"I don't want to go, Daxx!" Andy screamed, pulling against my hand so viciously that he fell against the floor in his efforts.
Sighing, I crouched down to his level so that we could talk properly. I could tell from his expression that he wasn't scared of going in there, he was just kicking up a fuss to make me feel guilty about it. Which worked.
"I'm here and so is your sister. If Jimmy steps out of line, we'll put him in his place, okay? Connor and I will be in the next room over the entire time. Pinkie promise." I reassured him, holding out my little finger patiently.
"Angel will be too busy playing with Mary." Andy glared at his twin sister, giving her a sharp look for finding a new best friend.
I was seriously worried about Andy's lack of friends.
"Either way, you still have Connor and I. Besides, we're already here." I gestured with my ring and bracelet clad hand to the suburban two story white house with large front windows.
Angel leaned in and whispered something to Andy that seemed to cheer him up. She slung her arm around his shoulder and the two skipped off, laughing together as they headed inside the wide-open front door. I appreciated whatever she said because it seemed to bring up his mood. With my nerves settled, I decided to follow after them after grabbing my stuff from the car.
We had bought Jimmy a generic birthday gift, so I grabbed that, slinging my leather jacket over my shoulder as I juggled the things. I slipped on my sunglasses and ran my hand through my black hair to tame the tangles and push it out of my face. I looked around to see where Connor had disappeared to after he had darted from the car.
"Damn, that was mighty fine, Daxx. Please do it again." A voice yelled from the porch, followed by a long wolf-whistle.
"We're at an eight-year-olds birthday party!" I hissed at the idiot, slamming my hand over his mouth to shut him up.
He proceeded to lick my hand, making me recoil at the slimy feeling.
"You love me really, baby." Connor winked, "I say we make a grand entrance. Let everyone know the real party queens have arrived."
"Must I remind you, once again, that we are at an eight-year-olds birthday party?" I sighed, "You may act that age, but you're about ten years too late."
"You killjoy."
"Na na na, baby" I winked at him, letting his bubbly personality lift my mood slightly.
It was contagious. Plus, I'd been trying to make an effort with this whole 'flirting' thing. Matching the other person's energy was important.
"What? I don't get the reference... Oh my god, you called me baby! That was kind of hot." Connor fanned himself dramatically.
I couldn't believe he didn't get the reference, but I was too distracted by his reaction to my flirting to explain what the hell I meant. At least I wasn't as tragic at flirting as I was last week.
"Where have Mary and the twins gone?" I asked, looking around for them with frantic eyes.
"Calm down, Mama Daxx. I'm sure they've just gone in to see the rest of their friends. Even though Mary's been here for, like, a week, she's made a tonne of friends." Conner grinned, seeming proud of his little sister.
"What about you? How's Sixth Form?"
"Well I think I would prefer to be home schooled because there's this one kid near my house who's home schooled and he's incredible. I mean he's insanely hot and maybe if I were home schooled I could just watch him all day." Conner joked around, causing a slight red blush to grace my pale cheeks.
"Is that so?" I murmured, taking a single step towards Connor.
It was enough to make him as flustered as he got me. He let out a high pitched sound and took a step back, but I kept looking at him with that devilish twinkle in my eyes. I kind of enjoyed being the one who wasn't a fumbling mess for once.
Our moment, however, was interrupted by a hot, searing pain shooting down my back. I let out a yell, almost screaming from the pain. My hands instantly flew to scratch and pull at the pain, trying to rip it away from me to no avail. Conner looked startled to say the least.
I fell to my knees, my body twisting and convulsing as the sun made contact with my skin. It felt as if I had third degree burns all over my neck from where the sun had come into contact. Connor, in a panic, grabbed me from the ground and dragged me to the shade of the sheltered porch. He was still holding me as I hissed in pain, tears brimming at my eyes.
I could see Jimmy's mother watching from the French windows of her home. I could also see her pull the curtains closed, ushering children away from looking at the weird kid hissing at the sun. I didn't want to look at Connor. He must think I'm such a freak, for lack of a better word. I don't think there's any word that fits me better.
Once the searing pain numbed a bit, Connor and I went inside. I felt beyond embarrassed and I wanted nothing more than to disappear under my duvet and not come out for at least a week, but I had to stay strong for the twins. Jimmy's mother asked me if I was okay, but from the way she asked you could tell she didn't really care. It was just a common courtesy thing to ask.
All of the kids were running around the garden but Andy was notably sat by himself, sulking while watching Mary and Angel play together. This pretty much confirmed my fear that he doesn't have any friends. I was about to go to him, but it was then that Jimmy approached him with a toy truck, a peace offering in seven-year-old language.
"Hey Mama Daxx, pay me some attention." Connor piped up from beside me, poking my side.
I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes at that; he was so attention demanding.
"Is that my new nickname now? Mama Daxx?" I chuckled, taking a seat on the sofa next to him.
"Well, I could call you Daddy instead, if you prefer?" Connor flirted, keeping his voice to an almost whisper to avoid anybody hearing, his hot breath fanning against my neck and ear.
