The sky was grey with the threat of rain when Piper stepped out of the house that afternoon.
It was a little after noon, and she gripped the scrap of paper with Jason's address in her hand as she slipped out of the back door, her laptop shoved into a small backpack and her phone in her hand, earphones stuffed haphazardly into her ears.
Jane had gone out to run an errand earlier in the morning after making Piper breakfast, confident in her assumption that Piper wouldn't have anything to do that day, and would spend the afternoon lazing in her room, as was her usual Saturday. Jane had said that she would return around six to make dinner for Piper (which she really didn't see the necessity of- it had been years since she had a proper takeout meal), so Piper's plan was to return at five, so she would be back in time for Jane's return.
The gusts of wind blew her hair around her face as they dashed across the streets, uncommon for an afternoon in California. A few bikers were sitting out on someone's front lawn, taking long drags of cigarettes. She caught a snippet of their conversation as she walked past. "Nah, man. I'd totally go for Aladdin. He has the whole troublemaker vibe going on." She hid the grin that flitted across her face as a little girl on a bike laughed gleefully as she raced past her friend, who pouted as he pedalled harder to catch up with her. All these commodities of a suburban neighbourhood- it was a part of all she'd missed when her father became famous and they started to take 'precautions' to ensure her safety. She hadn't travelled on foot in ages.
Even now, the hood of her snowboarding jacket was pulled over her head as she tried to walk in an unassuming manner, hoping not to draw too much attention to herself. She doubted that anyone would notice her though- not on this lazy afternoon, with barely anyone on the streets.
As she entered Jason's neighbourhood, her music paused momentarily as her phone vibrated with the buzz that signalled a text message. It was a text from Lacy, a photo of a bunch of their friends at the dance the previous night. They were all grinning at the camera, bedecked in shiny, reflective clothes. Leo had his arm around a pretty girl with caramel hair, which meant that Piper had lost her bet with Katie. The latter was smiling next to Travis Stoll, looking surprisingly happy for someone who'd claimed to be his sworn enemy just the previous week. Hazel had her arm around a burly Asian boy with a beaming smile, Frank.
Wish you'd been with us! Her message read. Piper replied with a smiley face and clicked off her phone as she came to a halt in front of the address on the paper. She stuffed the scrap into the back pocket of her jeans as she arched her head back and surveyed the house. All the houses in the neighbourhood had a stoic uniformity- the same grey and white terraces that were about three stories high, complete with panelled windows to give an elegant, rich setting.
The cream curtains at the window of the bedroom on the second floor were drawn, giving the house a very cold, empty atmosphere. The front lawn was perfectly trimmed, with no sign that indicated any homeliness to the place- no bicycles parked in the drive, no flowers on the lawn, just cold grey stone steps inlaid into the ground, forming a path to the front door. She caught a glimpse of Drew Tanaka's car parked in the garage of the neighbouring house, and briefly wondered what kind of horror it must be like to be neighbours with such a character.
She carefully picked her way to the front door, surprised at the lack of security for the house of someone who owned a large chain of businesses. Perhaps few suspected that such an ordinary, mundane house could belong to the CEO of Grace Holdings, though it was admittedly in a high-end neighbourhood.
She pressed the doorbell after a moment's hesitation, hearing the chime echo through the house. She waited for a few moments before none other than Jason's sister flung the door open. Thalia cocked her head at her. "Come to reconsider the fact that you and Jason aren't friends?"
Piper reddened slightly (or maybe it was the California heat) as she remembered what she'd said to Thalia the first time they'd met. "No- we have an English project together. Believe me, not my choice."
Thalia chuckled. She stepped aside to let Piper in. "Rare to find someone not interested in my baby brother. Nice change. Jason's room is on the top floor." She grabbed a leather jacket from the stand next to the door and darted out, leaving Piper standing alone in the living room of the huge house.
The floor was white marble- there was a grey rug that looked expensive on the floor of the living area, where cream sofas were situated in front of the television. A vase of fake flowers stood in the coffee table, their bright petals the brightest thing in the house. Paintings in monochrome shades hung from the walls- there were no family pictures whatsoever, only a giant crest of Grace Holdings' logo above the television. A piano stood in a corner of the room, under the staircase, which was glass, so it was slightly dizzying as she ascended the stairs, seeing the top of the piano below her feet.
