Song of the chapter: Bite by Troye Sivan

I suddenly felt like I'd known too much about Jamie's personal life and if I went further, I wasn't going to be able to have a conversation or argument with him with a straight face and so, I abruptly let a fake yawn escape from my mouth, hoping that would send a signal to Alexa that I wanted to get to bed as soon as possible.

As predicted, she got the message. "Maybe we can have this conversation tomorrow." And then, she scoffed self conscious. "It's not like it's my story to tell. I just thought that it was something you knew about."

"Yeah, maybe tomorrow." I agreed as we headed back further into the house. We mounted the first flight of stairs together and on the landing, where the floor to ceiling window stood, I could see how peaceful and quiet outside looked from in here.

We walked up to the second floor, with Alexa chattering excitedly about the things we could do together tomorrow since the house was full.

"It's usually so quiet around here and the only time it feels more alive here is when more people are around." She explained and I nodded along, actually picturing how this place would feel if only their grandparents lived there. It was already so quiet now and I figured it'd kind of be similar to how it was now.

When we finally got to the front of my room, I heard a pair of voices, one distinctly belonging to a certain guy I knew and the other, I was guessing was Kyle. As I noticed both guys turn around a corner towards where we stood, I quickly waved Alexa goodnight and before she could utter a response, opened the door, hurried in and locked the door behind me.

**                                              **                                                  **

I woke up tired than I was when I went to bed last night. This was because I'd done some more thorough exploring in the room last night. I'd concluded that the bathroom was my favorite and I'd actually spent longer time taking pictures in there.

When I checked the time on my phone, it read 8:14am and because of how comfortable I felt under the covers on the most comfortable bed ever, I was just starting to drift off to sleep when I heard a knock on the door.

I took my sweet time getting up to get the door because of the thought that it could Jamie and I was convinced that if I didn't respond on time, he'd just leave.

A female voice followed another round of insistent knocking and I recognized it to be Alexa's.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I flung open the door and she bounced in, looking all beautiful in a pretty black mesh top tucked into a short wrap leather skirt that stopped on her mid thigh, the wrap on top slightly longer and slanted from the left of her waist, on the other layer of leather beneath it. Despite the deep V in the center, she pulled off the elegant look, as the top had ruffles running around both upper arms, adjoining with the v, just below the collar bone. She completed the look with a pair of white sneakers, different from the one she'd worn when I'd first met her. I concluded that she had a great fashion sense.

"Good morning." She greeted, flashing a smile so bright, I thought I might go blind. She was such a morning person as opposed to me.

"Good morning." I stifled a yawn as I sat beside her on the bed where she'd settled down already.

"How was your night here?" She inquired and I smiled wider now.

"Not bad." I tried. "Amazing. This place is cool."

"That's great. I wish you'd visit more often. Do you think we should live here together after high school? This house, I mean." She chattered and then, paused tilting her head.

"Wait, are you in high school?"

"Yeah." I laughed at her expression. "I'm in my final year. So, I'm guessing you're in your final year too?"

"Yes, that's amazing. I think we're going to be best friends." She said genuinely.

"Yeah and I actually know someone who's going to be so thrilled to meet you. My best friend, Chloe."

"I'd love to meet her." She grinned and I couldn't help but notice the dip in both her cheeks. Those dimples made her look so adorable.

"The girls are going shopping today with Mrs. Willows and the boys are going...to God knows where with Mr. Willows." Alexa smiled, swishing her brown hair which was tied in a tight ponytail, from side to side. Her round wire rimmed glasses completing her semi-office look.

"Oh...uhm" I stammered. "Like right now?"

"No, not right now. After breakfast." She clarified and I gave a sigh of relief, settling back into bed.

"And breakfast should be ready now." She chuckled knowing she just deflated my bubble.

"You aren't a morning person, are you?" She questioned as she studied the sour expression on my face.

"Do you even need to ask?" I joked, gesturing to my face. "My expression does most of the talking." She laughed at that.

"So, I'm guessing that was your actual motive for coming here?" I eyed her.

"Of course." She eyed me slyly from behind the glasses.

"I actually thought you and Jamie didn't have that much in common." I mock-frowned at her.

"You didn't!" She gasped and I paused for a second, thinking I'd said something wrong.

"Did you just compare me to Jamie?" She slapped her hand dramatically over her heart in mock horror and I laughed, relieved.

"Hurry up. Go get ready. I'm Mrs. Willows would want us to hit the road immediately after breakfast. She's really eager to have a girls' timeout." She got up and pulled me up from my position on the bed.

"I'll be right here. I should lay your outfit down for you. Where's your stuff?" She seemed so eager but I declined.

"Thanks. You don't have to worry. I can just think of that while I'm in the shower. That way, I'll be fast in choosing an outfit when I'm out."

She shot me a disapproving look but didn't disagree. "Alright, alright. Hurry up."

Due to the consciousness that someone was out waiting for me again, I hurried up in the shower, barely having any time to relax under the warm shower.

Alexa and Jamie were both similar in situations like these even with their contrasting personalities. She was very friendly, always eager to get into a conversation while Jamie was the opposite.

