‘You’re late,’ came the accusing voice from behind me.
I let out a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair absentmindedly before closing the door lightly. Noting the darkened lights and also the sudden rev of Mitchie’s motorcycle engine leaving the area, I turned around to face Henry’s wife. I think her name was Heather or something along the line.
‘It’s only seven thirty,’ I answered her flatly, watching her with a mild expression on my face. My own mother didn’t even treat me like this. A pang rose in my chest as I thought of her and her safety. Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I stared at Heather. She was wearing her pyjamas, silky stuff and she looked pretty pissed at me. I had to wonder why.
‘Where were you? Why were you out? Was that your boyfriend?’ she asked me furiously. Question after question were fired at me, making me look at her with an amused expression on my face. Man, Mum wasn’t this irritating and annoying. I don’t even know what she’s doing now and I don’t like it.
‘I was in school because I had softball practice. He’s my bestfriend not my boyfriend, god why are you asking me so many damn questions? You’re not my Mum and you don’t even care a hoot about me,’ I replied her flatly and raised an eyebrow as a challenge. ‘I’m going to go.’
‘I’m talking to you young lady!’ she hissed at me, making me roll my eyes at her as I passed her by the living room and she grabbed my right arm tightly, making me wince. ‘Don’t just ignore me when I’m still not finished yet with you.’
I let out a sigh and yanked my arm back, glaring at her. My stare made her falter, almost making her question herself. I ran a hand furiously through my hair, not liking the anger that was brewing inside my chest. ‘Don’t touch me, I don’t like being touched and secondly, Henry knows I have practice so this isn’t my fault,’ I told her emotionlessly.
I brushed past her without another word.
Muttering under my breath and feeling even worse about myself, I made my way silently towards the guest room where I had been living for the past week. It was bearable living here, mostly because Heather ignores me. She treats me as if I didn’t exist for most part of the day, only talking to me when I leave for school or whether I want more coffee but I always see her smile that was plastered on her face was forced.
I didn’t mind.
‘How was softball?’ Seth’s soft raspy voice could be heard from his bedroom. His door was left ajar and I could hear him strumming his guitar as he hummed a melody. I peeked through the door and saw him sitting on his bed, his back leaning on the wall as he strummed his acoustic softly.
His room was filled to the brim with CDs. He had installed floor-to-ceiling shelves all over his room and everything was filled with CDs, even with vinyl copies. I have no idea when he finds the time to listen to everything and I don’t even know how he manages to do that. If the wall wasn’t filled with CDs, it was filled with his guitars.
Plenty of Fenders and Stratocasters.
I broke into a small smile at his relaxed position and hovered by the doorway. ‘It was fine,’ I answered him softly and ran a hand through my hair again, feeling a little distracted at the moment. ‘I’m going to go, I talk to you tomorrow.’ I left the room without even waiting for his reply.
Nudging the door open with my foot, I made my way into the guest room where the familiar sight of the bed greeted me. I dropped my bags beside the cabinet and let out a groan, feeling the effects of not sleeping for weeks taking a toll on my body. I wish for sleep but the nightmares will wake me up, making me scream in the middle of the night and I didn’t want that to happen. I was too ashamed to admit and tell everyone what happened. I was ashamed to let them know how haunted I was.
I just stared into the depths of the room, not even seeing what was in front of me. Visions of my old life flashed beyond my eyes and I had to force back a sob when pain flashed through my heart. Letting out a sigh, I ran both hands through my hair and wished for some miracle to take the pain away.
I'm always screaming my lungs out 'til my head starts spinning
Playing my songs is the way I cope with life
Won't keep my voice down
Know the words I speak are the thoughts I think out loud
I like to keep things honest
I'm a safe bet like your life's staked on it, for real
I'd hate to keep you all wondering
I'm constant like the seasons, I will never be forgotten man
Let's leave no words unspoken
And save regrets for the broken
Will you even look back when you think of me?
All I want is a place to call my own
To mend the hearts of everyone who feels alone
Whoa, you know to keep your hopes up high
And your head down low
Keep your hopes up high and your head down low
‘Ally?’
I swerved to my left quickly to see Seth hovering by my doorway and looking at me with a confused expression on his face. He noticed that I was still standing by my room and his eyes roamed my face as if he was trying to read whatever emotion that I had buried deep inside me. Something flashed onto his face, passing to his eyes but they dissolved as quickly as they arrived.
‘That song you were singing…’ he trailed off.
