Ava Queens Nash
Age seven.
He's going to be a criminal when he grows up. Either that or a mafia or an assassin or a gangster or a mob or anything bad. Yeah that's right. Whatever he is going to be, its going to be bad.
He has to be.
First, he's wearing all black: black jeans and a black hoodie with the hood up.
And second, he's very carefully and cautiously pouring water on my ground.
From a big bottle of water though.
I'm currently standing behind the thick trunk of a tree and watching him secretly.
Or more like watching his back, because he's facing away from me, walking backwards.
And then he looked around carefully and walked away. Inside my house as i followed him up to the terrace.
Why the the hell is he going to my terrace.
Thats when he removes a string from his pocket and starts laying it everywhere on terrace.
I dont know what he is upto. Whatever it is though, its not good, it can't be. Nothing related to him is ever good.
It might be- forget might- it is dangerous. Whatever the hell he is doing. Anything he ever does is dangerous.
The practical thing for me to do right now is to turn around and run. Run to my dad and warn him that he is again going to do something bad.
The practical thing would be to stay away from him like my dad always asked me to.
I am not going to let him do any bad thing tonight. Tonight is special.
So i am happy. Very happy.
Except for this. I'm not happy about this, whatever it is that he is doing.
I mean, if he's really doing something bad then shouldn't I confront him? Shouldn't I stop him? Beacuse whatever thing he is doing, he is doing that in my house.
My house, my property and my estate.
Well, not technically. It is my dad's. For now. Soon it will be mine when i am of age.
"I know you're out there watching me."
My thoughts come to a screeching halt at those words.
His words.
He said them, right?
Yes, he did.
Even though he hasn't turned around or stopped doing whatever it is that he's doing.
What the hell is he doing though?
"I can sense you fucking thinking from over there."
No no no... i shouldn't, i shouldn't, i should-
"I'm not fucking thinking." my words came out before i could stop them.
At this, he finally stops and straightens up, cocking his head to the side slightly as if paying attention to me itself is annoying him.
"What?"
"I'm just thinking. Period. No fucking thinking."
Okay, that sounded so much better and smarter in my head, I swear.
It wasn't funny but apparently it is for him because it makes him chuckle in response.
And i noticed that his shoulders had broadened. Probably because he's straightened up now.
"No fucking, huh," he chuckles again. "Well, there's a lot to unpack there, in that statement. But I don't think you wanna go there."
I frown as to not understanding what he means but he keeps going. "So instead, why don't you tell me what you were just thinking about?" he said with more emphasis on just.
The bloody attitude.
The fact that he sounds so amused and that he still hasn't turned around to face me while speaking, like he doesn't think I'm worthy of being looked in the eye while talking.
The sheer arrogance.
The sheer conceit and haughtiness.
The egotism!
It makes me want to throw something at his head maybe that will make his head turn towards me.
I put my hands on my hips as I say, "I'm just thinking how rude it is that you're talking to me and yet you haven't turned around while talking to me"
This time I don't think I've said anything remotely funny, but he still chuckles.
It's almost a laugh, actually, and I breathe out sharply, ready to say something else, something even more stern, but he springs up to his feet so quickly and so suddenly turning around that I snap my mouth closed.
And simply stare.
That face. A face that looks like... winter? Or more like a sun shining during a very cold winter.
But thats so nonsensical. How can anyone look like a weather? He does though.
Despite his all-black clothing, he looks like my favorite weather.
Like he's been out in the sun for a long time and can still look sooo cold. So bloody cold.
He looks as if he could potentially stay out in the sun for even longer and never ever get burned.
So yeah, he definitely looks like a winter sun.
"You done staring, kiddo"
Startled, my eyes snap up to his. They're dark too. But not black. Grey. He eyes are grey but it looks so black; I can't tell right now. All I can tell is that they have a glint shining in them.
"I wasn't..." I stammered. I never stammer "I wasn't staring."
Liar.
You're a liar, Ava.
The devil on my left shoulder whispers. You're a liar and he knows that too.
This time he doesn't chuckle. He simply lets his mouth quirk up in a smile. And I think it's worse because his smile isn't just a smile. It's a smirk, and it makes him look even more arrogant.
"Good" he says.
