We made it to chapter 35! Yay for us! Ok. Well, I see the teaser got a reaction. Yeah, I really didn't like writing that part, but I had planned on having that happen since the beginning so…yeah. So, this chapter is for both my new reader, Aura897, and all my old ones. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. You're what keep me writing! P.S. Sorry I haven't updated in a while.
Wanda POV
2 Hours Later
"The visiting hours are over. Please leave the room," A peppy nurse says, her head sticking in the doorway. We nod and say bye to Linda and Trevor. They lay there, motionless as they have all night. I want to stay with them, but Ian gently pulls me towards the door. We all walk out of the hospital and into the parking lot. I swing my arm back and forth, Ian's hand in mine and his arm swinging as well. I smile and giggle as we walk towards the cars. Kyle gets in his little car and Jodi sits beside him. Ian opens a door for me and I gasp as I pull out my phone.
"What's wrong?" Ian asks. "Oh, you don't have to come with me. Mel can take you to the orphanage or something," I shake my head.
"No, no. It's not that. Becket bought a house here a few days ago. He said it was pretty big, but I don't know where it is so I'll have to get our driver to take us there," Ian nods.
"So you'll be staying somewhere like that," I sigh.
"It doesn't mean I want to, Ian,"
"Then do what you want," He says. I look down. "You should be able to do what you want,"
"Yeah, but I'm not even fourteen yet. How am I supposed to do anything?" I whisper more to myself than Ian. I don't know what he's doing, I can't see him through my hair. I don't look up at him. It's weird being near him again. I missed him so much, but he's being weird, different. Why's he acting like this?
"Wanda, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," I nod.
"I know. But I sort of want to go see the house because he bought it and he didn't show it to me. Burns saw it and thought it was really nice and said I would like it,"
"Wanda," Ian sighs. I peek up at him and he smiles a little. "Ok," He says. "You should go see it if you want to," I smile and hug him as tightly as I can, which isn't very tightly. He chuckles at my attempt and tightly wraps his strong arms around me, pulling me gently against his chest. "I was kind of mean back there. I'm sorry, love," He whispers into my ear. I feel my face heat up. We did this all the time, but I haven't been with him in so long I'm getting easily embarrassed again.
"It's ok. You didn't mean it," I whisper back to him. He kisses my cheek. A car horn honks and we jump apart.
"Come on!" Kyle yells. Ian rolls his eyes.
"I'm coming! Can you're dick not stay in your pants until we get home?" I get blood red and Ian's arm snakes around my waist. I have a feeling that it's taking all of Kyle's will power not to beat the crap out of Ian. The thought makes me bury my face into his chest. He's gotten buffer since I left, which I guess is from pushing himself so hard in sports. I hear a car behind us and turn my head to look, the wind blowing small blonde curls away from my face. The car that Tanner was driving earlier pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of Burns, Sunny, and Evan. I look back up at Ian.
"I've got to go," I kiss his cheek and start to pull away, but he catches me quickly and kisses my lips. I smile as the warmth that floods through me seeps deep into my bones. We break away too soon and I start towards the car, waving at Ian as I go. He waves back at me as I go.
The farther away I go, the colder I seem to get.
~Line Break~
1 Hour Later
We pull into a driveway and the four of us get our bags and step out of the car. I gasp at the sight. The house was a light brown wood color with a faded black roof. There was a screened in front porch with dark brown double doors with what looked like swirls. Window lined the front of the house and my eyes landed on it, the bay window. My heart constricted with memories as my eyes filled with tears.
"Wanderer, dear, have you picked out your room yet?" I shake my head.
"No, but I met a neighbor. His name's Ian. And he gave me a nickname, too," She smiles bigger and walks over to me.
"What is it?" She asks as she hugs me.
"He called me Wanda. And I like it. It's easier to say," She squeezes me.
"Ok, then, Wanda, you better pick which room you want so we can fix it up for you," I smile and run upstairs. I walk down the hall, opening every door and peaking in each room. I pick one at the end of the hall. It has a big closet like the one across from it, but it has a huge window that shows Ian's house. Mom comes in a few minutes later as I twirl around the room. She smiles at me and leans against the door frame.
