Chapter one- The War
Xxx~~~xxX
"Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay
Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay
Remember the first time we met
You was at the mall with your friend
I was scared to approach you
But then you came closer
Hopin' you would give me a chance"
I sang along to my 'stressed-and-worried' song.
To say I was stressed and worried was nothing compared to what I was actually feeling.
I listened to only this song this whole summer. And it didn't help that we have to sing this for Summer Chorus. The concert was tomorrow after school and usually, everyone stays to watch because they don't get much homework on the first day.
I finished my 30th drawing of the day and tacked it up onto my spongy bulletin board.
The thing is, I draw and sing different songs with certain emotions. For example, my happy song is "Forever Young" by Jay-Z. I'm weird like that.
I sighed and leaned back in my rolling chair as I sat and admired my work on the board above my dark coffee colored wooden desk.
I started grabbing for a clean sheet of paper to bring another horse into the world, when my brother, Hunter, screamed my name.
"I'm coming!" I shouted back and I quickly slipped out of my pajamas and threw on a T-shirt with leggings to match.
I got down to see Hunter pouring his favorite red fruit punch that we get once a month.
Why once a month?
My idiot brother here went sorta... high on fruit punch and my parents, now, they never punish us, we only get a few lectures here and there, but they dedided on a new rule that we can only buy it on the first week of the month and we can't buy anymore than one at a time.
And to my very immature brother, that was like torture to him when the rule was first established. He acted like a girl who had just found out their first 'love of their life' has cheated on them. He was a mess.
And it was hilarious. Well, for me at least.
It was the fifth of September today so he was allowed to buy more until the seventh and this was his fourth liter he bought this week.
"Hey, bro. What did you want?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"I made breakfast."
"Thanks. Where's Rosie?" I asked as I sat down in front of the heap of deliciousness. "She'd want some."
"Rosie is still at a friends house," I glared at Hunter. "She wanted to stay over and the parents didn't seem to mind! They had adults watching her! Two of them! She's safe! Please don't drink my juice!"
I smirked while taking a bite into my food. Yum. Hunter had a gift, and it is to make chocolate chip pancakes. If this was heaven, I'm there.
As I poured syrup on my third pancake, the doorbell rang. I waited for Hunter to get up to answer it but he was leaning against the island table and just stared intently at his drink.
Rolling my eyes, I got up and ran to the door. I opened it and saw Vanessa. "Hi!" she chirped Her chocolate brown hair was curled lightly. She didn't grow over the summer but she did get one gorgeous tan.
"Vanessa! How are you?" I asked.
"I'm good! You?" she asked.
"Great!" I lied.
Vanessa stared at me. Her and Mrs. Thompson can always tell. Why must they ruin my long streak of lies.
"Okay. I need to talk with you. Code Green. No wait, Code Blue? Red? Or was it purple? Whatever, can you stay over?"
"That's either, your dog died, you saw a pig fly, which I doubt that's the one, you have something urgent to tell me, or your computer blew up and created fireworks. And yeah. I can stay over," she said as she pointed to a large light green suitcase with pink roses on it.
"Lovely. Come in. Come in," I said as I ushered her inside.
She climbed up the step and took off her shoes while I took her suitcase. "Did you get your schedule?" she asked.
"Yeah, did you? Can you believe school starts tomorrow?"
"No, I just came home. And no, I missed summer in North Carolina! I'm sorry I told you I was leaving just as I got on the plane. I forgot!"
"Oh yeah! Cause I always forget when I'm leaving the country for about three months! It's totally normal!" I said sarcastically. "How was Spain?"
It was amazing! But we went to California first because my aunt was getting divorced. And I met these two really nice girls at a breakfast place! They invited me to a party but I couldn't go because we were leaving the next day. This was in the beginning of summer, though. I got their numbers."
"Oh. Cool. What happened to Aunt Tilly?" I asked worriedly. She was a sweet 48 year old women with an amazing fasion sense. She was like another aunt to me.
"Her husband slapped her after she threatend a divorce during an argument... Uncle Bonderson was smoking again and Aunt Tilly didn't want it to affect Mr. Nibbles's health." Mr. Nibbles is a tomcat that hates our pet.
"Oh my! Is she okay?" I said with my mouth forming an 'O'.
"Oh Aunt Tilly? She's fine. Never better actually."
"They got divorced?"