‘A Day to Remember,’ I replied him quietly and watched him with a hooded expression plastered on my face. Pressing two fingers on the throbbing vein above my right eyebrow, I made my way towards the bed and sank onto it gratefully. I have never felt so tired before in my entire life and I could feel the tiredness grabbing at the edges of my eyes, trying to lull me to sleep.
‘Your voice is amazing,’ he said quietly, his raspy voice cutting into the edges of my vision which made me look up at him in confusion. He was still holding onto his acoustic, the guitar itself was on his back which made him look like he couldn’t live without that thing at all. He had shoved both his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he spoke.
I let out a yawn suddenly, stretching my tired body as I tried fighting the clutches of sleep at the edges of my eyes. ‘Thanks Seth,’ I answered him with a small and weary smile. ‘Spit it out dude, I promise I won’t bite you or anything.’
He smirked at my tone and leaned against the door frame as if finding the right words to say to me. He cleared his throat for a moment and frowned slightly before he spoke. ‘We’re finding a lead singer and I’m wondering if you want to-you know-join our band?’ he asked me quite hesitantly.
I stared at him incredulously. I didn’t even know if that’s a dream or if I’m still awake. Seth was asking me to join his band? That’s not possible. ‘Aren’t you the lead singer?,’ I asked him hesitantly with a slight frown on my face, wondering what on earth was happening and why he was asking me to join his band.
‘My voice is taking a toll and I can’t always sing lead, come on Ally just once please? You can come down to our usual jamming studio and see how it turns out,’ Seth pleaded at me and turned his puppy eyes look on me, his gaze smouldering at me. ‘Please Ally? If you feel like bailing out, I won’t put up a fight.’
My eyes widen at his pleading look and felt my heart squeeze uncomfortably at the way he was looking at me. His hair had fallen onto his aqua eyes and that made him look even more enticing. ‘You’re cheating!’ I exclaimed at him and laughed aloud, making him smile at me in triumph. ‘Fine whatever, I’ll come down and see but no guarantees okay?’
‘See I told you, you can’t resist my good looks,’ he told me with a smirk which made me roll my eyes and kick him out of my room. He left my room laughing loudly while wishing goodnight which made me shake my head at him, wondering what was going on with him that made him so damn happy.
Boys are all the same.
So confident.
I came to know that even more around noon the next day. I had barely slept the previous day and I was feeling kind of delirious at the moment. Ten o’clock in the morning and I was already bathed and seated at the dining room getting my daily fix of caffeine. I was wearing a pair of denim ripped jeans and a pastel vintage sweater with a pair of beat-up red converse shoes.
I was alone at the moment and I was glad, it would be awkward talking to Henry and Heather at this time of the day. Especially knowing what happened the previous night, I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me again. I had enough of arguing. I sat on the chair and sighed happily, holding the cup filled with my favourite brew.
I tried not to think about Mum.
It was proving impossible though. I was worried about her; I don’t even know what to think. I feel like as if I was hovering between a zone, never moving and never leaving. It’s like a part of me is lost, forever finding her and I can’t find myself to break out from this zone. I feel so restless and it’s beginning to take a toll on my body.
I dragged a hand through my hair, feeling so exasperated at everything. There wasn’t any news from the FBI and it’s already been more than a week since she was forcibly kidnapped. It was a stupid thing to do, he should know I will find him eventually and I will kick his ass to jail.
He deserves to rot there for eternity.
I had never loathed and hated someone so much before in my entire life. So much anger and hatred fuelled towards that man who made my life a living hell. It was as if it’s his job to make me suffer, like how he suffered through the life that he didn’t want. He made it look as if it was my fault and that I deserved to be treated like trash.
And during my younger years, I actually believed him. Can you believe it? I actually believe the man who used to be my role model that I deserve to be trash, I deserve to be treated worse than a slave, and I deserved the tough life where I was born into. I believed him. Once upon a time, I believed him.
I just don’t know why.
I had been staring at a certain part of a wall with my hand poised under my chin for about an hour later when a dishevelled-looking Seth appeared at the kitchen doorway and he raised an eyebrow at me when he saw me already seated. His hair was forever messy, sticking up at the front and some fell haphazardly on his eyes. He brushed those impatiently away and made his way towards the table where the pot of coffee was.
‘Morning, you’re awake early,’ he commented at me as he sat down heavily opposite me where I replied him with a nonchalant shrug. He eyed the empty mug in front of him critically and just grabbed the pot without a word before pouring the delicious brew into it. He inhaled the scent deeply and sighed happily, like as if he couldn’t function normally without it.
