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Chapter four

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The soccer ball hovered in air for a split second before falling back into my ready hands. “So Adam, you wanna play?” My voice was cheery and I even added my special kid smile just for him.

But don’t think my smile faltered just a tiny bit when he grabbed the ball from my hands and flung it right back to my face.

“Nu uh!”

I rubbed my cheek, glaring at him. “That wasn’t very nice,” I mumbled at the side of my hand. He squealed in laughter as he picked the ball again and threw it at me. I dodged with difficulty this time. But hey, at least he didn’t get the shot! “Stop it, Adam!”

“No! I only play with Ollie,” he said defiantly, adding affect with the adorable pout on his face.

I bit my bottom lip. We were in the backyard. Mom was inside retrieving the plates and needed items for the barbeque we were having for dinner. I decided to spend some quality time with my baby stepbrother whom I nearly forgot; but it looks like he wasn’t enjoying it as much as I hoped he would.

“Yes, but your brother isn’t here.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “Now wouldn’t it be fun if you played with your older—ow! Hey!” I yelled, getting up from the ground. “Okay, that’s it,” I growled, taking after him once he set off with a run, squealing with laughter the whole time. I called it insane cackling. A child should not know my weakness (which happened to be poor stamina).

I was desperately gasping for air by the time we made it around the backyard the fourth time.

“This (gasp) isn’t funny, Adam!”

“You can’t catch me!”

“Yes, I ca—oof!”

I slowly lifted my head in disbelief to see him grinning, his face a picture of innocence. I supported myself on my elbows digging in the soft dirt of the green yard.

“You tripped me,” I said.

His smile was bright. “Nope.”

My lips tugged on its own free will. “Yes, you did,” I corrected. I grabbed him without warning, smiling brighter when he squealed in delight. “Now you’re gonna pay!”

A shadow fell over me, extinguishing the sunlight that I loved feeling on my skin. I looked up and saw Mom smiling down at us with a camera before the flash went off. Adam and I simultaneously cried out before I sat up.

“Cute picture, sweetie.” She patted my cheek before walking off. Adam and I watched her do so.

“Want some cookies?” I asked out of no where, still staring off at the porch.

I felt his eyes on me. “But you aren’t allowed before dinner,” he said smartly in the only way that little boys can. I made a sound at the back of my throat. Gosh, Mom’s been doing some work, drilling manners and rules into this boy’s head. He’s lucky that I’m here!

“Yeah, but do you want some?” I said, looking at him with a quirked eyebrow.

He observed me for a moment before, “Yes!”

I stole a quick glance at the adults (and then winced when I saw them kissing) before grabbing his hand and led him inside the house. I looked back at his awe struck face, trying not to smile. “Just don’t tell them, okay?”

“Okay!”

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I was pretty much snoring my ass off when the shrill rang of the phone broke my slumber. Groaning, I rolled over and knocked the cordless phone off its cradle, satisfied when I heard it land on the floor with a crack. I snuggled back into my warm covers.

“Sydney!”

Oh. Oh why now? Why?

I mumbled something unintelligent under my breath before rolling to my side and threw the covers on my face. Does she not understand the theory behind the words Saturday Sleep-in? It meant precisely what it says! Gosh, people these days.

“Two more minutes,” I said, raising my voice a little.

“Sydney Ella!”

Oh, great. Just wait for it.

“Sydney Ella Rhode, get your body off that bed now!”

There we go.

Sighing heavily, I opened my eyes, knowing that it was futile to just stay in bed like I wanted. She’d march into my room, yank my warm covers off, and pull me out herself if I resisted any longer. Grumbling under my breath, I threw my covers off and adjusted my top and pyjama pants before proceeding towards the sound of her wails.

I meant calls.

I yawned loudly as I stepped into the kitchen. It’s only my third day at this house, and I’m doing alright in the adjusting compartment. You know, just ignore the fact the high school is being high school and my mother wants me up at the ungodly hour of seven o’clock in the morning.

“How is it you can wake up five thirty on a school day, but sleep in until one in the afternoon on a weekend?” She frowned at me from her place on the breakfast table.

“It’s balance, Mother.” I yawned behind my hand. “It’s not proper to wake me up on a weekend when I have nothing to do. Can I return to my bed?”

