Chapter 7
Ann Cromwell came bounding down the stairs, creating the sounds of a small stampede. She blasted by the kitchen door at Mac 5, causing her stepmother to pop her head out curiously.
"Ann?"
She turned around, nearly giving herself whiplash, and grinned.
"Oh! Hi, Mom. Sorry I slept in. Got to go now!"
Brook stepped out of the room fully and crossed her arms over her chest, watching the younger girl amusedly.
"Alright, who is he?" She asked.
Ann looked up from tying her boots.
"Huh?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Uhhhh." Ann thought for a moment, and then it dawned on her. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
She quickly ran over and gave Brook a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Bye-bye."
"Seriously." Said Brook. "Who is he?"
Ann looked at her, and turned her nose up.
"I have no idea what you mean, I'm sure." She said stiffly, before bursting into giggles.
"There's only one thing that I can think of that could possibly make a girl like you forget to kiss her poor mommy goodbye, and that would be an exceptionally hot guy. So who is he? Is it that Warren boy that came over?" Brook grinned. "He was certainly outstanding wasn't he?"
"Haha." Ann replied, rolling her eyes as she struggled with her other shoe. "Yes, I am cheerful. No, I do not have a crush on Warren. Yes, I am, however, looking forward to seeing him."
"Speaking of which, what did you and your father talk about so late?" Her mother asked.
"Well," Ann stopped and straightened, smiling softly. "Someone convinced me that if I never took the initiative, then I would never be able to talk to him about my mother, my birth mother."
Brook raised an eyebrow.
"Let me guess, Warren?"
"Uh, yeah. Actually, he didn't really say that, but I guess just talking about it made me realize how much of a pushover I really am sometimes."
"Well, I'm glad you two had the chance to talk. But right now, you are going to be late for your bus if you don't hurry."
"Oh crap! You're right!" Ann screeched, her eyes widening. "Bye mom!" She called as she barreled out the door.
…
"Okay, Cromwell. Take a deep breathe and approach with caution."
"Um, Warren?"
Warren was sitting on a short stonewall outside of the school. When he heard her voice he looked up from his book, actually giving Ann the courtesy of lifting his head completely.
"Yeah?" He asked, quietly, and with one of those 'tones' that is hard to put your finger on, but if Ann guessed, she would call it insolent.
"I have something for you."
He straightened up even more, raising his eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Really? Aw, I feel so special."
"Wow, you can be sarcastic." Ann said in mock surprise. "Seriously, I wanted you to have something. I just… I really appreciated what you did for me yesterday. You really didn't have to help me, but you did."
She kept her voice low, which Warren thanked her good sense for. Imagine how his reputation would suffer if anyone found out about that little incident.
"Uh, it was no problem, you really don't have to."
"No, I really want to. And it's something you're almost guaranteed to like!"
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a book, handing it over to him. Warren took it and looked at the title.
"To Kill a Mockingbird?"
"Yeah. It's the first book I ever read. It's all about prejudices and first misconceptions."
"Um… thanks. Did you say the 'first' book?"
"Uh huh. I didn't really read much until I was eight, and then I saw the movie and I just wanted to read the book, so I picked it up and read it. I realized that reading was a good way for me to escape from my life for a little while."
Warren looked at her for a moment, and then gave a brief hand gesture toward the seat next to him.
"So, tell me about this one. I've heard about it but I've never read it."
Ann grinned, and sat herself down.
"Well, it's about a girl named Scout."
"Good name."
"I always thought so too. So, she and her brother…"
…
Lash and Speed got off of their bus to see Ann sitting next to Warren having an animated, yet quiet conversation about Lord-knows-what. They took one look at that, and then each other, and walked over.
"Hello there." Said Speed. Ann looked up and smiled.
"Hello… cockroach."
Speed gave held his hands together flat and gave a slight bow.
"Grasshopper."
Lash pushed his friend aside with an annoyed grunt and scowled at Warren, who was already giving the both of them a death glare.
"Hey, Peace, what do you think you're doing?" He snarled.
"What does it look like, Stretch." Warren replied calmly.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like you're trying to cozy up to Em."
Ann rolled her eyes up to the sky.
"Oh boy. Here we go."
Warren smirked.
"Y'know what, Stretch, I think you had better make yourself scarce before I melt your ass to the pavement."
Lash's face turned bright red.
"Are you threatening me Peace?"
"Andrew." Ann interrupted firmly, and Lash looked over at her. "If you ever want me to so much as look at you again, you will get off of your high horse, and stop pretending like you're my brother."
Lash flinched. It was a sore spot with him. To Ann, it seemed like ever since Willow died, he had been trying to use her as a replacement. For an only child, at the time, it had been nice to have someone pay so much attention to her. Now, it was just getting annoying.
