Chapter Four

"The repair guy will be coming in today," Helen says as she sauntered into my room.

I hadn't heard her approaching and jumped a bit at the sound of her voice. I was still crouching on the floor staring at the picture of Emmett shirtless. She stared down at me and I could tell she wanted to know why I was sitting on the floor, even though she didn't ask.

"You mean he's going to be coming in here?" I asked detesting the idea of some perverted old guy rummaging around through my stuff.

"No, he will fix the door from outside the house," she replies narrowing her eyes at me.

With that sarcastic sassy attitude, most times I had to pinch myself just to be reminded she was an adult. At least everyone's right when they said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Helen was like the saucy sister I've always wanted, but instead, I have stuck an only child with a sassy teen as a mom.

I grimaced eyeing my bedroom while Helen dialled one of her contacts cellphone.

"And..." she commands turning her attention back to me, with the cellphone still at her ear, "be down in ten."

She left the room with her heels clicking all the way down the hall and the stairs before disappearing. The sun had been out and in full effect since I awoke. I stood from the floor and walked over to the closet, retrieving my satchel. I dropped my cellphone inside with my purse before throwing it over my shoulder and leaving the room.

The sound of laughter echoed around the house. I frowned seeing Adam and Brett sitting at the counter in the kitchen laughing their heads off. I walked past the both of them doing my best to ignore their presences and pretended they didn't exist as I headed over to the cupboards getting some snacks. I tossed a bag of Doritos and an apple to go with it. Their annoying laughter was getting hard to ignore and I found it harder to continue the pretence. I walked over to where they sat and dropped my satchel on the countertop hard enough to get there attention.

"What are you morons laughing at?"

Brett held his cellphone out for me to see. On a loop was a six-second video of me wide-eyed and gawking when the door toppled to the floor. I clenched my teeth, balling my hands into fists.

These assholes posted it online.

I snatched the cell phone from Brett's hand, who shouted at me to give it back. He didn't dare to approach me or I'd punch him and he knew it. My thumb moved over the screen slightly. It had already amassed over two thousand views and was a source of great hilarity.

"You piece of shit..." I growl, gripping the phone tightly in my hand.

Adam had a smug look on his face while Brett seemed only concerned about his cellphone that I was squashing in my hand. Maddened I held it out to him and he reached for it, but before he could take it, I let it slip through my fingers and tumble into his glass of orange juice.

"Hey!..." He exclaims, grabbing his cellphone from the glass.

"This is brand new!" He cries outraged.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you posted the video idiot." I hiss.

"You are the worst stepsister in the world," Adam spat.

I smirked at him, "thanks for the compliment, I do try to outdo myself daily."

He scowled at my remark, while Brett got paper towels to dry his cellphone.

I tossed my satchel back over my shoulder and glared at the both of them before walking towards the exit. Adam's eyes followed me across the kitchen angrily and I stopped to look at them over my shoulder threateningly.

"Next time I won't be dropping it in a glass of orange juice, mess with me again, and you will be swimming seven seas for it bitch."

I left, ignoring the jeers Adam was throwing at me. Helen was still on her call when I got outside and she didn't spare a glance.

It was most irritating, not to mention utterly and completely ludicrous how Adam and Brett got accepted into college. I scoffed at the thought. It was almost like they just permit any set of morons these days.

I hadn't heard my stepdad,- I was still not used to calling him that yet- Victor leave for work this morning. I always wondered why he chose to join the security force, seeing he was such a nice and decent person; nothing like his sorry excuse for a son. If it wasn't for their striking resemblance I would have sworn he had left the hospital with the wrong kid.

"Are you coming or not?" Helen's voice rang out.

"Why are you always so impatient woman?" I ask irritated.

"Just get in the car."

I walked down the steps to the passenger side of her SUV getting inside. I tossed the bag to the back and pulled on the seat belts as Helen too climbed in. The engined roared to life and she carefully backed down the narrow driveway and out onto the street. Already bored, I turned on the stereo, and music seeped through the speakers. I skipped one song after the other frowning at all the horrible music that was coming through the speakers, absolutely nothing worth listening to. I pushed the off button and Helen looked over at me then back to the road.

"Are you okay?" She asks eyes on the road, with both hands on the steering wheel.

I pulled the cellphone from my jeans pocket and reached around to the backseat for the earbuds in the side pockets of my bag before replying.

"I'm fine," I mumble, sticking the buds into my ear, and scrolling through the playlist for a song.

In about six minutes the car had pulled up to the store. She parked in her parking space and we got out of the vehicle but not before I had grabbed the satchel from the backseat. Helen was a florist. The store was already open as usual and I passed the flower displays on the outside and headed inside.

"Hey Phoebe," I call to one of the two other girls working here.

She was only nineteen. We weren't necessarily best friends but it didn't hurt having someone to talk to while I was stuck in this hell hole every weekend.

"Hey Secret, how's it going?" She asks a bit too chirpy, too early.

"If you want to know how I'm managing being restraint, then not very well."

She giggled. That she did a lot. She was awfully girly and bubbly in her sweetheart neckline mini dresses, but still, she was a ringer for the guys who often came in just to flirt with her.

Helen stared over at me and I scoffed and got to work.

"There's this party this weekend, do you think your mom would allow you to come?" Phoebe asks quietly after Helen had disappeared.

Our eyes made contact and held each other gaze.

"Ba ha ha ha!" We chortled.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard all week," I choke out through the laughter.