I got ready in under forty minutes and after checking the mirror for my reflection, hurried out. I met Alexa on a phone call and I decided to use that moment to re-tie the shoelace of the sneakers I'd sloppily tied up in a hurry.

When I got up from my crouching position, I adjusted the red ribbed off-the-shoulder long-sleeved crop top I wore with light blue fitted jeans. The pair of jeans was high enough to cover my navel and the crop top was low enough to stop about three inches from where the jeans started. The jeans gave a little outward curve at my hips and I was glad my stomach didn't look bloated.

I'd thrown my hair into a messy bun above my head again and I was satisfied with how I looked. I picked the one black jacket I brought along with me in case it got windy outside.

"I'll see if I can make it tomorrow." Alexa concluded over the phone. I caught a slight scowl on her face before she hung up. When she turned to face me fully though, her usual smile lightened up her face.

"I love your outfit." She appraised making me smile.

"I wanted to say I loved yours too when you first came in but I guess I got carried away by our conversation. You look great." I replied.

I picked up my phone, slinging my purse over my shoulder and she linked our arms as we exited the room.

When we got to the dining room, which I was now familiar with, everyone except Kale was already seated again and in the same position as yesterday.

Nico ran up to Alexa and I to give us each a hug. "Did you sleep well?" I asked him when I released him.

"Yes." He replied. "I dreamt of spider-man. He made me his sidekick."

"That's actually nice. But isn't it supposed to be a secret?" I asked him.

"Exactly what I told him." Kyle replied instead and I was reminded that we were I a room full of people waiting to have their breakfast.

I blushed slightly when I saw that everyone's attention was on us.

"Good morning." I waved at Kyle, pretending I didn't see Natasha and Jamie who sat next to him.

"Good morning." I said to Mrs. Willows as I took my seat next to Alexa.

"For a moment there, I thought we were all starting to fade into the atmosphere." She laughed.

I blushed even deeper as I mentally slapped myself. How much more dumber could I get?

"I hope you got some rest. We're going out today to have fun." She told me and Kyle hooted from where he sat.

"No need to sound so excited. It's a girls' outing." She rolled her eyes at Kyle and he pouted, earning a satisfied grin from her.

I could feel Jamie's eyes on me from across the table but I avoided looking in that direction.

When Kale finally joined us and we concluded with breakfast, Mrs. Willows hurried us down the hall and through the main door, leaving the boys behind.

Natasha dragged her feet behind us, acting like she wasn't a part but still close enough to look like she was.

The morning sun came with a chill and instantly made me relax. A big white car with Range Rover spelt in front rolled to a stop before us, right in front of the water fountain that sprayed generously and we scrambled in, Natasha sitting in front with the driver, Alexa climbing in and scooting over for Mrs. Willows and lastly, I.

I was a bit certain that if I paid no much attention to Natasha, I was going to have a splendid time but that turned out to be difficult as soon as we arrived at the first store for the day and Natasha began to snicker at my choice of dresses when we were asked to try them out. Alexa and Mrs. Willows didn't seem to notice as they chattered happily to one another, including Natasha.

After trying out about three different stores and Mrs. Willows had purchased about one eighth of each (maybe I was exaggerating but she literally made us buy anything she caught us staring at for more than two seconds). When my throat had started to get parched and I didn't think I could walk any longer(even if we were treated as VIP customers and we got to have our seats at the store), Mrs. Willows decided to call it a break and even Alexa who'd been so enthusiastic let out a sigh of relief. We stopped at a fancy restaurant to have lunch and when Mrs. Willows jokingly asked if we were still up for some more shopping, we all declined in unison. Including Natasha. We decided to call it a day and head back home.

When we pulled in through the main gate, everyone of us filed out. I saw Alexa fall in line with Natasha and I was a bit surprised that they spoke, even if the boredom on Natasha's face took a little while to disappear. Seth had gone over to help with the bags and his wife came over to assist. I wanted to help carry my own bags but they insisted.

Mrs. Willows gave me a warm smile as we walked together. She sent a smirk in Natasha's direction. "What crawled up her ass and died there?"

I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of me and I noticed a second too late that I was looking in Natasha's direction as I laughed. I saw her glare and I looked away, still laughing.

"You know what, girls?" She announced when we were almost at the front door, getting Alexa and Natasha's attention.

"Why don't we have a party so we can show off those sweet ass dresses we got?" She posed it as a question but as soon as she said it, she gave me a subtle wink and stepped in just as I heard the name, "Tinkerbelle"

I knew the only person that called me that but I acted like I didn't hear him and started to walk stiffly.

"I'm right. You've been avoiding me." I heard a laugh in his voice laced with irritation as he caught up to me where I stopped walking.

No shit.

A/N:

Hey there! Long chapter, hey? :D Have you been well?

What do you think of this chapter? I hope you're enjoying this story so far. Please let me know you're thinking through a VOTE or COMMENT and if you're feeling so nice, SHARE this with your friends and give me a pretty follow. ;)

Now, I have to go nurse a splitting headache.

So long,

Hanie.