"No. He begged for her love back and he said he would quit smoking if she said yes. He then took her out on a date then as a surprise they went on a month long romantic cruise for their second honeymoon. They got to stay at a love suite there."
"Aww! How romantic!!" I cooed.
Vanessa giggled as I led her to the kitchen area. I let her make some breakfast as I walked over to Hunter. He was sitting where I was in front if an empty plate. Why I oughtta...
"Hunter! You ate my breakfast!"
"You ate two, baby sis! You're going to to get fat," he said while poking my stomach. "You'll get fatter, if that's even possible," he spoke the last part quietly under his breath.
"Five minutes, Hunter. Five minutes! I'm freaking five minutes older!!" I said while hitting him on the head.
Determining who's older is a recurring problem for twins. Call now and we can put a stop to this issue that kills young kids and teens. Nearly a 10 billion die every day because of this. Call at 1-800-twins-die-due-to-arguing-about-who-is-older-10-billion.org
I yelled in his ear, "And Hunter! I am not fat!"
The asshole had the nerve to roll his eyes.
My face grew hot in anger and once I was going to express my feelings, violently may I add, the door bell rang once again.
Sighing, I glared at my twin and told him this wasn't over as he continued to lick the maple syrup off the plate.
Out of frustration, I tipped the chair to the right causing him to tumble off.
Laughing, I walked to answer the door
A little four year old jumped in as the door opened and hugged my legs. "Raven!" she squealed.
"Rosie! I missed you so much! Did you have fun?" I asked as I smoothed out her brown-blonde hair and fixed her outfit.
"Yes! It was weally fun, Rave!"
"Rosie, big girl words," I scolded.
"Really. I meant wea- really! I meant really," she corrected herself multiple times.
I smiled and picked her up. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and remembered that her best friend, Dana, was still there.
"Sorry. I'm being rude. Come on in. Rosie, sweety, show Dana your play room upstairs. Remember to take off your shoes, girls." I said as I set Rosie down and she slipped her pink dress shoes off her feet.
"Come on, Dana. We can play more!"
The little girl grinned and said bye to her mother after taking off her gray flats. She ran off and suddenly spun around and walked up to me. She hugged me and grinned once more.
"Thank you for letting Rosie and I have a... what is it called? ...A play date! It was woads- I mean loads of fun," she giggled. I smiled and ruffled her light brown hair.
"You're welcome, pumpkin. Now go play."
She smiled and skipped upstairs.
I turned to her mom and invited her in. "Thanks... Raven, is it?"
"Oh, yes. Would you like something to drink, Mrs. Brown?" I asked.
"Yes please. Is your mother upstairs?"
"Yes she is. She's in the office room and the play room where Dana and Rosie are is the fourth room to your right. if you wanted to talk to Dana or something."
She thanked me and walked up the stairs.
I turned around and entered the dining room when I saw a broken glass on the ground and red liquid next to my twin brother on the floor groaning. I looked up at Vanessa who was smirking in her seat, where Hunter once was, sitting drinking some of Hunter's punch.
Raising an eyebrow at Vanessa, I walked to the seat next to her while stepping on Hunter's back in the process.
He groaned again and Vanessa and I replied with a simple, "Grow up." and an eye roll.
After stealing one of Vanessa's toasts and spreading strawberry jam onto it, Hunter got up and sat in his chair with a very visible red stain on his white shirt.
I ate my toast in six bites and got up to make some coffee on the counter nearby.
"Want some?" I asked the other two people in the room.
"No thanks, I'm good," replied Vanessa and Hunter replied with a, "Bitch, since when do I drink coffee?"
Vanessa and I both snapped our necks toward him and glared at him. My best friend got up and tipped the chair over like I did earlier today and kicked him where the sun don't shine.
As he clutched his... you know what? I'm not going to say or think of the string of words he spoke or any of the sexual comments he made towards Vanessa when he finally was able to speak in somewhat complete sentences.
Rolling my eyes at the two, I walked towards the fridge and got an ice pack for Hunter and handed it to him while saying, "I'm not sure if this helps... that area, but here. I'm gonna give the coffee to mom and Mrs. Brown. And guys, there's two four year olds here, no sexual comments or curse words please. And how do you make one when you just got kicked... there..." I finished awkwardly.
Hunter tried not laugh while Vanessa chuckled.
"Oh and Rave, Lucas will be here soon, just saying," Hunter said.