Like as if he was an addict.
‘Sleep is a wonderful thing. You should try it sometime,’ he pointed out to me quite sarcastically after a few moment of silence that had passed between us with him staring at me with a frown on his face. I gave him a flat stare which made him smirk at me. ‘You look like hell by the way.’
‘Thank you for pointing that out Professor,’ I replied him, rolling my eyes at his sarcastic comment and raised the mug to my lips to sip the coffee slowly. I think that was my fifth mug for the day and I could feel the caffeine working its miracle on my body. I could feel myself waking up despite the sleepiness tugging at the edges of my eyes. I feel so tired that I can sleep a week but then there’s this energy brewing inside me that’s somehow forcing me to function normally. I don’t know if this makes sense but that’s how I felt at the moment.
‘Do you even sleep?’ he asked me incredulously.
I stared at him for a few minutes, boring into the aqua orbs that were looking at me with a worried expression. ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ I told him quietly which made him scowl but I was glad that he didn’t press. I kept quiet and stared off into the distance, my fingers tapping on the table.
Thoughts about her again crept into my mind. It’s been more than a week after Mum’s kidnap and the FBI had no news yet. I was so worried about her safety that I couldn’t sleep nor eat properly but I had to force myself to function normally. Too much coffee and very little sleep can do bad things to you.
Why can’t I live a normal life? I mused to myself and frowned at that thought that had crossed my mind. Please be fine Mum, please be okay. The FBI will find you, please be strong for me.
My thoughts about Mum were violently halted when Seth snapped his long fingers in front of my face numerous times making me blink in shock and scowl murderously at him. ‘What the hell man?’
‘I was talking to you and you weren’t listening,’ he told me with a flat look on his face. ‘Anyway, what I was saying when you were zoning off, the band consist of three people. I play lead guitar, there’s Darren who plays the bass and Connor who plays the drums. We’re called Bang the Riot and we’ve been having blind auditions for the lead singer for months now but so far we can’t find the right one.’
I stared at him. Blind auditions?
‘Yeah it means that we don’t care what you look like or what you wear, we just judge you on your voice and whether or not you can sing whatever song we can throw at you,’ he continued explaining after seeing my face. ‘We need a lead singer because I suck in singing by the way, I can’t hit the notes and my manager thinks it’s best if we find one quick.’
‘Yeah we belong to Impossible Records, we have a deal with them and such,’ Seth continued speaking like as if it was nothing. I stared at him with round eyes. ‘We just came back from tour and we’re now making a new album deal. The first album of ours isn’t a sell-out by the way because we sucked dicks.’
‘I’ve never even heard of you guys,’ I told him softly, frowning at him as I tried to recall their name somewhere. ‘And I know a lot of bands.’
He rolled his eyes at me. ‘Didn’t I say that my first album suck dicks? That’s why you didn’t even hear about us before; you didn’t even recognize me when we met. Our producer which is our bassist suck anyway so our manager proposed to find us a new lead singer and a new producer so that we’d be able to sell-out our CDs,’ he told me.
‘So that’s where I come in,’ I said and looked at him for a few moments. ‘If I so happen to be the right lead singer, then what would happen to me? I still have a few months of high school left and I have a scholarship for my years in University. Not to mention, I happen to be missing a family member.’
He paused at the last sentence. ‘Don’t worry about that. I’ll settle that business with the manager and we’ll probably wait after you graduate before we go on tour because we’d be making our new album along the way. As for your scholarship, I don’t know. I mean let’s see what my band and manager says eh? If they like your voice, then we’ll see what happens,’ he said with a smug grin on his face.
‘You’re being overly positive,’ I pointed out to him with a sarcastic tone.
‘I’m an optimist.’
‘Whatever.’
…
Sunshine, there ain't a thing that you can do that's gonna ruin my night.
(But, there's just something about)
This dizzy dreamer and her bleeding little blue boy.
Licking your fingers like you're done and,
You've decided there is so much more than me.
And baby, honestly it's harder breathing next to you, I shake.
I brought a gun and as the preacher tried to stop me.
Hold my heart it's beating for you anyway.
What if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
None of the colours ever light up anymore in this hole.
Nobody prays for the heartless.
Nobody gives another penny for the selfish.
You're learning how to taste what you kill now.
Don't mind me; I'm just reaching for your necklace.
Talking to my mom about this little girl from Texas.
