THIRD PERSON POV
"episode four - by the book"
THE DUO OF SAPPHIRE AND MAEVE FOUND THEMSELVES ON THE SOFA ONCE AGAIN. The two girls were flicking through magazines together whilst watching Harry every now and again as he was watching his show. They had basically become his guardians; well Sapphire more than Maeve.
The girls peace was soon disturbed when Liam and Frank jumped onto the sofa opposite them. "Harry turn this off. Let's watch movies instead." Liam says as he teaches for the remote.
"Sapph!" Harry turns to the eldest.
Without even looking up the girls both defended their 'child'. "Let him watch it, Liam" and "Leave him alone, O'Donovan."
"Besides when Gina catches you watching horror movies, she'll take them away." Sapphire continues.
Liam sinks back into the sofa, "She's right. We should get our own Tv and Dvd player."
Maeve found herself laughing at the boy, which wasn't out the normal, "Good luck affording that."
Liam quirks his eyebrow, "You don't think we can?"
"Yes, I really don't." Maeve tells him with her smile still up, "In fact I would even offer my help and you still wouldn't get enough for it."
The conversation was cut off by Tracy as she called them to a house meeting in the kitchen. This truly didn't upset Maeve as there was only so much of Liam she could tolerate at one time.
Despite the complains about the disturbance, the house all follow her to the kitchen and sit themselves around the table.
A cleaning router. Great.
"As Gina says, let's think of the washing up as a game!" Tracy tries her best, "Or tidying your room as a challenge, that way it doesn't have to be boring, it can be fun!" She could see how much of a one sided conversation this was, "Do you want to live in a pigsty?
Maeve rolls her eyes, "All ready have the animals for it." Her comment goes and heard by everyone but Liam who kicks her under the table.
"But I don't feel like tidying my room today Tracy." Harry complains, shoving his face into Jeff.
"Well we Will have to do things we don't feel like doing, even Jeff. I'll tell you what, if you and Jeff go clean your room I'll put a gold star in your file so that everyone knows what a big big help you've been." This seems enough for Harry as he immediately goes to his room.
Johnny suddenly seems interested in the conversation, "Can me and Tee have gold stars too?"
Everyone else in the room laughed at him, I mean even Maeve struggled to keep it in. I guess you could say she'd been practising though, every now and again one of Liams comments would really test her on how well she could hold it in.
Tracy gets all the children to stop laughing at Johnny before saying, "Yes Johnny, you can have gold stars." She turns to the rest, "That is the attitude I like to see."
Liam squints his eyes slightly, "Oh, what can we have? New Tv set?"
Tracy only looks at them with one of those
looks that says; 'as if'. "If gold stars are good for Johnny, then they're good enough for everyone. Better get a move on you lot." She says before she leaves to see Harry.
"Nice job, Johnny." Maeve tuts, there are things in the world that she would much rather prefer than gold stars.
"If you hadn't of said anything then we could've had something better than stupid gold stars." Liam glares at golden boy.
Carmen leans in, "Yeah, what do you want baby stars for?"
Johnny finally looks up from the table, "I just do, alright?"
"Okay, well you can have all my stars if you do all my chores."
This sets of a cannon of children dumping their chores onto Johnny and Tee before leaving to go about whatever they were doing before the meeting.
For Maeve however, she decided to go to the place she lives most, her room. Out of boredom she had borrowed Gina's copy of Tracy's book just to read a little.
She got to page 3 without being disturbed. It wasn't by Sapphires though, she could tell by the knock.
It didn't take long before she found out who it was though as the duo burst through the door without waiting for a reply.
Maeve didn't even look up at them as she laid on her bed. "What?"
The two boys plunked themselves on her bed. either side of the girls legs. There was a brief moment of science as the boys look around.
"Don't think i've ever seem this much of your room before." Liam states earning a nod of agreement from Frank.
Maeve closed the book shut, "I would have much preferred it to stay that way."
Liam turns his head back to her, "Anyway, was wondering if you have anything we can sell."
"Why would I give my my stuff so you can get money?"
"Well, that's the funny thing." A smirk on the boys face, "If you remember, earlier this morning you made a deal with us."
Maeve knew exactly what they were talking about, she rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't exactly call it a deal."
"That's beside the point." He quickly snaps, "Do you have anything, East?"
She sits up and faces him directly, "No." is the only thing she states, not breaking eye contact.
