• AMALIA •
I hum to myself as Taylor Swift blasts in my ear. My pencil is busy on the paper, shading and crosshatching and colouring in the drawing of an octopus. Our topic in art class is the ocean, and I'm deciding to focus on the animals within it.
I smile at the drawing before letting my hand relax, finding it aching. I've been drawing for two hours, desperate to get my project done before I go back to school tomorrow. It took a lot of convincing for my father to decide I can, but I'm sick of being at home. I wanna see my friends.
And I want to walk in with Archer.
I look at the brace on my left hand and frown, then drop my head against the back of my seat.
I turn around when there's a knock at my door. "Come in!" I exclaim.
The door opens, and Cole walks inside. He smiles at me, walking over. I stand and shuffle into his arms when he extends them out to me. He wraps them around me and pulls me to his chest.
"You okay?" He asks me softly.
"Mhm." I mumble. He runs his fingers through my hair before letting go. He keeps his hands on my shoulders. "How's your hand?"
"Fine." I mumble.
He kisses my cheek. "Good. Get dressed."
"Why?"
"I'm gonna teach you self defence." He says, smiling.
I furrow my eyebrows. "What?"
"Did you not hear me?"
I frown. "I mean why?"
"So you can knock people out. C'mon, get changed."
"I'm tired." I mumble.
"Suck it up. Hurry and meet me downstairs in a few minutes." He orders before leaving, not giving me any time to protest.
I sigh and walk over to my drawers. I'm about to pull leggings out when there's another knock at my door, this one softer.
"Come in!"
The door opens and Archer walks inside. A smile instantly blooms onto my lips, and suddenly I feel giddy.
"Hey." He says.
"Hi." I reply, smiling.
He closes the door behind him and walks over to me. "Are you okay?"
"Yep." I say. Petal stands up on my bed and begins to wag her tail. Archer regards her warily before turning his attention back to me. "You?"
"I'm great." He says, his smile widening.
"I have to go somewhere with my brother for a few hours." I say.
"I was gonna go to an interview." He replies.
I smile. "Where for?"
"Some restaurant." He replies. "I ate there once, and the food was really good."
"Oh, well that's every reason to work there, then. Do you need a ride?"
"No, I'm okay. Thanks." He says. He leans down and presses a kiss to my temple, and I immediately blush. "I'll see you later, then?"
I nod. He smiles and walks toward the door.
"Bye." He says.
"Bye." I reply. He walks out, closing the door lightly behind him, and I find myself grinning, fighting the urge to squeal.
•
"Ow! Cole!" I shout as my older brother puts me in a headlock.
"Come on, get out of it." He orders.
"I can't!"
"I just showed you how." He replies. "Do it."
I can't remember what he told me, because I was focusing on the texts that Archer sent. He's nervous for his interview, and it's kind of cute. Actually, it's really cute.
Instead of trying to recall, I lean down and bite his arm. He lets me go immediately, swearing under his breath. "What the fuck?"
"Bam." I say.
He rolls his eyes and crinkles his nose at his arm. "That's so gross. Why are you always biting everyone? You used to when you were a baby. Then when you came back, and ever since then you've just been a little chomper."
I snort. "Chomper."
He sighs. "Come on, let's do it again."
"We've been doing this for ages."
"It's been half an hour. And you spent fifteen minutes laying on the floor listening to music."
I laugh. "It was very calming."
"Come here."
"No."
He frowns. "Why?"
"Because if someone in the street said come here, I wouldn't. So there's no reason for me to."
He tilts his head. "Amalia."
"Cole."
He sighs heavily. "God, why did I offer to do this?"
"Because you want to beat me up."
His lips tilt upwards. "Go grab water."
"I won't be doing that. If I'm getting kidnapped, I don't get a water break." I say. Amusement fills his expression. "Stay and fight me. Pussy."
He laughs.
"Oh, I get it." I say. "If you're too scared to catch these hands, then it's fine."
"Lia—"
"No, I totally get it. Go cry in a corner, that one over there is free."
The doors swing open, and Grayson walks through. He grins at me, and I run away from Cole and into his twins embrace.
"Hey, kid." He says. "You okay?"
"Yep. Cole isn't though."
He furrows his eyebrows. "Why?"
"He's scared?"
"Of what?" He questions.
"To catch these hands."
He grins. "Is that right?"
"Whatever." Cole rolls his eyes. "You can try teach her to protect herself. It's a lost cause."
I scowl. "Shut up." Then I frown. "Wait, we're not finished? I want food."
"It's been half an hour." Cole reiterates.
I sigh. "How much longer do we have to be here?"
"For the rest of the day." Grayson says. "Come on."
"I'm tired."
"You've barely done anything." Cole mumbles.
"Come on, let's go get food!" I exclaim.
"We can in an hour, okay?" Grayson offers.
"Fine." I sigh again.
• ARCHER •
I walk into the office after being shown there by a man named Sam. I open the door, pausing.
Amalia's older brother Xander sits behind the desk. He looks up at me, recognition flashing across his expression before his eyebrows raise in surprise.
"Archer." He says, like it's a realisation.
"Yeah. Hi." I reply nervously.
Out of all of Amalia's brothers, he's the one who doesn't hide the fact that he isn't too fond of me. I might as well just walk out now.
"Come sit down." He says.
