~Chapter Three~

Hazel sighed as she glanced at the clock in anticipation. Only five more minutes of Environmental Science, and then she would be free to spend her time as she pleased. She doodled swirls on her notebook paper and let her mind focus on what her after-school activities would include. Maybe I can finish that piece I've been painting this week. I could always get lost in a good book, too—that is, only after devouring about half my fridge. Taking her mind off of her hunger, she copied the homework that Mr. Seltzer, the teacher, wrote on the board and finished just as the bell rang.

"Alright everyone, enjoy the rest of the day," Mr. Seltzer said in a forced, monotonous voice as the students flooded out of the classroom. Hazel always had wondered why people bothered saying kind words with no meaning attached to them.

She walked home from school, taking her time to enjoy the warm September air. Walking under a canopy of green trees, she looked up and sighed lightly at the sudden awareness that she wouldn't see the leaves changing colors this year or run outside when the first snowfall dusted the ground. She always loved the changing seasons—after all, she was as fickle as Mother Nature herself. She had a habit of being hot one day and cold the next, neither of which she could ever find the cure for. Sometimes her heart felt like it might explode for the love she felt for life, the world, and the opportunity to learn and grow; other times were not so fortunate. She found herself at her mailbox, checking the mail and smiling at the sight of lilies and daffodils blooming from either side. She bent down and gently plucked a daffodil from the flower bed. Today she felt her heart overflowing.

She walked into the foyer and set the mail on a small table. Glancing into the living room, she was surprised to see her brother sitting in an armchair and across from him, the back of someone's blonde, messy hair.

"Hey, what are you doing home Harvey?" she asked in puzzled voice, knowing that Harvey usually went straight to the skate park or the baseball field with his friends after school.

"I ditched baseball today to hang with this kid I met from the neighborhood. This is Tate. Tate, this is my older sister Hazel."

Tate stood up and turned to greet her, offering a crooked smile and a handshake. "Nice to meet you," he said politely.

Her green eyes widened and she felt her heart pound against her chest. "You—this is that guy Harvey! That's him!" she stammered before stumbling backwards, avoiding his handshake.

"What is she talking about?" Tate inquired, glancing at Harvey and looking slightly amused.

"You were in my room a couple of weeks ago! Harvey, you have to believe me. He was lighting my books on fire!" she accused.

Harvey raised an inquiring eyebrow to his new friend. Tate, feeling the two siblings' eyes on him raised his hands in defense. "I think you have the wrong person," he chuckled. "I've never been in this house before I met Harvey. I've always been kind of spooked by it, to be honest." He looked down at his feet in embarrassment.

"Yeah Hazel, if he was the creep you're thinkin' of I'm sure he would have lit the house on fire by now," Harvey laughed, jokingly hitting Tate's shoulder.

Hazel, irritated at the fact that her brother didn't believe her and was making a joke of the situation, scoffed at their laughter. "You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but I know the truth," she said bitterly.

"Hey, lighten up, I'm sure your mind is just playing tricks on you or something," Tate offered with a smirk.

"You don't know anything about me and you certainly don't know how my mind works," she retorted. "Just stay away from me." With that, she turned on her heel and retreated to her room with an audible slam of the door.

After locking her bedroom door, she flopped down on her bed and grabbed the closest book to her, Pride and Prejudice. She needed an escape from the anger and fear she felt rising from the pit of her stomach. Tucking a piece of her light auburn hair behind her ear, she allowed herself to slip into her comfortable world of fiction.

"Sorry about my sister, man. She can be a little off her rocker at times," Harvey said, sipping from a cool glass of cream soda.

"Eh, it's fine. I don't really care much anyways," Tate answered. His plan was going well so far; he had the younger brother in the palm of his hand, which gave him a good excuse to "visit" the house often. He hated feeling like an intruder in his permanent place of residence. These people were temporary after all, just like the previous owners.

