Chapter Twenth Two - The Drunk, The Wasted And The Pizza Call

The night was hectic.

I mean hectic in the way of twenty minutes with all of us separating Sunny away with her bag of alcohol. Yes, there were six bottles inside, I checked.

She wouldn't stop so we were forced to make a deal of drinking after we finished our presentation. It was risky and irresponsible; especially with my family in the same house with us but it did do us a favor.

Right as Sunny agreed, we started on working, each having our tasks to complete. I am sitting on the floor with my back resting against the side of my bed, massaging my eyelids with minimal force hoping to prevent the headache I already feel coming. I kept forcefully shutting my eyes due to the flicker of pains I experienced. I was in charge of searching for the needed information and sending it Blythe who sat on my desk.

She had one leg over the other and eyes narrowed at the screen. I applaud her and her designing skills when it comes to powerpoints and graphics. Sam was in my bed beside Sunny, both were helping me retain as much knowledge there is need to know about our object, a dolphin.

Zahara volunteered to be the one who would explain our work tomorrow.

Hence why she was now watching Netflix at the corner.

All of us haven't spoken much to each other since their arrival. Only occasional 'no' and 'Add this' were exchanged, excluding Sunny's whining and mini tantrums. She really was a ray of sunshine because for the short time we had been here, she never stopped moving or pointing things in my room.

Her cousin was the one who did the honors of shutting her up.

"I never thought I'd say this but I miss Ashton's infuriating face." Sunny sat up and stretched her arms over her head, letting out a yawn.

Well too bad mom banned them from the house filled with five teenage girls. Even my brother was warned to stay in his room. A command I know will be obeyed since he was injured.

Soon as she did that, I began yawning too.

Then Sam followed, then Blythe, who turned to us laughing. We all looked at Zahara, waiting for her to yawn too. We all looked like kids waiting for Santa to start hollering ho ho ho at christmas.

She took out her airpods, and raised her eyebrows at us, making us all turn to our designated places and continue doing our work.

We had just finished dinner which was composed of casserole, barbeque, and sausage and Rigatoni that Dad had announced he made. I wished that there would always be a project like this held at our house when I took the first bite.

Half an hour later, we had gathered as much information we could leaving only Blythe to do the rest. "I'm bored," Sunny announced as she rolled on my bed at the same time Sam got up and went to my bathroom.

It seemed like she had nothing else to do so she resulted in asking me the most random thing she thought of. "Permission to roll on your bed?"

I nodded my head. "Permission granted." She grinned and proceeded to do it.

Soon after she stopped rolling, we heard light taps on my window. I slowly looked at the others to see them doing the exact same as me. The taps became harsher and harsher and as I looked closer, I saw that they were pebbles being thrown.

"So who wants to be the sacrifice?" I asked them when all of our gazes were fixated towards the window.

"Not me." Sunny informed.

"Me neither," Sam followed. Blythe shook her head, her hazel eyes wide in alarm.

Amidst all our negative responses though, Zahara only rolled her eyes, marching towards the window and opening it only to be hit at the side of her cheek. She didn't flinch in the slightest way and casually dusted her cheek.

As she did so, a voice yelled down below. "Sorry! My bad," Ashton's voice whisper yelled. If we weren't silent we wouldn't have heard it.

Sunny immediately stood up and I followed.

Ashton and Aiden were at the side of our house, both looking like they had fallen due to the plasters of land decorating their clothing. Ashton was holding what seemed like cloth and judging by the size of the wrinkled ball it formed, it was a bed sheet or a blanket.

"Ready to have the best night of your life?" Ashton grinned while his eyes were trained on Zahara who had no trace of emotions on her face.

"No," She closed the window and walked back to where she left her phone, making me look at Sam in amusement. No one had ever shut Ashton that bad before.

Sunny opened the window back up again and grinned at him. "You're losing your touch, peasant," Aiden was covering his mouth as he snickered at his twin who had his mouth open.

"Shut up and catch this," Ashton glared and without warning, threw the sheets of cloth at us.

Sunny caught it and passed it over to me and I right as I recognized it, I wanted to kill him for doing a disney princess scene at this time of the night.

Pieces of cloth were tied together to make a rope of sorts, just like the one in Rapunzel and my predicament proved to be right when Ashton started singing, Mother Gothel style.

"Rapunzel let down your hair,"

"Wait, no, that isn't right. Pull the sheets up first, then toss it back down after I sing." We all sighed at him.

"I'll go guard the door." I nodded at Sam who padded hurriedly towards the door, standing outside leaving a small gap open.

Sunny began pulling, a wide grin on her face and I wondered if it matched the same one I had on. Surely things like this are one of those moments that we will look down on at the future.

With the profound excitement filling my veins, I passed Blythe, who was also helping Sunny pull the sheets up, and slung my camera on my neck. I angled it and managed to squeeze beside Sunny, stealing a picture of the twins.

Ashton covered his face using his hands. "No paparazzi!" I stifled a laugh and soon as I did he started on belting Mother Gothel with a shrewd mix of nasally voice again.

We threw the rope back down and watched at how Ashton struggled to climb up.

Aiden soon joined the climbing and right as Ashton lost his balance that resorted to him standing at a cursing Aiden's shoulders, the balcony lights turned on.

Standing right there were all of my siblings with their own chosen weapons. Xavier with a stinky shoe, Violet holding her baseball bat and Lavender... Well, glaring.

"You guys could win the world's worst burglars. Even my sister wouldn't yell while entering a territory with my mother as a guardian," Xavier commented as we watched how both boys struggled to climb. Ashton flipped him the bird.

They did not know how to climb.

