Chapter song: "Sweet dreams" by Emily Browning
I'm trying to update two chapter together at all time, the second chapter attached to this I'll upload later tonight so I stop having media problems cut chapters short.
Happy Reading!
________________________________
"Seriously, Vee! He surprised me with toys for Rusty.....is that not adorable?!"
There was no other way to describe Declan leaving a present for her. It was a truly adorable action. Emily figured he must've felt guilty after being caught kissing and therefore thought he needed to make it up somehow - he didn't, but it was still a very sweet gesture.
Vinessa squealed on the other end of the line as Emily tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder. Courtesy of detention, Emily hadn't gotten to finish her homework before having to go to work. It wasn't until she made herself dinner, showered, and got ready for bed did she remember she still had an entire page of calculus problems she hadn't finished. Technically, she was already finished.
Emily didn't really understand why she had to work out the entire problem instead of just writing down the answer she already figured out in her head.
Teacher's claim students had to do the entire problem to show they know how to do it, but couldn't they just wait until testing days popped up to see who knew the work and who didn't?
It was a pity they didn't just allow that. Emily wouldn't still be up at midnight scribbling down math problems she already figured out mentally. Her biggest problem wasn't figuring math out - it was trying to write the problems how her annoying teachers wanted to see them down on paper.
"Gosh, he's like a total babe in every sense of the word" Vinessa laughed over the phone. "Plus, it doesn't hurt that Jakey's all jealous now."
"Jake doesn't get jealous"
"Girl, seriously??" Vinessa pressed. "He practically glared at Declan the entire lunch period today. Then when I tried pressing him on it, he claimed Declan was a total fake. He is obviously jealous!"
She must've been seeing something different than what Emily had. Jake was acting his typical self - the guy just wasn't a real people person. Declan just brought the worst out of him.
She sighed. "He doesn't like me as anything more than a sister type..." Emily muttered, scribbling down some more on her note paper.
"I thought that before I watched him seriously glare at Declan.....Hey wait, why wouldn't he just leave his name on the card when he left the present?"
Emily plucked the card left with the present from her backpack off the floor. She flipped the white card over to study it. She wasn't mistaken the first time she checked it out, there was no name indicating who the sender was.
"I don't know.....Quinn said he saw Declan in my truck."
"Who's Quinn?"
"Ian Quinn....The guy who's always competing with me in history."
"Ohhhhh..." Vinessa exclaimed in understanding. "The guy Jake calls an ass-bunch...whatever that is.....What does he have to do with it?"
After twenty minutes of explaining the entire encounter regarding Ian Quinn and the present, Emily yawned. It was getting late.
"How do you know that Ian wasn't the one who left the present?" Vinessa asked, sounding tired herself.
Emily had given that idea thought, but she quickly dismissed it.
"Two reasons..." she yawned. "One, he can't stand me so him being nice is very uncharacteristic. Besides that, he doesn't know I adopted the kitten."
Emily paused while thinking that comment through. When she thought about it, she didn't really tell anyone about the cat.
The more thought she gave it, it didn't exactly make sense as to why Declan would know to surprise her with the cat toys. Emily couldn't remember telling him she adopted the cat. The few dates they've been on their conversation has solely revolved around school, favorite movies, books, and European culture.
As Emily thought about it, the only ones who actually knew about the rugged orange kitten was Jake, Vinessa, and her own parents.
"Do you think maybe Jake left it?" Emily asked, frowning as she thought it through. The more she thought about it, the more she remembered she hadn't mentioned the kitten to anyone besides those four people.
"Maybe" Vinessa yawned. "Girl, that French vocab sheet kicked my butt. We'll talk tomorrow - nighty night!"
__________________________________________________________
Two hours later, Emily found herself being woken up by the smallest of sounds. It had woken her up from a deep slumber. The noise was the new jingly cat ball rolling across her wood floor. The kitten had been playing with it for a long time and must have re-found it.
It was annoying enough of a sound that it had Emily opening her eyes wearily.
She sighed, tucking her head under her pillow. Rusty was not only gaining weight to improve himself from his previously scrawny figure, he was also getting more adventurous with each passing day.