"I like this window," I say. She smiles bigger and laughs a little.
"It's called a bay window. You can put stuff in the seat because it's like a chest. You can also sit on top of it, like a bench," She walks over to me and opens up the seat. I gasp. It has a few little cubbies inside it. I climb in it and pull the bench closed. I hear my mom laugh and I decide to play a game. I knock on the top of the bench-thing.
"Hey, Mom? It's dark in here. Can you open this?" She laughs and then the top opens and light fills the space.
~Line Break~
I get into a comfortable position and close the top of the bench overtop me. I take a deep breath and hold it as the dust particles float around my face in the dim light. Once my eyes adjust, I sigh quietly. Dad isn't home yet, but he'll probably be here tomorrow when I get home from school. He's most likely at Juniper's and will probably stay the night. I shiver from disgust and pick my phone up off the ground to text Ian.
Wanda: Hey, Ian.
The reply, as usual, is almost instant. He's always got his phone in his hand or pocket so he always hears it ring.
Ian: Hey, Wanda. Are you hiding again?
Wanda: Yep.
Ian: …But he's not there…Is he?
Wanda: No, he's at Juniper's house and he'll probably be back tomorrow. I think I'll just hide in here.
Ian: Ah. You're in the bench in your room. I'm going to call you, ok?
Wanda: Ok.
And so Ian calls me and we talk about nothing for about 15 minutes before the doorbell rings. I freeze, almost dropping my phone.
"Wanda?" Ian asks. We'd been laughing. "Wanda, what is it?"
"Someone's at the door. Ian I'm scared," I hear movement on the other end. "Ian?" I squeak.
"It's Mel," He says. He must have went to his room.
"Oh," I sigh and get out of the bench. He whistles into the phone and I turn to look out my window. He's standing in his window and grinning at me. I smile and wave at him. He waves back and I start down the stairs.
I get to the door and throw it open to Mel. She smiles brightly at me and we hug.
"Is Seth home?" She whispers. I shake my head.
"No, he's at Juniper's house," We let each other go and she smiles, nodding towards me. She turns to close the door.
"Hey, I'm still here. No need to close the door on me," Ian says into the phone. Mel jumps at his voice and opens the door again, looking up into Ian's window where he still stands. He shrugs and I assume that Mel's glaring at him. She takes my phone from me.
"Stalker," She says. He laughs and she closes the door again. "You don't have to call her. You can always just come over. You're across the damn street!" Mel says, obviously annoyed. He laughs again and I smile.
"I'm coming," She hangs up and we go up to my room.
"Mind if I just spend the night here?" She asks when we get into my room. I shake my head.
"Stay if you want. I would love to have a friend over. You know I hate being alone," She smiles and nods.
"Yeah, I know. You'll never be alone, though. Never, Wanda," I smile at her and soon hear the front door close and Ian yelling that he's here.
I sigh, remembering both memories clearly. The first one was when I was 6 while the other was when I was 10. Everything-besides living with Dad-was so much easier. We went up to the doors and I soon saw BJ intertwined on the doors. I sigh. We start into the house and are awed into silence by the living room. There was a small stone fireplace on the left wall between two tall and skinny windows with a big star on it. There were two black leather couches and a black leather loveseat. A small table beside the loveseat had a lamp on it while the coffee table in the middle of the room had a big book with a painting on the front. I walk forward with everyone else after sitting my bags in the loveseat. The next room is the kitchen and it took our breath away as well.
The kitchen was large and gave off an aura of wealth. The cabinets were the same light brown color as the walls and the outside of the house. The countertops were obviously marble, a silvery color that shined when the lights from overhead shinned down on them. I looked closer and saw black speckles in them. There was a huge silver refridgerater Burns announced was filled with food. We kept going, reaching a hallway that went either left or right. We went left and found the bedrooms, all of which were master. I had never seen anything like it before, but I suppose that's why Becket bought it. We go to the hallway again, but go to the other hallway. Down there was a spare closet with towels, wash clothes, and so on. There were four full bathrooms and a half bath (which just has a toilet and sink).
