CHAPTER NINE

They Come In Twos…

***

Sasha and Sandra were on either side of me as I cleaned the breakfast dishes. They were badgering me with questions.

"Where were you last night?"

"Where did you go?"

"Who were you with?"

"Were you with a boy?"

I stiffened at the last one, which was a big mistake.

"Mum! She was with a boy!" The twins yelled in unison, and I dropped my sponge quickly.

Yikes. Time to make my escape. I sprinted upstairs, and got dressed in record time, spending the bare minimum of time on my teeth, and glad my hair wasn't any longer to warrant more then a few quick strokes with the brush.

I glanced at Rosanna, sitting very still on the rocking chair.

"You'd better hurry," She suggested, her blue eyes sweeping over the bruise on that I had seen forming on the side of my face already. I had – unsuccessfully – attempted to conceal it with some concealer. I just hoped nobody at school would notice it. "You are…" She paused, and then went on: "Running ten minutes late."

"And I haven't got my rollerblades today!" I gasped, and spun on my heel, running from my room. "By Rosa!" I called over my shoulder.

"Rosa?" I heard her mutter.

I was in the process of taking the stairs three at a time.

At the bottom of the stairs, Sasha was waiting for me.

"You'd better hurry," She advised me and, for a second, I thought she was talking about what Rosanna had been. But then she went on with: "Sandy's about to kill your cat."

Saphira! I growled. "She'd better not!" And sprinted past my step-sister, toward the front door. I yanked said door open and ran outside, in time to see Sandra aim the hose at my beloved kitty, who was standing with her back arched on the hood of a shiny yellow Lamborghini.

"Saphira!" I yelled.

Saphira leapt off of the new car's hood just in time and straight into my arms, but the water came on anyway and hit the car, making the fancy alarm going off.

"Oi, enough with the water!" It said, in a voice that nearly made me drop my cat onto the concrete. And Sandra and I continued to stare at her new car – which seemed a highly offensive word for such a gorgeous piece of machinery – until Sasha came outside with her school things and reminded us both that it was time to go to school.

"I'll get my car." She said.

"Wait, you got a new car too?" I asked her in a shocked voice.

She glanced at me. "Yeah?"

"Show me."

Sasha pointed toward the driveway, and I turned and looked.

A red Lamborghini. "Of course." I said out loud, smiling weakly. "Lamborghinis always come in pairs…soooo…" I went on casually, glancing from Sasha to Sandra. "Who can I ride to school with?"

The twins exchanged a glance.

I reckon, if they could've, then Sunstreaker and Sideswipe would've as well. As it is, they both subtly unlocked their doors at the same time, as if posing the question.

I almost smiled.

***

"If I'm going to walk to school," I thought, turning left onto another street. "Then I might as well see if Karr is running late too, which I doubt she is." The Autobots hadn't said anything about not telling Karr about the happenings of last night. And Karr was my best friend forever, so it was only natural that I should tell her.

Besides, she'd kill me if I kept this from her.

My heart rate picked up as I approached the street that Karr lives on, but not in excitement at the prospect of seeing my best friend.

Because three cop cars were parked out the front of the Souls' house and, as I approached it, picking up my pace as I did, the front door opened and Karr's mum walked out of the house.

As soon as she saw me, she burst into tears.

I began to run toward her.