WHEN LIFE SUBTRACTS, ADD REVENGE
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CHAPTER THREE
NEVER GROW UP
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The cloth cord of my necklace was weaved between. I had broken down and ran into the forest searching for the damn thing yesterday. I simply loved the necklace too much; we'd been through so much together. It felt nice to have it around my neck again; the chain of the bird necklace was scratchy and didn't have the same sense of comfort.
"Everything's in the Bug, right?" I asked, going through my mental checklist as I dropped the cord from my fingers. Caitlyn pursed her lips, "I think so…" I shook my head with a smile. I stuck my head in the small car, scanning over all the items in the car. The cake sat in the backseat along with potato chip, plastic cups and plates, the treat bags. Dad would be bringing the ice cream and presents since he lived closer to the park than we did. Today was October 3rd; Speed's seventh birthday.
"You called Gracie and told her I'd be coming by to pick up the cat, right?" I said, looking over at Caitlyn again. She bobbed her head, her curled hair moving with her head. I nodded as well, picking up my helmet off the counter and sliding it over my head. "See you at the park." I said with a wink, my voice muffled by the black helmet. Caitlyn and I exchanged a quick hug and I slung my leg over my motorcycle. I sighed at the familiar rumble of the bike, revving the motor before pulling out of the garage and out on to the road.
Ten minutes passed and I pulled up into the winding driveway of one of Caitlyn's friend. The freckled girl stood on the front porch with a small pet carrier; she waved as I cut off the engine and stood. I waved back, pushing up the helmet just enough to show my whole face. I walked up to the girl with a friendly smile, "Hey, Gracie. What's up?" She shrugged, pushing a strand of black hair behind her ear. "Not much. I'm glad someone could take in the kitten though. I was afraid I'd have to him to the pound." Gracie handed me the carrier and a small bag of cat food as she spoke. I lifted it up eye level, peeking inside. The only thing visible was a black mound of fur in the very back of the plastic cage.
I lowered the cage, looking back to Gracie. "It's no problem. Is there anything I need to know…?" I trailed off, my head cocked to the side slightly. She frowned a little, glancing down at the pet carrier, "He's antisocial but is always in the room. It's like he's watching you or something." I raised an eyebrow with an amused smile, "Creepy." She laughed and passed me a car key; Gracie pointed to the silver car in the drive way. "Here's the key to the Ford. I don't mind where you go with it as long as it's back by eight."
"I completely forgot about borrowing the Ford! Thanks, by the way, for letting me borrow it." I said, taking the key from her small hand. The girl was shorter than me. She simply smiled.
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Thirty minutes went by quickly; I had taken the cat back home, putting the said feline my shower with some food and water. I had set out some newspaper as well; I'm sure you can assume why. I had returned the car and arrived back at the party with my bike right before they began singing 'Happy Birthday' I quickly slid beside Caitlyn, helmet still on, singing the last line with the ginger.
"Trying to pull one over on me? Oh, oh, oh; no, girl!" Caitlyn teased, slapping my shoulder as I tugged off my helmet. "Don't judge me!" I protested, weakly; I watched Speed giddily blow out the candles to his cake. Cheers came from the group of people surrounding the picnic bench. My Aunt Brandi began to slice the cake, sweetly asking people if they wanted a piece of the cake. Her country twang rang out as she handed a slice of chocolate cake to Caitlyn, who happily began munching on the sweet.
I passed on the cake, swiping a slice of Little Caesar's instead. I let out a sigh through my nose when the warm pizza hit my tongue. Jordan, Caitlyn's little sister, and Speed happily mingled with each other as the other children whispered to each, most likely about the presents they brought the birthday boy. One of the little girls who had come, Haley, shyly walked up to me. Caitlyn curiously watching, gulping down a Monster energy drink. I smiled at the small girl, who reminded much of Rue from the Hunger Games.
"I hope I can grow up to be like you." She spoke softly as she sat beside me on the bench. I sat down my pizza, giving the girl my full attention. I raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really? Why is that, darlin'?" She grinned up at me, hands clasped on the edge of her pink dress. "Speed is always talking about you! He's tell me that you're really brave and strong! I've heard my momma saying how kind you are! You're that kind of person that...uh..." Haley paused, searching for the right words. "...that people want to be when they're a big girl! Plus, you're really pretty..." She said with a sheepish smile.
