The house rattled violently but the young man didn’t mind. He only grinned, closing his eyes and took a sip of his tea. “Isn’t today lovely?”, He asked, turning to the Persian cat, whose name was Lovelie. The man wore a navy blue yukata and sat on an old english chair. He seemed close to being 26 but it’s hard to tell when he stands 5’11” and tries to be as wise as he can. His hair was a caramel brown, and it was pretty unkempt. It looked like he jun ran his fingers through it and tied the top part into a ponytail. “Come on, Lovelie. Time for grooming”, He stood up setting his cup of tea down, and walked to an empty room next to the one he was in, the cat following him. He switched on the TV and put Lovlie on the baby table he had bought for her. “This coming in a gang of likely to say 15 year old boys have been drug dealing with local resident, John Carselle”.

Lovelie meowed. “I’m sorry you had to hear that Lovelie”, He said, grooming his persian furball, “looks like I’ll be out again”.

 

1rst POV

 

The man scowled, running ahead of me. I turned to see red and blue sirens just around the corner. I turned back and suddenly tripped. The cars stopped by me and the Black uniformed men surrounded me, chaining me to what I now go to. Prison.

 

the next day

 

Her bare hands slammed the desk, “What the hell were you thinking?!”, she yelled. My head was low, not wanting to look her in the eyes. “I sent you to school, raised you like a normal kid and this is what you do?!”, She exclaimed. “uh , ma'am”, the officer tried to but in.

“Yes?”, she suddenly acted sweet.
“You could pay bail to keep missy here out”, the officer formed as if she didn’t know.

The she-devil glared at the man “What if I told you this is the 5th time I had bailed her out and this is the last time I will!”, she exclaimed leaving the room. I slumped back into the chair staring at the cop,”shouldn’t have told her”, I muttered under my breath. He sighed and sat in the chair across from me. “Listen, I’m not locking you up in juvie, I think you have a lot of potential and that you just have a rough past”, He said, “since your mother doesn’t seem quite to happy about you but we don’t want you hear either. As I heard the judge doesn’t want to see you according to your last visits. So we asked for families to take you in-”

“woah, isn’t that a bit ahead for just one night?”, I interrupted.
“we actually have been planning this since the judge last saw you. Well anyway, no family wants a misfit teen to be horrible mentors for their kids but we did find this one man who will take you-”

“wait, a man?”, I asked.

“yes, is there a problem?”, he asked.

“It’s a man, who is alone! Who knows what he might do to me! I don’t even know this guy! You don’t even know this guy!”, I complained.

“well apparently he was a childrens therapist”, he informed.
“That doesn’t change anything! It just makes it worst!”, I paced back and forth throwing my arms down at every word I say.

“Well, we checked with his patients, They told me, he was a stay at home therapist and had private sessions with them and they all turned out as perfect kids and they aren’t harmed”, he said. We heard a knock at the door, I stared intently hoping it wasn’t my mother but no. It was a strange man in a blue robe. “Hello, my name is Mr. Hashi, you must be Anabelle”, he flashed a smile. Oh, yes. Something terrible was going to happen.

 

2: new home

“Remember, you need to pack all of your clothes”, The so called Mr. Hashi tells me, “You won't be home for a long while” . I just got back from school and no mother was to be found in the tennant. I quickly ran up to my room and locked my door then switched on my laptop.

message from xxKILLxEMxALLxx to THExDARKxSORCERER

*click*

 

[KM]-Heyyy, Annieeeeeeeeeeee

come parteh with meeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! AH GOT POTATOES!!!!!!!