Ashton looked like a worm with the way he was pumping his back out and pressing his butt further into the air and Aiden was stiffly using his arms to support his weight.

"Can I have your snapback?" Violet asked Ashton referring to the snapback he had on his head. It was blue with a bold lettering of gold saying the words 'I'm not one of the cool kids' printed at the front.

"No."

"Alright then, I'll just go inside and tell mom you were planning on sneaking in from the window." She proceeded to walk back in but paused when he exclaimed at him.

"Okay! Okay, just, just, stay there you little dirt bucket." Violet grinned. Her twin rubbed her eyes and went back to their room, not fazed at all by the commotion.

Knowing Lavender, she was committed to sleeping early to reduce the risk of having dark circles under her eyes.

Good for her.

The cloth was slipping from our hands as we struggled to pull them.

I underestimated their weight.

So in the end we were too weak and Blythe suggested for us to tie a knot at the leg of my bed. We did as she said and sat on it, hoping our weight would balance out the strength of the leg of the bed.

Even Zahara joined in and sat at the corner.

"Phew, I thought I was gonna die." Ashton finally got through the window and fell on the floor with a thud. His eyes were wide and he fanned himself using his hands.

"It's a shame, really." Zahara took a peek at him under her lashes.

He clumsily crawled in front of me and shook my knees, holding his hand on his heart dramatically. "I swear Nevaeh, you got to believe me. I even saw my life flash before my eyes." He stared at me with wide eyes.

I kicked his chest away and rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness. "You're too dramatic."

"We've established that since the day you befriended me but this time it was real. I saw a glimpse of what my funeral would look like as I was climbing ouch." He went to Sunny who only retaliated by flicking his forehead.

"Shut up. You're giving me a headache."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aiden climb up and as he stood up to his full height, his eyes wandered aimlessly around my room, searching for something.

I immediately knew who he was searching for.

I stood up and just as I touched the silver knob, the door in front of me opened with a hard push that resulted in me banging my foot on it. "What the-," Icried out and cradled my foot and sat on the ground as gently as I could.

Violet stared at me with wide eyes, snickering. "That wasn't me. Blame the door." She went to Ashton and happily took his cap from his hand, running swiftly back out.

Wow.

"Uncle Dom's coming here. Boys you have to hide. Hurry," Sam's voice was urgent, her blue electrifying eyes had a panicked glint into them as she closed the door and we pressed our backs into it.

"Now?"

Amidst Sam's obvious mini crisis Ashton was calmly sitting at the floor while Aiden was pulling the sheets back up. "Yes, now," I pointed towards my bathroom. Sunny began shaking his shoulder rapidly.

I can hear the footsteps approaching.

Aiden, being the decent and nicer twin, had already started walking towards my bathroom, cradling the white material at his arms.

Blythe looked like she wanted to help and I sympathized the way her eyes kept switching to different parts and people inside my room. She looked like she was overwhelmed with the chaotic atmosphere and the actions that were currently playing. She made a move to pull Ashton's lazy butt off the floor.

"Don't." Sunny warned.

"Your first priority must be finishing that powerpoint. The sooner that's done, the sooner I can drink alcohol. Let me handle this."

She stood in front of Ashton as he grinned at her, stretching his arms out like a little kid.

"You have got to be kidding. Get your damn ass up the floor," Nevertheless the menacing look she passed him, she grabbed his hand and made an effort to pull him up.

She couldn't pull him up.

Considering the fact that their heights were about a feet apart, I should've known the chances. I went over to them and tried helping Sunny, ignoring Ashton's wide grin and looked at Zahara. She was staring at us with crossed arms, an unknown expression on her face.

"Zar, We could use the help over here," Sunny struggled to say to her.

Sam had joined us and Ashton was purposely pulling us down.

Zahara only responded by inserting airpods in her ear and scrolling through her phone.

She's spiritual support then.

Then the real chaos erupted.

The sound of faint knocking and the door scraping made our nerves fall all over the place so we resulted in landing in different positions. Sam sitting on the bed with her legs crossed over the other, me lying on the floor with my head propped up on my hand and Sunny ended up cuddling with Ashton.

My father peeked in and raised an eyebrow at the people with the most questionable position in the room. His blond hair was matted in his face making me know he had just showered and in his hand was a plastic bag and mugs in the other.

"Should I be worried or surprised that my daughter's classmate is straddling lil' ol' Ashton."

"S- silent. You should be silent Dom," Ashton replied.

He froze and I could see the color red creeping up on his neck when Sunny made no move to avoid skin contact. Not so tough now huh. Sunny had her cheek pressed up against his arm, facing me. And right now she was grinning at me, winking when he noticed him stutter.

My father nodded his head and laid the plastic bag on my table, smiling fatherly at Blythe when she offered to take it from him. "Thank you young lady,"

My father wasn't one who could memorize names often, generally calling them the nicest thing possible whenever he failed to do so.

"I got ice cream for you kiddos. Cookies and cream because my daughter had messaged me a thousand times before." He mockingly glared at me to which I responded with a grin.

As he made a move to leave a room, he sent all of us a sly look.

"Kate's asleep. Tired of the day so she sent me to check up on you. Don't worry as long as you guys aren't too loud and no one pukes, no one would get kicked out."

He shut the door and immediately all heads turned to me. "Why can't I get a father as cool as yours," Sunny remarked and let go of a red faced Ashton.

"Where can anyone get a father like that these days anyway," To my surprise it was Zahara who opened her mouth.

"You guys should be more grateful you have fathers," Sam sat in another one of my chairs that had wheels attached at the bottom and slid her way, stopping beside Blythe and opened the gallon of ice cream, a mug and spoon on her hand.

