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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jun 9, 2013 13:28:07 GMT -6
Henley was actually home for once, and as much as it surprised him, he didn't mind it too much. It was the start of the summer and the Sutton's had just returned from their Sunday morning church visit about an hour ago. He was still in his dress clothes, but had loosened the tie around his neck as he walked down the long hallway towards his sister's room.
The Sutton's were fairly well off, not enough to be like the Lockwoods or Hartfields, but respectable enough in their own right. Besides, Henley wasn't home a lot anyway. Although this summer he was only taking more dance classes at East University and teaching a group of younger students, so his schedule would be somewhat more open.
He knocked lightly on the doorframe, although the door was open. Marissa was sitting on her bedroom floor, sifting through records. He leaned up against the door frame. "So, someone didn't seem pleased to go to church today," he half teased. Although she didn't seem much into it in general, although he couldn't totally blame her. Henley just went to respect his parents, and while he believed in God and such, he didn't really believe in the practice of church.
The two were only a year apart and close and he could tell when Ris was annoyed or just acting plain weird. She had been a bit off lately.
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debora
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Post by debora on Jun 9, 2013 13:50:07 GMT -6
Marissa sat cross legged on her bedroom floor, absentmindedly looking at her records. Her mind was stuck on Rylee. Rylee Rylee Rylee. Throughout the church service, she kept thinking about the West Side girl with tattered clothes and a beautiful smile. A couple of times, the thought of kissing her came up and Marissa was convinced the thought was blasphemous enough to send her directly to hell. Not that she really cared about religion anyway.
She had changed out of her fancy church clothes and into a pair of grey sweatpants and a light green tank top. Marissa dressed up in girly clothes when she was out and about, but for the rest of the afternoon she would be with her favourite brother Henley and knew he didn't care. The only reason he was still in church attire was Henley was probably too lazy to change and couldn't be bothered.
Marissa glanced up at her brother, waving him into her room. She picked out one of the records with a smile on her face. One of the few she had bought after meeting Rylee. Crossing her room, Marissa put on the record and let it play.
Rolling her eyes, Marissa laughed. "Since when have I ever liked going to church?" She vividly remembered as a kid throwing a tantrum every Sunday morning. "But yeah, I don't know. I guess I've just been questioning it a lot these days. The practice and everything." Nonchalantly, she shrugged.
Would now be a good time to ask Henley about Rylee? Get some older brotherly advice? Was crushing on a girl a mortal sin?
Marissa sighed to herself, and patted the spot next to her on the floor. The record player began playing The Who, and she started humming along. "Just.. a lot has been on my mind."
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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jun 10, 2013 0:41:24 GMT -6
Henley watched his sister fumble with the records before she decided on one and crossed the room to put it on the record player. She was rather old fashioned, she always had been. "Okay, okay. But you seem to not like it more than usual," he pointed out, when she said she'd always disliked church, which was true. "Questioning your faith? You better not tell mom or dad, they'll probably re-baptize you and make you read the bible," he joked, but at the same time it was kind of serious. Their parents were very serious about their religion and their father was a dedicated pastor. There was nothing wrong with that in Henley's opinion, but there was a difference between having faith and going a little too far... Sometimes he was afraid his parents would.
"You're so vague, you know that?" It sort of drove Henley crazy. He just wanted people to say how they felt, but that hardly ever happened. "What's on your mind?"
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debora
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Post by debora on Jun 10, 2013 0:56:43 GMT -6
Laughing, Marissa nodded. "True enough. They'd probably try and drown me in the holy water until my faith or whatever had been restored." She sat back down on the floor, a puzzle expression on her face. How to explain... "Like, I've just been thinking about how like... well. The one thing that always confused me was the whole 'don't lie with another man' if you're a man type thing? Like how is that a sin?" Marissa suppressed a nervous laugh. "And a lot of the hypocritical things in there as well. Like how Mom has a cross tattoo but you're not suppose to mark your skin or whatever."
Shrugging, Marissa looked at Henley. She felt bad for being vague but... at this moment, Marissa wasn't comfortable discussing Rylee. Girls had always been more.. attractive to her, but Ris always pushed those thoughts away. A hint of a smile appeared on her face. "I know. I'm sorry. Sometimes being vague is necessary."
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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jun 10, 2013 16:12:46 GMT -6
Henley laughed. They had to make jokes and laugh at them, otherwise things would be way too grim there when it came to their parents, and their strict religious agenda. Marissa seemed particularly bothered about it though, which was odd since they both were just generally annoyed but went with it. After all, their parents did mean well.
Then she launched into an explanation that wasn't really much of a one. Henley shrugged. "It's how they interpret the bible, I guess. That's why religion is so confusing, because everybody looks at the bible in a different way. I guess mom thinks that by having a tattoo of a cross that it cancels out that sin and about the man laying with another man, they say it's just because god doesn't define love that way." In that case, he'd thank God that he wasn't gay because he knew his parents probably wouldn't go for that...
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debora
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Post by debora on Jun 11, 2013 23:44:04 GMT -6
Nodding thoughtfully, Marissa shrugged. "I guess I don't have the right to say anything. I never studied the bible or thought of my own way to interpret it. My belief is why bother putting all my faith into one celestial being?" She whispered the last part, just in case their parents were eavesdropping.