His words, again all arrogant sounding, catch me up to the fact that he called me something just now, didn't he?
Kiddo.
He called me kiddo.
Just the thought of it makes me want to strangle him.
Folding my arms across my chest, I fire back, "Well, you shouldn't be calling me kiddo. We are basically of the same age."
"Age has nothing to do with that," and just to be a jerk he adds "kiddo."
"Stop calling me that."
"Can't." He shakes his head slowly. "You're too pink and only kids like pink."
"What?"
"Pink..." he repeats and then his eyes moves away from my face and down my body.
My belly whooshes as I follow his gaze, looking down at myself.
Which is when I finally figure it out.
"You are sooo pink like a little kid," he finishes his statement and my eyes spring back to his.
It's glowing even more, his gaze.
And it makes my belly whoosh harder.
And i hate the fact that he is right.
I am pink.
Or rather, my dress is.
My brand new dress that i am wearing for tonight's special occasion - that I absolutely adore.
"I'm not pink," I tell him. "My dress is pink."
Keeping his eyes on me, he adds, "And your earing and your sandals." He jerks his chin up. "Plus that ribbon in your hair. All pink. Like a little kid, kiddo"
Okay, my papa was right about him then. It's official now. I don't think I like him anymore.
"So? I'm wearing all pink and looking like a kid. So what? Beacuse hello? Spoiler alert; i am a kid"
"See, exactly. Then why are you offended with me calling you a kiddo if you know you are a kid."
I force myself to breathe though and ask, "Because we are basically of the same age. You are a kid as well. I am not a kiddo to you. I am a kiddo only for my elder." i paused and then continued "What are you doing out here, anyways?"
"Getting interrogated by a kid."
My nostrils flare and his lips twitch at my displeasure.
"Why were you pouring water outside my house in my lawn? And why do you have that string?" I look at it, lying on the ground just by his side. "What are you going to do with it?"
"Magic."
"No. You don't do magic. You only do bad things. And i know it is something bad"
"Define bad."
"It is, isn't it? Papa says you are always upto something bad"
"Are you afraid?"
"No."
I don't sound very convincing, even to myself. And he smiles. As if he likes it. As if the prospect of scaring me sounds fun to him. Then, "Because if you were, I'd tell you that you have got nothing to worry about."
I don't miss the way he emphasis on the word you.
"But someone else... does?"
"Not you." He shakes his head slowly. "That's all you need to know."
"I don't think -"
"Besides, it's none of your business," he cuts me off, raising an arrogant eyebrow. "Is it?"
"Actually it is my business."
"And how is that?"
"Because this is my property." well not mine yet. But he doesn't need to know that.
"Your property?"
"Yes."
"But last i checked, it belonged to a certain Cole Nash."
"Who is my dad, yes. Anything that belongs to him belongs to me. And where are your manners? Shouldn't you be calling him Uncle Cole?"
Finally, freaking finally, all amusement and arrogance get wiped off his face.
I'm so happy that it's a struggle to not smile and maintain my own arrogant expression but I do it.
Anything to turn the tables on him.
Anything.
"Hmm"
Thats it? Thats all he has to say?
I thought if I tell him that this is my house and my property, he's going to be intimidated. He's going to be afraid of me and that should take care of his stupid smug expression. Plus it might also stop him from carrying out his nefarious, also known as wicked, sinful, appalling, odious, bad, and so on intentions.
He's silent. So deadly silent that I think I see a smile, or rather a smirk, forming on his mouth but it vanishes so quickly that I definitely think I imagined it.
"Right the property belongs to Uncle Cole." he says and again goes silent.
"Now you know. So..." I clear my throat, ignoring everything once again. "Whatever it is that you're trying to do, don't."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
His eyes flick back and forth between mine and he asks in a deadly voice "Or what?"
I frown. "Or I..." i stammered again.
"You?" he questioned eagerly waiting for my answer.
I breathe out sharply. "Or I will call papa"
"Because this is his slash your property," he murmurs.
"Yes."
Thats when we hear loud sounds of music playing at the backyard.
The party.
Right.
There's a party.
It's happening in the backyard right now, just beyond my house.
"The party. Why aren't you at the party? Everyone is here for the party.. And you can't ruin it."