What if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
None of the colours ever light up anymore in this hole.
Just give her back to me.
You know I can't afford the medicine that feeds what I need.
So, baby, what if I can't forget you?
(What if I can't forget you?)
Collide invisible lips like a shadow on the wall,
And just throw, oh no.
You can't just throw me away.
So, what if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
What if I don't even want to?
Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh.
What if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
None of the colours ever light up anymore in this hole.
Just give her back to me.
You know I can't afford the medicine that feeds what I need.
So, baby, what if I can't forget you?
(What if I can't forget you?)
I'd better learn to live alone.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
What's so good about? What's so good about?
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
Oh.
I sang the last note, my voice wavering with so much emotion that I was afraid that they might spill over. I had sung the song with a slight smirk on my face with my eyes tightly closed and allowed the familiar guitar chords to wash over me naturally, bobbing my head a little to the music.
I finally opened my eyes to meet four equally shocked and mystified expressions plastered on the boys’ faces as soon as the last guitar chord rang out from Seth who was playing the acoustic beside me. I exchanged confused looks with him before latching my attention back at the boys in front of me.
We were inside a room. Seth and I were seated on stools while the rest of the occupants were seated on chairs behind a round table. It was a normal meeting room where there was space in front for those to present what they have to the workers. In this case, I was performing my solo in front of them.
I just didn’t imagine them to be staring at me like that.
‘Well guys, what do you think?’ Seth asked them dryly, an amused expression on his face as he leaned his arms onto his acoustic guitar that was resting lightly on his lap. ‘Stop staring at her come on guys!’
‘I saw a video of you and two of your friends singing yesterday,’ the middle boy with spiky brown hair spoke suddenly. He goes by the name of Darren, the bassist of the band and he just grinned at me when I looked at him blankly. ‘You were singing bulletproof love yesterday in school?’
Then it dawned on me, that free show I did with Jared and Mitchie by the benches yesterday after practice where a lot of people were videoing that down. ‘Oh that, yeah I was but that was just for fun though,’ I told him with a nonchalant shrug.
‘Do you even know how many people viewed that thing?’ he demanded at me. Exchanging bewildered looks with Seth who seemed to mimic my own expression, I just shrugged at Darren. ‘Thousands Ally, thousands of people had seen that video and they liked it. They love your voice.’
‘Holy shit.’
‘This could work,’ the oldest man amongst the four boys spoke suddenly and he looked at me somewhat critically. I have inkling that this man was their manager judging at the clothes he was wearing-too formal somehow. ‘What happened to your right arm Ally? That’s a nasty scar.’
Despite knowing it, I looked down to see and cursed softly under my breath as I noticed the scar peeking underneath the sleeve that I had pushed up to my elbow. I keep forgetting that I had one mother ugly scar there. ‘I fell on the skating rink when I was younger, a very bad fall,’ I lied to him.
The manager frowned at me for a moment, taking a moment to swallow my lie but then the other three boys seated around him started making sounds of approval. I mean boys and their scars; it’s like a trophy you can show off when you did something ridiculous. If they think of it that way, then I don’t mind really.
‘So what do you think Rip? Think she’s the right singer?’ Seth cut in swiftly, sounding disgruntled and seeming impatient at the way the boys were holding off their answers. ‘Please tell me we have the right person, she has an amazing voice!’
The man named Rip, the new producer just sat watching me somewhat critically. I could see his eyes trying to pierce into my soul and I tried looking away from his dark gaze, not liking the way his eyes roam around me. ‘Yeah I think she’s the one, you picked the right person,’ he finally answered and looked away from me but the guarded look on his face didn’t leave.
He just stared at me with a frown on his face as if he was trying to figure me out. I felt nervous and a little bit hysterical that he was staring at me so openly like that. It was unnerving really.
‘Oh thank god finally an answer,’ Seth said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his producer and then turned towards his two friends who were watching us with gleeful looks. ‘Guys, what do you think?’
I didn’t pay attention to whatever the two boys said because my phone suddenly vibrated from within my pocket, making me jump a foot into the air. Cursing under my breath, I yanked the phone out and frowned at it when I saw Mitchie’s name flashing on the screen. Why would he be calling me on the weekends?
‘Jesus woman where the hell are you?’ Mitchie’s voice cut into the phone and I had to roll my eyes at the way he just ignored the usual greetings you do whenever you pick up a phone call. I don’t even know why he does that. It’s irritating sometime.