With a blush, I cleared my throat and scooted away from Connor.
"If any old bag interrupts us, it's because they're jealous." Connor teased.
"Tone it down in front of the seven year olds." I warned him, meekly.
"I'm not replying because you'll just tell me off when somebody overhears." Connor sulked, "You owe me, though."
"Okay, well, to make it up to you, how about we go on a date tonight?" I proposed, since I'd had all week to plan it.
"No way, really?" Connor beamed, "I didn't think you'd ask me so soon."
"Is that a yes?" I frowned.
"It's a hell yes."
Connor and I settled into a comfortable conversation after that, just chatting about whatever we wanted. It was pleasant, until Andy came running towards us crying his eyes out. He jumped into my lap and began to sob into my neck, wailing like a banshee. I had seen Andy go through many intense emotions, but he had never been this upset about anything.
I was confused and alarmed, but comforted him straight away, rocking him back and forth slightly while trying to get him to calm down so that he could tell me what happened. Connor dashed off to find the girls to get some answers out of them.
I was so focused on Andy that I didn't even notice that all of the parents were watching us with raised eyebrows, whispering amongst themselves. Did they have to be so obvious with their staring? They act like school children.
Once Andy's crying finally subsided, I tried to get some answers out of him with no success. He refused to tell me what happened. Connor approached with a bashful Mary and Angel, but I knew I was fighting a losing battle just from their expressions. They had already made their mind up that I wouldn't be told what had happened here today.
"What happened?" I tried anyway, but Andy had already glared them into silence.
"This is the level of drama you'd expect from a party with people our age." Connor tried to make light of it, "These seven-year-olds are ahead of their time."
I sent him a look; now wasn't the time. A bunch of kids had already left so Connor and I thanked Jimmy's Mum for having the kids before we left. She seemed really enthusiastic about watching us leave. I don't think she appreciated Connor and I hauled up on her sofa, flirting. We all climbed into my jeep and headed home. The kids sat in dead silence; things were so quiet that even Connor noticed something was off.
"So where are we going tonight?" Connor grinned, his hand sneaking over to rest on my thigh.
I almost stalled the car at the feeling of his hand on my thigh, but I kept my cool and tried to focus on the road ahead. I did, however, shoot him a look to tell him to shut it. The twins didn't know that I crept off at night and I planned to keep it a secret.
"You and Connor are going out? Can we come?" Angel asked, finally breaking their silent trance.
"Now, Angel, that's called third-wheeling." Connor scolded, turning to grin at her.
I nudged him slightly. He was such a bad influence.
"No fair! I want to spend time with you two, too!" Mary pouted, crossing her arms grumpily.
"How about we all go swimming tomorrow? You haven't got school so it'll be fine with our respective mums, probably." I bargained.
Angel and Mary nodded excitedly and started to gush about all the fun they were going to have whilst swimming. Andy, however, just leant against the window, staring out of it. He was still sulking about whatever happened. Strange. He usually got over things pretty quickly. I wonder if that Jimmy kid had said something mean about me again. I don't think it's as simple as that, because he would have told me if that happened. For some reason, he's hiding it.
"Can I come round for a while?" Connor asked suddenly as we pulled up to our houses.
"Sure." I nodded.
We all piled out and headed into the house. The girls ran off to Angel's bedroom, excited to hang out some more, but Andy sulkily went and put himself to bed in Mum's room. I brushed it off; a nap would do him some good. I slipped my shoes off and Connor followed me up to my room. He glanced around it and smiled, pouncing onto my bed and wrapping himself in my duvet.
"Your bed is so comfortable. How could you not sleep when your bed feels like this?" Connor remarked before it dawned on him, "Oh wait, you have insomnia. Sorry if that was insensitive."
"It's fine, I don't care." I shrugged, sitting down at my desk and watching Connor.
He was so strange to me. He had so much confidence and he didn't think twice before saying something. He did things without caring about what other people thought. Right now, for example, he was sprawled out on my bed; he didn't ask, he just did it. I didn't mind that he was cuddled up in my sheets right now. In fact, he looked kind of adorable.
"I'm so tired. I haven't slept in like forty-eight hours! I saw you went out last night and I was worried, so I waited up until you came home." Connor admitted, his face falling into a pillow, "Plus, there's no chance to sleep tonight."
"You don't have to come; you could stay and sleep." I suggested, feeling bad that he was feeling so tired because of my bad habits.
"No way! I want to come tonight. I'll just take a nap now." Connor grinned cheekily, pulling his shirt off and throwing it at me.
"By the way, you're allowed to join me when I go out. Don't feel like you're not allowed to." I let him know, worried he would think he was intruding.
"Are you sure?" Connor yawned, "I wasn't sure after the first time."
"I'm sure." I nodded, watching him drop off to sleep.
It only took a few minutes until he'd passed out. I gawked in amazement. What kind of person could just fall asleep like that? Even when I was passing out from exhaustion, it still took me nearly an hour to finally fall asleep. Speaking of exhaustion, I couldn't remember the last time I had slept. I think one of these days soon my body's going to crash like it always did.