Greyscale [✓]

Chapter 05

CHAPTER FIVE

"You're such an ass Cammie," Hannah said, rolling her eyes at her cousin sprawled on the sofa opposite hers. It was Saturday evening and for a change, neither of them had any plans. Hannah had been looking forward to spending some time with her cousin without anyone else around her. As much as she insulted him and acted like he annoyed her, she loved just sitting and talking to him for long periods of time. If there was one person on the planet she couldn't live without, it was definitely the idiot sitting there. He was the only one that truly knew her, who understood everything about her.

But instead of talking to her like she'd expected, he had been grinning at his phone non-stop for the past hour or so, hardly paying any attention to his cousin. Once Cameron heard her call him Cammie he looked up for a fraction of a minute and glared, his mouth betraying him as he tried not to smile. It had been about a decade since she'd last called him that and it bought back memories from when they were young.

"My ass is hot," Cameron answered, standing up to stretch as he did so. Hannah snorted in reply and rolled her eyes at him. She'd been bugging him for ages but he still hadn't told her who he was texting. It had to be someone important though! He kept smiling every time he replied to these mysterious text messages and she could have sworn he had giggled at one point.

Giggled!

It sounded preposterous to even think that her big, burly, bad-ass cousin would do something as girlish as giggle but it had definitely happened. And he still wouldn't tell her who he was texting!

"Later!" he murmured, not even moving his gaze from his phone to look at her. "I'll tell you later, it might not even work out innit so I don't wanna jinx it or anything y'know."

She understood his point – after all, he had never managed to keep a girlfriend longer than a few days – but was frustrated at him for keeping it a secret all the same. The curiosity was too much. Perhaps it was Catherine, they had been spending some time together after all. Or maybe it was a new girl from the last party they went to – someone who could make a difference in his life.

Before she could think of a way to get it out of him however, the letterbox clanged loudly and Hannah leapt up in hope that it was another buy one get one free coupon for Papa Johns pizza. She was having major withdrawal symptoms from their garlic butter sauce and Cameron owed her a pizza. To her utter disappointment, it was just a boring flyer for an auto-repair garage but before she turned back towards the living room, she saw a flash of colour streak past through the glass.

Opening the door to get a better look, Hannah scrunched her eyebrows in confusion before she realised what it was. A small smile tugged on the corners of her lips as she leaned against the doorframe, her heart warming as she looked at the scene in front of her. Her neighbours' kids were running around chasing each other, loud joyful laughs bursting out of their little bodies as they leaped along the pavement.

The younger of the two – little Matthew – was clutching onto his beloved pale blue teddy bear for dear life as his sister threatened him with the cushion she was waving in the air.

"Come back here you rat!" Annalise yelled, ignoring her mum who was standing on their porch with her hands on her hips sternly.

"Heeeeelp Hannah!" Matthew called out in desperation as he caught sight of her. Hannah chuckled at him and waved at Mrs Woods with a smile. The children's older sister Kalila was a friend of hers – probably one of the only true friends she had and she'd babysat for the two younger children before. Their interactions never failed to remind her of her relationship with Cameron when they were young; despite the constant arguing and regular insults, the children were as close as two siblings could be.