He didn't always enjoy playing with annoying objects or plastic bags, but when he did, it was now around three in the morning that he started acting up.
Emily slowly drifted back to sleep, random thoughts firing off in her head reminding her of the flashcards she needed to bring for Jake in the morning regarding the upcoming Chemistry test. She took the liberty of helping him out with studying by making flashcards - Emily didn't understand how Jake thought he would get into UCLA without passing organic chemistry, so she took it upon herself to be his tutor.
She was almost completely asleep until the sound of the squeaky ball being stepped on caused her to groan.
"C'mon Rusty...not tonight, buddy."
Surprisingly, the little kitten didn't make another sound after that. No more noise was made. It allowed Emily to fall back into a light sleep.
Her thoughts soon remembered the spicy garlic topping she had over her spaghetti. It suddenly parched her to remember, so Emily sat up reaching for the lamp before finding herself too tired to exert too much effort into reaching it. She could navigate in the dark.
Emily slowly crawled out of the large bed, her bare feet hitting the cold floor as she made her way towards her bedroom door. She swiped the stray strands of hair from eyes so she could see better.
Emily flipped on lights as she went down the stairs through the multiple hallways of the large farm house. It was out of habit. It wasn't darkness that scared her - it was what could possibly be hidden in the dark. In Emily's case, this would be random coffee tables or shelves that her mother often rearranged around the house. Madison could never decide how she best liked her decorative tables, so she often transitioned them to different areas around the house on a frequent basis.
If Emily didn't flip lights on, the odds were likely that she would wind up with a bruised knee or something such from accidently walking into a shelf or table.
Behind her, Emily could hear the faint sound of the squeaky toy once again being stepped on in her bedroom. She sighed tiredly, realizing she'll have to pick up the toys to stop the little kitten from playing.
Once in the kitchen, she made her way over to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water.
It was as she closed it that she heard breathing.
She recognized the noise as belonging to the kitten. He purred at he slept. Rusty had taken on the habit of curling up on the kitchen breakfast bar chairs given each seat had a comfy warm cushion on top of it.
He was a strange little cat that actually preferred the cushions over his cat bed.
Emily glanced down at the nearest breakfast chair, sure enough finding Rusty curled up and sleeping. His little body moved up and down as he took in small breaths. He was fast asleep. Emily never heard him run after her down the stairs.
Setting down her water bottle she plucked from the fridge, Emily's eyes suddenly flew open in surprise.
The thought rattled her. The kitten didn't follow her down.
She reached down and scooped up the little cat, feeling the cushion beneath him. It was warm - incredibly warm to show he's been sleeping for awhile. The kitten gently stirred in Emily's hands, before she sat him back on top of the stool. He stepped around the chair seat a few times before settling himself back down.
Small shots of panic soon shot through Emily as she realized something rather terrifying. If the kitten was fast asleep on the chair for awhile now, who was stepping on the toys upstairs in Emily's room?
Emily's stomach dropped as her heartrate sped up. Her parents weren't home. Her mother had a late shift at the hospital, and her father was going to sleep in the conference room until she finished her shift at four to drive her home. He had to - the family only had two cars at the moment with Madison's car being fixed. If he didn't drive her home before taking his car to work, Emily wouldn't have a car for school when she had to leave at seven.
Staying with Madison and then providing her a way home benefited everyone. But that unfortunately meant that Emily was home alone inside of a very large house.
With a shaky hand, Emily started taking in deep breaths as fear overtook her. She thought for sure the kitten was playing with his new toys - maybe she was wrong. Could there have been someone else had been inside her room accidently stepping on them?
_____________________________________________
Emily had grabbed her landline and hid in the kitchen with the sharp knives as she called both her dad and Jake. It was either that, or she thought to lock herself in the bathroom.
Jake reassured he'd be right over, and offered to call the cops. Her dad told her not to panic. He calmly asked if she made sure to lock the doors before bed along with the windows. This was his military background kicking in. Thomas Daz didn't panic. Ever. He calmly thought things through - her older brother Ben was the same way. In his case, he was training to become a detective for the NYPD, so being calm was a necessity when placed in stressful job situations.
