Chapter 4: An Eventful Night
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My eyes snapped open in an instant, immediately recognizing Cleo screaming and crying in her sleep. I sat upright instantly while glancing at the alarm clock on my bedside table, which read three-forty three am. Shit. She's having a nightmare and I have to help her. I can't just let her relive horrible moments of her life, I know what the nightmare is about, it's the one she used to get right before she left California to go to Florida. She used to sleep next to me until eventually, the nightmares slowly went away, but now she is having it again, and I have to help her.
I know she doesn't want to talk to me, and I know she doesn't want me near her, but I've already done enough stuff to hurt her, this is something I can help her with. Making my decision, I rolled over the side of my bed and hopped out, walking straight over to my bedroom door. I walked across the hall to Cleo's room, where I proceeded to enter into, finding her rolling around on her bed covered in a light layer of sweat, making her long hair stick to her forehead. She looked so beautiful, even now when she looked in pain. Crouching down to her beds level, I hesitated for a few seconds, just staring at her. I know that sounds creepy, but I will never have the chance to just look at her again like this, not with her hating me now.
When I heard her whimper again, that's when I snapped out of my daze, stood back up and sat next to her on the side of her bed. I slightly shook her shoulder with my hand.
"Cleo?"
I watched as her eyebrows drew together in her sleep, then when I shook her shoulder again, her eyes popped open and she looked so terrified, I just wanted to cradle her in my arms forever. She immediately sat upright and a huge flow of tears began free flowing out of her eyes, she brought her hands up to her face and covered her face with them, and it hurt so much to see her shoulders shaking underneath her as she sobbed.
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My shoulders shook as I sobbed into my hands. I can't believe he came back into my room to wake me up from my horrible nightmare, risking me getting angry with him, even when I kicked him out not hours before. I don't care how angry I am at him right now, the fact he came back in here to wake me, shows he still cares, even if it's just a little bit. I dropped my hands from my face, only to see such a worrying look on Colton's face. His beautiful blue eyes were dark with concern, and it really struck a cord in my love sick heart. Without even thinking about my next move, my body involuntarily slammed into Colton's, gravitating to his warm embrace I've grown to love. His arms immediately encircled around my small frame, cradling me in his arms. I cried into his neck while he whispered into my ear about how everything was ok, and that he was there for me. I felt so much more safer in his arms, the way he held me is like he never wants to let me go.
A minute later, he pulled away and I looked at him as he wiped the remaining tears from my face. He presented a sad smile, then stood up to leave, but I grabbed onto his hand and pleaded
"Please. Please stay until I fall back asleep."
I begged with my eyes, silently pleading, until he curtly nodded and grabbed my desk chair and pulled it back over to my bed. I laid back down, pulling the covers back over me, curling into a tight ball. Colton hesitantly took my small hand in his big one and held onto it until I closed my eyes and attempted to let sleep take me over once again.
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Around seven-thirty is the time I woke up from my very bad sleep last night. I felt my hand interlocked with someone else's, and that's when I remembered that Colton came in last night to comfort me. His head was resting on his other hand in my desk chair that he pulled over last night, but his other hand was still tightly locked and intertwined with mine. Nervously, I attempted to slowly pull my hand out of his. He shifted and grunted slightly, but eventually, I managed to free my hand. I quietly crawled out of bed, grabbed my robe, and walked out of my room.
I slid down the staircase rail and entered the kitchen. I immediately smelled bacon and pancakes, making my mouth water. I saw Jacklen's back turned to me while she cooked on the stove in front of her. She turned around and smiled broadly to me.
"Morning babydoll."
"Morning Jacklen, the food smells delicious."
With no response, she slid a plate full of food over on the table to me, which I greedily dug into.
"So, what's the plan for today" I looked over at Jacklen, curious to know her plans for today.
"Well, I have to go grocery shopping for all the Thanksgiving food today, want to come?"
"Oh, yeah, I'd love to go."
"The only thing is, is that my normal helpers are Eli, Blake, and Colton..."
"Oh. That's ok. I will still come."
She gave me a sympathetic look and replied with
"I'm sorry, you don't have to come."
