Chapter 4

The couple of days after that confrontation with Blondie were pretty good. After that, he didn't come to annoy me or anything else. If anything, he left me alone. There was the occasional nod that he gave me when we passed each other in the hallways but other than that, there was nothing else. As usual, I spent my lunches sitting by my locker either sketching or reading. At first I thought Art class was going to be hell because of what happened. And it was. Even though I talked to Ms. Suh about our dispute, she said I would have to tutor it but I can start doing that from next week so we have some time off and all that.

I closed the book with a snap and looked at the cover. No matter what, I just couldn't concentrate today. I sighed and stood up to open my locker. I put the book inside and took out my lanyard. Although Roswell didn't have uniforms, we did have lanyards with our student ID cards to confirm that we went to Roswell. Quickly glancing at my wrist to check the time, I shut my locker and started to walk towards Art.

"Hey," I heard a voice behind me. Turning around, I narrowed my eyes at the girl and started to walk again. I had no time to deal with Ivanov's little sister. "No wait!" I didn't stop. Unfortunately, she caught up with me.

"Look, if you're here again trying to tell me to audition for the stupid show, my answer is still no."

"Yo, I just wanna talk." I stopped and turned to her.

"Okay, talk." I looked at her and she sighed. The bell rang, signaling the start of the period, but we still stood facing each other. "Look, if you have nothing to say then I have a class to go to."

"No wait, can we go sit somewhere?" I sighed impatiently but nodded anyways. I had no idea why I agreed but oh well.

"Let's go to the library." She nodded and we started walking. On the way, we didn't talk. When we reached the library, I opened the door and we went in. We walked to a table at the back of the library and sat down. I looked at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Enrique told me what happened," she started. She was about to continue but I stopped her.

"Who the hell is Enrique?" I asked with a blank face. She gave a confused look.

"The guy that talks to you all the time," she said slowly.

"You mean the Blondie?" I asked bluntly.

"You call him Blondie?" She asked with a small smile on her face. I nodded. "But yeah, he told me what happened at the library a few weeks back."

"Wait, he told you? What the fuck! How is it any of your business? Damn, what else did he tell you?" I asked. I am going to kill that bastard. I swear to God. I'm gonna kill him, revive him, and then kill him again.

"Hey, can I finish my talk first? And besides, he's of my oldest friends. If there's anyone he would tell this to, it's me. So yeah, look, don't you think you were a bit to harsh on him? He's just trying to be your friend. Why can't you give him a chance?" I glared at her.

"Why can't I give him a chance? Firstly, he's associated with you. And secondly, I don't need him. I don't like him and I never will and frankly, I have no idea what he's trying to pull by getting you to talk to me but whatever it is, it's not working," I said with a scowl. She blinked and gave me a surprised look. "I've known you since we were in second grade and now all of a sudden one of you wants to be my friend and you all come and talk to me like I did something wrong?"

"He's not trying to pull anything," she defended. "And come on, Rihanna, it's not all of a sudden. It's not like you were invisible. We all know you." I shook my head in disbelief.

"See, this is what I mean, you don't even know my name. You can't even say it properly. Why should I believe anything that comes out from you? Just because I'm Devon's sister doesn't mean that I have to respect you or even talk to anyone of you. I hate everything to do with you, your brother, and the rest of your fucked up crew. Now if you please, let me finish high school in peace." I didn't wait for an answer. I stood up and got the hell outta there. What was it with these people? Do they not get the meaning of leaving people alone? Being in no mood to go to my next class, I just left for home.

-:-

I was quite surprised when I saw a gray Honda Acura in the driveway. Normally, my dad was never home. Why was he home now? I opened the door with my key and entered the house.

"Who's there?" My dad asked over the noise of the T.V. I walked to the living room and took off my blue hoodie. My dad was sitting on the couch, TV remote in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. "What are you doing home so early?" He grunted.

"I wasn't feeling well. How come you're not at work?" I asked softly. If there was one thing I knew it was never to talk in a loud voice with dad when he's drinking coffee. He doesn't drink coffee unless he's mad or frustrated. He scowled at me and turned to the TV.

"That's none of your business," he said. I stood there, confused. He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. "Don't just stand there. Go to your room!" I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded. I walked past him and upstairs to my room.

