"You're quite the lucky girl, you know." Derrek said as he set my plate down before me. The aroma of the food filled my nostrils and I found myself drooling already.
"Why?" I asked, taking my eyes off the food to glance at Derrek who was dishing out his food.
"I've never cooked for anyone at midnight before." He said, glancing at me and I smiled. Hearing that made me feel really good. I was the first girl he had done this for. He'd never even done it for Candy. Tiara-one, Candy-zero.
Just when I realized what I'd been thinking, Derrek spoke once more.
"Don't feel too special though. I only did this because you challenged me."
"You could have let me eat the porridge and rate it instead." I pointed out and he nodded, giving a sigh of defeat.
"Okay, fine. You got me." He put his arms up in surrender. "I was just trying to show off. Plus, I was hungry and the leftover porridge is only enough for one."
I rolled my eyes. Of course, he was trying to show off. How could I have thought I was special to him? Why was I even thinking such things?
"Alright." Derrek said rubbing his palms together as he set his plate down beside me. "Dig in." He took a seat and turned around to face me, placing his elbow on the table and using his knuckles to support his head.
"W-Why?" I felt suddenly nervous as his gaze never wavered from me. "Why are you staring? Carry on with your meal." I tried to shoo him away with my hands but he didn't move.
"Go on. Tell me what you think." He encouraged and I shook my head, leaning back to the chair and crossing my arms in protest.
"Not until you stop staring."
"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable?" He smirked as he said this and I swallowed hard, turning away from him. Derrek pulled his chair closer to me until his knees were touching the edge of my seat then he leaned closer. "How about now?"
I felt Derrek's breath fan my cheek and an involuntary shiver passed through me. My heart began to pound in my chest and I felt a weird dance in the pit of my stomach. It was all because Derrek was so close to me and I couldn't understand it. I jumped out of my seat in order to get away from him.
"I'm not hungry anymore. You can taste it yourself." I said as I scurried away in the direction of the guest room.
"Wait!" Derrek called and I halted but I didn't turn around. "I was just goofing around. I won't be a bother to you, so, you can eat your food in peace."
I heard movement from behind me and I turned around to see Derrek was up on his feet with his plate in hand.
"I'll just have this in my room." He said with a straight face. There was no hint of the playful Derrek from a few seconds ago. "The table is all yours."
I parted my lips to protest but Derrek glanced away from me and headed over to his room without another word. I stood there for a few moments, confused. I couldn't understand what had just happened. Had I done something to upset him?
I had dinner by myself and as much as I hated to admit it, Derrek was an amazing cook. I was tempted to go for seconds but I felt it would have been rude to do so without asking if I could. It was his food and his house after all.
Shortly after, I retired to the guest room to get some rest but I couldn't close my eyes without replaying the events that had happened today, so, I picked up my phone and distracted myself with social media for a while. Eventually, I fell asleep but my dreams had turned into horrid nightmares. I had killed Ruby in them and then, my stomach had grown out a few seconds later, proving to everyone that she was right, that I was indeed pregnant.
I jumped awake a few seconds before my phone began to ring beside me. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I picked up the phone to see my sister's name flash on my screen.
"Tiara, oh my God! Where are you? Are you okay? I was so scared when I went up to your room and you weren't there."
"I'm fine, Addy. I just needed to get out of there." I told her as I sat up on the bed.
"Mom said you were pregnant and that you tried to kill cousin Ruby. Is that all true?" She questioned and I gave a heavy sigh as I brush my hand over my face. A part of me had hoped all of yesterday's events had just been a horrible nightmare but it was all real.
"It's not true. I'm not pregnant and I didn't try to kill Ruby. She slipped and fell. It was an accident." I explained and then, I heard sniffles from the other end of the line. Adiola was crying. She was so emotional, that child and she cared for me a lot as I cared for her.
"Why is Ruby lying then? Why did she tell mom you were pregnant if you're not and what about the pregnancy test kit mom found? Whose is it?"
I hadn't actually thought about the test kit. What was it doing in my house? Who could have bought one and why?
"Shit!" I cussed as it hit me. Who else would have taken a pregnancy test and tried to save her skin when she was caught red handed? "I think Ruby might be pregnant." I voiced out my thoughts.
"What? Are you sure?"
"I'm not." I sighed, shaking my head. "I don't know, Addy. I mean, she might not be pregnant but I'm sure the kit belonged to her. She might have thought she was pregnant and decided to take a test or something."
"Oh, oh!" Addy practically screamed. "She probably discarded the kit carelessly and mom found it, so, she pinned it on you to save herself." She said exactly what was on my mind.
"Either that or she deliberately bought it to frame me." I added, knowing Ruby was willing to go any extent to destroy me. She was pure evil.
"True though. I always knew she was a snake."