"No no, I want too, it's ok, I'm ok. I'm all good."
"Alright, well we will be leaving in about twenty minutes."
After breakfast, I bolted upstairs, too excited for today. I was excited because whenever Thanksgiving came around for me in Texas, I normally ate at Sidney's house because my parents were always on business trips, so I never got to actually bond with my mom while grocery shopping for Thanksgiving food. Even though I know Colton's going too, I still want to go. I can't avoid him forever, it's just not possible being part of the Stroud family. I guess I was a little too excited, because I ran right into someone, knocking the both of us right into a wall. A pair of strong arms engulfed me, saving me from falling to the floor below, but once I saw who it was, I immediately pulled away. Colton's arms were still around me when I shifted my gaze to the ground and mumbled
"I-I'm sorry."
He reached under my chin and and lifted my face up to meet his.
"Hey, it's ok."
My chin tingled under his touch, and I pulled away from him like I had been electrocuted. Without another word, I spun on my heel and speed walked to my room, slamming the door behind me. I know I shouldn't be acting like this after all he did for me last night, but I can't help it. Rushing into my closet, I pulled out a pair of Abercrombie shorts, a cute blue crop top, and my white Vans. Throwing all of those clothing items on, I went into the bathroom and applied a light layer of eyeliner and mascara, nothing too heavy, then I pulled my long hair into a high pony tail. Satisfied, I grabbed my side purse, a jacket, and went back downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, it looked like most of everyone was already loading into the car. I ran over to the truck where I saw Blake, Eli and Colton getting into. I hopped into the middle of Eli and Blake, grinning at them when they looked at me, secretly glad that Colton decided to sit in the passenger seat.
Eli wrapped one of his arms around me and said
"Glad you're back Cleo."
I grinned at him for the second time. Ten minutes later, Jacklen was pulling into the parking lot of Costco. I have only been to Costco a few times, but what I do know of it, is that it is freaking huge and filled with a dump load of food. When we walked in, Jacklen handed the guys a small list in which they were ordered and assigned to go collect those certain food items. She told me to just stay with her since I didn't know exactly where to go. We started off by collecting all the vegetable items, and half way through collecting them, Jacklen turned to me and said
"So, how's college?"
"Um, it's alright I guess, I mean, it's not exactly how I had imagined it."
"Really? In a bad way?"
"Yeah, sort of. But it's growing on me."
She nodded her head in understanding, then we moved onto collecting the giant turkeys. Apparently she buys and cooks two of the biggest turkeys you can buy because she has other friends and family members over for a formal Thanksgiving dinner party. She also makes a ham just in case the turkey runs out. Once we got all the meat, we met up with the boys who had all collected their certain items. Of course Eli was assigned to collect the dessert items, it looks like he collected the whole store of desserts! I watched amusedly as Jacklen scolded him, but didn't bother to put any of the extra items away since we 'don't have time.' Apparently she bakes the pies and cakes a couple days before Thanksgiving because she swears they taste better.
When we got to the truck, we unloaded the heaps of food from the cart and placed them in the bed of the truck. When we got back to the house, we brought all the food in and placed them where they needed to go. I decided to take a seat at the dinner table, not really knowing what to do with myself. Five minutes later, Jacklen came rushing into the kitchen, then smiled when she saw me.
"Hey babydoll, want to help the boys and I in making all the different pies?"
I perked up at her offer and nodded my head. I stood up and waited for her to tell me what to do. She handed me an apron, then pulled out three more aprons because a few seconds later, Colton, Blake, and Eli came into the kitchen and she handed each of them an apron. I giggled as I saw Eli frown at the apron he was handed.
"Aw mom! Why do I always have to have the one that is covered all over with the ugly looking chef on it? Colton always gets the one I want!"
I looked over at Colton's and busted out laughing when I read what it said on it, it said 'I'm hot like a chili pepper.'
"Oh Eli, it's just an apron. Put it on and stop complaining will you?"
