Ashley parked her bike in a compound surrounded by a low fence.
She got the spare key from under the mat and unlocked the door.
"I'm home," she said to the empty house and laughed. She remembered her small sister would still be at school and her uncle would have gone to get some fertilizers from a distant shop.
She walked with great effort and entered her room.
She sank on the bed and grabbed a picture frame that was on her bedside table.
A man with lush curly blond hair was clothed in a black suit but he kept his tie over an eye like a one-eyed pirate and he had on a goofy look as the girl he tickled in his arms had her eyes closed and her mouth wide open in childish laughter.
They were both seated on a picnic blanket beside a small stream and a woman with long black hair had her arms thrown around the man in a loving gesture.
Ashley smi
Suzanne rubbed her sleepy eyes. She sat up on her bed and yawned, stretching both her hands."Really?! You're still in bed?!" Shane exclaimed as he barged into her room. "You're off to school?" she asked him with wide eyes and he nodded quite irritated."Yeah," he replied in a not-so-nice tone and walked out."Don't forget to lock up, Suzanne!" he yelled as he went out of the house.Suzanne panicked and got out of bed. Shane normally skipped the first period every day and always went to class around 9:00am or later even. If he was just off to class then...She's toast.She glanced around for a watch or a clock but all she saw was her damaged alarm clock on the floor of the bedside table.She moaned and grabbed the broken pieces."I just got this yesterday, Dad's gonna be mad," she muttered to herself. She could faintl
They all got to the bus stop. "Man, CIN Aiden's gonna pay me back for the transport fare I'm paying," Ethan grumbled as they got into the bus.Andrew went to the fourth row, counting from the back.Suzanne went to sit with him. Ethan and Ashley sat in the adjacent seat while Ryan sat up front, behind the driver."Here Suzanne, I saved yours for you," Ashley said as she passed her a box of cookies. "Thanks," Suzanne beamed."But I asked for it," Ethan pouted. Ashley gave him a stern look, "I gave you two boxes of cookies Ethan, and that's for Suzanne anyway."Soon they started chatting about the different neighborhood they were passing by.Suzanne opened the box and brought out one cookie, she crunched it and offered another to Andrew. "Want one?" she asked with her mouth full. "No," Andrew replied curtly, not taking his gaze away from the screen of his laptop. 
Suzanne bursted into the classroom. "Hey guys!" she bent and panted a little, it was obvious she had been running. "Sorry I'm late!""Hey Ryan," she said inbetween a few more pants.She looked up when she didn't hear anyone scold her for coming late.She saw that Andrew was using his laptop with his headphones on quite undisturbed while Ryan, Ethan and Ashley were watching Gwen and Aiden.Gwen held on to Aiden and was shaking him thoroughly, she was super pissed off as she yelled at him.Aiden had a glint of annoyance in his eyes as he looked away from her.Suzanne walked up to Ashley."What's going on?" she asked in whisper.Ashley giggled and covered her mouth."Actually, the copies of the pictures came in just this morning in a package and when Coach Gwen opened it she was still commenting on h
Suzanne, Andrew and Anna walked the dark street lit up by street lamps.Anna was a bit ahead of them. She had on her brother's headphones and she was listening to some music as she walked."Your sister is quite something," Suzanne commented when the atmosphere was a bit awkward.Anna had insisted on watching a live soccer match then they headed down to Ashley's pet center that she volunteered in. Anna was stoning the bread at the ducks when she ought to feed them with it. Ashley was horrified with what Anna was doing for amusement.Later on when they were at the park, Anna, Ashley, Ethan and she played hide and seek. Though it turned to be quite worrisome when Ethan had found everyone except Anna.Ryan was super annoyed he had to join them in the search for Anna and to keep Andrew from knowing his sister was missing but it was futile as three minutes later Andrew boredly walked u
"It's official! I hate E-rank!" Ethan growled annoyed.A fifteen year old named Tim walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, "Hey kid, you missed a leaf."Ethan grumbled some more before raking away the leaf. Ashley grabbed the plastic bag filled up with leaves and tied it up neatly. She then kept it beside the trash bin."I have more rubber gloves in case you need some," Tim told them.Squad 10 grunted in response. "Cheer up now, you're doing a real heroic work," Tim went on to say in a bid to motivate them.Ryan paused in what he was raking and glared at him from the corner of his eyes. "God so help me if Mr cheerful balls doesn't shut up I'm gonna shove the end of this rake down his throat," he snarled. Andrew who heard him chuckled mildly."How come Andrew gets to use a device and we don't?!" Ethan exclaimed annoyed.Suzanne kept on
Suzanne, Andrew and Anna walked the dark street lit up by street lamps.Anna was a bit ahead of them. She had on her brother's headphones and she was listening to some music as she walked."Your sister is quite something," Suzanne commented when the atmosphere was a bit awkward.Anna had insisted on watching a live soccer match then they headed down to Ashley's pet center that she volunteered in. Anna was stoning the bread at the ducks when she ought to feed them with it. Ashley was horrified with what Anna was doing for amusement.Later on when they were at the park, Anna, Ashley, Ethan and she played hide and seek. Though it turned to be quite worrisome when Ethan had found everyone except Anna.Ryan was super annoyed he had to join them in the search for Anna and to keep Andrew from knowing his sister was missing but it was futile as three minutes later Andrew boredly walked u
"So, you're to ply this route and you'd be back before evening," Alex told them and handed Andrew a map. Ashley carried the large well wrapped gift basket they ought to deliver. It was also decorated with lots of ribbons."Hurry back and don't dwaddle on the way, it seems like it'll rain soon," Alex observed as he glanced out of the window. "Okay, bye LIN!" Ethan waved as they all walked out of his office."It's a bit farther than I thought," Ryan said aa he glanced at the map he collected from Andrew. "Eh?" Ethan poked his head under Ryan's arm that was holding the open map."Go away Ethan!" Ryan forcefully shoved Ethan's face away."Why don't one person just deliver Miss Tina's gift to her boyfriend while the rest of us can do other recreational things before going home?" Suzanne suggested."Great idea!" Ethan exclaimed, halting on the road so suddenly a guy that was walking be
William looked at the basket and the five kids that stood in front of him."Tina sent you guys right?" he questioned doubtfully."Un-un, and we've come to deliver the surprise gift basket," Ashley said with a smile."Surprise!" Suzanne and Ethan said together in a nervous way.William collected the basket. Tina never gives me gifts this large. He thought but he then shrugged it off. Ehn....never mind. "Thanks," he beamed at them and closed his door, earger to see what laid inside the basket."Phew!" Ethan sighed in relief, "That went well!" They all started walking to LIN's office. "I guess," Suzanne laughed. "It's not like we did anything wrong, we just changed her surprise gift a bit that's all," Ryan commented. Andrew just walked on quietly beside Ryan with his hands tucked into his pocket.Ashley smiled.&nbs