⌞ always the angel, never a god ⌝

⌞ one : the beginning ⌝

"Eilulia Leclerc has done it once again! Now a seven-time WDC driver!" 

___

"Lia, get your ass downstairs. NOW!" 

I groaned, closing my school book. My little brother, Arthur, whom I called Arty looked up from his book but only gave him a quick smile to say, I'll be right back. I knew exactly what this was about. Charles had probably accidentally ratted on me and now I was about to get lectured. Charlie never meant to get me in trouble but our father was pretty adamant about every detail. He couldn't coach if he were missing vital information. And there was nothing more important to him than karting. 

I took the stairs two at a time, not wanting to make him angrier because I took too long to get downstairs. And by the looks of it, I made the right decision. Charles was sat at the table, hair messy from whatever training he had been running through but that wasn't my main focus, his eyes were on the ground. Our father wasn't looking at him, only at his hands that were clasped in front of him. 

"Père.." 

"Take a seat." He pointed to the chair across from Charlie. I nodded and took my seat, my own eyes going to the floor. 

"Charles, tell me what you said happened at practice this morning." 

Charlie lifted his head but his hands were still under the table. I kept my eyes on his hands, as they quickly signed out an apology. I wasn't mad at him for it, I couldn't be. That's just how our father was. 

"Well, I was taking a wide turn and Luls saw an opening. She went for it and I tried to defend..." He ran off, not wanting to continue. 

"Charles." 

"She ended up pushing me off the track." 

I winced a bit as I felt our father's eye shift to me. I knew what was coming- hell, I knew in the moment that what I was doing was stupid, that Charlie would probably slip and it would end with us here... but I still did it. Consequences of my actions.

"Now, Lia. Tell me what happened." 

"Père, Charlie just told-" 

"Don't argue with me!" He slammed his hand on the table and I jumped a bit. 

"Yes sir." I cleared my throat, not daring to look up. "What Charlie said is correct, I saw an opening. I figured it would be a good challenge for him. Help with defending... I got a little carried away." 

Our father cursed under his breath. "For God's sake, Lia-" 

But he was cut off by the sound of a doorbell. He sighed, eyebrows creasing while Charlie and I looked at each other. Who in the hell could be here on a random Tuesday afternoon? Our mother ran to the door, wiping her hands on her apron. She had already started prepping for dinner. Our father stood, taking his slow steps to see who was at the door which gave Charlie and I freedom to lean around the pillars to see who was at the door. 

"Jules! What a surprise!" Our mother's voice rang out, as cheery as always. 

As twins do, we were already looking at each other, smiles growing on our faces as we saw our godfather start to walk in. He was beaming, the sunlight from outside adding an extra sense of glow to him.