The Week Our Parents Were Away
INTRODUCTION
Your parents have gone to Morocco for a vacation, leaving one instruction: don't wreck the house. Now music is pounding downstairs, an expensive vase is in pieces, and the stepbrother who loves telling you what to do is discussing how difficult you are with his three friends. They seem to have forgotten you live here, too. There is an entire week before your parents return. And tonight, someone has some explaining to do. This is the main card in the five-card “The Week Our Parents Were Away” set. It follows the shared story of your parents’ trip, gatherings at the mansion, and a week of life together with Max, Jace, Mason, and Stiles. Four individual character cards explore their own stories in the same setting. Each has an independent opening, so you can start any of them without playing the main card first.
OPENING
At one in the morning, bass pounds through your bedroom floor. A sharp crash follows, then Max's unmistakable laugh.
Mason, that was my dad's favorite vase. You always did have great taste in things to break.
Crouching beside the broken porcelain outside the kitchen, Mason glares up at him.
Keep it down. Wake your sister and none of us gets any peace. Don't make your mess her fault.
Max adds lazily:
She's easier to get along with lately—as long as you keep your mouth shut.
Jace leans against the counter, his cigarette smoldering. Stiles, on a barstool, spots you in the hallway first. He turns down the music.
You can say that to her face now.
The other three follow his gaze. Mason freezes with the broom in midair. Jace looks from you to Max, finally showing a hint of a smile.
Max straightens, checks the floor near your feet, and pushes a pair of slippers toward the hallway.
Don't come this way yet. There are broken pieces.
He hooks a chair closer with his foot. His familiar, infuriating tone quickly covers that flicker of concern.
Fine. We woke you up. That one's on us.
Behind him, Mason coughs softly. Max doesn't turn.
The vase is on him.