Chapter 40- Cute

Around 5 or so more chapters left.

Also, Brianna is coming tomorrow for a show next week. I added that into the previous chapter for more clarification.

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Okay, so I lied, I wasn't going to my room. I went to the lounge room instead. Only to find out that this was where Madelyn ran off to.

Using Starr as my pillow, not squishing him, I lie on the sofa completely and utterly annoyed. Gracie forces her body between my arms to lie her head on my chest, right under my chin.

Why does it have to be like this? The words just spin into my head continuously. Why is it always me? Why is he always picking on me? I frown dragging my hand through Gracie's fur. I have enough to worry about already so why? He hates me. They hate me. Everyone's leaving. I just wished I didn't have this fear anymore. I wish-

"Madison!"

I snap out of my thoughts, blinking a few times. My older sister's worried face hovers a great distance from mine. "Yea? I'm alive! I'm alive!" Gracie licks my chin then whimpers. "I'm good, don't worry."

Madelyn wipes something damp from the side of my face then sighs. "You're not okay."

"I am I swear!"

She sighs again not pushing it any further. "Just... Take care of yourself, okay? Don't push yourself too much." She moves away from me heading back to the seat by the window. "Your phone was ringing."

My hand digs into my pocket to take out my phone. 14 missed calls pop up from Kathleen and around 100 messages as well. The phone accepts my fingerprint this time and I speed dial my best friend's number.

"I've been calling you for the past 5 minutes!" She says as a way of greeting.

"Sorry about that."

A wave of silence passes through the line. "Are you okay?" She asks softly in a wary type of voice.

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"I'm good. But seriously Maddy, are all right? Do you need me to come over? I'll bring ice cream or cake for you. What happened? Tell me what ha-"

I laugh cutting her off from her protective ramble. "I'm good, really! Don't worry about me! What about you? Is there a reason you called?"

"I see what you're trying to do." She sighs on the other line. "I'm here if you need to talk about it, okay?"

I nod then realise she can't see it. "Yea, thanks, Kathy."

"I'll let it slide for now." Another voice is heard over on her side and she replies to them.

"Who's that? Where are you?"

"With Daniel. He says 'hi' by the way." She says and another younger voice is heard. Then I hear a sudden shhh. "Damien says hi too."

Damien is Daniel's younger 13 year old brother. He's an exact replica on his older brother, just younger. In the same year and school as my younger sister. They've been quite close over the years.

But Damien likes to tease and annoy Kathleen a lot. So his and Kathy's relationship aren't that great. He is a nice person though. He really is, from what Daniel says and from what I see. Just not completely toward Kathleen. Some points when it's really serious, he'd defend Kathy. I guess he just likes to see her get angry.

"I say hi back. But why are you with Daniel and Damien?" I say, sitting up from my lying position. Starr stays in the same position, sleeping soundly, while Gracie moves over to my lap.

"I'm meeting their parents. After almost 3 years."

"Haven't you met them before?"

"Nope. They were busy a lot and never had time to meet me, so instead they would just throw both their sons at me and send us to dinner or something. But this time they're actually coming."

"And you're scared." Not entirely a question.

"Yes." Then I hear Daniel's voice over the phone. "Love, no need to be scared. You'll do great. I'm positive that they'll love you."

"Sure." Damien says with the utmost sarcasm. "Of course." And I snort.

"Damien." My best friend's boyfriend warns his little brother in a deep dark voice. "You're being a nuisance now."

"And you're delusional."

"Damien, stop being mean to you future sister-in-law!"

"Whatever." He replies to me. "Is Marisa there?" Excitement laced in his voice.

"No-" he groans. "But I'll tell her to call you if you be nice to Kathleen for the rest of the day!"

"Okay!"

"It's like a male version of you Maddy when you liked Liam!" Liked. "Names can do wonders these days."

"Just be yourself, Kathy and you'll be fine."

"Okay, whatever you say. Thanks. Hope you feel better soon!"

"Bye." And I hang up. As I sigh, the door to the room opens slowly. Nicholas' brown hair peeps in first and then Marisa's red hair. They both push the door open wider then step into the room. In their hands are a slice of red velvet cake and a tub of strawberry flavoured ice cream and oreos.

I love my siblings.