"Thanks for telling me. Now I'll go fret over my appearance until he comes." I ran upstairs as fast as I possibly could without spilling the drinks.
I knocked on the office room door and gave the tray to my mom who took a mug and handed the other one to Dana's mom. After they both said thank you, my mom got up and asked me to get the laundry and put it in the drier so she could fold it. I nodded and reminded her that Vanessa was here and Lucas was coming soon. She nodded with an okay and I left them to chit chat about the weather or something like that.
I walked into the play room to check if the girls were okay and I saw them playing with our dog. They were hugging and petting it. My heart melted at how adorable they were and took a picture with my lame phone and set it as the wallpaper.
My phone was a simple sliding phone meant for texting. Nothing special. I have to get a new one.
When they asked for a snack, I told them to come downstairs when they were ready and I'd make something for them. Just then Martin, the dog, started barking and flew out toward the door because the doorbell rang. I smiled then soon realized he would scare our guest away. I ran after him and the girls giggled behind me.
I got to the door and saw Martin pawing and scratching at it. Shaking my head that the naughty dog, I picked him up and put my index finger up at the guest indicating I'd be here in a minute. I walked to the cage that we put in his room. It was a laundry room but we decided to keep the washing machine and drier in the basement to make room for Martin. I filled his bowl with food and his other one with water and shut the door.
I walked back to the door and opened it for the third time today and saw a grinning Lucas.
"Well hello, Luke," I said. "Hunter is... somewhere."
Lucas laughed and replied in a flirtatious voice, "The name's Lucas. But you can call me...Lucas. And your great at keeping an eye on your brother."
I laughed at his joke then replied, "Last time I saw him he was on the ground clutching his... 'Little Friend'."
He chuckled and I moved aside so he could come in. Then, the girls came skipping in singing a Sophia the First song from television.
We both smiled and I picked up Dana and told Lucas to pick up Rosie and carry them into the kitchen.
"Why, hello, Lucas. What a fabulous day today. Are you here for Hunter or Rave?" Rosie asked wile wrapping her little arms around Lucas's neck.
Lucas laughed at her question and said, "Hunter. Why would I be here for you sister?"
"You don't like her? I thought I heard you telling-"
"Oh school is staring tomorrow! What a pain! I'm so sad! Oh Rosie, I'm in too much pain to speak! Oh!" Lucas said dramatically.
"Why? Doesn't school mean you can see Raven everyday?" the little girl said innocently.
"I think we are near the kitchen now! Yay!" he exclaimed in fake enthusiasm.
I placed Dana on the counter so her legs dangled off and Lucas did the same with Rosie.
"You girls can play some hand clapping games but be careful, and don't fall. I'll get something for you two to eat. Okay?"
They both nodded and I left with Lucas behind me.
"What was that all about?" I asked. "Did someone talk about a girl to someone else? Does someone have a crushy-wushy?" I asked pinching Lucas's face and he grimaced at me.
From inside the kitchen I heard Rosie and Dana saying, "BIG GIRL WORDS, RAVEN!!!"
Lucas and I looked at each other for a moment before we bursted out laughing.
I heard the girls giggle, too and we were both on the floor laughing.
When I calmed down, I made two quick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought it over to the little four year olds.
Lucas's shoulders slumped when he saw me handing the sandwiches to the girls, "I thought those were for us."
I smiled and responded, "Want me to get you some animal crackers?"
He looked at the ground and replied, "Yes, please."
I laughed again and handed him the jar and grabbed four apple juice boxes for all of us.
Lucas then stuffed his face with a lion and a hippo while Rosie and Dana played jungle with the crackers after they ate their sandwiches. We sipped our drinks and joked around before Dana asked, "So is Lucas here for you, Raven or for Hunter?"
What's with the sudden interest of me and Lucas? "Oh, umm... He's here for Hunter, but I know him. We're friends. Right?" I looked at the boy with a mouthful of toddler food in front of me.
He tried to speak but couldn't without spitting up and just nodded his head. I patted his head in response and answered for him, "Yeah, we are friends."
Rosie nodded and Dana questioned, "Is Van... Veaneassia... is she here?"
I chuckled and said, "Yeah, Vanessa's somewhere with Hunter."
"Raven, can we get up now? Pwease?" begged Rosie.
I smiled as they gave me puppy dog eyes.
"Finish your juice and we'll see."