There were two doors next to each other on the third floor, right in front of the landing of the staircase. A narrow corridor spanned the length of the living room below, overlooking it in such a way that the sofa was tiny from here. The door on the right was decorated with posters of Green Day and Fall Out Boy, with 'Do Not Enter' signs that resembled those on hotel doors stuck all over it amongst the posters. It was evidently a personal collection, with hotel signs from Disneyland hotels and other hotels from all over the world. It was possibly the only sign of character the house showed, if Jason followed his parents' taste in interior design.
She raised her hand to the door and rapped on it three times. A crash was heard from the room, followed by a muffled yell. A moment later, Jason appeared at the door, grimacing as he held his pinky gingerly. She raised an eyebrow.
"Do I want to know?" He moved to close the door behind her. "I knocked my textbook over and it fell on my finger."
Piper rolled her eyes, holding back a smile as she took in Jason's room. "Sorry, it's a little messy." At 'a little messy', Jason's room was neater than her room had ever been. There was a laundry basket next to the door, with all his clothes piled into it, and trophies from various sporting events adorned the shelves next to his four-poster bed. Piper walked over to a glass case next to his study table, where pictures in gilded frames filled the top two levels. She saw Reyna and Jason as kids, dressed in matching Halloween costumes. Reyna's smile was bright and real, looking nothing like the uptight girl the student body knew. There was a picture of Jason as a baby, sitting in the lap of a woman with black hair like Thalia's. "Your mom?" she guessed.
Jason blanched visibly, and Piper immediately knew that she'd hit a sensitive topic. "Yeah," he replied shortly. She drew her laptop out of her bag and opened it, making herself comfortable on the plywood floor of his room. "Shall we get started?"
It was half past four when Piper put the finishing touches to the poster, sitting back to admire her work. "Looks great," Jason said, pressing the enter key with a flourish. "I'm done with the essay bit too." He clicked away on his keyboard for a few moments while Piper finished the third packet of chips. Much to her surprise, snacks did exist in the Grace household, even though Jason himself didn't eat them often. "They're Thalia's," he'd explained when the pair went down to the kitchen on a 'study break'.
Jason pressed a button on his laptop and the printer on his desk started churning out their essay. Piper busied herself with the clasp of her bag. Jason's phone, which had been sitting silently on the table until that moment, gave a loud beep, making both Jason and Piper jump.
Jason grabbed his phone somewhat sheepishly, frantically pressing at the buttons at the side to mute it. Piper hid a grin behind her hand at Jason's flustered expression, and schooled her features into what she hoped was a neutral and unaffected look. She saw his eyebrows jump up from the corner of her eye, and he leaped up and threw his curtains open.
"No way," he said disbelievingly. Piper joined him at the window and gaped at the sight. The pounding rain on the glass was making it hard to see past a few meters, but from what she could make out, the street was entirely flooded. The water level wasn't too high, but a car had stopped in the middle of the street, it's owner sat on the roof with an umbrella. The water looked about knee-deep.
"Apparently it's a drainage problem in the downtown area," Jason reported as he flicked his thumb across his screen and laughed wryly. "I thought Thalia was joking when she said that she couldn't come home because her 'her motorcycle couldn't float'." He made air quotes around his head. Piper chuckled dryly. "Must be a great day for fishes over at the park."
Jason surprised her by bursting out into genuine laughter, which Piper joined in after a few surprised moments. Then her heart sank as she glanced down at her phone and registered the timestamp. "Crap," she muttered. It was a quarter to five, and Jane could be back any moment, though if the situation was like this throughout town, she would hopefully be stranded somewhere else. Still, Jane would have her head if she were to return to find Piper missing. "I've got to go."
She picked up her bag and clattered hurriedly down the glass steps of the Grace household. Jason caught up to her just as she reached the front door. She was about to wrench the door open when she found him blocking her path. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "It's literally pouring out there, and it's flooded!"
"It's not that deep," Piper muttered, though she could begin to feel doubt seeping into the corners of her mind. "You're not going out there. The water is probably rushing from downtown, and it's still raining, which means that the current is going to be freakishly strong. You'll be knocked over before you can even take two steps out there."
"You're over-exaggerating," Piper tried to fill her voice with it's usual bravado. "I must really be going."
"You mustn't." His blue eyes bore into her.
"I must." "You mustn't."
"I must."
"You mustn't."
"I mustn't."
"Ha!" Jason exclaimed triumphantly as Piper scowled fiercely. These word play games used to be her forte when she was a kid, and she would win over everyone on the playground. It seemed that she had gotten a little rusty.