I stood up and grabbed a mug myself. "At Least you all have fathers,"I heard Blythe mutter softly and I frowned at that.

Someone knocked again and my father opened a tiny gap. "Aiden get out of the bathroom. You boys can't hide to save your life."

I laughed at Aiden's sheepish face as the door closed.

I beckoned the others to eat the ice cream.

"If you guys don't move soon, I'll eat all of it."

I jokingly warned at them and I chuckled as Ashton started scooping rapidly. He knew how true that is.

And dad bought two gallons worth of goodness. I'm about to have a food baby.

"And, I'm done." Blythe loudly clicked the enter button and stretched, smiling at me.

"Done as in you're done, finished done and I can have my alcohol, or done like you don't want to do it anymore I give up done." Sunny asked her with narrowed eyes.

"Done as in done done, Sunny." Blythe threw her a deadpanned look.

I grabbed the ice cream and placed it on the floor and almost bit Ashton's hand that was trying to steal a few more scoops for himself.

Hungry Dumbass can't wait five seconds.

In the end we all sat down in a circle with the gallon in the middle. It looked like a sacred ritual. More so when Sunny brought out different alcoholic bottles. Each was different from each other and I had to stare at Sunny with various questionable thoughts pivoting around my head.

How did she get any of these?

"What are you guys waiting for? Let's celebrate!" She lifted the Jack Daniels bottle that was in a medium size and started pouring it in her mug.

"What is that," Sam began fanning her nose and I pinched mine along with her. The smell was so strong.

So strong that even Ashton recoiled back in disgust. "If we're going to be drinking we need the windows open. Also I need a trash can beside me, unless one of you want 'ice cream ala digest' all over your pretty bodies."

"Yes, that includes you dear brother."

"I am not a girl! Why do you always say that." Aiden glared at his brother and Sam opened the windows.

"Correction," Ashton retorted back and sloppily clanked cups with Sunny. "I didn't say you were a girl. I told you you had a pretty body."

"Incest is once again floating in the air." Sunny muttered.

I only rolled my eyes at them and finished the gallon of ice cream by scooping out the half and desperately trying to fit it in in my cup. No one noticed my actions and I grinned at myself while enjoying the savory goodness I was eating.

"Guys, look." Sunny grinned and showed us her cup. It had alcohol at the bottom with ice cream plopped on the top. "Let's play a game." She offered it out to Sam who only shook her head in response.

I looked at her. "Not truth or dare please."

"Obviously. We need to start off light. Get to know each other. To...you know, connect the bond."

Ashton snorted. "What is this? A wedding. You may now puke at the bride."

"Well what do you suggest doing dumbass?"

He thought for a second, narrowing his eyes and pouting his lips. He bent forward to copy Sunny's Jack Daniels' float.

"I think we should get to know each other. You know, start off with getting to view and learn about each other's backgrounds,"

By the way Sunny was looking at him I knew she wanted to strangle him. Not even. She was close to castrating him.

"Even say the siblings. Especially the siblings." He let out something between a burp and hiccup. "And hopefully their relationship status."

I leaned forward and smacked him, grabbing a bottle of my own and playing with it. I was debating if I would actually drink or what.

"I'm going to use the bathroom." Blythe excused herself after finishing her mug of ice cream.

"FIrst question," We all looked at Aiden who spoke.

"What is the worst early morning scenario you could wake up to?"

"Waking up with your siblings' foot stuck in your mouth." I answered immediately, shuddering as I did so. I never wanted to wake up with Violet's foot stuck in my mouth again. Especially when I know that she doesn't always use her slippers, often running around barefoot around the house. Inside and outside.

It happened when I had snuck into her bed one night because Ashton forced us to watch a horror movie and everywhere I looked that night I saw those creepy bloody eyes.

Yes, my imagination was always active at the wrong time of the day.

Ashton threw his twin a quick look. "Waking up with your sibling," Aiden rolled his eyes at this.

"Waking up,"

All heads turned to Zahara who was casually taking a sip of her whiskey. Sunny reassured us that what had just happened was completely normal. She really had a character.

I looked at the drink in my hand and slowly took a sip at it, sticking my tongue out at the bitter after-taste. What the hell is this. "This..yeah, okay what is this?" I shook the bottle.

Nobody answered me because next thing I know I felt a presence beside me. I craned my neck only to regret it.

"Holy shit! what what what!?!," I exclaimed and clumsily got up, stepping in Sam's hand in the process. I heard laughter all around me. Geez, thank you guys.

"Shit sorry Sam." I apologized to her and looked back at the face that startled me.

Blythe had a white facial mask on. I swear it was a ghost just a few seconds ago.

"You startled me," I slowly nodded at her and sat on Sam's shoulders. I didn't put too much weight on her because I am fully aware that she would be crushed.

She only chuckled and looked at Sunny who crawled towards her.

"Can I have some? Actually how many more have you got, we need to take a group photo with those on."

If it were any other person, the way Sunny said it would seem rude to them but luckily I wasn't surprised.

Neither was Blythe who only grinned and hastily grabbed something from her bag. I heard crumpled crinkling sounds from where she grabbed the other masks from. "I have enough, I guess. One pink, and the rest are green." She held up different neatly packaged products and I was sure things were certainly about to be interesting since it was almost midnight.

Ashton was the first to react. "I get the pink one!" He snatched the pink colored case making the others tumble out of Blythe's grasp. And coincidentally, completely coincidentally just seconds before Sunny could grab a hold of it.

Coincidentally.

Ha, coincidental my ass.