"Okay!" They said as they glued their straws to their mouths and drank if their little lives depended on it. "DONE!!" They screamed when they finished chugging their apple juice.
I chuckled again and picked the girls up and place them on their feet and they took off screaming, "Martin!! Where are you!? Let's give him a make over!"
We listened to the kids shout and scream and Lucas said, "You're really good with kids."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Sure."
Not knowing what to do, I hit Lucas on the shoulder and screamed, "Tag your it!" And ran off to the living room.
"Oh, your so gonna lose," he said.
"Come and catch me, Luuuke!" I said exaggerating the word 'Luke'.
"Oh, Raven, I'm the jock of the school."
I laughed. "Actually, I think that's Hunter," I said as I ran around a coffee table with him on my tail.
"We'll see about that."
I turned around to give him a curious glance but he took that opportunity to tackle me into the sofa and tickle my sides.
"Luke. Sto- stop. I'll- I'll-" I got out I between fits of laughter.
"You'll what?" he said, clearly enjoying my uncomfortableness.
"I'll take your lunch for the whole year," I threatened one he finally paused so I could speak.
He chuckled nervously and got off of me. Just then Vanessa and Hunter came in the room.
"Hey, guys," I said trying to catch my breath.
"Hey," said Vanessa giving us a weird look. I rolled my eyes at her because she spent this whole time with my brother, so she shouldn't be the one to talk.
"Yo, man. When did you come?" Hunter asked as he walked over to give Lucas the bro hug thing that I've always found weird.
"Hey," replied Lucas as he returned the gesture, "I came about... forty minutes go?" he asked me.
"You were here for that long?"
"I guess so."
"Wow."
Vanessa and Hunter watched us talk and gave us both confused looks.
"Girls and guys can be friends," I stated.
"Sorry," they both mumbled.
"What were you guys doing?" Vanessa and Lucas asked at the same time.
I smiled and answered Vanessa, "Making food for Rosie and Dana, who are now playing with Martin."
"Well we were playing video games and I beat him in Call of Duty," bragged Vanessa happily.
Hunter turned red with embarrassment and everyone else laughed. When we calmed down we decided to go upstairs. We walked up the stairs while Lucas and Hunter were talking and Vanessa adding in on something every so often.
I looked at the pictures near the walls and saw one with Vanessa, Shannon and I with Hunter and Lucas all happy and smiley when we were freshman and at the beach.
I really never remembered his name, I guess.
When we reached the top, Vanessa and I split away from the boys, "Bye!" We said as we walked into my room.
"Where's the girls?" Vanessa asked. "I've missed Rosie so much! How was her birthday party?"
"Oh, she loved it but she really missed you. We got a princess cake for her and I sang some disney songs. We recorded somethings like the cutting of the cake and took photos so we could show you. She loved the present you got her, by the way."
"Aww! Show me after I talk to her. The play room?"
"Yeah. She's in there with Dana."
"Alright," she said while she walked out of the room to see the girls.
I looked around my room. It was a fairly big bedroom. With walls now painted a light purple.
I had a queen sized bed and white bed sheets with big dark purple circles with headboard up against the middle of the wall.
There were two windows with dark purple curtains. The desk where I do my homework and sat in earlier was facing the wall next to the dresser with a comfy, black rolling chair. The white dresser where my make up and accessories were was next to my desk.
The wooden flooring was slippery when I wore socks so I basically slid everywhere in my room. I had a walking closet off to the last wall near the bathroom door that was attached to my room and the guest room. My old violin case was in the corner of the room and I realized I haven't touched it since forth grade when I quit. I walked over to the case and opened it and pulled put my tiny half size instrument.
I placed the sponge on the back and took out the bow. After playing the A string and E string I cringed at how out of tune it was. I sang an A note and twisted the pegs while plucking the strings trying to get the two to match. When it sounded sorta similar I did the same for the other three stings.
I played a D scale and tried to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while singing.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are"
When I finished I turned around to see Dana clapping.
"That was great, Raven! I want to learn to do that, too!"
I laughed and said, "When your older, call me and I'll teach you."
Her eyes lit up, "Okay!"
Smiling, I ruffled her hair and asked, "What's up?"
"I can't find my mommy! I mean, mother. I can't find my mother!" she said quickly.
"Mommy is fine! I call my mom... mommy, too..." I reassured her.
"Really?" she pondered as if she knew she had billions of things she still had to learn, which was true.
"Totally," I lied.