Entering my room, I put my backpack on my bed and turned on my computer. While it started, I cleaned up my desk. A couple of minutes later, I turned towards the computer and yawned. I logged on to my check my email after everything loaded. I grinned as I saw an email from Brooklyn. Brooklyn is my pen-pal from Australia. We met in one of the chatting rooms I used to go to and we clicked right away.

From: brookrider1765

To: hersheycookies45

Hello my American buddy,

So, Winter musical, huh? That sounds pretty cool. What musical are you guys doing? You know, I'd tell you to audition. It would be pretty fun but it's up to you I guess. For us, we're doing a talent show. It's a tradition in my school. It's pretty fun though. Guess what? grin A couple of my friends and I got together and decided to participate in the show. We're gonna dance.

I smirked. Yeah right. As if he's actually gonna get his assup and dance. Brooklyn is probably the laziest guy around.

Don't laugh. I know you're gonna laugh. Shut. Up. My friend, Ross, actually persuaded me to join but let me tell you, I'm glad I did. We're gonna do this break-dancing act combined with this Indian dance. A couple of guys in our group are Indians. So anyways, just audition for the Musical. You never know, you might end up liking it. How's everything else going on?

Anyways, I gotta dip. Liana wants to take over the computer now. LOL.

See you later kid,

Take it easy.

I smiled and closed the internet window. I'll send him a reply later. I blinked a couple of times and yawned. Shutting down the computer, I moved my backpack from my bed and lied down. Giving a silent sigh, I closed my eyes and let sleep take over.

-:-

"What do you mean you don't know?" A loud voice woke me up. I snuggled deeper into the bed but was unable to shut out the loud banter. "How could you be so careless?"

I got up and yawned, blinking a couple of times. I walked outside my room and into the bathroom. Splashing me face with cold water, I blinked again and wiped my face with a face towel. Getting out of the bathroom, I went to the living room. My dad was there along with my mom, Jared, Adrian, and Devon. My mom was absolutely mad from what I could see as was Jared. Devon and Adrian were sitting on the couch, silent.

Everyone looked at me when I came in. "What's going on?" I asked softly. My dad looked away.

"Dad got fired!" Jared burst out. My jaw dropped and I turned to stare at my dad who said nothing.

"Why?" Honestly, that was all I could say. My mind was still in a state of shock. My dad never really did anything against the company rules. So how did he get fired?

"We don't know," my mom answered and shifted her gaze to dad, "Because he won't tell us."

I looked at dad with a questioning look on my face.

"What happened?" I asked bluntly.

"I don't know. They didn't tell me," my dad replied.

"Bullshit!" Jared exclaimed. My mother turned to him sharply.

"Jared, mind your language."

I gulped and brushed a few hair strands out of my eyes.

"This is so bull! My dad got fired! This is just-effing-great!" Jared said angrily and swept past me up to his room. Devon and Adrian followed him. My mom shook her head and walked away as well. I looked at my dad and went to him.

"Dad, are you gonna be okay?" I asked gently. He grunted. I waited for a moment before going back upstairs. As I passed by Jared's room, I heard voices from his room.

"This is so fucked up!" I heard Jared exclaim.

"J, this might not be that bad," Devon said.

"D, our dad got fired. Do you have any idea what this could do to us if people at school found out?" Jared exclaimed. I narrowed my eyes and stopped. I opened the door and stepped in. Jared, Devon, and Adrian looked at me. "What the hell do you want? This is my room. Get. Out."

"That's all you think about, isn't it?" I asked. "About your goddamn popularity."

"Riona, get out of my room. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Grow up, Jared! The world doesn't revolve around you. Dad got fired. He doesn't need you exploding up on him. He needs support from us!" I exclaimed.

"Don't butt into other people's business," Devon said calmly.

"Go mind your own business," Adrian finished. I was fuming.

"Riona, just because you aren't popular, doesn't mean that others aren't. We have to think about stuff like this," Jared said firmly. "Now, get out." I narrowed my eyes and glared at them.

"Just watch, Jared. There will be one time when you're in shit and nobody's gonna be behind you. Just. Watch." With that, I left his room.

How can he even think that? Apparently, the status quo was more important than family. I walked into my room, opened my backpack, and took out my book. Opening it, I just started to read when I heard the doorbell ring. I ignored it. It rang again. Sighing, I put down the book and went downstairs. As I passed the living room, I noticed that dad was no longer there. Had he heard what Jared said?

