The next morning, Kirsty woke early, leaving Kane snoring softly in bed. He was so sweet towards her, carrying her out of the shower like a princess. Kirsty felt like their relationship had progressed, even without intimate contact. She went downstairs, counting the doors as she went so she could remember where her room was. The house seemed eerily quiet, and when she entered the kitchen, it was a complete shock seeing a teenage boy, with black spiky hair sitting at the table eating his cornflakes.
"Hi, "said Kirsty attempting to break the ice. "You frightened me." He didn't answer. She tried again. "You must be Oliver. I'm Kirsty." Still no answer. "Anyone in there?"
"I'm deeply ashamed that I alarmed you with my presence, I am Oliver and yes there is someone in here, who doesn't particularly want to talk to anyone."
"Charming, " said Kirsty under her breath. She looked in the kitchen area for cereal, opening all the cupboards seeing if Oliver would venture his assistance. He didn't. She glanced at him. He still paid no attention to her. It wasn't a very nice way to treat guests. Edwina instinctively entered the room to break the awkward silence.
"Good Morning, " she said. "I trust you slept well."
"Yes, very well thank you. Um, where do you keep the cereal?"
"Didn't Oliver tell you?" Oliver left the room. "Obviously not." Edwina found the cereal cupboard and Kirsty chose some cornflakes. "He hardly ever talks to me either. My only grandson, and he never speaks to me. I don't hold it against him though, that's just the type of person he is. I just hope he learns from his mistakes." Edwina's tone changed to inquisitive. "It must be great to travel with your boyfriend. Your parents allow it?"
"Well…" Kirsty debated over whether to tell the truth. Edwina seemed trustworthy enough, not disapproving. "Not exactly, but I'm old enough to make my own decisions."
"Are you sure it was the right one?" Kirsty nodded. "He loves you, you know. I can see it, but I sense your relationship has caused a lot of hurt within your family."
"How do you know?"
"I've a gift for these things. Here he comes now." She was right, Kane materialized, giving Kirsty a hug. Edwina left the room, to give them privacy. Kirsty sat down to eat her cereal.
"She seems nice. I think she thinks she's psychic, she said all these things about us, about my parents disapproving. About you loving me."
"Oh did she?" said Kane sitting next to her. "Cos you know these psychics, always making stuff up…"
"Yes she did!" Kirsty whacked him with mock annoyance. Kane blocked her and leant in for a kiss. Oliver appeared again.
"Gross, " he took something out of a tin and left again.
"What's his problem?" asked Kane.
"I dunno, he seemed really stuck up, he hardly said anything to me. He's really rude."
"Well I'm glad he doesn't like you, at least we wont have another Jayne situation on our hands!" Kirsty laughed. Her morning had just brightened up.
***
Later that day, Kane had left to look for work at the beach, leaving Kirsty to help Edwina with her flower arranging. She enjoyed the conversation; learning about Edwina's career as a 70's model, yet found the flowers unsurprisingly dull. She quickly made an excuse to use the bathroom. She was walking around the corridors, thinking to herself, when she realised she was lost. The downstairs bathroom had seemingly disappeared. She opened a door on her left. A study. She tried the right. A room full of dresses. She tried the next one, and was pleasantly surprised. Not because it was a bathroom, but because she'd finally found the most interesting room of the house. It seemed too modern for Edwina. 'This must be Oliver's room, ' she thought. It sharply contrasted with other rooms in the house, it had black walls and floors and black blinds over the windows. It had gadgets galore; a plasma television on the wall, a massive stereo system complete with DJ decks, some sort of lighting device shaped like a woman and numerous flashy devices stored in glass cabinets. He'd obviously been spending vast amounts of his grandmother's money. She scanned the room; one thing that definitely seemed out of place was a box of teddy bears on the bed. There were hundreds of them; minute brown teddy bears with shiny brown beads as eyes. She picked one up and inspected it closely. There was a rip in the back, due to shoddy stitching. Kirsty reached inside and found a plastic bag, containing white powder. Drugs. She knew enough about them. She looked in some of the other bears. They were all identical, hundreds of bears filled with bags of cocaine. The door opened, Kirsty jumped. It was Oliver. She had a lot of explaining to do.