Chapter 4: PROLOGUE | Moving On Up

P R O L O G U E

Moving On Up

Lyndon Prince was ten years old when she and her family moved for the first time. She and her siblings had complained, whined, and cried—just a little—as an attempt to avoid it. But, alas, their parents ignored the pleas of the ten year olds and seven year old, ultimately relocating their family from New York City to sunny Miami, Florida. In the end, Nicholas Prince's new job opportunity mattered more.

The Prince siblings parted ways with friends whose names they can barely recall now and learned to adjust to the new weather conditions they were, practically, shoved into.

Things started to look good for the entire Prince family. For once, Lyndon and her fraternal twin brother, Noah, were getting along. For once, Lyndon and Noah actually included their three year younger brother Knox in their conversations. For once, the three kids voluntarily spent movie nights with their parents.

But, as usual, all good things come to an end.

With every new position in the company offered to Nicholas Prince came an even higher salary, and although peace and a happy family in his home meant the world to him, so did money. He's always wanted more.

At almost fifteen years old, Lyndon was told she and her family were relocating again, this time going back to New York City.

Nicholas and Angelica Prince had hoped their kids would rejoice at the news of going back to the place they once begged to never leave — but that wasn't the case.

The three siblings banded together, and that time, they won their fight.

Nicholas left the next morning, alone, to a new apartment in New York, while Angelica and her three children remained in their large house in Florida — a house that was starting to feel bigger and lonelier with every passing day.

When Lyndon was almost seventeen years old, she once again heard the news of her mother's desires to move. But Lyndon had other plans — plans that involved doing everything possible she could to, once again, stop this move.

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"We're not going to have this conversation again." Angelica Prince frantically looked through her bag in search of something. Her attempts to locate whatever was missing had proven to be useless, as her two oldest children continued demanding her attention.

"What do you mean again? You've never had a conversation with us about it in the first place," Lyndon had shouted from her side of the living room. She'd chosen to stand behind the couch, a good few inches away from her mother. Lyndon knew how her mother's temper could be, just as well as she knew her own. If Lyndon didn't play this conversation right, her mother would mistake her desperation to stay for disrespectfulness, and the last thing Lyndon had wanted was to get slapped across the face and still get stuck moving back.

Angelica threw her bag onto the couch and looked up at her only daughter. Silence followed the motion, and this is when Noah Prince decided was the perfect time to enter the conversation. "What Lynnie's trying to say is that you won't even speak to us about this move, Mom."

The stern look on Angelica's face had softened, only slightly, at the sound of her eldest son's voice — but not enough to change her mind. Nothing could stop her from believing that this move is one hundred percent needed, one hundred percent necessary.

"There is nothing to discuss, my loves," Angelica said as she grabbed her bag and continued her previous task of searching. "You don't want to go, but you are. I am sorry this is bothering you so much, but we were supposed to do this three years ago. I gave you three extra years here. Be grateful."

Lyndon's face had twisted into anger at her mother's words. We're supposed to be grateful? Moving shouldn't have even came up again. The extra money wasn't needed. We were doing perfectly fine financially before dad left.

Noah had caught the look on his sister's face. It was almost as if their twin telepathy they used to trick people into believing they had during elementary school kicked in, as he knew exactly what had crossed her mind. Though he agreed with her thoughts, he knew voicing them wasn't the way to win. Guilting their mother was the way to go.

"Mommy," Noah drawled out in a voice he hadn't spoken with in years. "We're happy here. Happier than we ever were anywhere else. Lynnie and I only have one year left at this school. Please don't make us move and start over when high school's already ending for us."

Angelica's movements had slowed with every word that came out of Noah's mouth. Her eyes had never left her bag, which allowed Noah and Lyndon to make brief eye contact and share a nod. They knew it was working. They knew they had a chance.

"I'm already feeling sad about leaving Beach Way High School after this school year. Me and Bea were just talking about how nervous we are to start new in college. I really don't want to have to worry about that and starting at a new high school," Lyndon whined in the same voice that Noah had.

The moment Angelica looked up and stopped searching through her bag again gave the twins more hope than they already had.

Hook, line, and sinker, Lyndon said in her head. Now for the finishing touch.

"And not to be completely selfish, but Liam and I's one year anniversary is coming up. I know it probably means nothing to you, but it means the world to me. I want to be here with him when we celebrate it."