Marissa felt her face heat up. She knew Henley didn't mean those words, but what was true is that was exactly what their parents would say. Who said something like love needed a definition, as if it were some word in a dictionary? Why did love have limits? A million questions raced through Marissa's head, and all she did was sigh out lie. "Well, I personally disagree with it and I'm a bit tired of wasting every Sunday morning at church. Literally, the only thing I look forward to by the end of the week is us two, hanging out." A smiled appeared on her face, looking over at Henley.
Could she tell him? How would he take it? What if it came off as a total shock?
Marissa began flipping through her records, when her most played Metric vinyl was at the top of the pile. "Emily Haines is such a babe." She accidentally blurted out, and immediately afterwards, felt the colour drain from her face. "You know? I just wish I could look like her. And sing like her." Marissa continued to ramble.
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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jun 12, 2013 23:28:24 GMT -6
"No," Henley told her when she started speaking. "You have every right to say something. The bible..." He lowered his voice, as if his parents could hear through walls. "The bible isn't something that you can prove is true, you know? And people...they live by it." Henley didn't, not in any way. Well, he used to more so when he was younger, thinking it was all so important. He began to develop his own beliefs in high school. Sure, he liked to believe that there was some sort of higher being out there, but...everyone made God out to be....well, not very God-like.
"Then disagree with it," he told his sister with a shrug. "You're allowed to have your opinions, well...as long as you don't blurt them to mom and dad." He wasn't sure what would happen then and part of him didn't want to find out. "I know what you mean though..." Honestly, he was getting tired of it too. Both of them were old enough to make their own decisions. He smiled at that last part though. "At least we have each other though, Ris."
He followed her gaze to the record she was looking at, with a pretty blonde on it. "God, you play that so many times I'm surprised it still works," he said and then laughed at what she'd said. "Agreed, she's a babe." Henley didn't take the comment as seriously as he probably should have. "And you look fine, Ris."
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debora
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Post by debora on Jun 14, 2013 0:09:33 GMT -6
"I'm pretty sure they would disown me, ban me from ever stepping foot in this house again and maybe cutting my head off. For disobeying and disagree with the all knowing bible" Marissa deadpanned with an eye roll, setting the record down. "I mean, you can't force anyone to.... believe in something. That's the beauty of belief. And being brought up in this environment.. I think we're more accepting, you know? We accept and can tolerate other opinions and beliefs. I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to guide us and maybe that influences my thoughts... I don't think they're bad people." Marissa finally finished rambling, shaking her head. She was never one able to articulate and say exactly how she felt verbally. On paper, it was a different story. Thankfully, Henley understood that.
She smiled towards him. "Yeah, I sure am lucky to have you as my brother."
Picking up the Metric record, she nodded. "It'll wear down eventually, probably. I'll just have to find another one." They had the money to afford new vinyls, but Marissa loved the thrill and adventure of searching dusty cardboard boxes for long forgotten about records. The whole ideal was extremely romanticized but Marissa didn't care. "Yeah, but sometimes... I can't help but to feel self conscience in a world of pretty, slender blondes." She said with a small sigh. Thankfully, he didn't think much of her slip.
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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jun 17, 2013 12:36:38 GMT -6
"Of course they're not bad people. They're trying to guide us, that's all. But we're older now, Ris. You can think for yourself. That doesn't mean that you have to tell them what you believe right away, it just means that you can believe what you want in your head." That was the beauty of growing up, you came into your own and could decide for yourself what you believed and what you wanted. "You can't let anybody or anything take that away from you."
He wanted Marissa to become her own person, and she already was, which he was proud of her for. But she couldn't be entirely worried about what their parents would think. He loved them to death, but...they could have their own beliefs and he liked to think that they wouldn't completely disown them for that. "Well, you don't have to be slender and blonde. That just makes me think of Alayna Lockwood." He rolled his eyes at the thought of the blonde millionaire.
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debora
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Post by debora on Jun 29, 2013 0:23:38 GMT -6
"True, I guess part of me feels guilty for putting on the front." And attending church every Sunday like a good, Christian daughter. Marissa sighed, digging her nails into the carpet on the floor. Believe what she wanted.
Did that mean God could still love her for being into girls? Or was that too far? Marissa liked to believe that if a God was out there, he loved everyone and understand that not everyone is perfect. She smiled over at Henley and laughed. "True enough. I mean, we already know she's going to win that music competition coming up soon." Even though Alayna was extremely talented, Marissa was convinced that the Lockwoods paid their way into winning everything every year.
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Post by Admin Sydnee on Jul 1, 2013 0:22:00 GMT -6
"I know what you mean," Henley agreed with a sigh, hanging his head as he moved further into the room. He too felt as if he was putting on a front at times. He just really didn't want to disappoint his parents. Besides, he'd never been one of those teenagers to really defy and rebel against his parents, even if they could be a bit overbearing, especially when it came to religion. He planned to go along with things until he moved out on his own and then he could make his own choices such as if he wanted to attend church every Sunday, or what his beliefs were. "But I feel like telling them what we think will just cause more trouble. They won't see it our way and if they could, it would take a while. A long while."
He shook his head as they spoke of Alayna. "I can't believe I dated her, or rather, that she dated me," he half-joked. "Yeah...probably. Speaking of it, are you going to that?" He knew it was mostly just a bunch of high end people getting together to win money they didn't need, but it was something to do.
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