, honestly. Good thing she didn't start a club. She already had enough to handle without all this drama.
"Okay, that's enough. If Cleopatra and Anthony have an issue with each other, let them have an issue with each other. It should not involve everyone in the club to the point of where everyone in the room is fighting," Jasmine started. She wasn't looking at them and it was easy for Kyra to see how disappointed she was in them. "If you've got a side you're on, fine. Whatever. If you're better friends with Anthony than Cleopatra or vise versa, so be it. However, they do not need you rushing to their aid every time they fight. Because of the way they work, they aren't getting anywhere the more they have others fight their battles for them. So starting right now, the next time that Cleopatra and Anthony fight, I want you guys to back out of it. Pass that onto Sasha and Leo as well. I shouldn't be getting texts from Mark and Monet in the middle of a shoot because the two of them are fighting again and now everyone in the room is mad. If it's that much of an issue, leave the room. Hold the club in the music room if you have too. I don't care. Let Anthony and Cleopatra work it out themselves. Have I made myself clear?" Jasmine asked. Her tone was serious. It was probably the first time that Jasmine had gotten mad at anyone in the room and they weren't really sure what to do with it.
Eventually there were a couple of "Yes, Jasmine"'s and "Yes, Ma'am"'s that echoed through the room and Jasmine finally looked up, smiling at them.
"Good. Because I know that you all don't hate each other or anything. When left alone, you guys get along great. The only issue that comes along is when Cleopatra and Anthony are fighting. So let's just let them handle it and move on, okay?" Jasmine asked.
"What if they don't?" Aria said, raising her hand like they were in school.
"Didn't Mark say something about you two having the power to ban someone from the club?" Kyra called out, taking a sip of her drink that Sebastian had brought her. Frowning, she looked down at it. Was it red Kool-aid? Odd. She didn't think she'd had that before.
"Yeah, we have the power to ban someone from the club but we don't really want to do that to either of them. So, unless they can't figure it out themselves, we're not going to intervene," Jasmine sighed, resting her head on one of her hands.
"And if they don't?" Isa asked.
"We'll figure it out, okay?" Jasmine snapped, looking up. The room was silent again. Mark placed a hand on her shoulder and took his turn to speak.
"What she's trying to say is don't concern yourself with them. We'll give them the chance to figure it out and if they don't, we'll work it out with them. It's not your concern so please don't get involved anymore, okay?" The group nodded their heads, though, they kept quiet. This was an interesting day. Kyra sipped her Kool-aid and just continued to watch.
"I don't mean to be mean, but not only is this stressful, but I'm going to be leaving again tomorrow and won't be here for the next few weeks. It puts a lot of pressure on me because I can't be here and there at the same time and it seems like both places need me. So please, let them be if they fight any more, okay?" Jasmine sighed. Kyra really needed to give Jasmine more credit. It seemed like this girl handled a whole lot more than they were aware of. Maybe she could get Cleopatra to back out a bit, since they were now friends. Maybe it'd help fix somethings in the club.
And yet, she knew how hot-headed and stubborn Cleopatra Blackheart could be.
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"Why did we decide to go Black Friday shopping again?" Ben asked, leaned his arms on the table. Cleopatra giggled, hiding it behind her hand, and took a sip of her Starbuck drink.
"I think it's because we decided to make it a game, of course!" She smiled, setting her drink down and drumming her fingers lightly over the book she had gotten. It had really been the only thing she had gotten during their entire shopping trip. That and what they were eating right now. They'd decided on Monday that it would be fun to go Black Friday shopping, but not to actually shop. Instead, they're goal was to find the least crowded place that they could. They'd only really found the book store, but that still had enough people in it to call it busy.
"Yeah but it's so busy," Ben groaned, leaning back in his seat. Cleopatra giggled again and smoothed out her dress.
"Don't tell me you've gotten bored of this already," She replied, not looking up at him. "It'd be a pity if I got all dressed up and we ended this after only a few hours." Ben sighed and leaned back on the table.
"But you're dressed up everyday." Cleopatra raised an eyebrow at him. She knew she was a lot of work to please. She knew she was high maintenance and required a lot of attention but he seemed to know that going into this relationship in the first place. "And you look amazing every day. I'm just saying that this is just another day for you."
"That's what happens when you decide to ask a Lolita out. They get all dressed up just for you and you don't even notice," Cleopatra pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. She puffed her cheeks out a bit, a look only she could achieve because of how much of a doll she looked like, and pouted, leaning back in her chair, losing the posture she almost always had.
"You make that sound very dirty. I don't know how to take that," Ben commented, raising an eyebrow. Cleopatra faked a gasp.
"How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" She frowned, hiding it behind her hand and picking up her book to hide her face behind. "Can't believe you think I'm dirty."
"All I said was that your comment sounded dirty. It's my fault, okay?" He protested, gently pushing her book away from her face. Cleopatra giggled at him and closed the book away.
"At least you admit it. But who knows, I could have meant it to be a dirty comment," Cleopatra responded. Ben groaned and smacked her arm slightly.
"You're so mean!"
"I can be meaner," She replied, setting her book down and folding her hands together in her lap. Ben chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Prove it."
"Oh, but you wouldn't like it." Cleopatra huffed, puffing her cheeks out slightly again, like a child who didn't get what they wanted. "After all, aren't I mean?" Ben rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I don't believe you," He replied decidingly. Cleopatra huffed again and took a sip of her Starbucks, standing up and clearing her food from the table. "What are you doing?"
"I thought you didn't believe me so I guess I'll just have to show you," She replied with a small smirk. The boy rolled his eyes and pulled at her shoulder, bringing her down into a kiss.
"If you just wanted a kiss, you could have just asked," He replied when they pulled away. Cleopatra giggled and sat down in her seat again, hugging her book close to her chest.
"And if I wanted more than that?" She asked, mostly as a joke but she was a little serious. Right? She liked to defy the norm so what was a little rebellion going to do to her? It couldn't hurt. This wasn't the worst thing she'd done, not by a long shot.
Ben laughed. "How patient can you be?" Cleopatra bit her lip, like she was actually thinking about it.
"Oh, I don't know. Not for long. I've been told I can be a total brat some times," She giggled, not bothering to hid it this time. Ben rolled his eyes slightly and threw his food away.
"Oh really? I haven't noticed? You might have to show me again." A little rebellion never hurt anyone, right?