Though We May Fall {An Aphmau AU}

Who's Coming To Dinner?

**Lucinda's POV**

    "See you guys soon!" I lifted a hand, waving at my friends before shutting the door of the car. As soon as I buckled my seat belt, Bill started driving the car away from the school. Bill wasn't our butler, but he helped out my dad a lot by taking care of the house. He had offered to drive me home because Dad was busy at the office today.

    Out of all of our friends, I was the richest. Not that I bragged or flaunted it. But it was the truth- my dad was the governor of the city, and he had been re-elected more times than anyone else. He always did the right thing, and truly cared about the wellbeing of the city. The Lycans and the Ro'Meaves were also rich. But as far as I knew, Aaron had completely cut himself off from his family, and the Ro'Meaves never talked about their money- all I knew was that they had a mansion and owned Ro'Meave Entertainments.

    I also lived the farthest away from school. Aaron, Jeffory, Aphmau, and Katelyn were walking home since they all still lived in our old neighborhood. The rest of us had slowly spread out and moved away, but no one left Phoenix Drop. Well, except for Aphmau, but she's back now.

    Everyone was going home for Thanksgiving break. It was Saturday now, and next Thursday I was having everyone and their parents over for Thanksgiving dinner. It would be a good way for everyone to catch up and enjoy time with each other. After all, we all used to get together for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, basically every holiday. We all were inseparable.

    After an hour, we pulled up at home. After thanking Bill, I grabbed my suitcase and ran inside. I loved coming home, even when Dad wasn't home. Of course, when he was home, it was always even better.

    Walking through the foyer, I sighed and grinned, orange hair falling over my shoulders. I ran up the stairs, already enjoying the week I had at home.

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"Hi, Lucinda. Thanks for having us over." In front of me, Aaron and his sister Melissa stood on the doorstep. I smiled at them, and my dad appeared behind me.

"Good to see you again Aaron. And this is your...?" He trailed off, not wanting to offend Melissa.

She laughed, reaching out to shake his hand. "I'm Melissa, Aaron's sister. I apologize that our parents can't make it tonight, they had a very important business meeting they had to attend." Dad nodded, shaking her hand in turn.

"I'm Luke, but I'm sure you already knew that." He chuckled, opening the door wider. "Come in, come in! We are about to get started." Melissa followed him, and they started talking about who knew what. I looked at Aaron, smiling.

"Glad that went well." He laughed, coming inside as well. I closed the door behind him and lead him to the dining room.

"It's good to see you, Lucinda. We haven't had much time to talk this year."

I nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah. Everything's just been so busy lately. I mean, everyone has school, rehearsals, homework, and who knows what else." Agreeing, he opened the door in front of us, holding the door open for me.

I winked at him before entering the room and being greeted with the loud sounds of conversations. Almost everyone was here except for Aphmau, Katelyn, and their parents.

    As soon as I sat next to Dad, the doorbell rang again. Rolling my eyes with a laugh, I stood back up and went back down the hallway towards the door.

"Hello there!" I gave my two friends large smiles. Their parents stood behind them, each looking like their own daughters- Sylvanna and Aphmau, Eric and Katelyn. And besides Aphmau, two girls our age. One had skin the color of chocolate, with matching eyes and hair. She wore a yellow off-the-shoulder top and a pink skirt. The other girl had pale skin, long pink hair pulled in a braid, and beautiful blue eyes. She wore a green dress, a white belt holding it tight against her waist.

"Hi, Lucinda! I hope you don't mind, but my friends from O'khasis were visiting and I was hoping you wouldn't mind if they tagged along and got to meet everyone." I grinned, leaning against the doorway.

"Hmm... I don't know. I'll have to think about it." My smile gave me away, and she laughed, the very sound bringing me back to first grade. "Oh alright, come on in. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lucinda." The first woman, the darker skinned, stretched her hand out.

"I'm Teony, and this is my girlfriend Ivy. Thank you so much for allowing us to join." I ignored the outstretched hand and instead hugged the young woman, before hugging Ivy as well.

"I should be thanking you for taking such good care of Aphmau while she was in O'khasis. That really meant a lot." The three of us smiled at each other. Then I looked at the Fyres and Phoenix with a grin.

"Well? Let's get this dinner started!"