Emily unfortunately inherited her mother's ability to start panicking before anything else. Madison Daz was calm on the job being a labor and delivery nurse, but she panicked through many other things in life. She and Emily often joked about how they reacted in stressful situations. Panic first, ask questions later.
Emily fearfully checked all doors and windows to see if they were locked - they were. She also turned on all the lights in the house so she could see if there was someone lurking in the shadows. There wasn't.
Part of Emily was scolding herself by feeling she was overreacting, but the other part of her felt dialing 911 would've been better calling her dad and best friend.
The doorbell rang a near ten minutes after she called her dad, causing Emily to become fearful. The fear quickly vanished for obvious reasons - she was afraid of whoever might be lurking upstairs in her bedroom, not of the person on the front porch. Emily quickly made her way to the front door, seeing Jake outside armed with a metal baseball bat. She quickly threw open the door and hurried to stand behind him.
Jake only looked somewhat tired. His messy blonde hair was even more outrageously messy than usual, while he had a sudden determined look in his eye as he held the bat close.
"What happened??" He questioned gruffly.
"IHeardMyKittenPlayingWithToysButHe'sBeenAsleepDownstairsTheEntireTime." Emily quickly sang out in a whisper, causing Jake to watch her with widened eyes.
"Slow it down, M&M. You think someone's upstairs??"
Emily nodded. "I heard the cat's toys being stepped on..." she whispered. " I came downstairs for some water and found the cat was sleeping on a nearby chair. He was there for awhile. No one else is home, and I don't own any other animal besides the birds and the crabs. I guarantee it's not one of them..." Emily trailed off, frowning. "How did you get here so fast?"
Jake now lived well over a half hour away. It's rather strange he was able to get to Emily's farmhouse in the countryside as fast as he did.
"I'm a quick driver" Jake shrugged, using a large hand to grasp one of Emily's smaller ones. He led her into the house, carefully shutting the door behind him. "Did you call your parents?"
Emily nodded, silently freaking out. What if there was actually someone prancing around upstairs stepping on cat toys? That would mean they were inside her bedroom!
Emily felt herself gently shaking out of fear, causing Jake to frown. He glanced up the stairs before taking a step towards her. "Hey.....I'm here, kay'? Never fear, Jake is here..." he grinned, using his thumb to rub atop of her knuckle he was still holding.
Emily wached him soundlessly before nodding. Jake cocked his spikey blonde head to stare up the staircase.
"Hey asshole - come out, come out, wherever you are, or I'm beating the shit out of you" he called airily.
"Really..." Emily murmured, causing Jake to chuckle as he made his way up the stairs.
"Heyy....If the Declan wants to play breaking and entering, I'm not against hitting him."
"Declan? You think he would break into my house?" Emily whispered incredulously. That was a ridiculous statement at best. She couldn't imagine the well-dressed British boy sneaking into houses.
"Yep, I definitely think the possessive little bastard would do such a thing" Jake announced quietly, flicking on more upstairs lights as he went.
Emily grew upset at his name calling as she removed her hand from Jake's to slap his arm lightly. "Stop being mean, he's a really great guy" she defended in a whisper.
Jake whirled around in surprise. "You think I'm being mean?? Ems, Declan came up to me after school and bragged about kissing you today. It took every ounce of willpower not to hit the conceited son of a..."
A loud bang was suddenly heard, causing Emily and Jake to whip around and look downstairs to face the front door entryway. The front door had hit the opposing wall upon moving so very fast.
"I'm here, kids!" Emily's father announced, entering the foyer while armed with his glock. He held a determined look to his eyes as he looked around the entryway.
The glock was the only gun he kept around the house, and it was usually on him at all times. It was only seeing Emily and Jake on the stairs and very alarmed by his sudden presence did Tom frown. "I came in with too hot of an entrance, didn't I?"
Coming in with too hot of an entry or not, having three people search the large farmhouse was better than two. Emily was thankful calling her dad and Jake - the thought of simply going back to sleep earlier had been tempting. It would have been easy to assume it had just been Rusty upstairs before he ran down to the kitchen without Emily noticing.