‘I’m in the middle of something Mitchie and good afternoon to you too sleepy head,’ I answered him with a smirk on my face as I ran a hand through my hair absentmindedly. I looked at the other boys-Seth finally with them- who were all discussing about something and I let them be.
‘Whatever babe! Meet me and Lee at the usual place later in the evening, don’t be late or I’d kill you,’ he exclaimed at me. ‘I love you babe. I have to go. Don’t forget or I’ll come down and drag you down by your hair!’
I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes at his words, knowing that he didn’t even mean the threats. ‘Yeah fine and I love you too, don’t get into any fights. I don’t have cash to bail you out anymore and you owe me plenty already,’ I told him severely over the phone before hanging up the call with a slight smile playing on my lips.
‘You have to bail who out?’
I raised my eyes to see the tall and burly drummer-wavy black hair with dark eyes looking at me with a slight frown on his face. I grinned at him as I pocketed my phone. ‘My bestfriend, he loves getting into fights and he’s always ending up in jail almost every two weeks,’ I told him with a one-sided shrug.
‘Wow, I love to meet the dude someday,’ he mused thoughtfully, biting his lip as he did which made me laugh aloud. He grinned at me and stretched his hand out in greeting. ‘Pleased to meet you Ally, I’m Connor.’
I grinned at him and grasped his huge callous hand with my own; shaking it lightly as I told him it was nice to meet him too. The both of us watched the rest of the boys discuss about things and Connor snagged Seth’s abandoned stool before bringing it closer so we sat side by side.
‘So, want to play twenty questions?’
…
I let out a groan. ‘The fuck?’ I muttered under my breath and I raised my head blindly to figure out what had just woke me up. My head felt so damn heavy at the moment and a random song was blaring loudly in my ears as I blindly reached a hand towards my vibrating phone.
I squinted at the flashing light, noting the time and cursed inwardly that I had managed to get an hour’s rest. It was four in the morning. Four in the freaking morning. Who in the right mind would call someone at four a.m.?
I accepted the call without glancing and pulled the earpieces out, pressing the phone tightly to my ear before laying my forehead on the bed with a loud groan. ‘What the fuck do you want? It’s bloody four in the morning,’ I growled at the phone blearily automatically thinking it was Mitchie. ‘You sick fuck what the hell have you been doing after we left?’
‘Hi babe!’
I let out a groan at his happy chirp. That doesn’t sound good at all. Mitchie sounding happy never bears good news. ‘Fuck you Mitchie, you’re fucking drunk! Please don’t tell me you’ve landed yourself in jail,’ I hissed at him and raised my head from the bed, trying to shake the sleepiness away from my brain.
He paused, considering my words. ‘No, I’m not in jail you silly girl! I’m drunk yes but I can’t drive back home you know. In case I get into an accident and stuff like that,’ he blabbed through the phone heartily. ‘Babe, come get me please! I’m at the thirty-second street.’ Which he then promptly hung up on me.
I groaned again, cursing heavily under my breath. That smug bastard, I hate him sometimes. That street was far from here but being the loyal bestfriend that I was, I forced myself off the bed. Running a hand through my hair and yawning heavily, I swapped my sweatpants to ripped jeans and grabbed the hoodie off the chair before jogging my way out of the room.
Pocketing my phone and wallet, I made my way silently along the house and climbed down the stairs towards the front door to get to my shoes. Thanking god that the rest of the occupants are heavy sleepers, I unlocked the front door as quietly as I could and inched my way out quietly.
Five minutes later, I was already jogging my way towards the street Mitchie was at. The three of us had been hanging out by the lake earlier during the day and had left for home around eight at night. I don’t know why Mitchie didn’t go home and I don’t have a clue why he can’t call a cab.
Maybe he ran out of cash.
Maybe he just didn’t want to get caught by the police.
Shaking my head at that lame possibility, I ran even faster towards that street he told me. I knew what kind of drunk he was and hoped to God he wasn’t that intoxicated. He gets very merry and clingy when he’s drunk and it made him look like he’s suffering from bipolar or something.
Ten minutes later, I saw Mitchie’s beloved red motorbike parked at some random pavement and further down I saw my bestfriend lying on the pavement laughing to himself. Letting out a sigh of relief, I jogged down the street towards him. For the first time, I was glad that he stayed put.
There were times that he had wandered off.
But luckily, I wasn’t alone.