He inwardly smiled at the fact that he struck a sensitive spot with the teenage girl. He enjoyed nothing more than tormenting the inhabitants and making them as miserable as he was; the reaction he received from his latest victim was satisfying, yet he wondered just how close to the edge he could push her. The sound of Harvey's voice instantly pulled him from his delightfully wicked thoughts.

"Sorry, what'd you say?" Tate asked politely.

"I just suggested that we go to the skate park and ride for a bit."

"Oh, I can't, sorry. I have to get home to finish a research paper," he said with believable conviction. As if I have time to waste on school or research papers he thought to himself. He stood up and gulped down the rest of his glass of soda.

"Oh, okay then," Harvey said, the disappointment dripping from his voice. There was an awkward pause before he went on, "now that I think of it, I've never seen you at the high school."

"Yeah, I'm home-schooled. My mom's a bit of a control freak, likes to keep me "close to the nest" or something," he chuckled, both to keep up the appearance of a typical teenage boy and at the thought of his mother paying too much attention to him.

After talking over plans to hang out again sometime that week Tate let himself out, concealed his presence and made his way to the back of the house to re-enter through the back door. My mother wanting to keep me close to her he thought bitterly. Maybe when hell freezes over.

Relieved that Friday had finally come, Hazel hurried home to begin a weekend of relaxation. No studying, no school projects to finish up; she had the next two days to pamper herself and she planned to do exactly that. After changing into her comfiest fuzzy pajama bottoms and an oversized button-down shirt, she retired to the kitchen to find something to snack on. Harvey was out at the baseball field, her father would be working late and her mother was visiting with one of the neighbors she had befriended. Hazel found a certain comfort in solitude; she loved her friends from back home, of course, but had she not found peacefulness in being alone, she would feel isolated in this new and strange city.

Placing one of her favorite mix CDs into the stereo on the counter, she cranked the music up and began making a box of double fudge brownies. Singing at the top of her lungs and dancing around the kitchen, she gathered the ingredients and mixed everything in a large, lime green mixing bowl. After pouring the batter into a pan and placing it in the oven, she licked the remaining batter off the spoon and the bowl, smiling to herself. This day could not get any better. I refuse to let anyone ruin this for me. Just as the thought entered her mind, she twirled around the kitchen and gasped as she ran into another human body. Looking up into the unfamiliar, chocolate brown eyes, she shoved away the intruder with force. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she shouted over the music. Tate turned the dial of the stereo until the music was just above a whisper. "How did you get in here?"

"Harvey invited me to stay for a night or two, and your mom let me in before she left for Mrs. Harris'," he said with a small smile. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She crossed her arms over her chest as a means to feel secure and took a few paces back. "I wasn't scared," she scoffed, "just startled. Harvey isn't here right now anyway, so why don't you just get out and wait for him to call you." The bitterness in her voice pleased Tate to no end.

"Oh, he said he would be home around 3:30. Are you sure I can't just wait the ten minutes until he gets home?" Tate asked innocently, moving to take a seat on one of the stools.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Hazel said shortly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said sheepishly, standing again. "Look, I know you think I'm a bad guy, but do you think we could start over and-

"I'm going to stop you right there. I don't think you're a bad guy. I know it. I know what I saw and I refuse to let you twist words around and make it seem as if I don't know what I'm talking about. There is no "starting over" for you and I; I think you're a liar and you're dangerous and I don't want you around my little brother anymore," she said with firm conviction. She felt empowered and protective of her family.

"Hazel, what do you think you're doing talkin' to my friend like that?" Harvey stepped into the kitchen, tossing his bag of baseball gear onto the floor with an audible thud. "He didn't do anything, just chill out."

"You want me to "chill out", Harvey? How am I supposed to "chill out" knowing my brother trusts a complete stranger more than he trusts his own sister?" she said coldly.

Tate was enjoying the dispute he had single-handedly caused, and chimed in with, "Maybe if you got to know me a little, I wouldn't be a stranger to you anymore."

"I don't want to be on the same continent as you, let alone get to know you," she spat.

"Hey, you aren't proving to be such a walk in the park either," he said back.

