Chapter 2

Live-in House Maid? This Is Exile!

When fifth period ended and the bell rang through our ears, I was the first one out of my seat and packing my bag. All I wanted to do was get out of that class and away from Alec. Though he didn't look over at me anymore than that one time, I was still bothered by the fact his presence was in my school.

Erm, okay, so his grandfathers school. But it wasn't under his name, anyway! My foster mom was the principal, therefore we owned it. As I walked out of the classroom, I turned to half expect Elly to be following me.

That, however, was a disappointment to me. My chin nearly fell to the floor when my eyes caught sight of Elly talking to Alec. Her position and the way she held herself only told me one thing:

She was asking him out to a movie on Friday, four days from now.

How I knew that? Well, there was Jake, Justin, Damien, Brian and Matthew from before. Want to know what they had all replied? "Sorry Elly, but your friend, Ava, is kind of creepy. I can't accept your offer."

Yup. But still, Elly remained best friends with me, even if guys refused to date her because of me. I waited at the doorframe of the class as people passed by me. I watched with an annoyed expression as Elly began asking. Alec had a friendly, welcoming smile on his face and he appeared to be listening intently. As they spoke, I studied him.

He had a head full of pretty brown hair that seemed to shine in the light, and pale white-blue eyes with a shapely, angular face and straight nose. His hair reached the middle of his forehead and a little bit past his ears. I also noticed that the way he held his strong, lean body seemed superior amongst the rest of us. It almost annoyed me even more.

Elly stopped talking then, and Alec stared at her, as if contemplating. I inhaled a sharp intake of breath. This was where she was going to be denied.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when he gave a large smile and then nodded his head. Elly began jumping up and down and I could hear her squeals of delight. She glanced past him and to me, and then waved goodbye to Alec, only to run to me.

"OhmyGod, ohmyGod, guess what!" she laughed, grabbing my arm and pulling me after her as we walked to our last class.

"Um, lemme see, you asked him out to see a movie on Friday night, and he said yes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Elly spun her head to look at me in surprise.

"Wow, you're a good guesser! Yes, that's right! I think he's the one!" she clapped her hands together and sighed dreamily. I blinked in confusion.

"The one?"

Elly threw her arms in the air and huffed. "My goodness! We need to get you a boyfriend! I meant he's the true love for me! He's the first guy to every go out with me! He wasn't scared of you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe because he's new and hasn't experienced what I can do?"

Elly stopped walking, and I trailed a couple steps ahead of her and then looked back. She had her arms crossed. "Do. Not. Ruin. This. For. Me." she grounded out between clenched teeth. I narrowed my eyes. What had her panties in a bunch?

"I wasn't planning on it. Don't worry about anything." I told her. Other then I'm going to pin the blame on him for so many things that I do soon.

Elly let out a relieved smile. Then she started skipping past me. "Hurry up! The bell's going to ring soon!" she called back to me. I stared after her in uncertainty. Students walked around me like a river dodged an island. I let out a frustrated breath and walked after her, just as the bell rang.

After school, I drove Max and Elly home. The whole way, Elly annoyed Max and I to no end as she bragged about her date with Alec. I almost couldn't believe this was Ellyria, my best friend. She had never acted this way about guys before. I was ashamed to say that I was relieved when I dropped them off.

When I arrived home, I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed a soda and a chocolate chip cookie. Then I walked to the living room, and stopped in my tracks.

"Oh, you're home. I didn't even hear you walk in." Joshua greeted me. He was sitting across from a woman with a clipboard and a pen. My heart started pounding against my chest. Where had I seen this before?

My mind flashed back to when the police were back at my old home, speaking to a woman holding a clipboard. They were talking about my new foster parents, Rebecca and Joshua Maddox.

The woman on my couch now, smiled up at me with red lips. Her brown eyes met mine and they were glittering. Her graying hair was twisted into a bun on the top of her head. She was of course wearing a business suit.

"Hello. You must be Avanni. It's great to meet you." she said in a soft voice. I pulled the cookie from my mouth and took a sip of my soda, before glaring at her.

"It's Ava." I corrected. Satisfied with her slightly surprised expression, I turned to Joshua. "What's going on? Who is this chick?"

Joshua narrowed his eyes. "Ava, that's no way to speak to Mrs. Mary Clines."