I smiled softly, reaching my hand up and pulled my necklace over my head. I stared at the pendant, the words on it still etched in the donut shaped stone; 'Good friends are always close at heart.' There was no epic story behind how I received the necklace; many copies of the same necklace had been given out at a birthday party I went to in elementary school. I didn't know why it was dear to me, but it had spent too many around my neck.
"Here." I said, slipping the necklace over the girl's head. She looked at the necklace curiously then back to me. "I've had this necklace since I was a little girl, a bit older than you. It's been my favorite necklace for years and now I want it to be yours." Haley's little jaw drop in surprise and excitement, "Really?!" I nodded with a smile. "Thank you so much, Emma!" The girl wrapped her tiny arms around my waist then dashed away, to a woman I assumed was her mother.
She giddily held up the pendant and her mother bent over slightly, grasping the necklace and reading it. I could barely see recognition in her eyes as she read the engraved script. I was sure she recognized the necklace, after years of wearing it, people recognized me with it. I turned away before the woman could turn to me, returning to my pizza.
"What was that about?" The ginger asked, her green and yellow eyes looking at me curiously. I shrugged, "Impluse." She didn't question me, simply striking up a conversation about a cute boy she saw earlier.
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"You ready to get your present from Caitlyn and me?" I grinned, walking into the bathroom. Speed ran in front of me and Caitlyn walked behind me. I shut the door with my foot, watching Speed look around the bathroom curiously. "Look in the shower." The green-eyed boy darted to the shower as I sat beside my best friend on the counter.
A large gasp came from Speed as he reached into the shower. I leaned towards Caitlyn, asking in a whisper, "The cat has had its shots, right?" Caitlyn nodded and held up a fist, "Who gave Speed the best present ever?!" I tapped my fist against her's. "We did! Aw yeah!"
Caitlyn snapped, dramatically, "Like a boss." I laughed, looking over at Speed. He held the black ball of fur up under its arms, a gleeful expression all over his face. "Thank you so much, Moo-Ma! Thank you, Auntie CaitCait!" A soft growl filled the room and Speed dropped the cat, startled.
"Speed!" I scolded, sliding down off the counter. "What have I told you about handling animals?" The boy pouted as I scooped up the cat, rubbing his ear softly. I tucked the cat softly in my arms and looked over at my brother. "What are you going to name him?"
"Blackie!" The boy said, sweetly. Caitlyn and I bit back a laugh at the name, and I could literally feel the cat in my hands wince. I patted Blackie's head then placed a hand on Speed's head. "You need to go to bed. It's late." The boy whined for a moment, then left the room with a pout and a huff.
"He's so dramatic sometimes." I muttered, twisting up my nose at a rather gross smell. Caitlyn gave me a freaked out smile, in return to the 'I'm going to throw up' expression on my face. "Uh...you okay, Em?" I held out the cat for Caitlyn to smell, "Smell him!"
Caitlyn smiled with a scrunched up nose, "No-o-o!" She said with a laugh then paused, "Give me the cat." I laughed, passing the stinky kitten to the ginger. She wrapped her hands around his small body, sniffing the cat then making a gagging noise. "Blech...Gross, bro."
"We'll have to give him a bath." I said, taking the cat and setting him in the bathtub. I raised an eyebrow when the black cat didn't try to run out of the large bathtub. Caitlyn stepped beside me; I leaned over with a grin and whispered, "What if this cat turns into a person?"
Caitlyn deadpanned, "He's not going to turn into a person. I can promise you that." I held my fingers in front of my eyes, then turned them to point at Caitlyn. She rolled her head and moved to grab a towel as I reached to turn on the faucet.
Water began to fill the tub as I cupped my hands, water filling my palms. I dropped the water over the kitten, that seemed to glare up at me, then splashed some water over his paws. The moment I did so a large, and terrifyingly familiar, 'poof' filled the room. White fog filled the room and I stumbled backwards, next to Caitlyn. The towel in her hands had dropped. The white fog cleared and in the place of the small black kitten stood Uchiha Sasuke.