"How about you tell me what you are doing here instead of being at your party and I promise not to ruin it for you."
"How about you promise not to ruin my party and I won't tell papa about whatever hedious activity you were going to perform just now"
My threat has a minimal effect on him beacuse he says "Well then, I'm afraid we can't come to an agreement."
With that, he reaches his arm back to his pocket, quite possibly fishing for something, and I blurt out, "It's my birthday, Eli. I am waring you. DO. NOT. RUIN. IT."
He pauses, his focus completely on me.
Damn it.
"I know"
Sighing, I continue, "Yes." My eyes go to his arm that's still in its position, at his back, quite possibly in his pocket. "And you can't do whatever it is you were going to."
"I don't want to ruin your birthday. This has nothing to do with you, i promise. Its just a payback"
Payback? I'm so confused right now but I don't care about that. I only care about his hand at his back. "Listen, you need to promise, okay? Promise me you won't ruin my birthday. A promise is a promise. A promise is an oath. It's a pledge; it's a word of honor. It's a covenant, its a commitment, its a contract and its a vow. It's a freaking bond."
God! I am definitely going crazy. I'm stressed out. He is stressing me out.
"Wow, I didn't know that a promise could be so many things," he says, quietly for some reason, his eyes becoming serious.
"It could be because..." I take a moment to catch my breath. "Synonyms."
He keeps staring at me and I open my mouth to tell him to stop when he speaks. "Tell me what misinformation does your papa tells you about me" His voice has gone lower. Deeper. And my heart is beating even louder now because of it.
"First you tell me that you'll keep your promise and won't ruin my birthday party."
He stares at me a beat. "I promise."
I breathe in a sigh of relief, or I would have if he hadn't done what he does in the next moment.
He brings his arm forward and removes something out of his pocket, a black rectangular thing that he turns on with a flick of his thumb.
Its a lighter.
An orange flame bursts to life, making his skin glow for a second or two before he turns around and drops to the ground. In a flash, he sets the string on fire.
I watch it all with a thundering heart, as if in slow motion.
Fire. He is trying to set my house on fire.
"What did you..." I breathe out, my chest heaving. "You promised. You promised that you wouldn't ruin my party. You -"
It happens then.
This huge explosion. This boom that destroys all my words.
And it keeps happening.
The blasts keep coming and i can hear shocking gasps and screams of people from my party. I'm about to scream too when something lights up.
Up in the sky.
Red and green sparkles.
Hundreds and thoudands of tiny twinkling sparks showering down from the sky.
Like the rain.
So thick and bright that night turns into day.
Fireworks.
He lit up fireworks.
And then i see it. Up in the sky.
Oh my god.
Happy Birthday Ava
Written in the sky with fireworks.
Did he- oh my god.
It's so unexpected after what I'd been just thinking, this magnificent display of light and sound, that I do something unexpected as well.
I let out a lone but loud laugh.
"Thank you so much. This is..." I whisper over the crackling sounds of fireworks, and shocked gasps and screams of people. "This is beautiful."
"Yeah." he says. His softly spoken word makes me look at him. Only to find that he's already watching me, shadows dancing on his face, his eyes sparkling even more. And I realize two things at once.
First, that he isn't talking about the fireworks. His quiet 'yeah' was meant for something else.
Someone else. Someone like me.
And as shocking as this revelation is the second realization is much more shocking to me.
The fact that those dancing shadows make him look... beautiful.
God, he's so beautiful.
I've never thought that about a guy before. Sure, I've seen a lot of cute guys, handsome guys. But I don't think I've ever seen a guy who's equal parts beautiful and... hot?
This is crazy.
Isn't it?
But wait, there's more. There's a third realization.
That his eyes are grey, yes, deep shade of grey to be specific, but that's not all. There are hues of red in them too. That I only notice now because I'm so close to him and the night sky seems to be on fire.
We both look at each other for a few second. My eyes go wide. As does his smile.
He opened his mouth to say something but before either of us can say anything, a strange voice distracts us both.
"You betrayer."
We both turned around to see the source of that voice only to find Remi giving deadly glare at Eli.
He walked towards us followed by our other childhood friends Landon, Creighton, Brandon, Glyndon and Cecily.