He rolled his eyes, but proceeded with tying it on him. Ten minutes later, we were all assigned to our own stations. Blake was to roll the dough out, Eli was too make the fork marks on the crust of the dough, Colton was to open all the cans of fruit, and I was to dump the fruit into the pie and hand it off to Jacklen. Everything was going fine for about the first fifteen minutes until Colton had trouble opening a jar of artificial red cherries. I could see him getting frustrated so I took a step closer to him and said
"Here, let me get it-"
I barely got that sentence out, when suddenly, he opened the jar with so much force, his arm whipped to the side and all the cherries and cherry juice went all over my face and hair, then dripped down my apron. I gasped out loud at the same time Colton did, and I didn't know what to do because his facial expression was hilarious. It was a mixture of shock and fear, probably scared that I would yell at him, when actually, I surprised everyone in the kitchen when I bursted out laughing. Colton's eyes widened a fraction, then he joined in on the laughter, and next thing I know, everyone else in the kitchen is laughing. I turned to my side and walked over to Jacklen and said
"Hey Jacklen, want a hug?"
Her eyes got huge, and she didn't move fast enough from me before I hugged her, making all the cherry syrup on me, rub off on her. She screamed, then grabbed the remaining cherry jar from Colton and poured it all over Colton's head, saying
"You started it."
I was shocked because I remember how the first food fight when down when I first arrived, Jacklen was so angry and made us clean it all up, and here she is, joining in on the fun. Colton wiped the syrup off of his head, then spun around and slapped Eli's two cheeks with his hands. Eli's jaw dropped with shock, then he narrowed his eyes on me and advanced towards me! What did I ever do to him?! I ran around the island with Eli chasing after me, but when I came around the side, my bare feet slipped on the gooey, sticky cherry syrup juice and I collided head on with Blake, causing us both to fall in a heep on the tile ground. There was a chorus of laughter behind us in which I ended up joining in on, and it felt so good to laugh like that.
Twenty minutes later, the kitchen was as clean as could be. After the small food fight, Jacklen made us all contribute into cleaning the kitchen and told us that she would finish the pies herself. Currently, I am laying on my bed, once again just listening to my music. That's actually all I've been doing for the whole day other than going shopping and attempting to make pies. Now, it's around three o'clock in the afternoon. A knock on my door pulled me out of my trance and I called for the person to come in.
"Hey babydoll, I'm going to go out with Charles for the rest of the day, will you be alright with the boys?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
I gave her a reassuring smile, then she turned around and left. Sighing out loud, I decided to just get my journal out and write. I guess I never realized how much writing really helps me express my feelings.
I was still writing and listening to music when Dillian and Eli came barging through the door of my room. I spun around on my desk chair to find the both of them grinning from ear to ear. It's crazy to think that they are twins because they are literally complete opposites when it comes down to personality and looks, the only similarity they have is that their smile is almost exactly the same. I narrowed my eyes down in suspicion because normally when they give off their crazy grins, it usually means trouble.
"So, since mom and dad went out, all of us are going to go pranking houses and we came up here to let you know so you can get ready" Eli's eyes lit up with excitement and I rolled my eyes at the two of them.
"I'm not going" Dillians smile faltered.
"Awe, come on Cleo, you have to come, it'll be fun. You are only here for a week, you have to do something exciting."
"No."
Next thing I know, my journal was being ripped out of my hands by none other than the sneaky Eli and he pretended to start reading it.
"Hey! Give that back Eli, it's personal stuff."
Eli's smile some how grew even wider and he replied with a smart
"I'll only give it back if you agree to come with us."
I knew I had to give in. That journal is really personal, I can't risk either of those two rotten twins getting their nose stuck in it. Groaning out loud, I snatched my journal back from out of Eli's hands and angrily said
"Oh my god, fine!"
Both of the brothers looked completely satisfied.
"Good. We leave in five minutes."
"No way. I am agreeing in coming with you, but make it ten minutes."
"Deal" Eli and Dillian then turned around and stalked out of my room.
Great, they blackmailed me by using my journal against them to go pranking with them. Granted, the last time we went, I do admit that I kind of did have some sort of fun even though we almost got shot down with a shotgun. Running over to my closet, I grabbed anything black I could find so I could blend into the darkness of the night. I kept my hair in a ponytail.
