Happytown
o3
The next morning, as soon as I got up, I showered and sat myself on my bed and picked out my clothes. Makeup would be a hard, almost impossible task, seeing as how this house was void from any mirrors that hadn't been smashed in. I supposed I could use what I had: one of the pieces of fallen glass.
This was going to be difficult. I didn't have a compact mirror or anything, so, yeah—a piece of glass would work.
After getting myself ready, I went downstairs only to find that Ella wasn't up quite yet. I was surprised, because she had told me to get up early, as she had wanted me to take Lyre into town. Hadn't she gotten up to wake him?
However, as I walked into the kitchen, Lyre was already there, sitting at the table, tapping a tune with his forefingers against his bowl of cereal. Upon hearing me enter the room, his head shot up and his eyes widened in excitement.
"Babes!" he exclaimed. "You're just in time. Grab a spoon."
I regarded him warily. "What for?"
He gestured to his cereal bowl. "You can have some of my cereal. Here, pull a chair up." Even though he had told me to do it, he had done it himself. A chair was comfortably placed beside him, so close that he had practically trapped himself in his own chair, aside from the fact that he had one escape route—the left side. He was still staring at me even as the seconds ticked by.
"I'm okay," I declined. "Not hungry."
"Ah," he lifted his eyebrows suggestively, "not hungry for food, but. . ."
"Not hungry, for anything," I quickly added. I wavered. "Shouldn't we be going to town?"
He peered down at his cereal glumly. "We can't be alone there."
I rubbed my forehead.
"Unless," he piped up, suddenly chipper, "you're all for affection in public. Ah. You're a kinky one." When I looked at him, I saw that his eyes were bright. I allowed my shoulders to slump. Before I could think of any sensible reply, the doorbell rang.
"I'm already up," I told him when he made a move to answer the door. I walked to the porch and opened the door, expecting to see Viper.
Which I did.
"Hi," I smiled.
He smirked back. "Yeah, hey." He shoved the box he was carrying towards me. "Here we go again."
My laugh was slightly breathless. I took the pen he was offering me and almost dropped it when my fingers brushed against his. I hastily scribbled my signature on the documents that he had set up on top of the box of cookies.
"What's your name?" he suddenly asked me, just as I finished. I paused and peered up at him.
"Siam." I stared at him for awhile longer—had he already forgotten?
"Right," he nodded, noticing my look, and gazed around me for a moment, "Lyre told me that yesterday."
I tipped my head in an unenthusiastic nod and straightened, softly clearing my throat. He pulled the box to his chest and opened it with one hand, then grabbed one of the cookies. He closed the box, holding the cookie out at me.
His smirk widened as I stared at the cookie.
"Thank-you?" I tried, hesitantly reaching for it.
"I'm assuming you won't get one as soon as you show Lyre the box," Viper explained.
I smiled a little and at last took the cookie. "Aren't you sweet," I drawled.
He scoffed and handed me the box. I took it from him.
"You've got a little—" he gestured towards his face, running a finger along the bridge of his nose.
I frowned. "What?"
"Makeup," he finished. My hand flew to my own nose, where I felt something damp. Mascara. I smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, I, yeah—"
"Say 'hi' to the kid for me," he said, smiling a little, then turned and began walking down the steps. I watched him for a moment longer before slowly shutting the door. I shot a glimpse over my shoulder; at that moment, Lyre stepped into the room. His eyebrows lowered.
"Cookies," he said. "Gimme my cookies."
I stopped. "Well," I turned so I was completely facing him, "if you promise not to cause any trouble while we're in town," any trouble, like trying to grope me in public, "then you can have every cookie in here." I held up the cookie that Viper had personally given to me. "Along with this one."
He frowned, puckering his lips a little in thought. "What about mom?"
"We'll just tell her. . . that Viper never came." It felt odd to use the boy's name, but I had wanted to sound it out on my tongue. Viper.
Lyre shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I promise to be good." He brushed by me, snatching the box and cookie from me in the process. "However, I already know you like it when I'm naughty." He bit at the air as if to demonstrate his "naughtiness".
I turned away, disturbed.
It turned out that the town closest to the Fosters' home was called Happytown. It was a little weird, but. . . cute, I supposed. However, the further Lyre and I went into Happytown, the stranger the people became.
Everyone was smiling, laughing, playfully shoving each other. The atmosphere was delightful, but there was this undercurrent I could detect. People this happy had to be hiding something. It just went hand-in-hand.
"So," I broke the long-lasting silence between Lyre and I, as he was busy chomping on his cookies, "why did your mom want us to go to town?"
"Mom doesn't like to go to town herself," the boy said with a mouthful of crumbs, "so she sends me to get whatever I need." He grinned to himself, and some crumbs dropped out of his mouth and onto the sidewalk. "Mom says I should buy clothes today, but I want to buy cookies."
I snatched the box away from him. His eyes narrowed.
"You buy clothes, and you'll get your cookies," I levered.
"You can't do that every time you want me to do something," he placidly informed me. "I'll really get mad, and then you'll be sorry when I make you scream."
I stared down at him, a shiver crawling up my spine.
"Scream in a mixture of pleasure and pain, that is," he added, voice low with a certain huskiness that made me feel revolted. "Your punishment will involve a whip. A whip with spikes on it."
I turned away, stiffly, and continued to walk. I tried searching for a clothing store while trying to forget what Lyre was saying.
He continued, keeping in step with me, "It will also involve tweezers, for those hard-to-get places. And maybe a nail gun." He giggled to himself, shrill and piercing. "And a razor."
My God. I tried my hardest to conceal a shudder, but it won through.
"Ah, shuddering in anticipation, are you?" His voice was now sultry. Was he turning himself on?