"Okay." I whisper, walking over and sitting down across from him. He sighs softly.
My leg begins to bounce underneath the table, and I clench the arm of the chair to try and calm myself down. I've never been in an interview before. Especially not one where my potential boss is Amalia's scary older brother.
"What's your name?" Xander asks.
I furrow my eyebrows. I'm pretty sure he already knows it—he just said it before—but I answer anyway. "Archer. King."
He writes it down, glancing up at me. "And why should I hire you, Archer?"
I hadn't really thought about that. I lean back in the seat. "I'm a.. very hard worker."
"Hm." He mumbles. "You worked anywhere else before?"
"No." I answer. He scribbles something down, and I sit up, trying to look. He pulls the paper away and shoves it into a drawer.
"Okay. You can go. We'll contact you."
"That's it?" I question.
"Mhm."
I stand. "Okay. Thanks."
He doesn't look up at me, and disappointment swirls through my chest as I walk out, closing the door behind me. I sigh when I get into the hallway, pulling my phone from my pocket.
ME: Your brother just interviewed me.
AMALIA:
AMALIA: I'll make him hire you.
ME: It's fine.
AMALIA: No. If I tell him to he will.
I smile. I love her.
ME: It's okay, honestly. I wanna get it fairly.
AMALIA: Are you sure?
ME: Yeah. It's fine.
I click my phone off and walk out of the restaurant, toward my car. I climb in and turn the ignition on, resting my head back for a moment and closing my eyes.
Fuck.
•
I go into Alexandra's school to pick her up. But she doesn't come out. The yard is basically empty, so I go over to one of the teachers.
"Hi, hun!" She exclaims. "Who are you waiting for?"
"Alexandra King." I reply.
"She was taken from school early by her father." She tells me. "Were you not aware?"
"No." I say, anger boiling within me as my fists clench.
"Oh, well I'm sure it was just a mix up. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, thanks." I mumble, turning away. I go back to my car and speed from the parking lot. I arrive at my fathers house in no time.
I climb out, storming over to the front door. I try open it, but it's locked, so I bang my fist against it instead.
It's pulled open a few moments later. Jess stands there, a smug look on her face. "Hey, Archer. You're back."
"Where's Ally?" I ask.
"Upstairs." She replies. I go to step inside, but she moves in my way. "She's napping."
"Move out of my way." I say.
"No can do." She says.
I push past her. Her eyes widen as she slumps against the wall, and I don't feel an ounce of remorse as I walk up the stairs.
Ally is in her bedroom, sleeping on the bed. She's still in her school uniform. I scoop her up into my arms carefully, and she snuggles into me.
"It's okay." I whisper softly. She relaxes her little head against my chest, and I smile as I leave the room.
And right into my father.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Away from you." I say. I go to move past him, but he shoves me backwards. I tighten my grip on Alexandra, who remains blissfully asleep.
"Where are you planning to take her? To your whore of a mothers house?"
"Don't call her that. You were the one who cheated on her."
He punches me across the face. Pain spreads through my entire head before I remember that I have to hold onto Ally. I pull her to my chest as my vision becomes spotty.
"Because she wasn't good enough. You and your sister weren't, either. That's the reason our family fell apart, Archer. So don't you go blaming me for what you did."
"Fuck you." I mumble, successfully moving past him. I walk down the stairs quickly, then out the front door. I set Alexandra in her booster seat before getting into the drivers spot.
I drive away from my fathers home and don't look back, my eyes stinging with tears.
•
"Amalia!" Alexandra exclaims.
I look up at the doorway, where Amalia is standing. She smiles as my little sister runs up to hug her. She hugs her back, and my heart flutters a little.
She's perfect.
"Hey, Ally. How was school?"
Alexandra shrugs. "Meh."
My lips tilt up at the corners as Amalia takes her hand and leads her back over to the bed. Ally sits beside her.
"Amalia's gonna teach me how to grow flowers, you know. She told me last night!" Ally exclaims.
"That's very nice of her." I say.
"Yep!" She says.
I catch Amalia's eye, and she smiles. I smile back at her as Alexandra stands up on the bed. She begins to jump. I sigh. "Alexandra, stop."
"Nope!"
Amalia laughs. I climb off the bed and grab my baby sister, tilting her upside down and holding onto her ankles.
She squeals.
Amalia laughs harder as Ally begins to squirm, flailing her little arms. I grin as I set her back down on the bed. "Don't jump on the bed. You'll get hurt."
Her face has gone all red, making me laugh again. She lunges at me and goes to hit my face, but I grab her wrists and shove her away. "Scram, you little weirdo."
"Hey!" She shouts.
Amalia is grinning, beaming as bright as the sun.
"Whatever!" Alexandra exclaims. "I'm going to play with Petal."
"Go on." I say. Her blue eyes narrow into a glare as she climbs off the bed and stomps out of the room.
Amalia shuffles over so she's sitting beside me. "How was your interview?"
"I'm not getting it." I reply.
"Yes you will."
"You don't need to tell him to give me the job." I say. She looks over at me, tilting her head a little. "I wanna get it by myself."
"I haven't even talked to him today. Well, I did this morning. But not since you told me. I promise. I meant that he'll hire you because you're a good person, and I'm sure you'll be a great waiter."
I sigh. "Maybe."
She nudges my arm. "No, definitely."