Lyndon knew what she had done. Her mother was a hopeless romantic, something they'd seen time and time again as Angelica had always been the one to plan every special moment between herself and Nicholas. Between pulling on her heartstrings and having thrown in there that Lyndon thinks her mom doesn't care for her relationship, Lyndon — and even Noah — couldn't see her saying no now.

"Lyndon, I am very happy that you and Liam have been together for almost a year. You know I've always liked how happy you are whenever you're around him." The smile that had been on Angelica's face as she spoke then dropped, replaced with a frown and followed by a heavy sigh. "It's just... complicated. We need to go back. We need to be with your father."

Lyndon and Noah were shocked. They thought they had it. They thought they won.

But Lyndon wasn't giving up. Noah might have known when a battle was already lost and when to throw in the towel, but Lyndon had always been a persistent person. She barely knew what the term give up even meant. Between her will to not move and her newfound curiosity as to why her mother had been so dedicated to the move, she had all the more reason to fight.

"Why can't he just come back here then?" Lydon asked, light tone she had used earlier being traded in with a darker one. An angry one. Noah shook his head and scowled at his sister, knowing then more than ever that any slight chance they had of not moving was completely gone.

Lyndon knew she should have stopped talking after seeing her mother's returned annoyance at her, but she couldn't. When Lyndon set her sights on something, she couldn't quit trying until she knew there wasn't the slightest chance left.

"We're always the ones having to drop everything and follow him wherever he decides to move. You've done it three times already. Why are you going to make it a fourth?"

Angelica had abandoned her bag and walked toward Lyndon. When the two stood less than an inch apart, she spoke. "Watch your tone, Lyndon. I am the parent here. If I say we're moving, then we're moving. I don't have to explain any of my decisions to you."

Noah had to hold himself back from grabbing his sister and dragging her to her room. Before he had the chance to convince himself to actually do it and save this conversation from getting any messier, his sister spoke again.

"I bet if I was Knox you would. Of course you won't talk to Noah or me about it, or even give us one fucking minute to debate this. But if Knox was standing here, begging you to not rip him away from the life and friends he's made, you'd change your mind in an instant."

Lyndon held back the smirk she almost formed at the drop of her mother's face. Whether Angelica would ever admit it out loud or not, all the Prince's knew she played favorites, and if your name wasn't Knox Prince, then your opinion didn't really matter to her. That was at least how Lyndon and Noah saw it — they've even asked their father once, and he didn't deny their theory.

Angelica shook her head and took a step back. She didn't want to do something she'd regret. Their household had been a non violent one from the moment their kids were born, neither parent wanting to resort to hitting or spanking just to discipline their kid. But, damn, did the twins make it so, so hard for them to uphold that rule.

The older woman took a long breath before she spoke again.

"Between the tone in your voice and the curse word you just said at me, you're very lucky I haven't already thrown you in my suitcase and shipped you to your father's house right now," Angelica said in a deadly tone. But Lyndon and Noah didn't focus on the threat, they ignored the damage they caused. All they could register were the words your father's house.

"Dad's already got a place out there?" The question came from the youngest of the Prince's.

Angelica and Lyndon turned to face Knox, as Noah focused his gaze on the purse their mother had searched through all morning. His gaze shifted from the bag to his sister, and when their eyes had locked, he knew what she had done.

"Yes, baby." The tone of Angelica's voice had changed in an instant, which caused Lyndon's anger to skyrocket more than it already had.

In her mind, if Knox would just speak up, if he would just ask their mother to reconsider her decision, she would do it. But he hasn't asked and already told his older siblings he refuses too.

"Mom needs this," he had said. "We need to support what she wants."

"How long has he had this house?" Knox questioned again. Lyndon had to physically stop herself from reaching out and smacking the kid for asking all the wrong questions.

Angelica paused. Her hesitation to answer was clear, and it distracted Lyndon from her anger long enough to become even more suspicious of why she wants to move back to New York all of a sudden.

"A few months, I think," their mother had finally said. "I'm not entirely sure, baby."

"How can you not be sure of when he purchased a house, Mom? Wouldn't he have to run that by you since that's a lot of your money he's spending?" Lyndon questioned, suspicion clear as day in her tone.

"It's his money, Lynnie. You know we have separate accounts."

Lyndon had rolled her eyes and looked at Knox, practically begging him to show their mom how shady this information is.