“Trust me, I’ve tried everything,” Jace muttered from beside his wife. I grinned at him and he ducked his head guiltily when Mom shot him a dirty look.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I dragged my feet towards the fridge. I was gulping down a glass of orange juice when Oliver walked in, his cell phone pressed against his ear; a frown was marring his face.

“You sure you’re alright?” he asked, concern leaking in his voice. I broke out into a smile behind my cup at that. Gosh, that’s so darn cute. “No, I’m still coming.” He paused. “Really. You’ll lock me out.” He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Fine. I’ll give it to someone else. Yeah, I’ll go, even if you aren’t there,” he muttered under his breath. “Naw, naw, nothing. Feel better. Later.”

He shut his phone and finally realized that all three of us were staring at him. Mom and Jace had a smile on their face and I knew I had an awed expression.

“That,” I began breathlessly. It’s funny because he looked sort of cautious—like I was going to jump on him or something. But I wasn't! Gosh. (Okay, I might have, but I realized that I might suffocate him with my weight . . .) “That was so sweet!” I bounced to him, grinning. “I swear, you walked out of a romance novel. Damn, and how long have you two been going out?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

I gasped, mockingly offended. “Of course it is!” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Okay, maybe not. But still!”

He shook his head, a half smile on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. “Whatever, it’s not like I’m going anyway. There’s no point if she isn’t there.”

Okay. Okay, this is where we all swoon, girls. Come on, swoon with me, darn it!

I quirked an eyebrow, trying to observe him as a girl who liked athletes. “Where were you guys supposed to go?”

He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, as if he was asking himself whether he should answer or not. Well, of course he shouldn’t answer. It’s common courtesy, is it not? “A convention that only comes around once a year. She’s been looking forward to it, but she’s sick with a fever.”

Concern leaked to my face as I tilted my head. “Aw, poor girl.” I thought for a while, pursing my lips as I mulled over his current situation. “Oh, I know!” I brightened. “You can buy her a souvenir from the convention—that way, you’ll be doing as she said, but you don’t have to stay. You can bring it to her right after.”

He stared at me blankly before his eyes began to light and a smile was on his face. I patted my back for my intelligence.

“That’s pretty smart, kid.”

My jaw dropped at the sudden term. “Oh. Oh you did not. I am seventeen, for your information.” I took in his brief surprised look and smugly said, “Early birthday.”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m off.”

“At seven o’clock in the morning?”

“The lines are long for the tickets. I pre-ordered four, and someone else was supposed to meet us there.” He paused, considering this. I was calmly stuffing my face with bacon and toast from the centre of the breakfast table when he said, “Do you want to come?”

I stopped stuffing and chewing, turning to him blankly with a, “Whaft?” I said through a mouthful of food. I ignored his disgusted look and swallowed. “You’re asking me?” I pointed to myself confusedly.

“No. I’m asking the person behind you.”

I almost turned, and I knew that he knew I was about to. “You think you’re so awesome, don’t you?” I asked, ignoring his smirk. I turned to Mom and asked her. She smiled enthusiastically and nodded. I turned back to Oliver. “Well, um. I guess I’m coming!”

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I tapped the headboard. I’ve been tapping it for the past hour. “Gosh, Oliver,” I said, casting him a dry look. “When you said ‘just five more minutes’, I didn’t think you really meant an hour.”

He glowered at the road. “Will you shut your mouth, Rhode? Shoot, you really don’t know when to be quiet, do you?”

I leaned back in my seat. “Thanks,” I said pleasantly. “Anyway, now that we’re stuck in the middle of no where with absolutely no sense of direction from the driver,” I threw a pointed look at him, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“If it’s something about the radio station, no, you cannot change it for the last time.”

“It’s not,” I protested, even when my hands were itching to pressed that button that’ll make all the difference to my eardrums. However, I ignored that certain thirst and cleared my mind for one topic. “I wanted to talk to you about your cousin.”

He was silent.

Alright; take it in. During my encounter with Oliver’s sweet cousin Isaiah (whose last name I don’t know quite yet), I have managed to dictate from our short (very, very brief) greeting that he wasn’t your typical shy nerd/dork/geek/whatever-other-stereotype-I-seem-to-follow. Basically, he wasn’t deathly anti-social, but he didn’t give off the sense that he was mighty popular and he craved attention.

