Speculos

Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Hey guys, if youve been reading Speculos (before 4/24/15) this is not anything new. I've been reworking chapters, this was previously chapter six. The new chapter will be out after I finish working out the kinks! Thanks for your patience, feedback and love. It's always appreciated!

—————————

Breakfast was an affair of "Did this really happen?" Over, and over, and over again. I felt like a broken record.

Ruby rolled her eyes at me, she shuts a sky blue cabinet with a little more force than necessary. "Yes. It happened. It all happened. Now eat those eggs before I turn them into chickens and sic' them on you!"

"Wait," my eyes widen and narrow, "could that really happen?"

She mumbled something under her breath before looking at me with a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "I'm willing to give it a shot if you are."

"No, I think I'm good." I say, stuffing a piece of toast into my mouth to help stay quiet for awhile.

Ruby glances at the telephone and a few seconds later it begins ringing.

I shake my head and focus on swallowing my chocolate milk. Ruby's last nerve is a scary place to be doing the cha-cha.

"Hello," Ruby smiles briefly before looking at me out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, hold on just a second."

"I'm gonna take this outside," she whispers to me. She can't lie for anything though, and I know that the call concerns me. I also know there's only one person who would call here to talk about me.

"Tell Sheriff I asked about how his blanket is coming," I toast to her with my chocolate milk before getting back to my breakfast.

She glares at me. I can tell she's deciding if she wants to know what I have on the Sheriff or be responsible and take the call. The call must be important because it wins out over possible blackmail material and she heads for the front door. I'm curious, but I keep my butt planted firmly in the chair.

"I'm not some nosy five year old," I say unconvincingly as I pick at my scrambled eggs. "Oh, who am I kidding?" I run over to the window and peek out of the blinds. Hoping I'm conspicuous, I watch Ruby pace around the yard.

She is sitting on a bench with her back is facing me, so I can't read her lips. But solely by the shlumped shoulders and random nods of defeat I know it's probably nothing unexpected. She begins to stand up and close her phone, so I dash back to the table and stuff some bacon into my mouth to disguise my heavy breathing. I am so out of shape.

"So?" I ask as she walks back into the kitchen.

"We are gonna go down the police station this afternoon to talk about your mom's punishment." She sighed.

"Just how I wanted to spend my Saturday," I sigh right along with her.

"Well, there's one good thing about today." She smiles.

"What's that?"

"It's your turn to do the dishes," she smirks. She's just mad that I know Sheriff knits and she doesn't.

After cleaning up I decide to help Ruby bake some cookies. She begins opening various cabinets and pulling out the ingredients we'll need and I dig through the cabinet of pots, pans, and hopefully cookie sheets. The clanking is loud, both grating my nerves and agitating my impending migraine.

After adding all the dry ingredients stirring becomes more of an arm workout than a relaxing hobby. I did not sign up for a workout.

"Don't you have one of those fancy mixers in this house?" You've got everything else.

"Why buy a mixer when you can just use a little elbow grease?" She smirks.

"Why use elbow grease if you can buy a mixer?" I stick my finger into the mostly mixed dough and give it a little taste test. "Now that's the real question."

Ruby doesn't do the finger test, she just grabs a spoonful to eat.

"You know raw eggs are, like, bad for you right?"

"I've spent the last sixty years eating raw cookie dough, I think if it was gonna kill me I'd be dead long before now." Far be it from Ruby to let a little thing like Salmonella keep her down.

"Fair point," I say as she hands me a spoon of my own. Then she throws a bag of raisins into the bowl.

"What did you do?" I sputter with a glare. "Why would you ruin a perfect batch of cookies?"

"They aren't for us you doof. We are taking them to your mom." She avoids my eyes as she rushes through that last part.

"You know," I say while enjoying my spoonful of untainted goodness. "Raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the reason I have trust issues."

"You have trust issues because-" she's cut off when I throw some flour at her.

"Don't go there," I warn, still holding another handful of flour and tapping my foot. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to my mother.

"Fine. Fine." I wonder why she actually surrenders, but I don't think to question it and start towards my room.

"For Narnia!" Ruby screams. I spin around in confusion as she dumps what's left of the flour over the top of my head. Luckily the bag was only a fourth full, but I'm still covered.

"Ruby!" I cough, trying not to inhale. "I just showered!"

"You started it," she smirks before starting to place balls of cookie dough on the sheet. "Besides that little smart mouth of yours..."

I sloppily gather up some of the flour from the floor and throw it at her. The gleam in her eyes is the dangerous sort of gleam that typically involves hurt feelings and a hospital visit in the after math.

I hold up my hands in surrender. "I'm going to shower."

"Would you mind hosing off out front first?" She smirks. "Last thing we need is a bunch of pizza dough forming in the pipes or something."

I didn't tell Ruby that I wanted to stay away from any potential disaster areas, including but not limited to the bathroom. I groan in frustration as I walk into the bathroom. I avoid eye contact with the mirror as I speed walk past it to turn on the shower. Again.

I relax under the steamy water, until I realize that the flour in the roots of my hair is only turning doughy. After my fourth shampoo I give up.

Ruby pounds on the door.

"What?" I scream over the water.

"I've gotta run to the store, I'll be back in a jif!"

"Okay!" I yell, and close my eyes and relax under the hot water. A minute later my eyes open slowly in shock. My heart starts racing and I try to calm myself down. But I can't seem to get back to the level of calm, cool, or collected.

Ruby just left me, and my unknown abilities triggered by mirrors and who knows what the heck else, in a house filled to the brim with mirrors.

And I also forgot my towel.

I peek around the shower curtain, eying the foggy mirror. I'm shivering. I'm naked. My room is just across the hallway. No one is home. I think I can, I think I can.

I slowly step out of the shower, because the last thing I need is to break my neck and get rescued by a hot fire fighter while I'm laying here naked. I'm pretty sure I would actually rather die. But my overcautious actions jinx me, because as I walk past the mirror my foot slips on the cool damp tile. I grab for the counter to save myself and bite back a word Ruby would make my brush my teeth with soap for using.

As I steady myself I make the terrible mistake of looking up.

Instantaneously the mirror begins to unfog. As it clears I see the amused smirk, a raised brow, and crossed arms of an, admittedly really hot but probably super aggravating and egotistical, guy.

And I forgot my towel.

Crap.