"Anyway, it's getting close to dinner, and I make great curry. You won't regret it, I promise!" His eager-to-please grin was so infectious she couldn't help herself from following him into the kitchen. After all, Jane couldn't possibly be back home yet, she reassured herself. She would just leave later and sneak in through the back door.
As it turned out, Jason did not know how to make curry. Some time later, a bowl of suspiciously red liquid sat on the kitchen counter, with more curry powder and paste on the table than in the bowl. Piper watched from her position slouching against the fridge, cracking up in laughter as Jason attempted to scoop the spilt curry paste into the bowl. "What a flop," Piper snorted.
Jason mock-glared at her as he wiped the back of his hands on his forehead. "You wait till you taste it, I promise." He carefully poured the bowl of liquid into a pot, throwing in some half-frozen pieces of chicken and hastily dropped a few chopped potatoes in. Piper shook her head, the corners of her eyes still creased upwards in laughter.
She joined him at the table as they set to work, cleaning the table. "Our housekeeper usually does the cooking," he explained. "Thalia can cook pretty well, though. Must be from running the café. On the other hand…" He gestured to himself in a self-deprecating manner. "I can't cook either," Piper assured him.
"Housekeeper?" he asked. The undertones of his voice confirmed what she'd suspected- he had recognised her that night of the gala. She nodded guardedly. He seemed to guess what she was thinking. "Piper McLean, huh? No wonder you don't share your surname around."
"You're not going to spread it around, are you?" she asked warily as she dumped the dirty cloth in the sink. "I won't." He said it with so much sincerity and asperity that Piper could believe that he was genuine about it. She half-smiled as he continued. "Anyway, being the son of the CEO of Grace Holdings isn't too nice either. Thankfully, no one really pays attention to the business world. Plus, the Grace name seems to be fairly common."
"Hollywood has it the worst," Piper sighed. She remembered the first time the paparazzi had mobbed their house, right after her father's first movie came out. It was a hit, which naturally meant that he was the centre of all the gossip. They'd moved the very next day. "Tell me about it," Jason grinned as he picked up a ladle and began to stir at the curry.
Suddenly, Piper's phone burst into song- she had a call. She hastily pulled it out- really, it was time to move on from having the theme song of that TV show she watched as a kid as her ringtone- and paled when she saw the Caller ID, muttering an unladylike curse under her breath. It was Jane. Piper winced and turned her back to Jason as she reluctantly picked up.
"Piper," Jane began frostily. "Where are you?"
Piper could feel Jason's eyes on her. "Um, a friend's house- we're doing a project." "How dare you sneak out? You were supposed to stay at home! Can you imagine how I felt when I called the house phone time and time again to have no one reply?" Jane's injured tone made it sound like she'd been worried about Piper's welfare, but Piper knew better. Jane's job was on the line, and it was the time of the year when her father usually gave out bonuses. She had probably been hoping for an extra large check, on top of the usual exorbitant amount he paid her to boss him around.
"It's nothing, I swear, it was only a ten minute walk away-" "Don't you sass me, young lady. I always knew you were a devil child to begin with. If this is ever repeated, I promise I will get you shipped off to boarding school in Maine!" Jane was screeching so shrilly that Piper was sure Jason could hear every word loud and clear even though the phone wasn't even on speaker mode.
"Now, you will give me your friend's address, and I will drive round to pick you up as soon as this flood is over." Piper sullenly repeated Jason's address to Jane. "And don't you dare take a step out of that place until I am parked at the curb," Jane finished and hung up the phone with a click.
Shaken and annoyed, Piper slid her phone into her back pocket as she turned back around. Jason was studiously trying to seem like nothing had happened, ladling the curry out into a bowl. "You don't have to pretend you didn't hear it," she said quietly.
Jason lifted his eyes from the bowl. "Sounds tough." Piper remembered the yells from outside the bedroom door while they had been on video call. "You and me both, it seems," she sighed. He cracked a smile, and she stared- unbelievable, considering the circumstances. "What's so funny?" she demanded.
"Now that you're actually prevented from leaving," he held up the bowl of curry. "Curry?"
you can of course imagine my horror when my sister told me to "hurry up and update your story" in the middle of a family dinner, mainly because "how on earth did you find my fanfiction?" "yeah you have 39 reviews" so yeah now there will be someone constantly reminding me to update my story great also I'm going to be uploading a one-shot soon (ha) so stay tuned for that! have a fantastic and festive (Christmas is coming y'all) day! xx