"I'm fine, Andy." Ann continued, more gently. "Warren and I were just talking about a book. Is that an acceptable subject?"
Lash glared at Warren, and then looked back at Ann. He finally threw up his hands and with a huff he walked away.
"Fine, Em." He shouted back. "But don't come running to me when he breaks your heart."
The other pair watched him go, and then looked at each other.
"What was that about?" Asked Warren.
"I could ask you the same thing. Does someone have something of a reputation?" Ann asked. Warren was a little taken aback, until he saw that she was grinning, and obviously teasing him.
"Yes." He said flatly. "I'm going to ingratiate myself to you, seduce you, convince you to go to Vegas with me and get married, take all of your money, and then leave you high and dry at the alter."
Ann burst out laughing, and was forced to bend over and hold her ribs to keep them for hurting.
"I think that was probably the longest sentence you've ever made to my knowledge." She taunted back. "But really, I think I have to go now. I'll see you later, okay?"
Warren nodded.
"Later."
He watched her bounce away happily. Wow, she was an unusual creature. Warren frowned as a thought crossed his mind. Maybe, if he became friends with her, she would become comfortable enough with him to tell him what she was trying so hard not too. He shook his head. No, he wouldn't do anything like that. It would only serve to prove Lash right. It was true, some girls had 'fallen in love' with him, and when he had ignored him, and broken into tears, wailed etc. and promptly moved on. But it certainly did nothing to help his reputation.
But Ann was different. The way she acted was more like Layla. She seemed to have a genuine interest in him as a person, and being his friend. It was a rare occasion that he gave anyone much of a chance, but maybe, just maybe, he would see what happened with her. She was certainly nice, and her mom cooked really well… and she then took that food and fed him as if he were a starving man in the desert. And of course there was Ariel… she was just darned cute.
…
"Andrew Baker! Wait right there and don't move while I kick your behind to Timbuktu!"
Lash turned around as he stood in the empty hallway to find an incensed Ann marching toward him. He raised an eyebrow as the much smaller girl came so close to him that their noses were almost touching, and scowled darkly at him.
"What was that about? What did Warren…? Oh wait. Never mind. He's nicer, funnier, and I must say, handsomer then you. Of course you're jealous!" She taunted.
Lash's face went back to that most interesting shade of scarlet.
"How dare you?" He said softly, and Ann took a step back, recognizing that particular tone. "I am just trying to look after you!"
"But I don't need looking after!" She exclaimed back. "I just want to be left alone to spend time with who I want for one second!"
"Oh cute the melodrama, Em. You know that everyone let's you do anything you want, and have everything that you want. But now I'm saying that that guy is trouble."
Ann's face changed, softened, she looked down.
"I'm sorry." She murmured. "And I'm sorry for what, for everything that I've said. I just really want him to be my friend."
"Why?" And asked in disbelief.
"Because…" Ann looked out a window. "He's… he's… he's fire." She finally said, almost helplessly.
Lash rolled his eyes and let out a sarcastic chuckle.
"Oh, this again."
"Andrew." She begged him silently to listen. "Remember what I told you, about that one time, about how I felt? About how… I felt control, for that one moment when he touched me?"
Andy nodded.
"Well, sometimes, when I'm with Warren. I almost feel that way again, like a shadow of a feeling. I think… that he can help me. He can help me to learn to control my power."
He stared at her strangely.
"Emmy, you haven't talked like this since you were seven years old."
"I know." She protested weakly. "And you know what the worst part is? I'm starting to remember. All of the long nights in our library with mother, trying to find the secret to controlling her fire, and I'm starting to remember why she did it."
"When did this start coming back?" He asked worriedly.
"Ever since I met Warren." She confessed.
"I told you." Andy said darkly. "He's bad for you. No, I'm not going to tell either of you to stay away from the other. But I'm warning you now, this isn't going to end well."
"Maybe." Anna admitted. "But I'm willing to take that chance."
…
Ann let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes as she got up from her after-school nap. As she got up, she straightened her little pale-pink T-shirt and matching velour pajama bottoms. She walked grabbed her brush off of her desk, and began to comb her hair as she walked about her room, she stopped and looked out of her window.
It was strange to think that the house she was looking at was the home of Warren Peace, not to mention that her window and one of the ones on their house were almost perfectly aligned, not to mention a mere three-or-so yards apart. As long as she could remember, the blinds on that window had been closed, but today they weren't.