Liam pokes his tongue to his cheek, but something catches his eye. "I think you do." He snatched Tracy's book from her hands, making sure not to make physical contact with her.
"You're going to sell Tracy's books for her, but keep the money for yourself?" Her eyes roll again, "So typical of you, O'Donovan."
"Uh-hu, but I think you're forgetting again, not just me and Frank."
There is a silence that sits in the room. "If I help you, will you take you and your smell far away from my room?"
The boy nods, "Me and my clean smell will go."
The two boys already had an idea of how they were going to obtain the books. Frank would distract Gina whilst Liam and Maeve snuck into the office to steal a load of the books. And it's exactly what they did.
Liam's plan was to sell the books to other residents of the house. Maeve thought this was the most pathetic idea he had ever thought of.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tracy takes the book from the girls hand.
Liam smiles politely, "Helping you sell books, for a small profit of course."
She sniggers, "Yeah, thanks, but no thanks." as she pushes her way past the small group. "Anyway, no one wants to buy them, I can barely give them away. I've still got 2,000 copies back home."
"2,000 books!" Liam exclaims, "And no where to put them." He leads on, "You know what Tracy, I think we can help you with that."
And just like that, the three got themselves a deal. Tracy would pay them £3 a week to look after some of her book. All that was left was to get them from Cam and sneak them into our rooms.
After cramming in all the books, the group move to the computer.
"If you want to sell something fast, there's only one place to go." Liam takes control of the mouse.
Maeve had honestly never been as bored as she is right now. Watching a Tv that wasn't even on would be more interesting. But a deal's a deal.
Toby come ups behind the bunch and watches. Maeve was okay friends with the boy, especially after all the bad luck boy problems.
"First edition books." Maeve reads off, "We'll get more money for that."
Liam's face contorts in confusion, "What's first edition?"
"Books that we're printed first you moron, like the first batch." She pauses, "Tracy's books."
"Will we get even more if she signs them?"
"Probably."
The trio managed to catch Tracy before she goes upstairs.
"What do you want?" Tracy asks immediately.
Frank holds out her book and a pen, "Your autograph. Sign A few copies and we will be able to get rid of them easier."
She takes the pen, "And why would I want to do that?"
"Give away a few free copies, word gets around, and before you know it, you're a world famous author." Liam grins.
"Aw, guys." She takes the book and begins signing, "You'd really do that for me?"
Maeve holds back a laugh. She could recognise the tone Tracy was using from a mile away. The classic sound of sarcasm.
When Tracy's done she passes the book back and carries on with her day.
Liam opens it and reads out:
Dear Frank, Liam and Maeve,
Do you really think i'd sign my book so you could sell them behind my back?
Love, Tracy.
"That no way to treat your fans, you know!" He yells up the stairs behind her. "I really hate how my name is next to yours, East." Liam comments.
Maeve takes the book and pen from him, "You poor thing." She opens the marker and scribbles out Liam's name so much that to anyone else you would have no idea what it used to say, "That better?"
He takes the book back, clearly annoyed, "Great."
Liam and Frank decide to split up. Liam goes back to the computer to try and find more selling websites whilst Frank goes into the garden to try and forge a signature.
Of course, given the option, Maeve chose to go with Frank. She was getting a headache and obviously was blaming it on being around Liam for too long.
"What about this?" She holds up a forged signature.
Frank shrugs, "Doesn't look believable enough."
"Forget it," Liam says going outside, "All the websites require you to be eighteen or over." He sits in the other beanbag. "There were postcodes, bank details, credit card numbers. They have thought of everything to stop us from using their stupid system."
"So what do we do?" Frank asks.
Liam sighs, "I just wanted something of my own for once, you know?"
Okay, this was weird for Maeve. She had known Liam for years and years, unfortunately, but she had never heard him open up about anything. She didn't like it.
"Bummer." She says, "It's been great hanging out with you friend, and O'Donovan." She pushes herself up from her own bean bag and makes her way inside back to the confinement of her own room.
It was the next morning at the dumping ground. Everyone was sat at the kitchen table. Maeve had her empty green striped bowl in front of her and Frank had his head rested on the table.
"What time did you go to sleep last night Frank?" Tracy asks, "And Johnny, where's Tee?"
"How should I know," He rests his head on his hand, "I'm just her brother."
The mood was different today, everyone could sense it.
"Right you lot," Tracy starts, "After yesterday's events, I've decided there will be no more trading, exchanging or swapping chores. You can all do your own jobs."