I shoved the cookies in his face, more so to shut him up. "You keep them," I said, trying to make sure my voice was stable, "if you go in there and buy something nice." I pointed toward a clothing shop just a few steps away.
He nodded obediently, then looked at me for longer than necessarily. "Would you like to help me change?"
"I'm waiting out here," I said, almost defensively.
He rolled his eyes. "Always such a prude." He winked at me. "But don't worry, I dig it. I'm alright in the dominate roll—you'll see." With that, he skipped off towards the store, leaving me cringing in my spot. I turned away, but in mid-spin, I caught sight of someone that had me double-taking.
Someone was staring at me, rather fiercely. I almost felt burned from the gaze. It was a boy, older than me by maybe two or three years, with vibrant reddish brown hair which was messy and astray. Outlining his darkly ardent eyes was thick black eyeliner, which emphasized his chilling gaze. He was thin but he made thin look threatening; his stance was that of a scrapper.
However, despite his dangerous expression, I didn't feel afraid of him. I didn't know why. Maybe it was because he was the only one in sight who didn't appear so happy and carefree. I glanced at a passing girl who was holding hands with her boyfriend; she was grinning up at him with admiration and love. He, not noticing the look, seemed as at peace as he could ever be.
I wondered how I could ever feel that way. Part of me longed for that—a huge, desperate part.
My attention was once again pulled towards the tensed boy; he had honey-colored eyes that seemed a little too calm for his appearance. He was still staring at me, the scowl on his lips most likely permanent. I wanted to walk right up to him and ask him what the crap his problem was, but I strained myself not to.
I frowned as I watched him pull out a cigarette, light it with precision, and then take a long, drawn-out drag. He seemed relaxed as the smoke spread through his body. He exhaled, once again the aggravated boy he had been a second earlier.
What was his problem?
I nearly choked in shock when a familiar boy stepped up beside him.
Viper.
Now that I thought of it, the two seemed as if they could be friends. They weren't polar opposites or anything; Viper was just about calm enough to be able to handle a hothead like the boy beside him.
Viper caught my eye and gave a half-hearted wave. The boy beside him immediately hit Viper's shoulder, probably his way of asking, how do you know her?
Just at that moment, someone grabbed my hand. I ripped my hand away and whirled around to see Lyre innocently standing beside me, eyes bright and full of life. He held the box of cookies in one hand; in the other, he held two new shirts—a black one and a white and gray one.
"So your mother just trusts you with money?" I frowned.
"Usually I buy cookies. Usually I'd only buy one shirt and save the rest of the money for a box of cookies, but since you threatened me. . ."
I sighed and glanced back up at Viper. Now they were both watching me. Lyre moved up next to me, closer than necessary.
"That's the cookie-boy," he growled out, voice oddly cold, "and his messed up friend. I think the cookie-boy is trying to pull something on you," he elbowed my leg.
"Ouch," I moved away, then paused. "Like what?"
"He wants to fuck you."
My chest froze with an unfinished inhale. I closed my eyes. "Language, Lyre, and no, he doesn't want to. . . have sex with me."
"Oh yes. You're in his field, and he wants to plow you."
I cringed. He suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face into my stomach. I stiffened, lifting my arms away from him in alarm.
"My Siam," he insisted stubbornly. "I told him you were my tutor—and if I won't share cookies, I sure as hell won't share you!"
I dropped my face into my hands, thoroughly embarrassed, uncomfortable, and, of course, disturbed. There was nothing right about this.
A/N: oh lyre you silly sally.
Hugs&kissiesss to:
toxic-noodle725, Trishcbury, Driew, okey-dokes., SolisLuna, codyismypup, imames, BLUEEEyyy, K.B. Hanna, diamondewdrops, nefarious nature, Trapped Rabbit, Slideshow, Mellowdy, and xxreixx
- okey-dokes.: midterm studying, eckk. I just got over finals. noo fun. and yep, weekly updates, seeing as how we already have the story written out :b and lastly, long reviews are love! hahaaa.
- SolisLuna: ughh, I feel your pain. Little boys are weird. I had one named wyatt who always talked dirty to me.
- codyismypup: uhh! I'm not sure if you're replying to naffi or me! Haha. I've never seen the skeleton key. . . and neither has naff. I've been meaning to. Kind of. Sort of. maybe not, I dunno. Haha and don't worry—the romance is NOT between siam and lyre. "pedophile" is only the american spelling :p. Paedophile is right according to britain and canada. oo, ahh!
- K.B. Hanna: haha okay, the house is just old—the creaking floorboard is nothing. and by hypen do you mean semicolon? Or do you really mean hypen. haha, because naffi's program messes up her hypen's and dashes, so she gets "-" or "--" instead of "—". or maybe I'm way off course. Moving on! as for where lyre learned to swear? well. . . he just picked it up! haha. but why he chooses to swear is just to be rebellious. As for mr. Fuzzyboomboom. . . it's is a wooden spoon. It's full description is in chapter 2, when lyre and siam walk into the kitchen and ella is talking to it. as for the name "viper". . . well, he may not be the only one with a snake-related name :b
- Trapped Rabbit: lmfaooo. you're funny. Go write your own fic with that humour. Nono you'll be loved. I'll love you! Ja rule HAHA. KkKk im done. -peace-
- Slideshow: yes yes yes siam power. It was naffi's idea, not mine, okay. She looked upon my glorious email and said, "which shall we use. Part a or part b?" and part b was siam, so it was coo. Andnnn I heard from a bird that you love lyre. Why do you fall for such messed up peeps, iman. Do we need counselling for you. I'll pay. as long as you get better. -love embrace-
- xxreixx: not really any significance in the names, nope, except you'll see a lot more snake names later on.