HEY Y'ALL! JUST ONE LITTLE THING TO ASK. IF Y'ALL COULD KINDLY GO TO Frances_sahira AND READ Bed of Lies BY HER THAT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO HER! SO FAR I BELIEVE IT'S AN AMAZING BOOK THAT SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE MORE CREDIT AND FANS AND READS! THANK YOU AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER. I LOVED WRITING THIS ONE!
I had went on the rest of the day with my head in the clouds; completely oblivious to my surroundings. I was still so confused as to Luke's attitude towards me. Is he bipolar? He has to be bipolar with the whiplash of emotions and mixed feelings he sets off.
One minute, he's cruel, the next he's trying to defend me, another he's crying on my shoulder! I shook my head violently. Why the hell was he taking a sudden interest in me?
"I'm only doing it because I can't stand failing my sister again."
The words echoed in my head for a bit, bouncing around until they began to sink in. He had already failed his sister once, he wasn't going to do it again.
Restlessness began to seep into my bones, and too many questions had swarmed my frantic brain. There was a whole mystery to Luke Carter. The aura he had always held a peculiar and questioning air to him. Luke's confident stride brought forth the notion that he was a self-assured and level-headed guy. The nonexistent smile that was plastered to his face told everyone that he was a guy not to be messed with. There were no laugh crinkles edging around his eyes- even old ones- and the constant clench of his fists was a tell-tale sign that he was always ready for a fight if one were to break out.
Luke Carter was the Golden Boy of the school, but even I knew that that wasn't the case now. Especially with how much more I learned about him. The bruising on his wrist has dulled and the cuts and bruises on his face were gone. Weird, considering that they were made not too long ago.
"Come on," a hand shot out and grasped onto my arm.
I flinched and pulled away immediately. If looks could kill, Luke would be six feet under. The skin that was grabbed burned and I felt ripples of electricity shoot through it. I shook my hand in an attempt to shake off the feeling. It didn't go away.
Luke shrugged, his golden strands falling into his eyes. "Come on," he said again, walking ahead of me to his car.
Asshole. I glared at his back.
Pretty soon, we were in front of a rusty-looking car with the paint fading a light beige color. Other than the rust and the run-down, scrawny look it gave off, everything else was fine. No cracks in the windshield or mirror. No flat tires. No dents in the body of it. Just a run-down look.
I shrugged and got into the passenger side when he unlocked the doors.
"Buckle up," he demanded, pulling out of the parking lot. With a roll of my eyes, I buckled my seatbelt and sat back, glancing out of my window.
The whole ride was driven in silence. Not once did he look at me or even acknowledge my presence in the car. I understood that I wasn't going to talk to him but the least he could was say 'hi' or something to ease the tension in the air.
Finally, we pulled up to an equally worn down, one-story house that had green patches of vines growing on the side of the house. The white paint was wearing down, one of the windows were cracked and another window had a hole in it, but was covered with what looked to be a wooden block on the inside. The yard was as bad as the outside of the house, if not worse. There was hardly any grass on the ground. And the patches that did have grass were dead and I'm sure the grass would be wearing away until the yard was completely filled with dirt. The driveway was full of gravel rocks and there was nothing to note that any life lived here at all. No bicycles to indicate that Adilyn had one and joyfully played outside with it. No kick balls or skates or anything to tell that this was the house of three children and two parents. There wasn't another car in the gravel driveway, which led me to believe that either a parent was at work or their work was in walking distance. Given the scenery of the car, the house, and the yard I doubted they had enough to afford another car so that must mean they have a job in walking distance.
Part of my felt bad that Luke lived in a place like this, and the other part of me really wasn't that surprised.
The slam of the car door jolted me out of my thinking. "Get out," Luke bit, walking through the dirt and up to the front door.
I couldn't help another roll of my eyes before opening up the door and rushing to the front door with my bad hanging off my shoulder.
Once inside, I took a quick look around as Luke shrugged off his jacket and sat it on stool that was placed right by the door. The first room seemed to be the living room. There was one brown couch with new cushions that was seated right in front of the small t.v. The floors were a red carpet and there was a small bookshelf on the right side of the wall with a variety of kid books tangled and strewn about. What confused me the most about this room was that there were no pictures. At all.
Nothing in this room gave off the vibe of a home. A couple beer bottles lined up on the coffee table that was next to the couch and Luke made quick work to pick them up and throw them away in the trash that was in another room.
"You cold? I can turn up the heat a little," he asked, coming back into the room.
I shook my head, tightening the strings on my sweatshirt and throwing my hands into my pockets. It was a little chilly in here, but I didn't think that it would be a wise move to turn up the heat when Luke's family already seemed like they were low on money and turning it up would only increase the gas bill.
He nodded his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Adilyn is coming home soon. She's still in her afternoon kindergarten class. Should be home in a few minutes though. You can go into her room and wait for her. Here, I'll show you." He was fidgety, speaking hastily and taking quick strides until we stopped at a door that was right down the hall.
The door was a brown wooden one with scaprings running along the surface of it. He turned the knob and stood aside to let me inside.
The walls were painted a bright pink with a twin-sized plush bed pushed against the wall. A pillow with a pink pillowcase was placed at the end of the bed along with a Disney Princess blanket that covered the bed. A stuffed unicorn was laid comfortably underneath the covers. A small dresser was pushed against the other wall with barbie dolls and crayons laid in a disarray about. And then, there was a basket with what looked to be dirty clothes in it. Other than the mess on the dresser, Adilyn's room was in a neat and organized manner.