When the walk up to the table in from of the sofa, Nicholas places the cake and oreos down on the table while Marisa hands me the ice cream and a spoon. "We're sorry for getting you in trouble earlier, we shouldn't have gone."

"No guys, it's okay. It's not your fault."

"That doesn't stop us from feeling guilty..." Nicholas says. "So here's our little apology. And Maddy told us that your were feeling well- while you were busy talking with your friend she came to us," I didn't even notice when she left. "And even though it's just the store bought cake and not the usual ones that Zay makes-"

"Zayden makes those?"

"Yea? You didn't know?" He blinks and I shake my head. "Then pretend you never heard that." Marisa snorts at that.

"It's not like she can just forget it. She's gonna remember it because of whose name was mentioned." She smirks at me in a teasing manner as I rip off the lid of the ice cream container. "She has a crush on the butler. Bet she's gonna call him later too!"

Nicholas blinks, I don't think he understands the concept of what we're talking about. Such an innocent bean!

"Oh? Do you want me to mention your little Damien?" I shove a scoop of ice cream in my mouth. Her cheeks immediately turn red at my statement.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She replies a little too quickly.

"Really now? What if he told me that he wanted you to call him." I point the spoon at her, now noticing Nicholas pulling open an Oreo packet next to me.

"Are you serious?"

"Yea actually. I told him that you'll call him later." Her brown beautiful eyes light up. She jumps up, thanking me then runs to the door at the speed of light. "I SAID LATER!" I shout to her when she opens the door.

"IT IS LATER!" And she was gone.

I look across at Nicholas seeing him stare intently at an Oreo cookie. "Feelings can make you do some crazy things."

And that's when I realise, I didn't once deny that I liked Zayden when Marisa teased me about it.

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I couldn't sleep. It felt as though something was staring at me.

I sit on my window, phone in hand at 10:45 the last time I checked, with one single phone number on the screen. I just stare at it. There was nothing better to stare at anyway.

The is this huge tree that reached my window, which blocked my view to the country, and way down below is just a pool. I wasn't in the mood to look at the sky either.

I take a deep breath in then another one out, just like how Zayden would tell me to calm down when I had my panic attacks. "Breathe, Lucky, breathe." I mumble to myself.

I stare at the number one last time before I click call.

I bring the phone to my ear, reaching to twist my earring in order to calm me down. To find that I don't have one in.

Crap, crap, crap.

I try to restrain myself from biting my nails like Nicholas when he got anxious. Instead I just play with the charm bracelet around my wrist.

Like eight rings sounded and I was about about to put down but then I got an answer from a deep, groggy and raspy voice on the line.

"Hello?"

Holy crap, this was a bad idea.

"Um yea, hi. Did I just wake you up? I think I'll just go, um. Don't want to leave you sleep deprived." I nervous laugh at the end.

"Lucky?"

"Yep that's me! Just me, I'll just go-"

"Why the heck are you calling at 11 in the night?"

"Technically it's 10:55- but that's not the point! It was stupid right! I'm hanging up! By-"

"Wait." I hear movement through the phone. I should hang up. I should really hang up. A minute later, I hear his voice again. "I'm back."

"Hey... What happened?"

"I just had to wake myself up, don't worry." My butler replies.

"What time did you go to sleep anyway?"

"Only an hour ago. Parents left around 8, and I had nothing to do so I just went to sleep." I imagine him shrugging. "So,"

"So?"

"Any reason why you're calling at 10:56 in the night?"

"Well, it's 10:57, still wrong!" I retort not what else knowing what to say. He chuckles at that. I love when he chuckles. I don't know, I just wanted to hear your voice, I guess.

Utter silence on the other for a good two minutes. line. Wait, what?

"Did- did I just say that out loud?"

"Yes. Yes, you did." His voice quiets and my cheeks heat up immensely.

"I mean- ahaha! I was just um, you didn't hear anything!"

"Couldn't stay a few hours without hearing me, Lucky?" He teases, I know he's smirking at this point. I'm about to retort but then he hits me with, "Not gonna lie, I was tempted to call you earlier." Wait what? "I just wanted to hear your voice too, I guess." He mocks.

"Hey! You can't use my line like that! You fraud!"

"I don't see your name written on it. Therefore it's free to use."

" I copyrighted it!"

"I bet there were people thousands of years ago that used that line before you, think again."

"Ew, history."