We decided to choose our bedrooms and bathrooms so we went to get all our stuff. Once we got all our stuff, we walked down the hallway with the bedrooms again. I chose the second door on the right because it had the bay window and seemed brighter than the others. Sunny chose the room on my left, Evan chose the one on my right, and Burns was across the hall from me.
I looked out my window sadly. A huge fenced in pool took up most of the yard, but I couldn't tell where the property line was drawn so I couldn't be sure as to how much it took up of the yard. The pool was tiled and had the same design Becket had done with his initials on the bottom of it, which made me roll my eyes. Being back home has made me realize how much luxury I was given and how quickly it changed me. I almost can't stand it, all the expensive things that Becket has. I wonder if being here has changed the others. My stomach growls loudly, almost like a dying whale sound. I sigh and go out my room towards the kitchen. No one's left their rooms since we got into them, so I decide that I should fix us all some food. As I get to the end of the hallway, I smell food. Confused, I turn the corner and gasp.
Standing at the stove is Mel. I couldn't tell what she was making, but it was obvious she was cooking something. She looked up at me and grinned.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her. I quickly walk over to her.
"Well, this big car pulled up and the dude driving it said that he was taking me on a mini vacation thing out here and to pack a bag. Here he brought me and now I'm waiting for Jamie to get here,"
"Why didn't he get Jamie when he got you?"
"Because I wasn't home," She states simply.
"Where were you?"
"The hospital. I went back after taking Jamie to Ian's. We've been staying there since…" I nod. I hadn't thought to ask where they were staying. I started to feel guilty and she immediately saw. "Now, Wanda," She said, putting her hands on her hips. "None of this was your fault. Don't feel bad about anything," She hugged me and I felt more tears roll down my cheeks. We let go and I wipe them away gently.
"What're you making?" I ask her as my stomach growls. She laughs.
"Tacos," She said in a foreign accent that makes me giggle. She chuckles and goes back to browning the meat, which I now realize that she'd been doing. I get all the toppings out-tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, sour cream- and start chopping things up. I hear footsteps and whispers coming from the corridor and look up to see Burns, Evan, and Sunny coming into the kitchen. I blush and wave at them. We must have woke them up or something.
"Hi," I say meekly.
"Hey, Wanda. What're you making?" Evan says as she waltzes towards me.
"I'm getting the toppings ready for tacos. Mel's browning the meat. I hope we didn't wake you guys and that you're hungry," They smiled at me. They all group hugged me and thanked Mel and I. Once the meat was ready, everyone made tacos. I ate two hard shells, but couldn't eat anymore. Sunny and Evan were the same as me, though they ate a soft shell as well. Mel and Burns were tied with five, three hard shells and two soft shells. We heard the doorbell ring and Mel and I ran to the door screaming Jamie.
Mel threw the door open to see Jamie standing in the door. I looked him over and saw that he'd grown about an inch since I saw him before I left. I didn't really look at him at the hospital, so I was a little surprised at how he'd grown almost as tall as me. And he's only 9! He's only 9. The more I think about his age, the more I think about my age, how young I had been when Mom died. I was 6. I was 6 years old. And I was left almost completely alone, hiding under a bench or in her closet. I pushed the thoughts away and hugged him tightly. He did the same to me immediately.
"Hey, Wanda!" He said with so much enthusiasm as a boy his age could. I chuckle as tears start to form.
"Hey, Jamie," I whisper to him as I pull him tighter to me. I silently pray that his parents will live.
Not just for me, but, though Mel's so strong, I'm not completely sure that Jamie's light won't be destroyed. And I never want that to happen, ever.
Ok, I made this chapter long because I know I haven't updated in a while and I felt bad. There are a few reasons that I haven't updated in so long. 1.) I'm sort of a very lazy person 2.) I had a writer's block the size of New York City (which is a very large city for those of you who don't live in the U.S) And 3.) I'm sick. Not really bad, just some nasal stuff, but it's effected my writing and the bed has been calling my name along with sleep. Today's a snow day which explains my update. So, I'm drinking massive cups of hot tea to soothe my throat from the drainage and to relax while I stay home alone with my little brother (who isn't that terrible at the moment because he knows that I'm sort of sick so he's being good.) Alright, reviews would be appreciated and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! =)