Knox sighed, but did it anyway. "Even if you have separate accounts for certain things, shouldn't buying something as significant as a large enough house for all five of us be something he talks to you about first?"

"Maybe this was their plan all along. Make us think we got our way and let us be happy here for a few years until Dad got settled up there," Noah said.

Angelica snorted at that. "Trust me, moving back to New York was never the plan."

"Then why the hell are we going?" Lyndon asked, still holding onto the hope that they could've changed her mind.

"Lyndon," Knox said in a warning tone that made Lyndon actually reach for him that time. She was restricted by Noah before her hand could make contact with her little brother's nonchalant face.

"Would you stop being crazy for two minutes?" Noah asked her as his arms tightened their hold on her waist, pulling her away from their brother and mother. Lyndon shook him off, but not before he murmured low enough for only her to hear, "I know what you did. She's going to kill you."

The entire time Noah dragged Lyndon away, Knox stood in the same spot, unmoving. His attention was finally caught by his mother who had resumed her search in her bag.

"What are you looking for, Ma?"

"Those damn plane tickets! I paid extra just to get first class, thinking it would please Lyndon and Noah. I'm going to go absolutely nuts if I can't find these tickets and we miss that flight."

Knox moved his eyesight to his older siblings on the other side of the room, immediately putting together why the tickets disappeared.

"Guys, give Ma the tickets."

Angelica's eyes had widened at this revelation, never having considered that her two eldest children would stoop as low as to make her feel crazy for misplacing the tickets, making her waste money on first class, and causing them to miss their flight.

"You two took the tickets?"

Lyndon focused her gaze on Knox instead of her mother. She'd rather feel annoyed at his tattletell ways than guilty at her mother's hurt expression.

Noah briefly considered outing Lyndon as the culprit to avoid being yelled at for something he hadn't even done. But the fight was already lost. Either way, they were going to be moving to New York, and although his sister refused to accept this fact, it's something he knew was inevitable the moment his mother told them they were moving two days ago. She had determination in her eyes. He'd only ever seen that look a handful of times before. He knew that whatever reasoning she had for wanting to move, it was a big one. It was something his whining and Lyndon's attitude couldn't compete with.

"Sorry, Mom," Noah said.

Shock had taken over Lyndon after that. Her brother had always given her up whenever the opportunity presented itself, sometimes going as far as to frame her for things she hadn't even done just to mess with her. But the time he actually didn't do anything and could just sit back and watch her fall, he joined her. He didn't let her take the blow all on her own.

"Where are they?" Angelica walked to stand in front of the twins and held out her hand.

Noah looked to Lyndon, not knowing himself where his twin could have hid them. "Um, the trash?" Lyndon sounded unsure of herself.

"Go get them, right now," Angelica demanded.

"I kind of, sort of, shredded them last night," Lyndon squeaked. "It's impossible for me to get them."

The three siblings stood next to each other as they all could have sworn they saw smoke coming out of their mother's head. Angelica could hardly remember a time when she was any more pissed off than she was in that moment.

"That is it!" She screamed at the top of lungs. She was so loud Knox was worried she'd have a heart attack, Noah was worried she'd popped his ear drum, and Lyndon was worried she really was going to get slapped and forced to move.

"We are leaving tonight!" Angelica continued yelling. "I had bought first fucking class tickets for you ungrateful kids, but seeing as you want to play games and think you can control what this family does, we're getting regular, last minute seats right by the damn bathroom."

Noah felt like he could barely breathe after hearing they would be seated in the bathroom, but Lyndon harped on the fact that she said they would leave tonight.

"To-tonight?" She asked. "But the original tickets were booked for next week!"

Angelica ignored her daughter as she reached for her laptop and started searching one way tickets to New York. "I was feeling generous when I ordered those. I figured I'd let you enjoy your last days of summer with your friends here before moving, but that's not happening anymore."

The three kids stood silent at that, for the first time none of them could think of a response. Not even the ever persistent Lyndon, who felt all too much too blame for this new turn of events.

But, as usual, Lyndon turned that blame on someone else.

It would have been all too easy to blame her mother for being the one insisting that they move, and it'd even be all too easy to blame her younger brother for being completely useless in she and Noah's argument against it.

No. She was going to blame the real reason they're moving. The reason they always move.

There is no doubt that she held anger for her mother and Knox for their part in this, but the fuel for her anger, the reason it even burns in the first place, is her father.

Nicholas Prince didn't know what he caused by uprooting her life once again.