"You and me both, sister but it seems we are the only ones that can see through her fake charms. Mom and Dad idolize her." I rolled my eyes. My parents thought she was the most perfect girl in existence and we should have all been like her. I understood that they felt obligated to take care of Ruby as she was family but it was so frustrating that they couldn't see her for who she really was. I couldn't tell if they just didn't see the red flags or they just ignored it altogether.
"We need to tell mom and dad that Ruby's the one pregnant and not you. We could all go to the hospital to take a test and they'll see that you were telling the truth and Ruby is a lying snake." Addy suggested and I nodded, knowing she was right. It was the best action to take to bring this drama to an end but I honestly wasn't ready to face my parents. I was still hurt that they had chosen to believe an outsider over their own daughter.
"You should go to bed, Addy. It's late." I said instead. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I heard her sigh, then, there was a shuffle from her end for a few seconds before she replied.
"Okay. Bye, Tia." With that said, she hung up and I set my phone down to the bed before taking a deep breath. I blinked a few times as I stared up at the ceiling.
I knew there was no way I could fall back asleep now as I was fully awake, so, I decided to stretch my legs a little and grab a bottle water while I was at it.
Whenever I was up early in the morning, I had a hard time falling back asleep, so, I usually watched some TV until day break or I tired myself out by exercising and shortly after, I fell asleep. It would have been considered rude to turn Derrek's TV on without asking if I could, so, tiring myself out was the only option but I felt too lazy to work out.
Groaning, I checked the time on my phone. It was a little after four in the morning. The sun was going to be out soon. I decided on reading a book on my phone but first, I had to get something to drink as I was parched.
Surprisingly, Derrek was lounged on the floor of the living room, playing video games when I walked out. He was so concentrated on spraying bullets at his virtual oppenents that he didn't even notice my presence. The loud sound of gun fire from the stereo probably didn't help either.
I walked across the living room and headed into the kitchen to get a bottle of water from the fridge and after that, I decided to head back into my room but I stopped once I was halfway there and turned to Derrek who yelled out as he lost the game. I contemplated ignoring him and walking away but the thought of sitting all alone in the room wasn't very appealing to me.
"Need help?" I asked as I walked up to him. He seemed startled for a second on hearing my voice. He spun around and gave a sigh of relief. I cracked a laugh at this. I must have scared him.
"What are you doing up so early?" He asked and I shrugged as he turned back to the huge TV screen.
"I got thirsty." I told him as I turned to the screen as well. He was scrolling through the weapons displayed on the screen. "Why are you up?" I asked as I uncapped the bottle in my hand. I took a few gulps before resealing it.
"I'm always up at this time." He said as he selected on an rifle.
"How come?" I asked again, glancing at him. He was such an early riser. I, on the other hand, was not at all a morning person. I noticed Derrek looked a bit tensed. His jaw tightened, his eyebrows pulled downwards and his eyes grew distant. "D-Derrek?"
He blinked immediately after I called his name and cleared his throat before selecting some more options on the screen and ignoring the question I had asked. I couldn't help but wonder why he had reacted that way.
"If you're here to watch me drop bodies, do so quietly on the couch. If not, you can see yourself back to the guest room." Derrek instructed and I scowled at him. He didn't have to sound so rude. I hated him sometimes.
"Fine." I said through gritted teeth, then, I eyed him before taking a seat on the couch he had been leaning his back on. I needed to distract myself from my situation at home and watching Derrek 'drop bodies' served as a nice distraction, plus, I really needed the company. I hated being alone when I was upset. I would've rather surrounded myself with people who could distract me from my emotions.
A couple of minutes into second round of the game, I got bored and adjusted into a laying position. One of my arms hit Derrek from behind in the process and broke his concentration, causing his opponent to take a head shot at him which cost him the game. He turned to glare at me.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I apologized as his death glare burned into my skin. He looked really pissed and I had no idea how he was going to react. Having a brother, I was aware of how seriously guys took their video games. When I was younger, my brother almost killed me the time I had distracted him during a game. He lost and I received hell for it. I surely learnt my lesson after that.
Derrek got up to his feet a moment later and walked out of living room. I let out a sigh of relief and sat up on the couch. Derrek had crazy eyes when he was upset. It was just a stupid game for Christ's sake.
"Here you go." Derrek said as he returned a minute later and extended a white colored gamepad towards me. My eyes darted from the controller to him with an arched eyebrow.
"What am I to do with that?" I pointed at the gamepad like it was filth.
"I was thinking we could play a friendly game." He said with a smirk on his face and I eyed him suspiciously. There was something not right about the way he said the word 'friendly'.
"A friendly game." I repeated and he nodded, waving the gamepad at me. Hesitantly, I took it from him and he smiled, settling back down in his previous position.
"Of course I would have the satisfaction of winning." He added as he selected another game and changed the settings to multi-player.
"What?"
"I'm going to bury you, Tiana."
I gasped, knowing he only called me 'Tiana' when he meant to piss me off. This was payback for me costing him his game. He was so petty.
"I'm going to disintegrate you, Merrick."
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Aren't they just the cutest 😊