He chuckles once more making my stomach fill up with butterflies. I bring my knees to my chest and rest my chin on my knee with a faint smile across my lips. My face felt hot. No doubt I was a tomato at this point.

"Who knew you had this childish side of you?" He comments and I hear a shift again.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm a dangerous monster that can sue you for theft!"

"Cute."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"There's nothing cute about me." I huff looking at the stars about the huge tree.

"There you go depreciating yourself again! Come on , Maddy, you don't give yourself even credit!"

"But there's nothing to give credit for." I murmur. A frown finds its to my face again.

"Yes there is. A lot of things actually."

"Yea? Like what?" I challenge not expecting him to answer.

"You're going to make me sound like a creep, Lucky."

"That's not my problem. Tell me. Like what?"

He sighs. "Let's just start off with your beautiful green eyes. It's obvious when you're happy, those green pools shimmer like a fresh gloss of morning dew. It's the most beautiful thing. Your red hair, curly as ever, how it springs back up when you barely tug a strand. Your smile, it's mostly there when you're around your siblings. When they're elated, it's there, lighting up the room. How you care about your family more than you care about yourself." He lets out a breath. "And don't get me started on those flecks on you face and neck. Looks as those they were just sprinkled on without care. They're just sitting there, so tempting. You don't know how much I want to-"

"Zayden?"

He clears his throat. "Yea?" His voice sounds a little huskier than before?

"Stop, you're going to set my body aflame." I state firmly, well tried too but instead it comes off as shaky and quiet. And it is true. My face is a tomato, a creepy smile on my lips, no breathing.

He laughs at that. "Sorry, Miss." He doesn't stop there. "What do you like about me?"

"Um, you have really nice curly hair?"

"Of course."

"I mean your eyes are very pretty too but your hair is way better. I can't just poke you in the eye, but I can play and ruffle your hair and feel how soft it is!" I ramble then stop so I wouldn't embarrass myself any further. "I also love the cakes you make."

A moment of silence lingers in the air.

"Who told you that?"

"No one. That's not important."

"Yes, it is." He sighs. "Do you like them?"

"I love them. Thank you."

"You're not just saying that because it's red velvet cake, right?"

"No, you idiot. They genuinely taste good. If I didn't like them, I'd throw a tantrum because red velvet cake isn't suppose to taste bad."

"Okay, okay. You're welcome." A switch flicks in the background. "You know what I just thought of?"

"Why do you type in your password when you have a fingerprint scanner on it?"

"Because 75% of the time, my phone rejects my finger."

"Never thought to fix that?" He suggests.

"No, too much effort, when I could just type in my password quickly instead."

"Huh, okay. Should've guessed that." He says more to himself that to me. "Who else has a fingerprint on your phone?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Just asking."

"Kathleen and Nicholas. Nicholas is the only person who doesn't try to go on my phone without my permission. Plus, his fingerprint is always accepted, I don't know why so when he's near by I just let him open it. Same thing for Kathy."

"You don't find it weird that their fingerprints work but not yours?"

"Doesn't really bother me. I still have my password anyway."

"No one knows it?"

"Nope. Speaking of which, do you have a password on yours?"

"Nope, maybe I'll let your fingerprint be on it when I get back."

"For your generosity, I'll give a hint to my password." I say grabbing my pillow and hugging it.

"Why not just tell me it?"

"Because I have secrets?" I shrug, knowing he can't see me. "Ex (X)"

"As in x or ex?"

"You just said the same thing." I say flatly.

"You know what I mean." He huffs.

"No I don't, enlighten me."

I imagine him rolling his eyes. "X as in algebra x? Because I know you like math. Or ex as in relationship?"

"I said only one clue." I tease squeezing my pillow tighter. I stand then walkover to my bed, collapsing onto it.

"Technically, you said hint."

"Whatever." I roll my eyes, curling around my pillow. "Oh, when you get back, round two of Brianna awakes. She'll be here until next week because of a show." He groans, I'm gonna get he fell back on the mattress because of the noise. "She'll also be going to school with me as a foreign exchange student."

"I hate everything."

"I know."

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Helloooo!

We're meeting close to the end of the book, CHEERS!

This book took too long, and it's also a year old! *clap, clap.*

I'm a creep just like Zayden, WHOOPS!

I don't have anything else to say, and I don't have a question to ask so um, how are you?

Vote, comment and share?♥

~Author