I opened the door and glared at who was standing in front of me. Kai Hiwatari. Oh God.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Is Jared home?" He asked. I nodded slowly. He leaned back and nodded to someone in the driveway. I moved to the side and he came in. Just as I was about to close the door, two more people walked to the door and came in. Tala and Enrique. Tala brushed past me without acknowledgement but Enrique nodded as he went by. I closed the door and followed the three upstairs. They went in Jared's room and I went back to mine.

For a few minutes there was silence although I heard some shuffling and some murmurs. Then, the familiar sound of Linkin Park filled the air. I groaned. I just had to pick this room out of all the others, didn't I? I didn't even bother opening my book. Instead, I took it, walked out of my room, went downstairs and out to the backyard. One of the things I liked about our backyard was that it had a bright red swing hanging down from a tree. We'd had that swing ever since I was a little girl and I loved playing on it. Some days, at times like this, I'd sit on the swing facing our house, open my book and read. It was really fun and peaceful.

I smiled as I stared at the full moon in the sky. My book lay forgotten on my lap as I continued to gaze. Every time I look at a full moon, it feels as though it's slowly coming near me and anytime it would pick me up and show me a whole new world that was dying to be discovered. It was as though the moon, which doesn't even have light of its own, has some secrets that it wants to share with me. When I look at the moon, it feels like its hypnotizing me. It's truly entrancing.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked at the forgotten book and picked it up. Flipping it to tenth chapter, I started reading.

-:-

About an hour of reading later, I went inside. My throat ached for some water and I was feeling sleepy anyways. I took out a glass from the dishwasher and filled it with water. I drank it in one gulp and then wiped my mouth with my hand. I turned around and bumped into something hard.

Thankfully, I didn't fall but I did stumble back. "Watch where you're going," a firm voice said. After balancing myself, I looked at who had bumped into me. Tala. So much for avoiding them. Tala's deep aqua eyes pierced into me.

"You were in my way," I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Well if you had kept your eyes open, you would've seen me," he said in an arrogant voice giving me a smirk. "I didn't think you were blind, Carter."

"And I didn't think you were as annoying and conceited as you look but I guess I was wrong," I shot back.

"Do you have to be such a frigid bitch?" Tala asked.

"Do you have to be an arrogant bastard?"

"Don't you know never to answer a question with a question?"

"Or what? The Questions and Answers police is gonna come arrest me?" I mocked. He narrowed his eyes at me and growled. He took a step forward and I took a step back. He did it again and so did I. I moved back again and cursed silently when I felt the counter against my back. Tala stepped towards me and leaned to me.

"I wouldn't be so heartless if I were you," he said softly, his aqua eyes never leaving mine. I narrowed my eyes.

"What are you gonna do about it?" I asked, breathing in the vanilla musk scent. Damn…it smelt nice.

Wait…what the hell? I did not just think that. Let's pretend I never thought that.

He leaned even closer. I was trying not to squeak at how close he was to me. My eyes were still gazing his and I realized for once how deep they were. They were almost hypnotic.

"Well, I might just have to fix that," he whispered.

"Really now?"

"Yeah, really," he said.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" I whispered.

"Take it as you wish," he whispered back. He leaned in even more. Subconsciously, my eyes fluttered and at that moment, he smiled and leaned back. "It's working already. I'm so proud of myself. I'm finally going to crack the Ice Queen," he said in an arrogant voice.

I scowled.

"You are a jackass," I ground out. He smirked.

"Don't hate; appreciate. It was bound to happen, Carter. I'm just too…" he said, searching for the right word but I intervened.

"Too annoying? Stupid? Arrogant? Ignorant?" I asked innocently.

"That's cute but no. I'm just too irresistible," he said, not affected by it. Giving me a smirk one last time, he turned around and walked away. After he walked away, I sighed. Turning to the side, I banged my head on the fridge a couple of times. "Don't bang your head on the fridge like that. You might lose some of your precious brain cells…if you have any left," he yelled and started laughing.

"I hate him. I hate him. I hate him," I mumbled that to myself all the way to my room.


So...that's Chapter 4 :) As promised, Tala finally appeared..yay lol...anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed...I love you guys :) Thanks to: SilverGhostKitsune, Rene Miashi, Jixnce, WalkingDeathWish, Fluffy Kitten and Alley Cat, Gokusgrl-Saiyuki, Rose, Forfirith The dark angel, and last but not least, shadowphoenix101.

Love you guys...lol...

-:- Cookie N Creme -:-

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