407Finally, we're here. This took two hours, rather than the usual hour. Jeb's house was even more extravagant than his last one, in a fancy neighborhood.
"Alright, Max." I pulled one earbud out and turned to face my mom. She looked at me for a second, then she pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged back.
"Be good, ok?" she murmured.
"I'll try." She pulled back and smiled.
"Ok."
I climbed out and got my things from the backseat. I waved to my mom, and she drove off. She prefers not to have any dealings with Jeb. After waving, I turned back to the house. I breathed deep.
"Here we go." I whispered to myself. I turned up the volume on my Ipod, and started walking towards the door. I reached out to knock, but before I could, the door swung open from the inside, revealing a very neat and groomed Jeb, in a polo and khakis.
He frowned at me and said, "Weren't your streaks green last time?" There wasn't any hug. No kiss, no 'Ive missed you so much Max.'. No. Of course not.
"Yep." I said shortly. "Can I come in?"
His frown deepened as he spotted my lip ring, which I hadn't had last time he saw me, and my Evanescence T-shirt. He looked at the earbud that was still in, and by the look on his face, I could tell he could hear my Seether blaring from the other one.
"Well?" I prompted. He scowled, but he stood to the side to allow me to pull my suitcase through the door. I stopped to stare in awe at the large marble room in front of me, with the majestic wooden staircase curving gently up to the second floor.
The door shut behind me, and Jeb moved in front to show me to my room. I followed him up the stairs, looking around with my jaw dropped.
"I attend church 4 times a week now." he was saying. "And you will come with me." I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, but you can't make me pray or study with you." I said in a bored tone.
"In the Bible it says to honor your father and mother." he retorted, his voice tight.
"And in the Constitution it says I have the right to religious freedom." I snapped back. We had had this conversation way too many times before. "And besides that, my mother said that I didn't have to. So there."
He looked back to glare at me. "Nonetheless, you will attend church with me, and when you do you will be polite, you will remove your lip ring, and you will dress modestly." I bristled at the last part. The first two are understandable, as much as I hated taking my ring out, but the third made it sound like I was a slut or something.
"Jeb, I wear jeans and t-shirts. Whats not modest about that?" His shoulders tensed, and he stopped in the middle of a long hallway. He opened the first door in the hall, on his left.
"This is your room. Keep it clean." he muttered, then quickly pushed past me and hurried away. I sighed and stepped into the bare room. This would be a looooong month.
Fangs PoV
"Nicholas!" I closed my eyes and cranked up the volume on my Ipod, making my music blast even louder through my speakers, so that I couldn't hear my moms annoying voice anymore. Despite that, I could hear my dads steps thumping up the stairs, and I hid my head underneath a pillow.
My door swung open and slammed against the opposite wall.
"Nicholas! Turn the noise off!" My father roared only a few feet from me. I reached out blindly, managing to yank the cord from my Ipod, and silence fell. "Now get up and get downstairs now!" My jaw clenched, but I obeyed without looking at him, leaving my black painted and poster covered room and heading downstairs.
As I entered the living room, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my black zip up hoodie and clenched one of my fists around the headphones I had left inside it. I stared down at my black Converse, refusing to look up at my mother. I knew it irritated her when I didn't look at her, so I avoided looking at her as much as possible.
"Nicholas, you know our friend, Jeb." My mom said, her voice prim as ever. I nodded once. Yeah, I knew Jeb. He's one of the crazier ones around here, and an ass on top of it.
"We're going to his house for dinner." I mentally groaned. I hated him, he always stares at me. Well, everyone stares at me, but usually its with disgust or mockery. But Jeb stares at me with hatred, as though I personally insult him with my snakebites and dyed hair. I can't imagine how.
"And you should know, his daughter just arrived." His daughter? Wow. Even though she's probably just like most of the others girls here, I can't help but feel bad for her, having him as a dad. "She is your age, seventeen. I expect you to be polite." I nodded again. "Now go upstairs and change."
"Anne, we don't have time for that." My father protested. I smirked. They both hated my appearance, but if it's anything my dad hates more than that, it's being late. My mom just sighed, knowing there was no arguing with him, and stood up. I wanted to run back upstairs and grab my Ipod, but I was ushered out of the house before I could.
This evening would be very interesting.
The drive was only a few seconds long. I would have taken my motorcycle, but my parents forbade it. When we arrived, I really started to miss my Ipod. No doubt they would expect me to hang out with his daughter, and she was probably one of those girls. You know, the ones that obsess over One Direction and wear nauseating amounts of pink. If I had my Ipod, I could shove my earbuds in my ears and drown her out. But not this time, and I was already bracing myself for a hellish night.