Ten minutes later, I was met at the bottom of the stairs with everyone all suited and ready to go. Except this time, it was only Dillian, Eli, Colton, Dallas and Blake. I plastered a confused face on, only because if I can recall, the whole of the brothers went, even little Chad.
"Where are the other boys?"
Dallas replied
"Oh, they aren't coming, Jack is staying to watch over them. It's just going to be us."
"Oh."
Without anymore words, we all left through the front door and separated into two different cars. I went in the car that Colton didn't go into just so I could purposely avoid him. Looking around, I happened to notice that there were no rolls of toilet paper.
"Hey, where's all the toilet paper?"
Dallas looked into the rear view mirror and raised a questioning eyebrow at Eli who began snickering next to me. What is going on.
"Eli and Dillian didn't tell you? We aren't going teepeeing tonight."
"Tell me what? What are we doing instead then? I am so confused!"
"Well...tonight we decided we'd do something a little more exciting."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Alright, now I'm officially suspicious. The fact that not one of the brothers has told me what it is exactly that we are going to be doing tells me that it is not something I would want to do, which is why they are all avoiding my glaring stares at them.
Five minutes later, we were parking in the dark on a neighborhood street that looked all too familiar to me. We all stepped out of the car and met up with the other guys. Very quietly, Blake spoke up and said
"So, last time we teepeed Coaches house, but tonight, we are sneaking into his backyard and" he pulled out clear saran wrap from behind his back "we're going to saran wrap his whole backyard. All his chairs, his back door, over his pool, everything! It's going to be epic."
The hell! No. No way am I going to be doing this. We could get in so much trouble, plus, Coach has a shotgun! Before I could even open my mouth to protest, everyone already began walking towards his house that was a few houses down from where we had parked. Sighing dramatically, I followed them anyways. I watched horridly as they all began gracefully jumping over the top of Coaches backyard fence, not even thinking twice about what they were doing! The only one left next to me was Colton and that made me feel super awkward, so without giving my decision a second thought, I reached over the side of the fence and maneuvered my body to somehow make it to the other side of the yard. I don't even know how I managed to do that without messing up. I actually felt like a super ninja.
When I turned around, I was surprised to see how magnificent Coaches backyard really is. He had a pretty decent sized pool with pool beds and chairs all around it, there was a pool and ping pong table right next to a hammock that was connected to two large palm trees. There was only one light on, so it was practically dark everywhere, so I already knew that this prank was definitely going to be a tough one. I heard an 'oomph' sound next to me, alerting me that Colton had made it over.
"Alright, we are going to pair up since there is an even number. I'm with Blake, Dillian is with Colton, and Cleo you're with Eli" Dallas whispered fastly, then handed us each a roll of clear saran wrap. Within five seconds, everyone had already dispersed with their partners, so it was just Eli and I standing on a mound of grass. He yanked my arm and my feet were forced to start moving. We moved slowly and quietly until we reached the pool. The pool lights weren't on, so it was hard to see.
"Alright Cleo, grab this end of the saran wrap, and drag it over to the other side of the pool. Then I'll rip it and we'll just keep repeating that process over and over until the whole pool is covered, understand?"
Instead of replying, I just nodded my head nervously. With shaky hands, I grabbed onto an end of the saran wrap and did exactly what he told me to do. It was so dark, I could barely see, but I made it to the other end safely, and surprisingly, the wrap stuck really easily to the cement, I don't know how, it just did. We repeated those steps until half of the pool was already covered and I was making my way to the other side of the pool once again, except this time, I took my eyes off of the cement below me which resulted in my black converse slipping into the pool.
My life flashed before my eyes when my body slam dunked right into the cold water beneath me. Water rushed into my ears and mouth, then my feet hit the bottom of the pool and I immediately pushed off of the floor towards the surface. I resurfaced, only to find Eli frantically whispering
"F*ck Cleo! Get out! Abort mission, I repeat, abort mission! Coaches lights just turned on!"