Or Sasuke Uchiha, depending on where you live..
I could almost see the wheels in Caitlyn's head turning, then once the recognition flashed in her eyes, she ran from the room. I glared at the door, muttering out a curse but glancing to the Uchiha.
'He's not going to turn into a person' , she said; 'I promise.' , she said.
Fucking liar.
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"Your little hand's wrapped around my finger and it's so quiet in the world tonight; your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming, so, I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light. To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret; I'd give all I have, honey, if you could stay like that. Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, just stay this little; it could stay this simple. I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart and no one will desert you. Just try to never grow up. You're in the car on the way to the movies and you're mortified your mom's dropping you off. At 14 there's just so much you can't do and you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots, but don't make her drop you off around the block; remember that she's getting older, too, and don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school. No one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred and even though you want to, just try to never grow up. Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room, memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home, remember the footsteps, remember the words said, and all your little brother's favorite songs. I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone. So, here I am in my new apartment in a big city, they just dropped me off. It's so much colder that I thought it would be, so, I tuck myself in and turn my night light on. I wish I'd never grown up. Oh, I don't wanna grow up; I could still be little, it could still be simple; and even though you want to, please try to never grow up. Oh, never grow up, just never grow up."
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A/N:
I can't even right now. I just love you guys so much. Just thank y'all for just being there and reading. I was so surprised when I got so many responses to my previous Author's Notes; some from people who've never reviewed, people I didn't even know read the story. I can't express how thrilled I am to have such compassionate readers. I love every one of you.
The next part is responses to your reviews. You can skip it and move on to the rest of the A/N if you would like to!
Shi No Kitsune: I'd like to thank you for your words. It's so kind of you to response. And they're soo jealous of my epic writer skills and that they don't have epic people supporting like I do. 3
Marce5500: Thank you for your words and for complimenting my writing skills. I'm so happy that you love my stories; that's what I strive for! 3
redxkitti: I'm glad I was to get the emotions of the characters to really be felt by you, as a reader. Thank you calling the story art; that's such a sweet compliment (I teared up when I read that). I love this story so much, and all my others, and I'm so glad you know that I do. Thank you for your encouraging words! 3
: Girl, Im'ma be joining you. They're gonna lose their lipstick when I smack them across the lips. Thank for your encouraging words and eagerness to smack 'em hoes! 3
Beyond Birthday Friday the 13: I'm so glad you think it's the best story on Fanfiction. That's such a big compliment to me and I got so many feels from that. I'm so happy I manage to make you laugh so hard; trust me, I've doubled over at some of the things I write. Honest to God, I put a lot of thought and planning into the story. I plan so far ahead sometimes that I have no clue what to do with the current chapters. Your next few sentences-I can't even make a response! I'm so touched and the feels; I just can't. You ain't the only one who can't wait to see what happens next; I'm excited myself and already know what's going to happen! I was sobbing while writing the last chapter of WLGYK. Thank you so much for everything you wrote and your PM! 3
Ivy Moonlit Rose: Thank you, first off. I'm so happy that so many people have told me that they could connect to well with the characters; I'm so worried that people can't connect to them but I'm not anymore. Thank you for the luck; luck is always nice. You take care, too, friend. Thank you for your words as well! 3
Spyrofan777: Thank you for your PM, darlin', and thank you for your words. And remember, no presents! ;) 3
I'll be updating Melting Moon next for the Twi-Hards. After that will be The Noble (I can't wait to make the cover for The Noble) then Grass, Titanium, and the Girl I Killed. I'll have two chapters for GTGIK since it's been so long for that one. And if I have any Directioners in my audicence, or just some curious folk, I'm going to be posting a 1D fanfic on Wattpad. If you're interested in it, send me a PM please and I'll give you the info to find it.
Overall, I'm just happy to stick Sasuke's ass in the story. I've waited so long and finally was able to get it wrote out the way I wanted. I mean, like hell yeah!
Hope you enjoyed!
And here's a little heart for all my other readers who are just too lazy to review. 3
I wuv you all.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Yours Truly,
Veila