So that was how the night started. Sunny and Ashton making crude remarks to each other with only a now empty gallon of ice cream, I ate the ice cream by the way.. Sam and Blythe on either side of me while Zahara laid back on the bed. Aiden beside Sam.

Friends- I think- with their own facial masks stuck unto their faces like a second skin, trying hard to tell what they can about each other while sipping liquor and finishing ice cream.

Totally normal.

"How do you have so many?" I asked and touched my mask clad face. I ignored how Ashton was raising a spoon right above his head, catching the melted ice cream drops with his mouth wide open.

Blythe smoothed down the slight wrinkles formed on the sheet in the center part of her nose and answered. "Mama, she sells beauty products for additional income."

I looked at her a little surprised. "It must be amazing to have a mother selling products like that. How much are they anyway? I wanna buy some." My smile dimmed when I saw her crestfallen face.

I frowned and looked at her, a little worried. Was it something I said? Maybe it was. Noticing my expression she avoided my gaze. "Grandmother. I call my grandmother mama. My parents, they um flew to heaven early."

Everybody stared at her with looks of pity and sadness. Even Zahara had a slight change in her demeanor. She frowned, I saw it. Full evidence that she isn't a robot from another dimension.

I debated what to do. A quick mental jog to make sure I wouldn't do or say anything stupid.

At the end I settled on raising my bottle in front of her.

"To your parents,"

I smiled. She looked at me with recognition and relief painted with a twinkle in her eyes. She was glad I didn't pity her. Who wouldn't anyway.

The last thing everyone needs is a reminder of what they lost.

She clanked her glass with mine. "To her parents!!" Ashton yelled.

Someone banged on the wall of my bedroom and he scrunched his nose and sneered at it. "To her parents again!" He yelled.

More banging could be heard.

He walked up to it and banged in with the exact amount of force. With one last bang, he sat back down.

"Now, where were we?"

I was a little bit drunk by the time I had sipped half of the bottle. Yes, I was a lightweight.

It was one am and all of us were a wreck.

I learned new things about them.

Blythe lived in the province, on the farmside with her grandparents and she was currently staying at a cousins house because their house was hours away from school. She didn't bring up her parent's death and we didn't do anything to acknowledge the said subject. Turned out, she was a junior unlike us who were sophomores. Tenth graders with an eleventh grader.

Zahara was a harder one to crack.

All I know about her by far is that she plays the violin. Only that. The one information I knew about her wasn't even said by Zahara. Her cousin did the honors of telling us that. Oh, and she was also a junior, like Blythe.

To be honest, I didn't peg her as a violinist. I judged too quickly again. Always do.

When we asked Blythe why they had the same subject like us, she told us that she took the harder courses in advance when she was our age. 'Makes things easier' she said.

Sunny held a finger up, shoulders slouched and eyes nearly close to leading her into a deep slumber. "Have you guys, uh, you know, seen..." She narrowed her eyes at her index finger.

"Log-" She burped. "Logan. I haven't seen him after I threw my hairbrush at him yesterday."

No one bothered to place the extra foams at the floor for all of us to sleep in.

Sam didn't drink but I wasn't sure if she was still awake seeing as her eyes were closed whilst leaning on Aiden's shoulder.

And I was too lazy to do that.

I don't even think I can stand properly.

"Yes, three times at the cafeteria, another time at the field and one time in a dream. But he was a goat." Ashton answered, his groggy voice bouncing off the walls of my room.

Zahara however, had enough. She placed down her phone and clapped her hands, making me automatically shield my ear from the noise.

My ear! It hurts!

"Get up everybody, we need to make the bed." She grabbed the clattered drinks at the floor and placed them at the side of the room. My vision was blurry but I think I saw her wiping the floor stains using tissue paper.

Is this real? Am I dead? Did Sunny drug me with the drink?

Blythe's green pajamas were moving, like she was helping Zahara out. I knew they were done cleaning when I felt a cool compressed air press against my skin, highlighting the fact that they had placed the beds on the floor.

As they placed the second one though, I heard a snort. "Who huh what?" Sunny clumsily stated.

Zahara sighed and rubbed her temples. "Get the fuck up Sunnylia, I don't have time for this." She lightly nudged her using her feet.

Sunny only nodded and broke out into a lazy smile. "Have you guys seen," She paused, her head almost falling on the floor. "Logan? I haven't seen him you know. I still didn't know where my hairbrush is."

Another fact.

Sunny was the forgetful drunk.

While I wanted to laugh at her, Zahara showed no mercy as she kicked her knees making her lose her balance and completely lie on the floor. She dragged a giggling Sunny away from the needed space.

Blythe arranged the beds and that was how I slept with my head the only thing in the bed as I still clutched the alcoholic drink in my hand.

That resulted in it spilling all over my top.

I was too drunk though, and even then I knew one thing for sure.

Tomorrow is going to feel like tango dancing in hell.

"Hello?"

I groaned at the voice. It was still bedtime, why the hell is anyone up?

I need sleep people, Sleep!

I heard a hefty groan a few feet away from me. "Ugh, it's three am shut up,"

I covered my ears when emo music started blaring around the room. It stopped after a few seconds and I squinted through my dark surrounding, the only source of light coming from my window. I sloppily looked up, resting my chin on the pillow- that I hadn't known was in there- and lied down on my stomach.

A blurry and disfigured image of Sunny continuously hitting a lit up phone screen entered my line of sight. The phone locked and turned off making me sigh and go back to sleep.

Oh, was I dead wrong.

Not even a few seconds later the screamo music was back. It was too loud that all of us were awaken by it.