"I wasn't talking to her, I was talking about her." I retorted. The woman, Mary, cleared her throat. We both looked at her.

"I should probably get going then. I need to go speak to the others." she told Joshua. He nodded in understanding and then they both stood up and shook hands. Mary walked past me without a second glance and out our front door. I focused my growing glare on Joshua, who walked into the kitchen. I followed after, munching on my cookie.

"So what the hell was that about?" I demanded. Joshua pulled out ham and cheese for a sandwich from the fridge.

"Language!" he reprimanded me, before taking down the bread bag from the cupboard. I leaned against our kitchen counter and bore holes into the back of his head with my eyes. Finally he heaved a sigh and turned to face me. "She's the same woman who gave you to us, all those years ago."

My eyes widened in surprise. "She was? But she looks so old now." I said. Joshua pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"She just came to…check up, I guess you could say." he told me. I nodded slowly, studying him for any lies.

"So… you aren't like…getting rid of me for being a badass daughter?" I asked. Joshua looked on at me in shock.

"Never! I would not do that to you. Rebecca and I love you very much. It's just sometimes your rebellious nature gets in you into trouble too often."

I grinned in response. "Why thank you, Sheriff Maddox!"

He eyed me and then returned to making his sandwich. I smirked and looked up at the ceiling in boredom. "So how did school go today, Kiddo?" Joshua suddenly asked. I mused for a moment, and then pulled myself up onto the counter so I was sitting comfortably against it.

"Well, there's this new guy," I started, and Joshua peeked back at me with raised, curious eyebrows. I crinkled my nose and continued, "but he's an ass."

Now Joshua was listening. "Oh? And what is this 'asses' name?"

I smiled. "Alexander Darquecaster."

Joshua's own smile faltered and his eyes widened a bit. Quickly he turned back to his sandwich, and I could have sworn he muttered something like, "Already? Way too soon…"

But I dismissed it, not sure if that was what I had really heard. Instead I said, "He had a weird last name. He likes going by Alec too. And I guess his grandfather is the owner of my school, and Alec's father is now the vice principal. It's nice and all that he didn't kick mom out of the principal position, don't you think?"

Joshua shrugged a broad shoulder and took a couple bites from his sandwich. "I think I recognize that name. Becca has a friend who has that last name." he sighed.

"Oh yeah! That was right! He said his father was friends with her! Maybe that's why he let her remain in the principal's chair." I said, remembering how Alec had embarrassed me in front of the class. I frowned.

Before Joshua could reply, his business phone went off in a shrill tune. He cursed and excused himself to answer it. I waited patiently. "Yeah… okay… where at?" he pulled out a small pad of notes and a pen and started scribbling something down. Finally he bid his goodbyes to the person and hung up the phone. He smiled apologetically at me. "I just got a call from the office. I'm going to be out for a couple of hours. Don't do anything stupid."

With that, he gave me a quick hug and left the house. I sighed and glanced at the clock. Becca wouldn't get home for another couple of hours. So to pass the time, I walked to the living room and turned on the TV.

Time flew by and before I knew it, Becca walked into the house with a heavy sigh. I looked over the couch arm at her and smiled. "Hey there." I greeted. She smiled back and then brushed the slightly sweaty hair from her round face.

"Hopefully you aren't getting into nay trouble?" she mused, walking around the couch and setting her bags down next to the armchair. She collapsed into it with a relieved groan. I snorted.

"Why do you guys always assume I'm getting into trouble?" I asked innocently. Becca shot me a look. I grinned. "Okay, okay, stupid question, sorry. But nope. Dad just left like an hour and half ago. Said he had a call from the office."

Becca nodded in understanding. "What do you want for dinner?" she asked. I gave her a surprised look.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because I want tonight to be a special night. We can even stay up until midnight and watch horror movies." she suggested, giving me a cracking smile. I suddenly became curious.

"Okay, ever since that Mannie Clue chick came over earlier-"

"Mary Clines?!" Becca asked in surprise, shooting forward in her seat. "Already?!"

I sat up slowly, keeping my eyes on her. "What the hell? Ever since she came over, you and dad have been acting weird." I accused. Becca gave me a sheepish smile, but I saw the momentary guilt flash through her eyes.

"I just love it when you call us your mother and father." she sighed, and leaned over to hug me. I didn't embrace her back. She got the clue and leaned back with a frown on her face.