"Awesome! So where is my mommy?"
"She's in the office room. Here, I'll show you. Follow me."
I led her to the office room and she knocked and opened the door without waiting for an answer.
"Mommy!" Dana exclaimed as she ran into her mother's arms. I smiled and waved good bye to them and closed the door.
I walked to Hunters room and looked at the door. When he was fourteen, he use to have the tape on his door that said, "BEWARE!" and "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!" Now all those thing were taken off and replaced with a picture of Hunter and his friends, though everytime he had a girl friend it would be a picture of him and her.
I knocked on the door just incase Hunter wasn't changing or something.
"If your a little toddler, Raven can assist you!!" I heard Hunter shout from behind the gun fire of his video games.
Rolling my eyes, I opened the door and walked in. I saw Lucas on his phone and Hunter lying on his belly playing some shooter game. Boys.
They didn't notice me so I decided to pull a prank. I stood for a minute of thinking of a plan and went to commence my operation.
I ran out of the room all spy like and quietly and went to the garage and got a water gun. I quickly sprinted to the fridge at took out the one thing Hunter never let me touch and filled the water gun with it, Hunter's fruit punch. I thought better of and decided not leave my best friend out of this and got a can of whip cream.
I uncapped the whip cream and ran up the stairs, skipping one at a time. I knocked the secret code that allows the door to be opened, Rosie's words, not mine, of the play room and asked Vanessa to follow me and which one she wanted. She chose the whip cream.
We walked up to either sides of the door, like James Bond, clutching our weapons and I mouthed, "On the count of three... One... Two... Three!"
We kicked open the door and before the boys could react we squirted our ammo from our weapons at there faces, hair and clothes. I shot Hunter shirt and Vanessa aimed at Lucas's hair. When we both ran out of ammo after three minutes and we looked at each other and thought of two words, 'Well, sh*t'.
The boys had taken cover during our assault and thrown pillows at us, and now that we were defenseless, the looked at each other and screamed an ear bleeding battle cry.
They got up and and chased us around the house throwing pillows and stuffed animals. Along with Rosie's plush toys that are soft but hurt when they are thrown with force.
I ran in a separate direction than Vanessa and Lucas followed me. He chased me into the kitchen and there were grapes set out and I guess my mom put it out for Mrs. Brown.
He threw a grape at me and it bounced harmlessly off the back of my head. When we both stopped to catch our breaths, I sat down and pulled him down next to me. I grabbed two water bottles at the top of the counter and handed one to him.
After a bit of resting, I uncapped my water bottle and poured the contents of the bottle on his head.
He took a moment to realize what just happened and the look he gave me made me want to curl up a ball and hide.
"Oops?"
He chuckled at first then quickly wiped the smile off his face, "No."
I shot up in the air and ran away with Lucas quickly behind me. I threw things in his path to slow him down like pushing recycling bins down and pillows.
He chased me up the stairs and into my room. I got there before he did and shut the door quickly locking it. I grabbed my perfume bottle, vanilla scented, as I heard him take the steps two at a time.
I uncapped the bottle and unlocked the door. He barged in and I pointed my new weapon at him. He ubruptly stopped as he noticed his weakness and raised his hands up to show surrender. "Let's be rational here," he spoke nervously.
"I don't think so," I smirked.
Just then Vanessa and Hunter came running in and Vanessa tripped on my pillow that was on the ground and fell. Hunter took that opportunity and pinned her down.
"Now what?" Hunter whispered.
"You could just get off of me and I can go live my life peacefully," Vanessa said grinning.
My brother smirked and said, "I don't think so."
Not wanting to see what happened if this continued, I coughed and Lucas soon joined me.
I noticed Hunter's shirt was now red with small white spots and whip cream in his hair. He had a bit of whip cream on his face in such a position it almost looked as if he had a cream-stache and a beard.
I looked at Lukas and his navy blue long sleeve shirt with small black stripes was wet. He had no whip cream on him because the water I poured on him washed it away.
My best friend and brother both stood up and looked at the ground with red cheeks.
How cute.
After standing for a couple of minutes, I sighed and sat in my bed.
Everyone followed my actions but I quickly stopped the boys. "No and no. You two should go clean up. Why would you ever sit on someone else's bed covered in juice, whip cream and water?"
The boys smirked and Lucas answered. "For revenge."