"Turn it off." Ashton whined while clutching a bottle to his chest in the corner of the room.

"Guys! Whose phone is that." Blythe protested, her face clear of facial mask like me, and not like Ashton.

"Alright, who puked. It smells like dead cavemen in here." Aiden announced.

No one answered but I think we all knew who was the suspect of the horrendous smell.

"Zahara, you bitch. Make your phone shut up." Sunny exclaimed, clutching her head. She kept continuously pressing her fingertips to the phone lying above her head. Her eyes closed while doing so.

"Don't answer it,"

"I'm answering it." Sunny decided with finality on her tone, brushing off her cousin's answer.

"Hello?" She answered it and I thought I would finally be able to sleep again. But no she had to put it on speaker.

"Zahara?"

My ears perked up at the sound of the voice. It was Blake. Why the hell would he call her at three am in the fucking morning. I'm going to look like a monster with the dark circles under my eyes tomorrow.

Everybody looked like they were listening, only with their eyes closed and half a mile into dreamland.

"Hi," Sunny answered cheerfully. "This is Sunny, the prettiest and sexiest and most beautiful person in the world. Did I mention the most sexiest?"

Blake let out a breathless chuckle, yawning a little. "Hi Sunny. Mind telling Zahara to answer her mother's calls and texts? They're worried about her and frankly my number is the only one they have a hold of."

"Mhm," Sunny nodded with her eyes closed.

"Wait, who are you again?"

"It's Blake," A tired mumble replied.

"Blake, blake blake," Sunny narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, looking like she was trying hard to recall who Blake is.

"Ah! Blake. Right. The pizza shop."

"You're drunk." The voice pointed out but it did nothing to stop her from saying what was on her thoughts.

"We'd like a pepperoni pizza with a Blake Owens on the side please." She giggled. "Oh you have the same name."

"What-"

"Why just the side though," Ashton crawled towards Sunny, speaking directly to the phone. I pray my siblings won't wake up at this hour of the night. They would skin me alive if that ever happened. "We'd like to re-order a whole Blake Owens."

"Nevaeh, want anything else?" He turned to me.

I lazily nodded my head and closed my eyes just as a disrupted sound blared through the phone. It sounded like the owner dropped the phone from the other line. "Chilli. Extra chilli to spice it up."

"That's all thank you!" Sunny added and hurriedly ended the call, all of us falling into a deep slumber.

Right before we heard Ashton puke.

The drunk, the wasted and the pizza call. A Totally fucking normal slumber party in a school night.

Progress.

I once read a quote saying 'Progress is dancing to the same song I used to cry to'. Iloved the quote ever since. I remember the one night I was willing myself to sleep with tear stained cheeks and a wet pillow case.

I had drowned myself once again in endless towering school works and extra cullicular activities that night, only to realize later that no amount of assignments and math problems would drown out the the mournful melody singing inside of me.

Then, I took the sentence to heart. Now, I don't know anymore.

Progress never comes easy.

Progress never appears without the right amount of motivation.

Progress meant change.

I hate change.

Okay maybe not anymore.

I rubbed my eyes when the words I was reading were being jumbled. Letting out a tired sigh, I closed the textbook filled with a deadly amount of numbers and equations and stretched my arms over my head.

My first sleep-over was held last night at my bedroom and to my surprise,

No one was killed.

Everybody woke up at four am, thanks to Blythe's alarm. I forced myself to clean up and I did the honors of waking the others by slightly peeling their facial masks on.

Okay maybe I peeled Ashton's more forcefully than the others.

We had cleaned up the room, the bottles going back to Sunny's bag- she said her mother collects bottles like that for decoratives in their house.

As for my trash can filled with barf, I made Ashton carry it outside and clean it. We emptied a whole can of Lysol by spraying seventy percent of it in my room, the twenty five percent on my trash can and Ashton.

Sam lit up those scented candles and scattered them around my room. They came in various colors. Mostly rose petal pink and dirty mint green. They were a gift to me from the twins' mom. She gave it to me on christmas last year. I even forgot I had them, good thing Sam did though.Soon after,my room smelled like a mix between fresh rose, peppermint and a whiff of citrus.

Not sure where I got the peppermint but yeah, it smelled like that.

I washed my liquor drenched top that morning, hiding it from my mother. I pushed Ashton away from Zahara that morning seeing his poor attempts for her to smile aren't working. Everyone else except Sam and the twins showered at my house and I was amazed at how fast Blythe showered. It was only about five minutes, if I recall correctly.

I took almost thirty minutes.

I unlocked my phone and looked at the time. Four o' two it read. One more hour before I can leave this hell hole. I guess I'll make the most of it.

Using force to push my chair backwards, I winced when it made a scraping sound.

And I was in a library.

Aw shit.

I sat alarmed and surveyed the area, slightly bowing my head and mouthing sorry to the other people littered around me. I know how getting cut off while reading sucks, blame my mother and chores for that.

Silver pointed earrings dangled from a girl- presumably a senior from the looks of it. She had stacks of books beside her, pixie cut blonde hair made her single gem ruby choker stand out. She threw a shady look at me, along with a few other students, especially the boy that sat at the other end of the same table as me.

I buried my face into my closed book, the plastic cover making sounds as I do so. Why am I so clumsy?

While doing so a thought popped into my head. Does this library have novels or anything I could spend my entire weekend away reading in?

We didn't have a decent library at my old school, and bookstores aren't famous around our area in town. I did have books but those were expensive as hell, and the money I bought them with came from my own pocket.

I stood up and walked towards the sea of books and stopped at the seventh shelf, skimming my fingers at the spines of books while running when I didn't see anyone near the premises.

