Normalcy

A challenge from Cisciel.

Fic must contain the words: Dalmatians, oranges, piquant, ludicrous, and sneakers.

"Have you walked the dog yet, Sam?"

He rolled his eyes at his mother as he lazily poked at the egg on his plate. "Yes, mum."

"Well don't forget to train him after school," she lightly goaded him. "Dalmatians are practically needy and if little Spots isn't taken care of, he'll be really unsatisfied."

He sighed and stood up from his seat tiredly. Of course, he knew the dog was more important than him in more occasions, it hadn't bothered him before. But now, it was different. Today was his bloody birthday and if his mom doesn't even acknowledge that, he was sane to question himself what he really was to the family.

He turned towards the door when the sound of his mother's voice stopped him. "Oh and Sam," she smiled.

He whipped his head to look at her with a smile on his face. "Yeah?"

"Don't forget to take out the trash on your way out."

Another sigh escaped his lips. What was he expecting, really?

"Yes, mum."

It was just like any other day, anyway, he pondered as he stepped out to the heat of the blazing sun outside. He walked leisurely and took pleasure at the silence early that day. It was comforting and almost made him forget about how the day would unfold.

The sound of footsteps reached his hearing as he looked over his shoulder and caught the sight of a girl with unruly brown hair racing towards him. He felt a smile unconsciously tug at his lips as he felt the warmth of her hand encircle his arm. He almost lost his footing on the cracked sidewalk as she hugged his arm fondly.

"Hey Sam," her soft voice entranced him as he looked at her unwaveringly. "Happy birthday!"

He broadly smiled at her and slowed his pace for her to keep up. "Thanks, Vi."

At least Vicky remembered, he mused wryly.

She beamed at him and fluttered her eyelashes at him. "So what are your plans today?"

He shrugged indifferently and dug his loose hand inside his pocket lazily; his eyes left the sight of her dark eyes and stared at the path in front of them. "Well, I have to train Spots after school and probably watch a movie on DVD afterward for a quick rest."

A gasp caught his interest as he glanced down at her with a brow raised curiously. She narrowed her eyes at him and tittered. "That's not how you spend your birthday, Sam."

He blankly looked at her and raised his hand to run through his blond mane and adjusted the backpack that was slung against his back. "Well, unfortunately, that's how I spend my birthday."

She gave an unpleased noise from the back of her throat and glared at him. "Don't be such a prat, Sam."

"Well, this is a first from you, Vi," he smirked at her amusedly. "I thought you prefer not to call people such rude names?"

"There's a first for everything," she retorted back irately. "Now here's what you're going to do… after school, you're going to meet me by the gate and we're going to hang out."

His brows raised in surprise. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really," she replied back, determination etched across his face. "And you're going to have fun."

He nodded his head, utterly grateful for her eagerness concerning his birthday. She was clearly not going to be deterred even if he was to be uncaring about it. He should be used to not being remembered even in his birthday but the fervor Vicky gave off was enlightening.

His head lowered and stared at his worn-out sneakers as it padded across the broken tiling of the footway. He gave out the third sigh of the day and felt another tug from his brown-haired friend. He sneaked a peek at her through his half-lidded eyes. She ludicrously pouted at him and he found it absolutely endearing, oddly enough.

A grin found its way to his lips.

"There!" She beamed as she clasped her hands together. "You're smiling!"

"Smiling is an understatement at the moment, Vi," he chuckled. "You are rather adorable."

A blush spread across her cheeks at his remark.

She playfully slapped his back as she passed by him but not before his chuckle reached her senses. A small smile crept on her lips and in the distance a bell rang that signaled the start of class.

Hastily, the two teens ran towards the school in a daze.

"You two are late… again."

They cringed under the heated glare of their teacher. They apologized profusely but the teacher was too much in a bad mood to care. He gave both of them detentions for the day that had caused Vicky to wail in frustration.

"This is unfair!" She sobbed. "This is supposed to be your special day!"

He frowned and actually agreed. He hadn't expected much but he did know that getting detention on his birthday was not a good present in the least. He gently prodded Vicky and took her hand in his as he led her inside the classroom. One seat distanced two vacant chairs at the back of the room caught Sam's eyes. He led her to the back and sat down at the chair near the window.

She took the seat available and slumped with a scowl on her lips.

It's going to be a long day, he thought as the sun rose down on him and stung his skin. And I'm sure I'm not going to like it.

The day passed by quickly and Sam dreaded the detention as the time came. Vicky sulked at the back of the room as they waited for the teacher to tell them for how long they were to be cooped up in the rather hot classroom. The man sighed and gave them their instructions carefully.

Vicky's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets in shock as she voiced out her concern.

"What the bloody hell, sir!" She screamed. "This is an unusual punishment!"

The teacher glared at her disapprovingly. "Your choice of words, Miss Charles, is undiscerning for a young lady such as yourself."

Muttered curses left Vicky's lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted," he nodded at her direction and continued. "Now, you're to be kept until five and as expected, the closet is supposed to be spotless and the items should be arranged neatly."

Sam nodded his head grudgingly and Vicky rolled her eyes.

The teacher left without another word.

"I feel like a maid," Vicky mumbled irritably. "This is so unfair."

Sam nodded his head while he took the cleaning materials from the back of the room. "Let's just finish quickly so we could go early."

"If they let us go early," she said dryly. "I'm sorry you have to work on your birthday, Sam."

Anything was better than being at home and wait for his parents to come to their senses and notice that their son had just grown one year older and that he was practically an adult now. He waved his hand in the air nonchalantly.

"It's nothing, Vi," he said as he picked up two brands of cleaners. "Now we have a problem to deal with."

"Not another one," she whined tiredly. "What is it now?"

"Orange-scented or a cleaner that has that unique piquant smell—" He trailed off. "Whatever shall we use?"

A soft sponge hit him squarely on the forehead as he laughed. Vicky was grinning madly.

"You're such a prat," she giggled.

He smiled. "So I've heard."

Two hours passed by rapidly as they worked and before they noticed it, their task was done. The teacher was pleased and had let them go early as was anticipated by the duo. Vicky playfully punched the air as she gleefully asked him out for a quick bite.

"I'll have to tell mum to not prepare me any dinner, though, or she might get angry." He told her seriously. "I'll make this quick."

They walked towards his house and he sped inside with a quick shout of, "I'm home!"

His surroundings were dimly lit and the sound of his breathing and footsteps echoed around him. His heart thumped hard against his chest and he knew then that something was wrong. He called out again and waited for his mother's cheery reply. Nothing came.

He looked around the house desperately. His eyes prickled with tears and the worst case scenario played inside his mind as he choked back a sob. His feet tiredly limped towards the last room he hadn't checked yet. He turned on his heel and barged in the room.

Now, he wished he hadn't.

Because what he intended and wished to be just any other normal day was not in the least what he expected. He wished he remembered to play with the dog that afternoon because at the sight of his mother's wide eyes livid with fear and pain as the sharp canines of their beloved Spots buried themselves in his mother's opened and bleeding stomach—

—The last he saw was the dog's black pupils dilate hungrily and the sound of his menacing bark reach his ears.