"Let's just calm down, guys. If you two don't like each other I can respect that, but let's not make it into some kinda war," Harvey said, exasperated. He didn't want to lose the closest friend he had made in this city, and he certainly didn't want to be on his sister's bad side. "Why don't you guys just try to stay away from each other?"

"That shouldn't be too hard for me," Tate said in a slightly condescending tone.

"Don't sound so full of yourself, it's already in my nature to avoid you like the plague," she retorted. "Anyways, I'm baking brownies so if you want to put distance between us I suggest you leave the kitchen."

"My pleasure" he said with his eyes squinted in hatred. "Let's go up to your room, Harvey."

With a sigh from Harvey, the two boys headed upstairs and let Hazel have her peace. She turned the stereo up to a comfortable level and took a seat on one of the stools, waiting for the brownies to finish baking. She wondered how a single person could be so infuriating. I wish he would just stay the hell away from here. Why can't they hang out at his house? It makes much more sense than sticking around where you don't belong.

Tate and Harvey were lost in some mindless video game, but Tate's attention wasn't focused on the zombies and gore splayed across the screen; his thoughts were wandering from one topic to another. How can one person be so infuriating? Sure, he wanted to be hated—he even preferred it. But he enjoyed being hated without reason. He liked the anonymity of his previous pranks and the mystery of who could have possibly pulled them. Watching the tenants stay up at night wondering and worrying was what he thrived on. He wanted his physical character to be regarded as the charming, innocent neighborhood kid; that was how he gained visible entry to his own house, after all. This stupid girl is tainting my good name, making a mockery of who I really am and what I want to be seen as. She better not ruin this for me.

The weeks passed, and neither the California weather nor the hatred they had for each other had changed drastically. The air was slightly cooler and crisper and was just the right temperature for Hazel to keep her window open during her slumber. Thanksgiving break had just started, which meant taking advantage of the extra hours of sleep that she so desperately craved. The wind was howling through the trees and a mist of rain swept through her open window, cooling her skin and pulling her out of her dreams. She groggily reached up and closed the window, glancing at her alarm clock. 7:30. I could get up now and be productive for the day, or I could drift back into dreamland and sleep for 5 more hours. Without hesitating to make up her mind, she closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

Tate had been watching her the entire time, scrunching his face up in disgust and annoyance at the way she rubbed her eyes before opening them or the way sighed and stretched her arms overhead before closing the window. He couldn't feel anything but despise for her; despite her family invading his home, he was simply infuriated by her. The books she read that were filled with tales of love and virtue and morality, the way she would sometimes smile for no reason, the way she expressed every human emotion she felt on a canvas. He hated that she was filled with vitality and seemed to be bursting with happiness. Call it jealousy, call it being a realist. Hell, call it whatever you want, but there was no denying that every time she smiled, his hatred for her grew.

He walked over to the window and opened it as wide as it would allow, and opened the other one just as wide for good measure. Any extra sleep that she was planning on achieving would hopefully be cut short by mists of rain and gusts of howling wind. He couldn't stand the thought of her sleeping peacefully when he had been restless for weeks. The ever-present dark circles under his eyes contrasted with his pale skin and made a metaphor of his existence. The lack of sleep when he was alive was to blame, but the exhaustion he felt each time the sun rose was strong enough to drive a man insane.

Hazel furrowed her brows and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around her room in confusion and sighed at the sight of the two open windows. Everything in her room was dampened by the November rain and she threw the covers off of herself, releasing the heat that she'd built up, and closed the windows. She shivered as goosebumps made their way across her skin and sighed again, cursing under her breath for being so careless and swearing that she had closed the window earlier that morning. I must have been dreaming…

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a/n: I know it's been a long time since I've updated. Life really just got in the way; it's been a pretty tough year. I apologize for putting this story on an unofficial hiatus, but I'm back now and feeling better than ever. I tried to make this chapter a bit longer than the others and will continue to do so for the oncoming chapters. Thank you for following and reading and to those of you still here, you're greatly appreciated.

Lots of Love,

China