Ah, the joy of little things in life.

I did it more than a couple of times and stopped, smacking my hand in my forehead. "God I really am a weirdo," I mumbled to myself right as my eyes spotted a book with an interesting title.

"The black cat and the curly haired diva, sounds juicy," I stood on my tippy toes and reached for it,instantly flipping the book to where the summary was located.

"Oh come one!" I placed it back up there when it turned out it wasn't a novel.

It was a book. Well no shit.

About cats.

How to groom cats, to be exact.

Sighing quietly, I reached out a hand and grabbed a book that was turned over, it's pages were facing me instead of the supposed to be hardbound covered side. I slid it over to me carefully, seeing that I would damage it. Turning it in my palm, I looked at the title.

Bad Idea.

I chucked it back swiftly, eyes wide and blinking rapidly, body frozen to the spot.

"Bold taste in books," A familiar voice said.

Blake stared at me at the other side. He had his glasses on but even they couldn't conceal the expression on his face. His eyebrows were slightly raised. His eyes momentarily looked at the book before gazing back at me.

"I prefer the term unique." I replied, slowly walking and lightly tapping the books like I'm searching for something when in reality I was only doing it for the sake of not doing anything awkward.

"Unique seems a little far-fetched when describing an erotic novel don't you think?" He followed my movements. Walking at a slow-paced and I watched at how his eyes often gaze at the shelf.

I fought the blush with all the power I had while he raised his arm and grabbed a book, reading it. His eyes were the only thing I saw with the tiny gaps above each row of books.

When I didn't respond he once again raised an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes. "You should be glad my mind isn't functioning properly enough right now to reply to that." And it was true. My mind isn't processing what is currently unfolding at this very moment.

"If your mind isn't functioning you wouldn't be talking, much less walking right now,"

"I said 'functioning properly enough' not 'functioning completely." I remarked. I noticed we reached the end of the shelves.

By the time I took another step forward, he was in front of me. Unlike me he had maybe two or three books in his hand. I caught a glimpse of the title by the side. Interior design.

Blake stood in front of me, blonde hair slightly swept to the side like a hand swiftly made it sway that way, lips quirked up into a half smile.

He looked at me in the eye and used the tip of one of the books to push his glasses up. "Hey."

"Hi." I managed to let out a small smile but my eyes were drawn to his shirt.

It was white with some intricate designs sloshed at the middle. One line drawings of faces were imprinted above a series of irregular shapes mixed with the hues of yellow gold and sage. It had collars and the sleeves were a little loose on him. The fabric was of a silky texture, reminding me of those expensive blouses my mother tries in fitting rooms but never once bought.

I drew my eyes back to him. He rubbed the back of his neck, the books held close with his other arm. He was looking anywhere but me, looking like he was embarrassed. "I, um mom practically forced me into this. Saying how we waste money if I don't wear it." He looked like he was having trouble explaining himself.

I chuckled at him, making him shoot a sheepish smile in my direction."You look fancy, if that helps."

He gave me a deadpanned look. "I look like a polished doll waxed to perfection- which isn't as appealing to the eye as it sounds," He is Perfection all right.

"It isn't." I agreed with him.

"Are you implying I look horrible?"

"Well, you implied it by saying how I implied it."

He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment before sweeping his gaze behind me in a quick motion.

It probably looked like we were in the way of students browsing the books even if there was a wide space beside us but I started walking towards the aisle where he went through.

Blake followed suit and fell in step behind me when a student left. Great. we're alone.

I'm fine.

Sort of.

After a few seconds of our footsteps being the only sound I could decipher I tried to start a small talk but he beat me into it. "So do you really have a thing for salacious books or was what I saw earlier a one time thing."

I came to a halt and faced him. "It's a never ever going to happen again kind of thing." I stood straight and looked at him in the eye, letting him know I was bluffing. "I just wondered if there are any novels in our library."

He nodded. "There are, not on this part though. It's near the back, top shelves to keep students from getting preoccupied with romance novels- more specific your type of novels. Come on," He started walking and I followed, meeting a few gazes of other students.

I recognized some of them had the same class as me so I resulted in giving them my awkward smiles.

"Wait, aren't those prohibited? Why are they even here in the first place?! " I asked him in disbelief because I know for sure no school would need such... Insolence, especially since the majority of the students are in high school.

"Well yes, but you can't trust that no one wouldn't sneak in a book or two here. Especially since our school has a big library." He glanced back at me and turned left, stopping for a beat before nodding his head at the top of the shelves.

I followed his train of sight and true to his words, there were different novels, all located at the two top rows.

"Woah," I whispered. Now I can read published books without regretting buying one at an expensive price.

Titles danced about as different covers portrayed in colors mixed together creating an endless harmony of vivid hues.

I reached out, standing on the tip of my toes as I tried to grasp a book that had a gold cover. It's silver swirls drawn around the edge drew me in, the material glinting as it was met with light. I tried as hard as I could but the tip of my fingers grazed it. I couldn't reach it.

Moments later I felt a presence at the side of me.

He wasn't close, that I was sure of. I could feel his heat, warm and I was sure for a moment I stopped breathing. The smooth fabric of his top grazed a little with mine.

Only a little, but it was a little too much.

He grabbed it with ease and an air of non chance and handed it out in front of me. "Here,"

I stared at it for a moment before slowly grabbing it. "Thank you," I turned a little to my right and angled myself away from him, absentmindedly surveying the book. Silence ensued us and after a few moments I turned back to him.

The books he once had on his arm now laid in a pile beside his feet, a new red book in hand. His blonde hair was tousled and I found myself gawking when he reached out, exposing a little of his stomach.

