Disclaimer: I own nadaaa! :)
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm really getting into this story, so I hope y'all are too. Enjoy!

Chapter Five:

The group of three arrived in Cameron, North Carolina in the mid-evening that night. Coral was completely silent with the two friends, who both had given up trying to break her shell. She sat in the backseat, arms crossed over her slim frame.

When Shannon pulled up to Matt's house in the middle of nowhere, she asked, "Is this where you live?"

Shannon glared from the backseat. "No. This is Matt's house. We're dropping him off."

She didn't speak again. Matt got out quickly and went to the back for his bags, leaving a very uncomfortable silence in the car and a thick sea of strain in the air.

"And for your information, we're coming back here tomorrow to meet my other best friend and his… wife. They're nice. You may like Beth. She's the only girl you'll probably meet around here that hates me as much as you seem to."

Coral didn't even smile at Shannon's comment. "When do I start school?"

"Tuesday. They wanted to give you two days to settle in. It's a small school. Graduating class is ninety-seven."

"Great," she muttered.

"It's not a bad school," Shannon said lowly. "And I'd appreciate if you could at least try to be civil with me. I'm trying to especially when you're not making it—"

"Why should I?" she demanded back. "I don't want to fucking be here! You didn't want me. So tell me, why shouldn't I be a bitch? Because that's what you think I am! Tell me, Shannon, fucking tell me!"

Only, Shannon didn't have an answer. As she sat heatedly in the backseat, he only shook his head and pulled out of the shoulder and onto the road, fuming as well. Stupid little bitch. She has no idea how fucking lucky she is! Just wait… oh just wait. She's got it coming.

The drive to the suburbs of Whispering Pines, North Carolina was another silent and heated one. It took Shannon a very large amount of self control not to whip around and throw the girl like a rag-doll by her hair.

When he parked in his driveway, she didn't move. "I live here," Shannon said coldly.

"I'm not a fuckin' retard," she hissed back and stormed out, grabbing a bag from the back of Shannon's Hummer. He watched with disbelief. If this continues, I'm not going to make it a week without hitting her.

After staring at the girl for a moment, Shannon continued forward and opened the door. Three overly excited dogs bounded out, jumping on Shannon and too on Coral. She shrieked and kicked them. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Shannon yelled as little Dragon skidded into the house, ears down and whimpering. "You don't fucking kick a dog!"

"That's not a dog," Coral growled. "It's a rat."

"Dragon is not a rat," Shannon said back, picking up Hela and pushing Oz inside. "Do not fucking kick my dog."

"Maybe you should have restrained them then." She practically skipped inside, leaving Shannon once again fuming. The girl had a point, he should have restrained the three pups, but his mind was not in the right place when he had left yesterday morning. And by the time he regained his composure again, Coral was no where in sight.

Shannon groaned, tossing her bag (which she left in the middle of the floor) on the couch and set Hela down carefully. "This girl," he muttered. "Coral!"

He went through each room, searching for any sign of the opinionated blonde, but her intense style wasn't anywhere in sight, still. "Coral!" Shannon yelled again. "Where the fuck did you go?"

Finally, he found her in the backyard. She was hunched over, her body shaking as she cried silently. Shannon was quiet as he snuck up on her and tapped her shoulder. The bleary-eyed blonde looked up with disgust and spat, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know if you were okay."

Coral stood up, dusting her pants off and stared at him. "Why would you even care?" she hissed.

"I am your brother," he pointed out.

Coral glared once more and stormed off, yelling behind her, "Yeah, not by any of my choice!"

-

Five minutes later, Shannon realized the girl, no matter how annoying and bitchy, probably wondered where she would be sleeping. Of course, Shannon considered putting her on the floor with the dogs, since she was acting like one, but decided to tell her the truth, even if it meant another stab at him and his newly come-about anger issues.

"Coral," he said, as she sat on the loveseat. She didn't answer. "Fine. I don't want to talk to you anyway. I just wanted to tell you, I am having your room repainted next week, so you can't move in there just yet. For the next couple weeks until everything is settled, your home is either the guestroom, or… my room." The girl didn't move. "Whatever floats your bloat. There are sheets in the closet upstairs, to the right once you're up there. I'm sure you could do a better job at putting them on than I could." With that, he walked away, leaving her staring off into space.

-

The next morning, Shannon awoke early to the smell of breakfast being cooked. The last time he has ever woken up to that was when he married Crystal, back in the early years. He frowned and walked down the steps, seeing Coral with a pan and a carton of eggs. It mystified him since he hardly cooked anything home since he was rarely there. Coolly, he asked, "Where did you get the eggs?"

Coral didn't turn around when he spoke, but her body tensed. "The store."

"You walked to the store?" he asked in a stunned tone.

She laughed, a pretty little laugh that was light, like the summer. Shannon had a feeling when she wanted to be nice and play fair, she was a fun person to be around. "Of course not."