"We decided that we will wait until all of us were together." Remi said or more liked shouted "Why did you started the fireworks before us?"
"Yes, my dear cousin, tell us, why did you?" Landon, who was Eli's cousin gave him an amused look as if having an internal conversation.
"You should have waited." it was Lan's twin brother Brandon who said this time.
"This is not fair. This was my plan, my idea. You shouldn't have executed it without us. Why did you?" Remi shouted at Eli again.
"Because." Eli shrugged.
Thats when i realized what they were talking about.
The fireworks.
The happy birthday ava in the sky.
Thats what Remi is talking about. That was his plan. This was his idea. And not his.
Why am i not surprised? Expecting such things from Eli ? Never.
"It was your plan, Remi? Thank you so much. I loved it sooo much" i said and hugged my bestfriend tightly and he hugged me back.
"It was my plan too, Ava." Landon said in amusement. "I deserve a hug as well" when i looked at him he was smirking at Eli.
"Thank you Lan" i hugged him "I really loved it soo much. Creigh, Glyndon and Bran too. Thank you so much for making my birthday so special"
"Found you."
We all turned towards the newcomer of that voice which is none other than my papa, who is now marching towards us.
He stops a few feet away from us and addresses Eli "Having fun?"
At the papa's question, he turns toward him and shrugs. "The real fun hasn't even started yet. But this was fun as well. So yes, you could say that."
"You scared a lot of people, Aiden's spawn."
"I know."
Papa shakes his head. "Ever since your firework drama, your father is searching for you "
"And let me guess, he paid you to search for me? But i dont think he will pay you enough. My father is a penny-pinching asshole. Despite the popular belief."
Cocking his head to the side, he continues, "Fortunately for you though, I don't take after the old man. How about you let me go and tell my father you couldn't find me and I'll pay you double whatever it is he paid you."
This asshole.
Papa stares at him for a few seconds before stepping forward. "You're just a kid. But one day when you are all grown up, i am gonna have my way with you. Thats a promise"
Before Eli can say something, he looks at all of us and says "Let's go, everyone. We need to cut my princess's cake."
Princess. My heart smiled at that name. Thats what he calls me.
We were about the move down thats when it happened, i smelled it before i heard it. People from downstairs screaming.
Fire
Papa ran downstairs and i towards the edgy of the terrace.
Thats when i see it.
Fire.
When i looked at Eli who was smirking at Landon, who was smirking back.
And in the spit of a heartbeat everything made sense perfectly.
The real fun hasn't even started yet. Thats what he said to papa before.
This was the real fun that he meant
It wasn't water that Eli was pouring in my lawn earlier.
It was gasoline.
---------
Hellooo!!! The first chapter is out.
Before anyone says anything, let's get something straight here
1) Kids are human, they've feelings too, they understand and feel who loves them or hate them. Kids can fall in love too. If you think this is not true then answer me how parents know that their kids love them? And please explain to me how a kid can get so attached to their parents, siblings or their relatives? It's not because they just see them daily and meet them or their mommy say, "hey it's your aunt and you should love her". The only connection they develop with anyone is on the bases of love. The kid or baby feels the love in your actions and that's all that matters to a kid. They definitely wouldn't demand a character certificate from you before loving you. Your actions are the only way of communication for them. Or they may generally just like you because you're wearing their favorite color or doing something they like and it fascinates them. Kids are the most innocent soul in the world and do not know who they can or cannot like.
2) In this house we DO NOT and absolutely DO NOT supporting pedophilia. This.. whatever happened in this chaper shows only Ava's pov and how SHE has been obsessing and spying over Eli since childhood.
3) Ava was 7 and Eli 13 in this chapter. And Ava's attraction towards Eli is totally normal. Don't tell me when you are 7-10 you weren't obsessing over an 18 year old singer like Justin Bieber or any actor above the age of 18. See! Ava's attraction towards Eli is totally and completely normal. So if i see anyone twisting the story to make it look negative on Eli's part i will come for your throats. Do not under any circumstances come here commenting anything negative about Eli if you haven't even read his pov yet.
So I hope y'all liked the chapter. Do like and comment. And plz feel free to comment your theories regarding EliAva, if i like it i might add it in my ff too.
Xoxo,
S.A.K