Fuck.

I quickly averted my eyes from his stomach to the book I was reading. It's a surprise how I managed to hide these....thoughts after all these years.

I peeked back at him seeing his tongue poking into his cheek with a new book- a yellow one- was in his palm. He wasn't the rugged, dark haired and smirked face boy I read in the books. He was handsome, but in a dorky hot way.

Oh God I think the liquor had gone into my head.

As if noticing me staring he craned to look at me. His eyes slightly widened and a sheepish expression took claim on his face. "Oh, uh...did you...want me to...reach something for you?"

My eyes widened too and I swiftly shook my head. "What? No."

He grabbed something again and I noticed how he immediately turned to the last part of the book. My lips quirked up. "So you're that kind of reader," I slowly said.

He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"You read the endings first, don't you?" I slightly pointed at his hand.

He grabbed another one, flashing his eyes to me for a second. He didn't speak for a beat of a moment. "You're the first one to notice that, you know." His voice was quiet.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"You read the endings first. Doesn't that make the story a little bland when you know how it's going to end?" In my perspective, what I said was true. What's the point in reading when you know what would happen in the end. It would seem that you're just reading words without the feeling.

You would only read it, but not wonder or create conspiracies and theories.

And sometimes it takes out the real purpose and soul of a book.

Blake stilled for a moment, before reaching backup again and placing the book back. He turned to me- placing his hand in his pockets- and stared directly in my eyes. The intensity was too much that I had to avert my gaze to the book in my hand.

"I've read enough sad endings." He said like what he just said makes sense.

"I've read enough happy endings." I said back, meeting his eyes.

"Still," He shrugged, extending a hand. He motioned for me to hand the book back to him and I watched as he placed it back. "It makes the process clearer. Knowing whether the characters die or not."

I stared at him for a moment and searched in my head the reason why others do that. Sam was just like this. It all started when she called me in the middle of the night saying how the love interest died and regretting buying the trilogy she spent her savings on.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't get it."

He looked at me for a moment and slowly nodded his head. He stepped away from the bookshelf and went beside me. "Alright then, choose a book and I'll read it."

I turned to him surprised. "WIthout reading the ending?" I drawled out slowly.

His eyes switched from me to the shelf, where my eyes had landed in a particular cover.

"Unfortunately, yes."

I had to suppress the grin growing in my lips. "Okay then."

I started to point to where the book was when an idea came into my mind. My eyes searched and landed on two books with the same cover at the near end. I pointed to them. "Those two."

He went to them and reached out, both books on opposite hands. He surveyed them and handed me the other one, seeming to catch on to what I was planning.

"Bouquets and Pendants," I read the title. "Seems light-hearted to me."

I looked up at him to see a small smile grazing his lips. I smiled back, trying hard not to make things awkward.

Is this a moment?

Nonno, of course it's not.

It sure does seem so though.

It probably would have lasted more if something hadn't come in contact with the skin of the back of my leg. It was light and soft.

"Boo!"

I flinched and jumped forward, closer to him. I held the book to my chest as my heartbeat picked up speed.

In front of me was a little girl. She was grinning, a missing tooth at the front.

What the heck?

Her blonde poofy hair was curled into two mini buns with red cherry themed ponytails keeping them tucked in. Rosy chubby cheeks indented deep dimples on both sides of her face, a youthful glow coming from her. She wore a red dress with white polka dots and white furry boots.

Her eyes- a pair that I had only seen once in my life- were a pair of sharp at the same time upturned eyes. One a gorgeous deep cerulean blue and the other was half pale grey, almost blue and half amber. A mischievous glint along with a happy spark was tainted to them.

She looked about four or five and I was disappointed that I couldn't find it in my heart to harness a small amount of irritation.

She pointed at me and grinned, "I scawed you!" She wagged her finger at me, happily bobbing her head at me.

Darn you why are you so cute.

I held the book tighter to my chest and placed the other hand on top of it.I gasped in disbelief and leaned down to her height deciding to play along. "Did you?"

She nodded at me with a serious face. "Yes I did." Her voice had an adorable accent and I noted how it almost sounded british. "Right?" Her eyes trained on someone behind me and I looked over to my shoulder to meet Blake's eyes.

He strode over to us and bent down like me, his shoulder and knee touching mine. Calm down hormones. You can gawk all you want but don't make me faint with your delusional fantasies.

Shit shit shit

I can feel him. I can feel how there was something going on with the spots where his jean clad skin was meeting mine. His body heat overwhelmed me to the point that I subtly looked to my left and made a face at the books before me.

"Yes, yes you did." He said. Then he leaned down to her ear to whisper something and she exaggerated it by cupping her ear.

"Did you see how she almost yelled? I reckon she thought there was a ghost behind her. " He met my eye and I playfully rolled my eyes at them.

The child whispered something in his ear and I was sure she thought I couldn't hear it. "Don't worry. Next time I'll shout louder."

She leaned away and nodded at Blake, a slight pout on her bow shaped lips. Blake nodded back and I had a meltdown with how cute and innocent they looked.

"What is your name?" She drawled out, blonde thick eyebrows contrasted against her dark golden skin. She furrowed them and looked at Blake in a questionable stare.

Blake smiled. "I'm Blake."

She waved her little hand at him then turned to me, pouting at Blake as if asking him who I was.

Blake slightly shrugged his shoulder and kneeled, facing me then gesturing his hand in my direction. He looked over at the little girl who was blinking at me, unmoving.

She was frowning, looking deep in thought. After a while she turned to Blake. Her lips were downturned and she kept fiddling her fingers, looking like she had done a bad deed. "Isn't she mad at me?" She quietly said.