Not only did Tom Daz check all the doors and windows on the first floor, he slowly made his way with the two teenagers to the next floor as well. There was nothing to be found. There was nothing out of the ordinary, no one was hiding in any closets or any bedrooms. Just to lighten Emily's spooked mood, Tom and Jake even checked under the beds. Still, there was nothing to be found.
"Okay, so you were starting to fall asleep, and you heard cat toys being played with?" Tom asked his daughter with a frown.
Emily shook her head. "I heard what sounded like the toys being stepped on. I went downstairs for a drink, and then I found Rusty curled up on the stool fast asleep. He looked like he'd been there awhile."
Tom frowned before his gaze slipped over to Jake. He arched an eyebrow "Were you coming in through the window again?"
Emily and Jake share surprised looks realizing her father seemed to know Jake's habit of coming in through the windows instead of the front door. "No Mr. D, I wasn't here."
It was only after they searched every last room of the house did thee trio realize there was nothing to be found. There was nothing really out of the ordinary, and nothing was missing. That would be highly uncharacteristic for a burglar to leave jewelry, left out cash and iPods when breaking in.
Once 3:50am rolled around, it was time for Tom to pick up Emily's mother from the hospital.
"You two wanna come with?" Tom yawned, once again making sure to check all the downstairs windows.
Jake looked between Emily and her dad, before shrugging. "If Em doesn't want to, I'll stay here with her if that's okay with you."
"It is." Tom sighed, ruffling Jake's messy hair as he passed him. "See you kids later."
He soon left, causing Emily to feel grateful Jake was staying. It wasn't until they were making their way upstairs after Jake called his dad did Emily suddenly remember the strange comment Jake made earlier regarding Declan. "What do you mean, Declan was bragging that we kissed? He came up and told you about it? "
Jake's mouth fell open in surprise once they reached Emily's bedroom. "So it's true?"
"What?"
"You guys kissed?"
Emily barely noticed Jake's expression grew dark as she nodded her head. He looked upset.
"He kissed me in the hallway..." Emily trailed off, suddenly embarrassed she was telling the boy she's loved since middle school that another boy kissed her. Even though she and Jake were by no means in any sort of a relationship, just saying the words aloud caused Emily to feel as though she were cheating on him.
That was a bizarre feeling - she was actually disappointed in herself that her first kiss wasn't with Jake.
Jake didn't say anything else. His blonde head tilted to stare down at the floor. He nodded slightly before sticking his tongue in his cheek. Emily knew this to be his go-to move in times of thinking things through.
"What's wrong?" she finally asked.
Emily sat on top of her bed cover, waiting patiently for Jake's response. He slowly started to pace the entryway to her bedroom, a frown on his lips. "I'm remembering the fight we had the other day, and I'm not sure how to broach this topic with you regarding Captain British."
Emily rolled her green eyes over the immature nickname, but yawned. Jake sighed, slowly making his way over to the foot of her king-sized bed before sprawling across it on his back. "Declan came up to me after school and not so subtly told me he stuck his tongue down your throat."
A hot blush rushed to Emily's cheeks. The kiss was nowhere near a French kiss - this was her first and only kiss for goodness sake!
"W-what? We didn't even do that....You're joking."
Jake closed his eyes, shaking his head from side to side. "Ems, I'm serious. He came up to me and said I should get over myself regarding you. I asked him what the hell he meant, he had some stupid smirk on him and bragged how you and him made out in the hall and he even went as far to say that he shoved his tongue down your throat" Jake said, a harsh scowl on him. "If that new guy Mr. Turner hadn't been walking past us, I was gonna throttle him."
Emily sat quietly, finding this incredibly strange. It was true Jake tended not to like a vast majority of people he came across. He was overly sarcastic, and he was an overall antagonist a good ninety percent of his time. If you asked a lot of people, they'd say Jake was simply a jerk.
The guy probably only had a total of two friends at school with the exception of Emily.
Even knowing this, there was also something else Emily knew strongly about her best friend - he wasn't a liar. But knowing that left her confused. If Jake wasn't lying, why would Declan actually say that to him?