"Adilyn likes to clean a lot. She gets mad if anything is out of order or in a mess. Messy things is a pet peeve of her's. Most of the time, when she's at home, the house is cleaned because she cleans it. When everything is to her liking she usually comes in here to play and do whatnot. She's been wanting a friend over to play with her, but as you can tell, Asher and I forbid it because we don't want to drive her friend's away with the appearance of the house. I trust you though. Don't- don't make me regret it." He leveled his blue eyes with mine in a heated stare. Then, he nodded his head. "In the meantime, you can do your homework or something until she gets here. I have to go pick up Asher from work. Oh, and uh... no one else is here. My mom's... out of town and my..." he trailed off," dad,"he spat out," is out. Shouldn't be back for awhile and by then I'm sure you'll be out. Gotta go."
Luke shut the door, and left me in the room.
I clenched my jaw, closing my eyes tightly and taking deep breaths.
I wasn't blind. And I wasn't stupid.
I know a liar when I see one. I sat down on the bed and sat my bag aside, knowing that I finished my homework at lunch. Luke was lying about his parents. Well, something was off about them. It was obvious they were both out of the house at the moment, but he kept it vague for a reason.
I sighed and shook my head. I really shouldn't be getting into his business. If he wanted me to know he would tell me.
* * *
Excited squeals and giggles emanated from Adilyn's mouth as she twirled around in a yellow ball gown- the gown from Beauty and the Beast's, Belle. I put her hair up in small bun, trying to mimic Belle's hair when she wore the gown.
A smile was bloomed onto her face as she stared at the mirror I failed to notice that was on her door. "I look like a princess!" She shouted with glee. Suddenly, she turned to me with a mischievous glint in her those electric blue of her's. "Wait here," and then, she was out of the room.
Soon, she came back with a beautiful strapless gown in her hands. It was a soft blue with a silk top. A sequence of diamond beads formed two unidentical shapes. The bottom dress ran down in pretty blue ruffles until it reached the very bottom. It had to be the most beautiful gown I had ever seen.
Adilyn shoved it towards me. "Here! Try it on! Mamma and I used to dress up all the time and she would always wear this one. We would always pretend to be royal! She would be the Queen and I the princess. I think it would look beautiful on you! Maybe a little big, but still! Try it on! Please, please, please," those blue eyes of her's stared into my eyes and I found myself nodding my head in approval.
My fingers took ahold of the dress with hesitance, and she turned around in an attempt to give me some privacy.
I bit my lip and looked down at the dress in my hands. It did look a little big. And I didn't think I was worthy of wearing a gown of such beauty. But I didn't want to upset Adilyn. So, I sucked it up and changed out of my clothes and slipped on the gown. It was an easy slip-on dress and it touched the floor. I was nowhere near tall enough to fit this gown.
Adilyn turned around and gazed at me in awe. Then, she brought out a pair of silver, strap-on heels. "Here. Mamma wasn't tall enough either," she giggled.
I rolled my eyes playfully and strapped the heels to my feet.
"You look so beautiful," she smiled wistfully. When she saw my doubtful look she crossed her arms and stepped aside. "See for yourself," she pointed to the mirror.
My eyes locked with astonished hazle one's. The dress hugged everything. It wasn't big on me all; simply long. The top hugged my chest comfortably and there was hardly any cleavage showing- to which I was thankful for. The silk embraced my waist in a tight hold, showing off the little curves that I was still developing. My skin seemed to glow a healthy, creamy white as the blue continued to compliment my skin. The tips of the heels poked out from underneath the dress but that all that showed of it. I really did feel, dare I say, beautiful in this dress.
Adilyn grasped my hand in her's and spun me around with her in a circle.
"We're both beautiful princesses!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, a giant grin etched onto her lips. She stopped suddenly to give me a pointed look, one hand settled on her hip as little strands of hair fell from her bun to fan around her face. "But mama is always the Queen, alright? Ooh! Maybe you could meet her soon." She carried on with her infectious voice and I found myself actually enjoying this moment.
Adilyn truly was a remarkable girl and I was so happy that a girl her age is completely alright with what she has, even though she doesn't have much.
Suddenly, the door opened and in popped Luke's head. "Addy, it's time for Charlotte to-" he cut himself off, his eyes widening a fraction when his gaze landed on me.
Adilyn giggled, latching her hand with mine. "Doesn't she look like a princess?" She asked.
Finally, he parted his lips. "That's mom's dress," he pointed out, still leveling his gaze with mine.
Adilyn nodded. "Uh huh. I know. I made her wear it. She looks so beautiful in it! Maybe we can introduce her to mama-"
"No," his gaze hardened as he broke eye contact with me and met Adilyn's pout.
"But-'
"No, Adilyn. Now get dressed. I have to take her home." With one last glance at me, he shut the door.
Adilyn sighed. "It's okay, Lotte. I'll make sure you meet her one day."
I cocked my head to the side at the nickname.
She smiled. "Everyone else calls you Charlotte or Charlie. So, I'm going to call you Lotte. No one else is allowed to call you that but me."
I gave her a heart-felt grin.