Blake's eyes widened and he scrambled for words to say. "What? No! No, no. She isn't mad at you." He gently shook his head.

"But I-I was bad to her." She looked like she felt bad and wanted to cry.

Oh shit.

"No, no." Blake looked over to me, blinking in a hurry. "You aren't bad to her. Right?"

He reached out a hand and gently placed it on my arm. I stilled and took a sharp intake of air. Dear God why now. Then as if realizing what he did, he too froze. My eyes were trained at the spot he touched and by now I guarantee that there really is something going on to where he touched. I slowly brought my eyes back up to meet his. He stared back at me, momentarily looking to where his hand was before looking back at me again. We just kind of looked at each other.

At this moment I could count the tiny flecks of glittering gold and snowy white swimming around his forest tinted irises. His eyes had so much intensity in them, like the others in his family.

As my mind traveled towards the day I met the Owens I couldn't help but praise their genetics.

It was clear who God had put the most work into.

I am reminded that there was a child in the premises and forced myself to act as if nothing happened. This must've snapped himself out too as he drew back his hand like I had burnt him.

"No. No. I wasn't bad, wait I meant you weren't bad to me." I smiled at the child who looked at me with a spart gleaming in her eyes. "You just have good scaring skills." I poked her dimple.

She giggled and poked my nose back. I blinked. What just happened.

"I'm Cybella." She did a little curtsey. "And you are?"

"Nevaeh. My name is Nevaeh."

"Nevaeh? I have a classmate named Nevaeh!" She pronounced my name 'Nevwa', close like never. The way she pronounces made me confirm that she in fact had an accent. A heavy, british drawl with a slight slang to it.

Then she looked at her hands and frowned at me, shaking her head. "I can't call you Nevaeh."

I shared a look with Blake and flashed Cybella an amused look. "No?"

"Nuh-uh, I'm going to give you a diffwent name." She shook her head.

Just as a loose tendril of blonde curly hair escaped from one of the mini buns, footsteps were heard along with the yelling of a well acquainted voice.

"Cybel! Cybella! Where are you honey?"

A distorted looking Ms.-or is it Mrs?- Whether she was married or not, A distorted looking Mrs. Yezett bounded through the aisle we were in. Her face lacked composure as she hurriedly walked, her eyes frantically searching and a sheen layer of sweat coated her make-up clad face. When her eyes caught the child dressed in a cherry themed outfit however, lightning bolts seemed to erupt within it, her aberrant qualities making the action a hundred times scarier.

She crossed the gap between them in seconds and stared at Cybella who responded with a look of her own; a face radiating innocence, dimples popped out.

She beamed a full mouth smile, clasping her tiny hands at her back and then stared at her toes before looking up at her mother.

Judging by how similar they look, I reckon that Ms. Yezett was her mother. Both having blonde hair and peculiar eyes and all that.

"Hi mummy,"

Ms. Yezett looked at both me and Blake before turning her gaze back to Cybella, a scolding look on her face. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" She scooped her up and placed the little girl on her hips.

Yup, definitely a mother.

Blake stood up and I followed, both of us watching their interaction.

Cybella grinned and slapped Ms. Yezett's cheeks using both of her hands, briefly squishing her face. Ms. Yezett flinched and pretended to bite her daughter's hand. "I made new friends mum. Look, there's Blake," She pointed at Blake. "And there's Nevwa," She pointed at me.

Then as if realising what she did, she shook her head. She jutted her bow lip out, "But I'm not going to call her that."

"Just...just don't ever run away from mummy again okay?" Ms. Yezett smiled at the girl in her arms and kissed her forehead,sighing in relief.

When her eyes snapped to us she raised an eyebrow. "Fancy seeing both of you here. Alone..."

I caught Blake's eye and we immediately averted our gazes. I cleared my throat and lamely raised the book in my hand. Oh God why did I do that. "Books.We were searching for novels Ms." I politely said.

She nodded just before we heard the bell ring. "You kids better get going, I'm locking the doors after ten minutes."

I nodded and waved bye to Cybella. She waved back as they rounded pass a corner.

Blake walked forward and picked up the books. He turned to me. "You coming?" I nodded and followed him.

I spotted a couple of other students with towers of books stacked in their hands and I remembered that I haven't fixed up my stuff. I breathed in the satisfying scent of books as my mind ran over my assignments and projects that were due tomorrow.

I need to master my lines from pages six to eleven for the play, I have essays to finish in english, french and history, I need to review for the upcoming mathematics quiz tomorrow, I need to-

I suddenly had the urge to cry.

How will I be able to finish all of those in the span of one night? Oh I know, procrastination.

I forced my mind to push out all the negative energy and ideas related to school and thought of anything else more bright and positive to seize my sour mood.

That was when I let out a small smile when I remembered something.

"You didn't bite your lip." I quietly said.

Blake slowed down matching our pace and smiled lightly, "You didn't fiddle with your skirt," He stared down at me with those deep profound eyes. He stopped walking and I found myself doing the same.

"You go ahead, I just need to bring these back." He gestured toward the books he was holding.

I nodded and started walking as did he, me stopping when I heard my name being called.

I back-peddled a few steps to be met with a smiling Blake. It was pure- so pure that I thought I would faint with how utterly attractive he looked. He looked like he was smiling for the first time and I wanted to tell him how smiling suited his face.

Oh God I want to barf at how dilly dally I am.

"Progress?" He asked.

I nodded. "Progress."

Progress. Perhaps change isn't too bad afterall.

I'm still alive.

This chapter is dedicated to doenut_glaze