My eyes widened in surprise and I then grabbed Hunter's arm and Vanessa did the same for Lucas. We pulled them to Hunter's bathroom and kicked them in and shut the door. "Take a shower."
We walked away as I heard the boys laugh and asked each other, "Do you want to go first, man?"
Vanessa and I went to my room and shut the door and locked it.
"Oh my god, why did we decide to do that?" she asked laughing.
"I don't know, we are just idiots," I said.
"It was your idea!" she laughed.
"...I'm going to look at the chair now," I said hesitantly not knowing how to reply.
Vanessa repeated my question from earlier. "Can you believe tomorrow's the first day of school?"
"No. Summer went by too quickly," I answered then asked, "Did you put your supplies in your locker?"
"Yeah I did right before we came here."
After Vanessa told me about her trip in California and the girls she met. We talked about how everything was in España. It turns out she got me a pair of sunglasses and one my favorite novels, "The Outsiders". I took the book in my hand, ignoring the glasses, and flipped to all my favorite parts re-reading them. When I finished, I had tears streaming down my face. I glanced at the clock and noticed almost half an hour flew by.
Vanessa was lying on her back on my bed, staring at the ceiling in deep thought.
During our silence, I started to "Replay" in my head once more.
"Raven? What's wrong?" Vanessa questioned.
"I never got to tell you because you left to Spain without telling me right after the last day of school. I didn't want to ruin your vacation with you grandmother," I answered.
"And you kept whatever was bothering you, bottled up for the whole entire summer?" she asked in disbelief.
"Kinda."
"Raven, spill."
"Okay," I told her everything that happened on the last day of school and how much what happened at lunch truly bothered me.
"Why did it bug you so much?"
"Probably because other people look down at themselves while they think I'm like... at the top of everything... like I'm teen royalty," I said glumly.
"Well, I didn't know people thought of you or anyone this way."
"Well, neither did I."
"What are you going to do?" Vanessa asked even though the whole point of talking to her was to help me solve my issue.
"I'm not sure."
"Are you going to try to dull down, a bit?"
"You mean, be someone I'm not?"
"You're not happy with the way you are, change it. Be someone you like."
"I can't do this. This is so cheesy and chiché!"
Vanessa laughed, "You're right, but you have to do something."
"Maybe I should just be a total bitch tomorrow."
"No. That's just mean."
"Then I should try to act like a nerd?"
"Yeah! And get braces."
"I already had them in fifth grade. And no one treated me differently than I get treated now. How long have I been... popular?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter how long. What matters is how you react to it."
"How many kids did I put down with out even knowing?" I asked not looking up from my feet.
"This is what people chose to think, Raven. It's not your fault."
"I guess I'll wear suck-ish clothes tomorrow and sit near the trash and at lunch. You can sit near the usual spot."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I just don't want to be at the top any more."
"Okay," she patted my shoulder and added, "I think you need time to think. Right?" I only nodded and she continued to speak, "I'm going to go home and get my schedule from the mail."
"Need a ride?"
"I'll just borrow Hunter's car. My dad dropped me off here right after we got off the plane. Keys?"
"Key hooks."
"Bye Raven. See you soon."
"Bye Vanessa."
Xxx~~~xxX
No.
Nope.
Goes with everything.
"Ugh. Why do I have such a great fasion sense!" I shouted to no one.
I decided to go with my plan of wearing out dated clothes to school tomorrow. But everything in my closet would probably be seen on a celebrity.
I flopped down on the bed and sang Replay again to help clear my head.
Finally I stood up and grabbed my phone and wallet and walked to Hunter's room. I saw Dana and Rosie playing princess and drinking pretend tea so at least they were still alive. I knocked and the door flew open. "Where's Hunter?" I asked Lucas.
"Somewhere with Vanessa. Why?"
I groaned. Of corse he'd never let Vanessa drive his car.
"Do you have a car I can use?"
"Yeah, but I can't trust you to drive it by yourself," Lucas said.
"Why not! I'm seventeen, almost eighteen in a month!"
"You sound like a four year old, Raven."
'Well I have a four year old sister so I have been influenced,' I thought.
"Whatever, Luke. Can you just drive me to the mall then?" I asked impatiently.
"Sure."
"Please! Just for- wait. Did you just say yes?" I stared at him in disbelief.
"I think so."
"Well, alright! Leggo!"
"Don't say that."
I rolled my eyes and walked to the office room. My mom was sitting at the glass desk and Mrs. Brown was sitting in an armchair near the window. They stopped talking and looked at us.