‘The fuck Mitchie?’ I exclaimed at him as soon as I got within earshot. ‘Do you know what time it is now? It’s fucking four in the morning! You’re out of your fucking mind!’ I have no clue why I was even answering my own questions but I didn’t care, I was too tired and angry. The tiredness is taking a toll on me.
He turned as soon as he heard me shouting at him. His hair was a mess, they were for once falling down onto his eyes which he brushed them away impatiently before making this unrecognizable sound at the back of his throat and he jumped upwards, flinging his arms around my neck.
I let out a yelp as he threw himself at me and I struggled under his weight, trying to keep the both of us balanced but then the momentum was too heavy for my own body so the next moment, the both of us were on the floor with Mitchie laying on top of me. Groaning and cursing heavily under my breath, I squirmed under his heavy weight.
‘Mitchie, get the fuck up!’
He let out a contented sigh but ignored my pleas. Instead, he just buried his face onto my chest and closed his eyes, making a sigh at the back of his throat. I hate it when he does that. I let out a curse and shoved his face off my chest which made him whine at me before I was able to roll off of him with a lot of difficulty.
‘Jesus this boy is going to be the death of me,’ I muttered heavily under my breath as I straightened myself up, stretching my aching back where I hit it on the ground and watched him pout at me. He’s acting like a freaking five year old when he’s drunk. ‘Come on Mitchie, let’s get you home.’
…
‘Why is there a boy in your bed Allison?’ Heather hissed at me as soon as she came down for breakfast at freaking seven a.m. I mean who the hell wakes up at seven in the morning on Sundays? ‘Who is he?’
I just raised my head blearily from where I had been staring thoughtfully into my cup of coffee before taking a huge gulp of it. I watched her glare at me for a moment, wondering to myself how she does that pristine and orderly look on her. ‘He got himself drunk and I couldn’t just leave him out there so I brought him here since it’s the nearest,’ I told her emotionlessly.
‘This isn’t a freaking hotel Allison!’ she exclaimed at me and jabbed a finger at my face as she glared murderously at me. I frowned at her, wondering why she was so damn angry over this. ‘Get him out of this house this instant you hear me?’
‘Jesus, yes woman,’ I muttered under my breath and ran a hand through my hair tiredly as I let out a sigh. ‘I’ll get him home as soon as he wakes up okay? It’s just for a couple of hours before he can actually walk properly.’
‘You left to get him?!’
I gave her a pointed stare, raising an eyebrow at her question. Does she really have to ask that? God she’s worse than my own Mother and that’s saying something. ‘Yeah well if I didn’t, then how did he magically appear here Heather? He’s not Harry Potter,’ I pointed out to her flatly.
‘This isn’t your house where you can just bring boys over!’ she screamed at me shrilly so suddenly making me jump. Her eyes were bulging and her nostrils flared as her anger boiled over. ‘What the hell is wrong with you, you stupid girl?’
‘Which part are you not listening Heather? He’s my bestfriend who’s passed out drunk on some pavement! At least try to understand-‘
‘What the freaking hell is going on here?’ Seth’s tired voice cut in suddenly, making the both of us whip our heads towards him where he hovered by the doorway of the kitchen. ‘You know shouting at freaking seven in the morning isn’t a good choice but Mum, just lay off from Ally will you? She’s just doing what all bestfriends would do.’
‘But she has no right to just bring him-‘
‘Look woman, I know you don’t like me. I don’t even know why because I didn’t even do anything to you to deserve being treated like this. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll pack my bags and move somewhere else,’ I interrupted her swiftly, a scowl on my face. ‘Jesus what is wrong with you.’
I left the kitchen swiftly with the mug in my hands, brushing past Seth who was glaring at his mother. I didn’t want to keep arguing at this time of day. It’s Sunday. I left them to deal with whatever things they had in mind and made my way up the stairs, muttering murderously under my breath. Why can’t the woman understand for once?
Making my way down the hall of the rooms, my usual ringtone erupted from my phone which made me jump ten feet into the air cursing loudly at the sudden noise. Thanking god that I was alone, I took out the phone sheepishly from my jeans pocket to frown at the unknown number.
‘Hello?’
‘Allison Griffiths? This is the FBI, I’m Agent Clyde Bronte and we have news about your missing mother. I think it would be appropriate for you to come down to the police station for a briefing of what we had found currently. Are you able to make it here around noon?’ the deep voice spoke to me, making shivers run down my spine.
I made a face at his sombre words. ‘Er, sure.’
‘Delightful, we’ll see you there.’
…