My eyes widened as I watched Eli run away from me! Jee, thanks Eli, thanks for helping me out of this stupid freezing pool! He hopped right over the fence, and so did Dillian. I tore my eyes away from them and decided I needed to get out of the pool ASAP. I frantically swam towards the edge of the pool, attempting to haul myself out, but my hands felt frozen to the core, so I was struggling. I almost began crying, until I felt someone reach under my arms and scoop my body out of the freezing pool water. I looked over to find non other than Colton. His face read that we needed to get out of there, but a second later, the back door to the house suddenly opened, making both Colton and I freeze on the spot, and through the darkness, I could see the outline of Coaches body.
"Alright! Who's out here?! You stupid, dumb, careless kids never know when to stop do ya?!"
Colton grabbed onto my hand and yanked me towards him and we began to quietly speed walk over to behind one of the giant palm trees. He leaned up against it as he placed me in front of him. I was literally leaning up against him, body to body because we needed to be in as small a space as possible. All of a sudden, I heard other footsteps slowly walking through the long grass, and my heart was literally beating right out of my chest. My hands and body were shaking out of fear and partial hypothermia from the ice cold pool water.
My teeth started shattering and they wouldn't stop.
"I know you're out here, you dumb teenagers! I have a shotgun and will not hesitate to use it."
Suddenly, one of Colton's hands came around my mouth to stop my teeth from chattering because I was being so loud, and he pulled me even closer to him.
"Show yourself!"
Coach was literally yelling with his scary raspy voice. I don't know if it's just luck or something, but very faintly, I hear the ring of a doorbell to the house, and I could of literally kissed the ground when I heard coach say
"What the hell? Who rings the doorbell at this time of night?!"
I heard fast footsteps fading away from us, and my body relaxed instantly. A second later, Colton's lips neared my ear and he whispered
"That's probably one of my brothers saving our asses, we have about thirty seconds to get out of here or else we're dead meat. Let's go."
Without waiting for me to even respond, Colton yanked my hand and we began running across Coaches backyard over towards the fence. When we reached it, I didn't even care when Colton grabbed onto my waist in order to hoist me over the wooden fence more easily because I wanted to get out of there, I'd rather not die tonight. I landed with a thump on the other side and began sprinting towards the cars. I didn't worry about Colton because I could hear his fast sprinting steps behind me, catching up to me. We finally got to the cars that were already running, and when we hopped into one, Dallas stepped on the gas pedal and we sped away.
That was one of the craziest experiences I have ever had in my whole entire life, it definitely tops the other time when we teepeed the house. My heart was still racing in my chest and my breathing was out of control, and to add to all that, I was shaking so crazily from being so cold.
We reached the house and I rushed inside, too eager to get some warm clothes on. I ran up the stairs and into my room, not even bothering to take a shower. I tore my clinging clothes off of my body and threw on some fluffy pants and a sweat shirt, instantly feeling a lot more warmer. Throwing my robe on over me, I exited my bedroom and walked downstairs and into the family room where I was planning on watching SpongeBob, but those plans disintegrated when I found all the boys sitting on the couch in front of a not so happy looking Jacklen and Charles. All the boys eyes shifted over to me, which alerted Jacklen because she turned around on her heel, narrowed her gaze on me, and said
"Take a seat missy, you're all in deep trouble."
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Bonjour everyone!!! That was an intense chapter with emotional roller coasters and humor, right??!!?!!?
I hope you enjoyed it! I am deciding to give myself a schedule in which I will update once a week on a Sunday, or at least, that's my overall goal!
MUSIC I LISTENED TO THIS CHAPPY:
~Little Bird- Ed Sheeran
~Happy Pill- Troye Sivan
~Habits (Stay High)- Tove Lo
~Moments- One Direction
ADVICE OF THE DAY:
Do what you want. Live life to the fullest because you can only live once and it goes a lot faster than you can ever imagine. So, do things you would never do. Complement someone, make a new friend, go skydiving, I DONT KNOW, do something!!!
I love you all, and thanks for all the support!!! COMMENT------->>>>>>>
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~AlwaysBe_a_Dreamer~