=Chapter Twenty-Six=
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How to build? Idk
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Sunday, 22st of September

I awoke in my bed, snuggled against a giant orca whale plush, breathing in the scent of.. Jason?

What?

I looked harder at the plush, realizing I never owned an orca plush before. Where did it come from?

And it's smells like Jason..

I buried my face back into the plush, inhaling deeply before I froze realizing what exactly I was doing.

Nobody was watching but I still withdrew and cleared my throat, feeling the tinge of embarrassment flushing my cheeks.

I took a good look at the orca and grinned stupidly.

"You're adorable." I told it.

•*•

Two days later

Tuesday, 24th of September

Jason hadn't been back since the afternoon he carried me back into my apartment.

I'm pretty sure he was the one who gave me Ollie, my new orca plush, as it smelled gloriously like him.. leather and vanilla.

I wasn't sure how vanilla snuck into the mix but I loved it.

May deemed me well enough to come out of exile to help set up the new shelves.

They had arrived late yesterday after a long day of deep cleaning, sweeping moping- the works.

I didn't mind cleaning, but it would've been a lot of strain on my wound, and despite my longing to be apart of the cleanup crew, I really didn't want to spend more time laying around with a re-stitched wound.

I really wish I could heal it.

But noooooo... that would blow my cover, and I'm not going to do that.

But now I sat on the sparkling floor, setting up IKEA cabinets, the instruction manual more confusing even though I had my dyslexia-banning glasses on.

"Uh no. It goes like this." Bella pushed a wooden dowel pin into the shelf and awkwardly put the two pieces of particle board together.

"I'm not sure.." I hesitated.

"It looks fine. Let's just get it over with."

It had been Bella's idea to get IKEA shelving instead of thrifting good solid wooden shelves.

But why bother with IKEA if she wasn't patient enough to figure it out correctly? I wasn't about to let these shelves be defective and accidentally create another disaster the next time we have an attack in town.

"I can do it, Bella. You can work on something else if you'd like." I offered.

She sighed loudly. "Fine. If you want to do it yourself you can. I'm hungry anyways.." she eagerly (not hiding her emotions very well) got up and walked to the counter, picking up the phone and calling someone.

"Hi, I'd like to order pizza, yeah Hawaiian is great. Yeah just one. Good, the address is.."

I rolled my eyes, knowing she'll be paying with May's card.

I turned my attention back to the shelving, reading the Manual carefully and putting the wood together.

I was left to my own thoughts as I put together the shelves one by one, screwing them into the floor to prevent any more toppling in case of emergency.

I would've preferred old used shelves to the new ones, but Bella was in charge of the funds and financial decisions, so I had to let it slide.

Atleast it was a dark brown color, to match the vibe of the cozy green walls and dark wood beams and other wooden trims.

I still doubt these screws would hold if another blast like the last happened.

These shelves were very thin and light weight. Let's say.. I won't be anywhere near them if there's an attack nearby.

While I was starting on the next shelf, there was a knock on our door, and Bella- who I wasn't paying attention to but was apparently sitting on her phone- snapped her head up toward the door with a slightly annoyed expression before her eyes lit up when she saw the delivery man.

She put her phone in her back pocket and went over to unlock the door.

"Hiiiiii!" She said cheerfully.

The pizza delivery guy and her exchanged some words and she took the pizza. "Wait one second." She grinned, running back to the counter with the pizza and placed it down, making a mess while she looked for something.

I frowned in confusion from my place on the floor.

Bella smiled deviously as she found whatever she was looking for.

I peeked around my shelf to the guy waiting at the door and our gazes locked.

He was tall, brown hair and (most likely) blue eyes. He waved and I raised my hand to wave back, not really sure what was going on, but then Bella hopped back in front of him giving him something, covering him from my line of sight.

They talked for a second longer before Bella huffed and closed the door not-so-gently.

She turned and pierced me with a glare.

"What?" I asked, recoiling from her sudden mood shift.

Her hand crumpled whatever she was holding.

"Nothing. I'm eating my pizza, go back to work." She said shortly.

I looked back down to my shelves with a short puff of amusement. "Weird.." I mumbled.

She angrily bit into her pizza while watching me work with a glare.

I tried to be calm about it but I really didn't like being glared at.

Finally I snapped. "Okay, Bella. Will you tell me what on earth I did?"

Bella stared for a moment. "I'm not petty. But that delivery guy asked for my number. But when he saw you? He did a one-eighty and asked for your number instead!" Her hands shook, barely containing herself.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I wasn't trying to steal him from you. It's not my fault. It was really mean of him to switch it up on you like that... he chose attraction instead of something more meaningful.."

"Don't say stupid things like that. We didn't know each other. Why would he choose me for anything else? The issue here is that when he saw you, he changed his mind! I'm furious!"
Bella ate another slice of pizza.

"And I'm sorry." I said gently, getting up from the floor to rest my arms on the counter beside her.
"That's his own fault. You're beautiful, Bella. I'm not sure how you go about relationships, but I think someday you'll find someone who will want you for you, not just how pretty you are. Someone who wouldn't get distracted by other girls."

Bella's eyes softened. "..I suppose you're right. I am beautiful. He just has bad taste. Thanks Perca, you earned a pizza." She pushed the box towards me and I took a slice. "Who needs a delivery boy anyways. He probably makes like nothing to support himself.. I have other catches to keep my eye on."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay Bella and no offense? It's Percy."

Bella rolled her eyes back at me and turned to her slice.

I retreated back to my seat on the floor with my pizza, glad to divert Bella's attention from me.

May finally walked in from the back and spotted the pizza. "Oh you called for pizza? Why didn't you tell me." She said with a smile.

"Oh, sorry Mrs. Monroe. We got distracted, have a slice!"

•*•

Hi everyone!!!

We are one week from 100k views! I'm super excited.

It's gonna be an awesome way to start a new year.

If I hit the goal before the next regular posting day I will post a celebration extra chapter!

Love you all, happy new year and stay *phonetastic*!

Toodles!

💙🍪