"What is going on? Joshua," I said his name instead just to irk her, "said she just came over for a check up with me…" I trailed off when I saw the full-blown guilt in Becca's face. My eyes widened slightly, and my heart dropped to my stomach. "It wasn't for a check up, was it?" My voice was weak and shaky.

Becca bit her bottom lip, furrowing her eyebrows. "Just don't worry about anything, okay?" she told me, and then stood and left the living room. Immediately, I shot out of my seat and chased after her.

"Please don't do this to me! I'm sorry! I'll be good! I like it here! I'll stop vandalizing the school, I'll stop back-talking the teachers, I'll stop sneaking out at night! I'll even stop…" I took a nervous breath and winced. "I'll even… I'll even stop driving away from the cops like yesterday night."

Becca gave me a horrified expression. She came over to me and wrapped me into a hug. "Honey…those things don't just stop." she mumbled into my hair. I froze.

"You're getting rid of me?"

At that moment, Joshua came through the door, accompanied by another man, who looked handsome and well-kept. His dark hair was slicked back and was slightly longer than Joshua's, whose hair reached the tops of his ears. He had familiar pale blue eyes and pale skin. And he was tall. Joshua had a pained look on his face when he saw me.

"We aren't getting rid of you." he corrected. He was trying to sound bold, but his voice wavered. The man behind him kept his eyes on me the whole time, not even blinking once, it seemed. He looked a bit older, maybe mid twenties. And maybe if he smiled, he'd be sexy.

My eyes met Joshua's again, and I knew what was coming. "Yes, you are." I bit back the tears, not wanting to cry over this. I never cried. I hadn't cried since the night I finally rid myself of my biological father. Joshua frantically shook his head.

"No, Avanni. You'll still be a Maddox. But we're sending you to live with the Darquecaster's as a live-in maid. It will be punishment." he told me, sternly.

My mouth fell open. Relief flooded through me because I wasn't going to be given up to another family, but a live-in maid? And for the Darquecaster's?! My eyes narrowed. "You have got to be kidding me." I hissed through clenched teeth.

The man behind Joshua finally stepped forward and held his hand out to me. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Claude Darquecaster, father of Alec and others."

I stared blankly at his hand for what seemed like hours, until he finally got the picture and dropped it back to his side. I twirled on my heel to face my foster parents. "This is not punishment! This is exile! Exile I tell you!" I shouted angrily. Becca actually produced a small smile on her face from my frantic frustration.

"It isn't exile; stop being so dramatic." Joshua told me, annoyed.

I faced him in shock. "You're sending your innocent daughter to live with strangers! That is ex-"

Joshua covered my mouth with a finger and "shushed" me. "They are not strangers. They're old family friends. It's only for a year, and when you come back, everything will be fine again!"

I exploded. "A year?!" I yelled. "This is torture!" Then I pivoted and pointed an accusing finger at Claude. He looked slightly surprised at my offending appendage. "There is no way in hell you're making me become a-"

"No! I said I'll never become a damn maid! Never in my life! Let me go! Heeeeeeeelp!" I shouted, my voice echoing throughout the neighborhood. I struggled and hit Joshua with all my might as he carried me over his shoulder to Claude's black Mercedes. I even leaned over and bit the back of Joshua's shoulder.

"Ow!" he gasped, and dropped me to the ground right in front of the passenger's open door. "Get in, Ava!"

"No! I'll get raped! I'll get abused! Somebody help!" I cried out as I stood and tried to run around Joshua. He quickly caught me and threw me into the passengers seat. I landed with an "oomph" and then I screamed at the top of my lungs, "RAAAAPE!"

Joshua slammed the door in my face. I collapsed against the seat and knew I had been defeated. I glared out the shaded windows as Joshua bid his goodbyes to me through the window and then Claude opened the driver's door. He climbed in and started the car.

"Your luggage is in the trunk." he reassured me. I only glared the opposite way, ignoring him. As we drove away from my house, Becca and Joshua blew kisses toward me and waved. I resisted breaking the window and flipping them off.

I glanced over at Claude, who was intent on watching the road and then crinkled my nose. "So you're son is Alec." I stated quietly. He nodded his head. "Well, he's a dick." I added, and then looked out the window. I heard Claude chuckle slightly, and then it was quiet.

My life had just taken a turn for the worst, and Alec was going to laugh in my face.