She cracked up, "Oh God like you care what your mom says."

"Whose party?" I ask still chuckling.

"Some college guys," she finishes giggling, "Come with?"

"Why not."

Someone walked in and stopped nearer to the entrance looking at the display of roses at the window and sniffing them. Phoebe smiled and left walking over to the guy. He looked like he was in his early twenties, twenty-three would be my best guess. She flashed her hair to the side and looked down at the roses, along with the tulips and carnations on display nearby while talking to him like she did all the young hot male customers.

He didn't seem to be paying any attention to the flowers, as his eyes were too busy traversing her body before making contact with her chest area, then her eyes. I honestly had no idea how she did that. She flirts in just the most innocent way, no one would have expected it.

I rolled my eyes. Whoever he came in to get flowers for - most likely a girlfriend-would have the shock of her life if she were to find out about this. After about a minute he decided on what bouquet arrangement he wanted, red roses mixed with some pink ones.

He walked to the cashier where the other girl with black bangs and was about twenty-seven cashed it while Phoebe went to work doing up the bouquet. He plucked a pink rose from the bunch and handed it to Phoebe after she was through and she accepted it with a girlish grin. The guy left soon after and Phoebe strutted over to where I was.

"Nice rose," I comment.

"I think I like his contact better," she grins displaying his business card for me to see.

I gave her a half-smile with a nod.

"Hey, what about that college guy you like, your sexy neighbour?" She asks still smiling her rather broad toothy smile at me, "em-mi-no-me-et something?"

"Emmett?" I ask then shrugged remembering our brief conversation earlier.

A few more people came in but I didn't bother to look who they were, and just left all the workload to Phoebe. She disappeared walking around showing the different varieties of flowers in the shop.

A kid came running around the room touching just about everything he could reach.

"Hey!" I call moving towards him.

He gripped the flower in his hand and it broke. He looked no more than six years old by my judgment. The kid stared up at me and I fell to a squat so I could equal in height with him.

I gave him a friendly grin then whispered into his ear.

"Keep picking the petals from the flowers kid, and I'll do to you what kryptonite does to Superman."

The look of pure horror morphed onto his tiny face and he turned and ran away screaming. I grinned.  

Good, that'll teach him.

I got up from my squat and began walking back to where I was earlier, chuckling at the terrified kid who was searching for his mother. I wasn't paying much attention to the direction in which my legs were taking me and I collided full force with someone.

"Ouch!" I wince, "watch where you're going you-"

I stopped mid-sentence gaping at the person staring back at me. He looked just as shocked, but that soon disappeared right after.

"Secret! Now is not the time to flirt!" Helen yells from somewhere behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to give her the eye but couldn't find her.

"Your name is Secret?" Blade asks "was your mom high when she had you?"

I gritted my teeth and spat, "No she had me on the floor, you idiot."

"Is this how you talk to all your customers?" He asks rather amused.

I rolled my eyes at him then smirked.

"How's that nose?"

"It will heal," he says smirking back at me, both hands tucked into the pockets of his black jeans.

I eyed him from top to bottom. He was wearing another black boot, with black jeans and a white tee-shirt.

Not bad.

My eyes travelled back to his stupid face and saw him watching me. I stared at him mentally measuring him up like some sort of fighting opponent, then snapped.

"What do you want idiot? I have things to do."

"Are you always this fiesty?" He asks not taking his eyes off of me.

I snorted, and he leaned against the nearest table displaying some flowers.

"You know, if your mother had waited another day to have you, she would have given birth to the Grinch." He says.

I scoffed at him.

"If your mother had just given birth a day earlier maybe you would have been born with a mouth instead of that butt hole attached to your face."

He cracked another half-grin, which infuriated me. The stare behind his eyes was not warm at all.

"I think you have work to do," he says flicking his nose with his finger.

"Whatever asshole."

"Some advice," he says staring at me as if I was something morbid, "don't play with fire, you just might get burnt."

I sneered and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Trust me Blade, the world can do without another wannabe bad boy."

He glowered at me, then spoke coolly.

"Who said I was pretending?" he replied with a sheepish grin spread slightly across his face, "and still you're nothing but a stupid little girl who thinks she's tough."

I smirked up at him,

"No need to look so scared Blade, I don't bite...without a cause."

He finally cracked a full grin and I grinned back at him mockingly.

Blade reached out and took up one of the vases on the table which was put there by Helen. Vases with flowers also containing shells, colourful rocks some with sands, marbles and water at the bottom. He removed the flowers from one of those vases and dropped them on the table and moved towards me slowly, staring me in the eyes. I wasn't scared of him and I think by now he would have figured. He tilted the vase and slowly dumped the contents from the inside to the floor at my feet.

"I don't play to lose." He snarls which would have sent chills down anyone's spine, but not mine.

He returned the empty vase to the table and walked to the exit. I watched him with immense hatred as he strutted out the door and over to his parked motorcycle. The thing roared to life noisily and he looked back at the shop and I walked over to the window watching him bitterly.

Blade rode over and came to a halt by the window where we could see each other clearly. He stared at me through the glass that separated us and I stood frigidly with my fists in a tight ball as if I was going to strike any at moment.

I glared at him and he revved the engine which responded with menacing roars, only causing fumes to form blankets at his feet. Just before he made his glorious exit, Blade used his hand to remove his helmet, winked at me then puckered his cherry lips and blew me a kiss.