Johnny's chair hits the floor as he storms off. "Oh my days," Maeve blatantly laughs at him, "That boys upset that he can't do other people chores."
"What's the point of tidying up if we don't get a reward?" Liam asks.
"Because Liam, if this place turns into a tip then things are going to start going missing." She smirks, "Like the Tv remote. Now go."
Reluctantly, everyone drags themselves from the table to go and do their jobs.
Maeve is riding her room when someone bursts in. "Why did you take the books?" Liam almost yells at her, startling her from the job at hand.
She faces the angry boy, "Why the hell would I take the books when I have about a hundred hidden in my own room?" She lifts up the sheets of her bed to reveal the ones that are hidden under her bed. Except, they're not there.
The two have an idea of who to interrogate next, Frank. They can't find him anywhere in the house, so they begin looking out the front gate.
That's when they see him. The boy had created some sort of stall from the boxes of books with a sign reading:
BOOK SIGNING HERE TODAY!
There were something different about the books though. The front page was now covered in a picture of Frank.
"Totally Frank" Liam reads the cover of the 'new' book, "Boys story about Care homes, and other stuff."
"I guess this is why you're tired then." Maeve shakes her head at him.
"Fake book signing," Liam continues, "Pretty good idea.
Maeve looks at one of the books, "What happens when they open the cover and realise that it's Tracy's picture underneath. Or maybe read the first sentence and realise it's has nothing to do with you."
"Why didn't you tell me." Liam asks, he looks at Maeve, "Well, us, I guess. Could have helped you."
"It was a surprise, to cheer you up."
"Maeve!" Her best friends voice approaches, "Finally, there you are." Sapphire grabs Maeve's hand and starts dragging her back. "Come quick, Tee's in trouble!" She calls back to the other two as they all run back home.
In the garden, Tee is stuck halfway up a tree with Johnny a few branches below. Everyone but Mike and Gina are collected below.
"Tee, listen to me." Johnny reaches his hand up, "Just grab my hand!"
"What's happening?" Liam asks the group on the ground. He doesn't get a response though, it's too tense to look away.
Tee slowly reaches for her brother hand, but she slips, falling from the tree.
Many in the group look away not wanting to watch.
However, everyone takes a massive breath out when they realise Toby caught Tee by placing a beanbag down so she fell right into it. Johnny jumps down onto the other bean bag meaning they were both completely safe.
"That looks well fun."
"That's so cool, I wanna do that."
Those were the responses from two of the children. Liam and Maeve both immediately glared at each other, hating the fact their responses were so similar.
They didn't even notice the annoyed look from Tracy.
"Stay away from her!" Johnny gets right up into Tracy's face, "My sister could have been killed."
"Back off Johnny." Sapphire defends, "Tracy didn't make Tee climb the tree."
"Yes she did! Ask her! She caused all of this! Because she's a stupid, interfering, big headed idiot, who will never be good at anything. Writing books, working here, anything!"
Maeve has a strong disliking for Johnny she will admit. I mean she admires how protective he is over Tee, but it often becomes too controlling.
Tracy swallows before turning to Tee, "Are you okay?" She nods in response.
"You're shift is over." Johnny starts again, "Why don't you just go him, and never come back."
Everyone watches as Tracy begins to walk away.
The children do want her to come back, all but Johnny that is.
It was a new day, everyone had had a chat together. The chat did involve Maeve yelling at Johnny a few times, but it seemed to work. Now, everyone has decided to keep what happened yesterday a secret from Mike and Gina, and Tee and Johnny had decided to apologise to Tracy for all that happened.
Although it wasn't long before Tracy was in a bad mood again. She had collected Liam, Frank and Maeve in the lounge. "Where are my books?"
"Tracy," Liam speaks with a calm voice, "Before you do anything, I really liked your book."
"Yeah, me too." It would normally pain the girl that she agreed with Liam, but in this situation, it was probably the best thing to do.
"Forget it, lying won't save you."
"No, honest." Liam sits up straight, "I really read it! About how you had nothing but what you did have was your mates. It really made me realise what I have." He looks at Frank.
Tracy has a proud smile, "Wow, you really liked it?"All three nodded at her and her face drops, "So where are they then?"
"I can explain." Frank starts.
He does, and even mentions the part about when the book stall got cleaned off the street and takes away so they can never get it back. Great.
Tracy looked completely unimpressed and annoyed.
"Uh, Tracy." Liam starts cautiously, "Would now be a good time to mention that you own us £3?"
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