"Hi. Um... Mom? Luke- I mean Lucas and I are going to the mall. Is that alright?"
"Sure, honey. I'm coming to fold the laundry now so I'll be down in a second."
"Okay. Bye!" I said quickly.
I shut the door and ran down the stairs. I sprinted to the basement taking everything out of the washing machine and into the drier. "Damn. Damn. Damn it!"
"What?" asked Lucas once he was in the basement too.
"I forgot to take the laundry out and put it in the drier."
"Just tell her you were busy taking care of the kids."
"You want me to lie? To my mom?"
I mean yeah, I lie. But never to my parents. I want to set a good example for Rosie. She needs to turn out as the golden child. She has golden-ish hair so I thought I was on the right track.
"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing I guess," I said after thinking it through. One lie can't hurt?
I walked up the basement stairs and ran into my mom. "Hey, Mom," I greeted her uncomfortably.
"Hi. Did the laundry finish drying?"
"Actually, I forgot to put the laundry in the drier. I'm sorry. I was watching the girls and playing games with them," I lied.
My mom looked at me for a bit as if deciding if I was lying or not and said, "It's okay, I'll take care of it when the cycle is over."
I smiled gratefully at my mom, "Thank you. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Go have fun, Raven."
"Okay, bye Mom."
I took Lucas's hand and pulled him out the front door with me. We got in his black car and drove to the mall in eight minutes. When we got there, he asked, "What do you need from here anyways?"
I answered, "A new wardrobe. I have get new clothes. A new style."
"What's wrong with your style now?"
'Everything,' I thought, yet I hesitated before I answered, "It's a new year, why not go with a new look, you know?"
I quickly got out of the car to avoid any follow up questions and walked through the entrances leaving Lucas behind.
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We rushed out of the doors carrying bags full of clothes and laughing.
"I can't believe you did that!" Lucas exclaimed in between fits of laughter.
"What? She was asking for it!" I bit my lip, trying to calm down.
"You took perfume and sprayed it into her mouth." We both entered into another fit of laughter.
"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds kinda rude."
Lucas sighed before unlocking the doors to his car. "She just said you couldn't use the coupons."
"Those coupons were valid. And her breath stunk, I just did her a favor."
We laughed again before we drove out of the mall's parking lot. We made small talk after calming down about the mall incident and it turned out we had a lot in common.
We shared the same amount of love for chocolate drizzled popcorn, though I'm not sure how we reached that subject.
"Now I'm hungry," I whined as we turned to my street.
"Well, I suppose you don't want to grab something to eat?" Lucas asked.
"You mean like food?"
"No, I meant like... camels?"
I laughed at his attempt of sarcasm and responded, "I could eat."
"Okay, let's go to your house and see what's in the fridge."
I rolled my eyes as he pulled the car up into my driveway. We both got out and he followed me inside.
"Where's Dana?" I asked Rosie who was sitting on the floor, near the shoe rack, playing with a doll.
"She weft."
I gave her the use-big-girl-words look and she quickly corrected herself again.
"Okay. Is Vanessa back?"
"Yeah, she is upstairs and... Hunter is upstairs, too!"
"Thanks, Rosie. Can you please tell Mom that we're home."
"Sure!" She jumped up and started to twirl towards the kitchen.
"She's something," Lucas mumbled behind me.
I nodded in agreement as we both watched he twirl away.
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As I was writing this I got too worried if this is way too cliché. If it is, tell me. I need to know. Or if be drowning myself in worry and I'd go crazy trying to make it less... whatever it is now.
This chapter was mainly just to introduce the characters more and there personalities.
I hope you guys liked this! I enjoyed writing this a lot. :D
I'll start with two simple question: How do you like the characters that were introduced? Is this going to fast?
I mean it shouldn't at all. This is how they act with one another. They knew each other for years, Raven just keeps on forgetting Lucas's name for a certain reason. All will be revealed later.
Mia Hays is on the side and she plays Rosie Ross. I know she is like 10 years old now, but I think that she was like five when the pictue was taken. Isn't she cute! Also, the song featured in this chapter, Raven's stressed and worried song Replay by Iyaz is on the side as well.
Well, vote/comment/share/follow and all that!
Bye!
-OmMan
Xxx~~~xxX
DATE UPLOADED ON WATTPAD: DECEMBER 31, 2013