Curiously, she set her brush aside, and looked closer. It was definitely a bedroom, a boy's bedroom too. I mean, what girl would have giant poster for the 'Lord of the Rings' movies in her room? Ann looked over at one of her own corners. On the other hand…
Looking back, Ann yelped and jumped to see Warren staring back at her with a raised eyebrow. Ann blushed and waved, and he nodded, still looking at her oddly.
Ann gently undid the latch and lifted up her window, and Warren, when he saw what she was doing, did the same.
"Hello!" She called cheerfully, leaning out so far that her entire upper body was outside.
"Hi." He called back.
"What are you doing?"
"At the moment, talking to a crazy girl hanging out of her window in a way that is making me sure that she is going to fall to her death any moment now." He replied cynically.
"Ah! Haha! Just a moment." She replied, holding up a finger.
Closing her eyes, she reached a hand down to the newly planted oak tree below them. Reaching out, she could feel the soft tendrils of energy that were it pulling food from the soil and growing. With a smile, she took her own power and pushed it down to it, feeding it, and slowly it began to grow, until it was tall enough that there were strong branches between the two windows. Opening her eyes, Ann smiled faintly.
"Wow, that took more out of me then I thought."
"Good idea." Warren complimented. "But won't your parents notice the giant tree that's suddenly appeared under their daughter's window?"
"Oh no." Ann laughed. "I've been talking about doing this for a long time now, I've just never gotten around to it. Mom and Father will just give it and odd look and assume that I've just stopped procrastinating for once."
"Uh huh."
"So."
"So?" He asked.
"Come on over!" She replied, irritated. "I certainly can't, I'm beat!"
"Okay, okay." Warren muttered, climbing out of his window and carefully grabbing hold of the powerful branches. On second thought, this probably wasn't a very good idea, but Warren rarely thought twice about anything he did.
When he got next to her window, Ann stepped back so he could climb in. She gave a shout of glee when his feet safely hit her bedroom floor.
"I am a genius!" She whooped happily.
"Right." Warren drawled, taking the time to look around, his eyes fell on her 'fire corner'.
"Wow." Was all that he could think to say.
"Like it?" She asked. "I rarely paint, but a few months ago I got the sudden urge to spruce up the black paint in that corner, followed by a 48-hour marathon including large amounts of tearing hair out of my head, as well as hot chocolate."
"Hot chocolate?" Asked Warren.
"I know I'm a pansy. Not nearly as macho as coffee, but I don't drink caffeine."
"Crazy girl." He muttered.
"Hey!" She protested. "It's bad for my voice!"
"You sing?" He asked, gesturing towards her instruments.
"Sometimes. I've always loved music. I learned to play classical guitar and piano when I was little, and when I was older I learned electrical. Learn classical and any other type of guitar is easy. Do you play?"
"Sometimes." He replied with a brief, faint smile. "What do you like?"
"Just about everything. It depends on what I feel like. Would you like me to play something for you?" She asked.
Warren looked up from studying her piano.
"If you want to."
With a sweet smile, she stepped past him, and sat down on the bench. She gently lifted the cover from over the keys, and laid her hands on the ivories.
"Hm." Ann thought for a moment, and then smiled. With a soft touch, she began to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
"I know." She said quietly after awhile. "Not very original. But I've always liked this piece. It's bittersweet, so beautiful, yet tinged with sadness. I've always wondered what Beethoven was thinking about when he wrote it. His pieces were usually so loud and powerful, and then he created something so delicate and soft."
"You," Warren paused. "You're good."
"Thank you." Ann said, still playing.
"Did," He paused again. "Did your mother play."
"Yes." She replied, not missing a beat. "One of my earliest memories is of her singing and playing me to sleep as a toddler. She would make up her own lullabies for me. It's a pity I can't remember them very well. Warren." She said, suddenly stopping and turning to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to know what happened between our families?" She asked.
Warren thought for a moment. When he spoke, his answer was completely honest.
"At the moment, more then anything."
"Alright." Ann nodded. "I'll tell you. But you must promise me something Warren. You must tell no one what I tell you now. If people knew… I'm afraid they would hate me. I'm afraid you will hate me."
Warren considered this for a moment, and decided that it was fair.
"I won't." He promised.
Ann took a deep breath.
"You have to understand how hard this is for me to say but… do you remember hearing of a woman named Eva Yost?"
Warren scowled, his entire expression darkened.
"Are you kidding? She single handedly destroyed my family. Not that my father didn't do his fair share in that."
"What do you know about her?"
Warren shrugged.
"I never met her. She and my father were friends during his last, and her first year of high school. When she graduated, she became his sidekick and…"
"And?" Ann prompted him.
"Eva Yost was my father's lover." Warren hissed between his teeth. He suddenly looked up at her. "Why?"
"Because... because Eva Yost was my mother."