Unlike someone I know. But let’s not mention this to Oliver, alright?

Okay, it was fine. He didn’t trip up when I spoke to him. I gave him points for that. But it was The Stare, I was excited about. Gosh, I loved trying to catch people’s eyes. It made them uncomfortable and—well—

I’m not a freak, I’m stating, before you make any judgements. I disliked jocks who stared you down, as if it were cool, and would make me melt at their feet. Honey, please.

Maybe one day you’ll understand the extent of my dislike towards athletes. It’s nothing personal; it just has something to do with a very bad memory.

Too bad Oliver didn’t apply. He didn’t make me cringe as much as I thought he would.

I peered at the window. “I’m pretty sure the convention isn’t held in the middle of the forest, Oliver.”

“You’re helpful. Really.”

I scoffed exaggeratedly before turning to him. “Okay. Can I ask you a question?” I took his silence as a yes. “Does Isaiah have a girlfriend?”

“I already answered that.”

I paused. “Right. Just making sure.” I cleared my throat. “I have a proposition for you.” I felt eagerness rise to my chest at the thought of putting my plan into action. “Teach me how to be sexy—”

He slammed his breaks abruptly with a, “What the fu—!”

“To him!” I finished hastily as my body flew forward. I rubbed my chest with a wince. “Gosh, Oliver, who gave you your license?”

“What the hell did you just ask me?” he asked incredulously.

Jeez, what was his deal? “A perfectly understandable question,” I protested. “Obviously it’d be terribly weird if I walked up to him and asked to be his friend.”

“Oh, and stalking is even better?”

I ignored his sarcastic tone. “So I figure if I have you there as a guide—as a friend introducing me to his friend—then it wouldn’t be as weird as hitting on him randomly.”

He stared at me like I’ve grown a beard. (Which I hadn’t . . . I would’ve felt it by now.) “That wasn’t what you asked me.”

I looked at him confusedly before realization dawned. Oh. The sexy bit. I rubbed my face and sighed. “It’s quite easy to understand,” I said, speaking to him as a mother would to a child. I grinned crookedly at his glower. “I need to know what he likes in a girl so I can accommodate to his needs.”

“You’re a desperate—”

I laughed. “I lied!” He went silent and stared at me, his eyes unusually dark. I gave him a joking smile. “You have no faith in me, Oliver. I wouldn’t change myself for a guy. But, I really do want to know about Isaiah. He seems like a nice guy.”

“Only to you because he doesn’t play sports,” he argued.

“Wow, have you been taking notes?”

“Why the hell am I bringing you again?”

“If I weren’t here, you’d be talking to your steering wheel and wondering why on earth you’re an idiot for driving to someplace you haven’t been to without a map.”

“You drive then, since you have such an enjoyable time criticizing me.” He glared at me darkly, making a move to remove his seatbelt. I stared at him in astonishment.

“You’re actually letting me drive your car?”

His glare slipped a little. “Why the hell else would I offer?”

I hesitated before shaking my head. “Um, nothing.” I smiled at him sheepishly then, trying to ignore the pounding at the back of my head as I tried to push away certain thoughts. “I don’t have my license.”

He rolled his eyes, starting the car again. Huh. I didn’t even notice that he stopped. “Could’ve fooled me,” he mumbled. I brightened.

“Hey, you can teach me how to drive!”

There was a pregnant pause.

“. . . Yeah, I don’t think so.”

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“Whoa.”

I inched away as a boy with a plastic sword and blue hair passed by me, a large grin on his face. I turned to me left and saw a boy with yellow hair and an orange outfit. I blinked in recognition.

“Hey, look!” I pointed eagerly in his direction. “It’s Naruto!” I quickly fished my cell phone and snapped a picture. I glanced down at my clothes with a thoughtful frown. “I think we’re dressed inappropriately.”

Oliver jumped out of the way from a girl with a ridiculously long spear. “No, I think we’re dressed perfectly normal.” He gritted the words out through clenched teeth. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“It’s an Anime convention, isn’t it?” I asked, “With the same address as the book you showed me? The same address your girlfriend—”

“Thank you, kid,” he interrupted. I stuck my tongue out at him when he wasn’t looking. He was too busy eyeing a group of girls with absurdly short skirts.

