CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
This was a terrible idea. Ivy repeated over and over in her head. The park stretched in front of her and the street lights flickered eerily. Saturday had arrived and it was a relief to be away from the toxic atmosphere at school. Home wasn't much better either, Ivy reflected, what with her sister.
"I can do this." She said out loud. "I can... do this."
Warily, Ivy retraced her steps and found herself in the place where she had seen the person. And sure enough, there he was. Ivy hadn't known what to expect. How could she? She jumped slightly and plucked up every bit of remaining courage she had to spare.

"Hey!" Ivy called. "You!"
The person didn't move and stood in the same place.
"Hello?" Ivy stepped forward. "Who are you?"

Suddenly, the person lurched forward and twisted her around. Ivy kicked out and pulled herself away, panting, and glared at the person. Instead of the aggressive snarl she thought the person would have, he was simply smiling and entirely relaxed. He wasn't much older than herself and had dark brown hair, alongside icy blue eyes.
"Needs some work." The boy nodded. "Still quite good."

Ivy tipped her head, quizzical. "What? Who are you?"
"Hayden." The boy introduced himself. "And you?"
"Ivy." She replied and continued. "But why were you... you know. You attacked me."
Hayden blinked. "No, I was simply testing you. Seeing how good you were at self defence."

She shook her head. "Why would you need to know that?"
"Trust me, you'll be wanting to learn." Hayden explained. "Things are starting to go down hill and when it hits rock bottom, you want all of the self defence skills to keep yourself - and your loved ones - safe."

"And why should I trust you?" Ivy spat.
Hayden's lip twitched. "Caution, that's good. But I don't have an answer for you... why should you trust me? That's down to you, and you alone, Ivy."
"Okay, Yoda." Ivy rolled her eyes.
"Do you know where Warde Street is?" Hayden asked.
Ivy nodded. "Yes. Why?"
"If you change your mind and decide to let me teach you, I'll be there. At the old warehouse." Hayden smiled. "Meet me there whenever you're ready. See you then."

"He is not smooth." Ben paused. "Or good with women."
Finn poked his shoulder, with a wide grin. "Of course you'd say that, Mr. Jealous."
The other boy glared at him. "Shut up, ginger."
"No, you shut up, Lover Boy." Finn poked him multiple times until Ben whacked his hands away. "Ever heard of unrequited love?"

Ben narrowed his eyes. "Yes and I hate you."
"I get that a lot." Finn beamed. "Lionel, wake up. You can't sleep on the job."
"Job?" He shook himself awake. "What job?"
Finn rolled his eyes. "Tyler-watching? Remember? Or Dana-watching."
"Yeah, that." Lionel sighed. "Mom just texted me. I've got to go soon."

"Awwww, why?" Finn flashed the puppy-dog eyes.
"Ben, your Mom is going out. She's dropping Blossom and Briar at my house." Lionel directed it to Ben.
His eyes grew wide. "What? Mom didn't even tell me! Do I have to go?"
"No clue." Lionel shrugged. "One would imagine that your Mom would want you to come to my house. Up to you I guess."

Finn tipped his head. "Yeah, do you want to be an awkward guest with the Carters or do you want to be a miserable sod who is contemplating his lack of skills in the woman department and the fact that Tyler will most likely steal the one and only girl you have ever had a crush on?"
"Damn, you make that depressing." Lionel stood up.
Ben stared at Finn, mouth open. "Thanks so much for the support, Finn!"
"Your welcome." Finn flashed a goofy grin.

"I guess I'm coming with you, then." Ben stood, preparing to follow Lionel. "Just to get away from Finn."
Finn stuck out his tongue. "Manners, Stellar."
"Oh, screw you." Ben rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lionel. Let's have a great time with the family."

"It isn't that bad." Aunt Leah cracked the eggs. "It's just a little get-together. Nothing big or fancy."
Jace groaned and tapped the counter. "You know what the Stellars are like."
"A hot mess?" Blossom appeared in the doorway. "Yeah, we are."
"Hey!" Ben shouted. "That's rude!"

Their mother had headed out with Brendon to sort out matters and so she had decided to leave her children with the Carters. Jace knew that he should be kind and whatnot, but he still wasn't going to be one hundred percent. Not after the After-Party incident and everything else.
"Hi, Jace." Briar's voice reached his ears. "Nice house you've got."
"I assume you mean what it looks like-" Jace drawled. "In which case, I cannot say that I agree."
Briar went quiet. "Oh, yes. Sorry."
"I mean, for all I know, I could be living in a pig-sty." Jace pointed out.

"For all I know, I might never walk again!" Briar made a futile attempt to be funny. No one laughed.
"Well, that got depressing." Jace hummed. "Shall we maybe go and sit at the table?"

They found places at the table and Aunt Leah served dinner. Lionel yawned and Ben poked at the meal. Leah stared around at everyone's solemn faces and pressed her lips together. "What is wrong with everyone? I thought my cooking was pretty good."
"Sorry." Lionel paused. "Long day, I guess."
"You played video games all morning, lazed around on the sofa and then went out with your friends for half an hour." Leah scolded. "No reason for you to be tired."

Jace groaned. "You sound like Mom."
"My mom never tells me off that thing." Ben spoke up. "Because she constantly tells us off, regardless of what we're doing, or not doing."
"Ditto." Blossom scratched her neck. "I accidentally spilled my orange juice and Mom screamed at the top of her lungs."

Lionel looked up. "That doesn't sound too good."
"No, it isn't." Blossom shrugged. "I think it's because of the thing with Briar."
"You can say it, you know." Briar perked up. "You can say that I'm handicapped. Disabled. Unable to walk. Paralysed. Whatever."
Blossom looked towards her. "I don't want to use those words because you might walk again-"
"No, I won't." Briar pointed out. "You're just like my Mom. You're avoiding the fact and making up your own little thing so you can keep denying it."

Aunt Leah stood up. "Right, well, it looks like you've all finished. How about we go and watch some TV?"
Jace jumped up. "Yes please!"

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now, I'm going to be releasing chapters every Wednesday and Saturday over the next few weeks (I'm writing a bunch of chapters and queuing them up) so be prepared on those days! If you liked this chapter, please leave a review and maybe follow it?
Cookies for everyone! (:;) (:;) (:;)

(Sorry for not posting on Wednesday! My WiFi went down and so we had to get some people out to fix it. It's working now though).