"Then how did you get eggs? I don't… I didn't have any eggs in my fridge, Coral."

She laughed maliciously again. "I know that, asshole."

He scowled, leaning against the table, staring at her with wonder. "How did you get the eggs, then, Coral? I don't have a fuckin' chicken in the backyard!"

"Hen," she corrected.

The male was getting livid and again, he got the feeling that he wanted to slap her, slap her harder than he had anyone before. "What-fucking-ever."

"I told you. The store."

"I KNOW THAT!" he yelled, realizing she was enjoying this. "How?"

"Your Hummer." Her tone was so light if at any other time, it would have seemed like a normal answer to give someone. But, it wasn't. And Shannon was ready to explode.

"You… you… took my Hummer without asking to the store?" he asked through a set of gritted teeth. Shannon's hands were clamped together and if they hadn't been, they would have been over Coral's neck.

"Yep."

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! Do you even have your fuckin' license? You can't go around driving my car!" he yelled, stomping his foot. The female blonde didn't offer anymore information though, only giggled childishly. He scoffed, pacing now, trying to keep calm. Murder wasn't something he wanted to add to his resume. "Can you even reach the steering wheel?"

The humor only made the tension in the room snap. "Fuck you," she growled, throwing the eggs onto a plate and walking into the livingroom, where her bed from the night before still sat. He laughed seeing the sheets, wondering if Coral thought his guestroom was not up to par or something along those terms. As he stared, he realized he didn't care and walked from room.

-

Two hours later, Shannon had somehow convinced Coral to get inside the same Hummer she had only drove hours before and go to Matt's house. He knew she was going to like this (did she like anything, at all?) and was ready for the meltdown of the year. She stared out the window though, silently as he drove at a considerable rate through the Carolina air.

"Matt has a dog, his name is Lucas. He may jump on you. Please don't kick him," Shannon said in an even-toned voice.

Coral didn't reply, but Shannon was sure he saw her roll those jade pupils.

"Do you at least like the area?"

"No," she said back, emotionless.

"Well, why not?"

"It's not Atlanta."

"No, it's not," Shannon continued, trying to be civil since she wasn't screaming at him yet. "But you may grow to like it."

"I doubt that," she grumbled.

"It is a nice area. Good school and just a nice place." Coral huffed, making Shannon sigh.

"Why are you talking to me anyway?"

"It was too quiet," he admitted sheepishly.

Again, those jade pearls rolled. "Pathetic."

The also green-eyed Shannon clenched his jaw and looked on the road, deciding a conversation with Coral wasn't going to work. Even if he tried to be nice, she came back with something snippy. Shannon didn't care if Matt was even right to the slightest anymore, the girl had no reason to act like this.

They pulled up to Matt's house a few minutes later and Shannon was quick to cut the engine and hop out of the car. Coral took a moment more, as she stared at the red-brick house with curiosity. Then, in her long, floral dress she got out and began to slump after Shannon toward the door.

"Shannon!" Matt said when he answered the door, doing that odd boy handshake ordeal. "Coral," Matt added warmly. "How was your first day in the good ol' NC?"

Coral stared back at him, her lips not even twitching.

Shannon looked apologetic as they were ushered into the house. "Jeff's at the store and Beth's in the shower. So… we've got a bit of a hold up." Matt smiled at Coral, trying to find someway to get her to talk. "Why don't you look around?" he finally suggested. "My house shows a lot about the work I do."

Coral rolled her eyes and took off, not looking back.

"Tough night?" Matt whispered when she was out of earshot.

Shannon nodded solemnly. "She's completely unable to live with." He took a deep breath. "She took my car this morning… without asking and went to get eggs. Can you believe that?"

Matt's eyes widened as they leaned against the counter. "Sucks, man."

"And then last night, she says that if by choice, I wouldn't be her brother, after I tried to be civil. Man, I'm fuckin' trying here, but she just won't even help! I'm lost, man. Fuckin' lost."

"Shit," Matt mumbled. "This is bad."

"Not just a troubled soul now, huh?" Shannon taunted back.

Matt rolled his own brown eyes. "No, she is. She's just fucked, I guess. I can't explain it. Maybe you need to just give her time. Don't talk to her, let her live on her own, basically. Watch over her?"

Shannon shrugged. "If I don't fix this somehow soon, I'm going to either be in jail from killing her, or just completely loose my mind, man." Matt nodded sympathetically. "Ugh."

"Maybe Beth can help," Matt said confidently. "A girl needs a girl in their life. She obviously hasn't had one. Beth is good with the girl talk, trust me on that." Matt made a face that said his statement had a story behind it, one that Shannon didn't know.

"Maybe," Shannon said doubtfully. "But I'm willing to try anything."

A/N: So anyone hate Coral yet? I am loving writing her character, fyi. :) She's such a beeyotch... so fun! Read and review please!! :)