I smacked the back of his shoulder. “Stop being a pig!” I exclaimed, dragging him off. I literally felt his glare.

“I wasn’t—”

“Save it.” We entered the large building and I gasped at the amount of people inside. I went crazy when we passed by tiny anime dolls. “Hey, where’s your friend?” I asked, observing the Kira doll for Death Note. I felt myself twitch when I caught sight of the price. Thirty bucks for this microscopic thing, can you believe it?

A tiny cute thing, but that’s just not proper, those greedy fools.

“He’s somewhere here.” Oliver was searching the large (very, very large) crowd in the very, very massive room.

“I never knew that your girlfriend was into anime,” I said.

“You don’t know my girlfriend at all.”

I rolled my eyes at his rude comment, putting Kira back on the table. We stood awkwardly beside the long counter table before the lady in charge glared at us in a threatening manner, forcing us to extricate ourselves and move towards the side.

I yawned loudly behind me hand, ignoring Oliver’s sudden glance in my direction. There were all sorts of people dressed in costumes, unrecognizable even if you knew them. That’s how awesome their disguises are.

I leaned against the wall. “So, about my proposition . . .”

He didn’t even look at me. “Forget it.”

I gasped. “What? But why not?” I thought frantically. I mean, I was really kidding about the changing myself bit! Why would I want to change for a guy? If he didn’t like me, then he’s a waste; but I know Isaiah isn’t like that.

I paused. At least… I hope he isn’t like that. He’ll accept me for who I am, right?

Oh, for crap’s sake. If he didn’t like me, I won’t die. I’m just interested in him.

“How about you introduce us,” I said with a persuasive grin.

“You already met him.”

My smile fell a little, realizing that he was correct. Well, this was awkward. What exactly did I want from this situation? I wanted to be Isaiah’s friend. I wouldn’t call myself desperate; I’m just not that type of girl to sit around and wait for the guy to come around. Lord knows how long that takes.

I tugged my hair before switching to fiddle with my bracelet. The silence stretched on between Oliver and I. I knew that he was thinking about his girlfriend so I decided to let him mingle with his… thoughts. I mean, really. Would you rather spend a Saturday with your girlfriend or your stepsister you just met three days ago?

“What’s she like?” I asked suddenly, surprising myself. But I noticed that I really did want to know. I’ve always been curious of relationships; I’ve always wondered how you can like someone so much that you’re never tired of looking into their eyes.

I never had that. I haven’t liked someone so much to the point where it hurts, knowing hat they’re hurt. I frowned thoughtfully. Or was that someone in love?

He was startled out of silence. “Who?” He frowned at me.

“Your girlfriend.”

He looked at me solemnly, probably deciding whether or not if I’m serious.

“Does she go to our school?” I prompted. Gosh, someone’s secretive.

He nodded once. “Yeah. She’s a senior.”

I snorted softly. “Of course.” Then I smiled. “Oh, so how long have you two been together?”

“What is this, twenty questions?”

“Hey, at least I’m trying to make a conversation here.” I tugged my hair before flipping it over my shoulders. “So how long?”

He sighed before smirking. “Two years.”

I gasped, gawking at him in complete disbelief. “Don’t lie.” He stared at me blankly. I squealed. “Damn, that’s excellent.” I tried picturing myself, staying with the same person I liked for two years.

. . . It didn’t work out too well. Notice how I’m constantly “hunting”? I’m disgusting, I know.

I kid! But really, I’m not a bad person. Sure, I’ll check with them, but that’s as far as it goes. I tilted my head contemplatively. So why am I pursuing Isaiah so darn hard?

Maybe it’s because I’m tired of standing aside while watching everyone else have someone love them so much that it hurts?

I paused.

Nah.

“Were you waiting long?”

I looked up at the voice and blinked. It was Isaiah, smiling at both of us. I looked at Oliver who had an eyebrow quirked, his lips pulled into that half smile half smirk.

“Maybe I’ll help you out, kid,” he said, low enough for me to only hear his words as he passed by me. Wide eyed, I stared at the spot he’d been standing before whirling around to see Isaiah smiling at me hesitantly.

A Cheshire grin slowly made its way to my lips. I barely concealed my glee.

Yeaaah, boy.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Death Note.