(u might not get this until a few months after XP)

 

[DS]- they let me out Corrence, but Im moving away. They decide to put me with some mentor guy that supposed to fix my behavior

 

[KM]- got tired of u

 

[DS]- It was only the fifth time, i dont see why he makes it look so bad. maybe it becuz he’s impatient ….. or he just hates me as much as the officers do

 

[KM]- Well you do manage to talk back a lot and the first two times was because you attacked the officers when they tried to bring you into the court

 

[DS]- stfu well gtg. have to pack right now the creep mentor is down stairs and im supposeed to be packing

 

[KM]- ALRIGTH BYEEEEE

 

[DS]- lates

 

xxKILLxEMxALLxx  has logged off

 

I signed out of computer and shoved all of my clothes, which were laying on the floor, into my black duffel bag. “No, mean to rush you but Diana gets rather upset if I’m late”, I heard Mr. Hashi call from down stairs. Wait, Doesn’t he live alone? I didn’t respond and looked out the window.

Mom’s car was in the driveway.  I hadn’t even heard her come in or anything. I quickly closed the bag and rushed down stairs just to meet right up with the witch.
I was only to be greeted by her tugging on my arm into the kitchen.

“Why is there a foreign man in my living room and why are you here?”, She pointed at me.

“Well, the police let me off, and since you don't want me for the rest of the time of how many days I’m supposed to stay in juvie, they gave me a mentor who is supposed to well mentor me”, I ranted, “which means I’ll be living with him for 8 months. See? You’re able to get of me for the first few months you knew me”.

She sighed, “don’t forget to pack your other clothes”. We never had a great connection since my dad left but they were young when they had me, so of course it wouldn’t have worked out.

 

“Here we are, please take off your shoes and leave them on the mat there”, he set one of my other bags,”Diana, we have a guest who will be staying here for a few months”. No one responded but a fat yet furry cat came out.

“That’s Diana?”, I pointed to the cat.

“No, that’s Lovelie, Diana is the house”, he smiled and picked up the cat. Diana is the house’s name, this man must be crazy.

“This is your room, no one uses this room so do what you may to it”, he set my bag down on a plain wood dresser. the room wasn’t so big, but it was a few feet wider than my old one. All the walls were white and the floor was just wood. The room had a walk in closet but not much was in that either. No one really used this room. I looked out the window beside the plain white Ikea bed and set my bags on there.

“I think I’ll just have a look around town”, I mumbled and went back down stairs.

I slipped on my shoes and took off to the markets not far by. Everyone stared at me oddly. This is a very little town and it was different from home, so they knew nothing about my crime. Maybe it was my deep and dark depressing clothes. I got these from the Goodwill, since they were the only things I could afford for this weather. Maybe it was my hair, it had to be. I did shave half of it off this summer. Maybe my pale skin, maybe my crooked teeth. Maybe it’s everything about me. I appeared to them as a suicidal freak, I know they thought that! I cleared every thought from my mind and entered the one place I knew I’d liked. The Library. As I walked in, no one noticed me. Which I loved, it meant I could just be the nerd I am over the Infernal Device Series , Beautiful Redemption, The Mrs. Marridge project, The Medici Curse, Allie’s Ghost Hunters, the World’s Worst Fairy Godmother, Girl Genius and-

“OOF!!”, I bumped into someone.

“I am so sorry,I wasn’t paying attention”, I quickly grabbed all the books she had dropped and handed them to her.

“Oi, It’s alright,” She got up and took the books, “I was carrying a whole lot so I couldn’t see”. She smiled and set the books on a near by desk. “I’m Kairi Martinez, I work here so if you need a book just ask”. She held out a hand for me to shake. I scanned her for a little. She was the total similiar to me, she wore a school girl’s uniform in the most sloppiest way, the shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a band t-shirt. Her hair was a long ponytail going down her back. She wore a choker but I found it odd that this one had a chain coming down as if it were a tie. She wore stockings and didn’t plan to hide that and black boots. I took her hand and shook it. All I knew was that we were wearing something we love in a place we love and we were both thinking the same thing because we bursted out laughing. Yup, we were gonna be the greatest motherflippin friends who would bail each other out. “Yea, I kinda thought I wouldn’t get passed the innocent act”, Kairi said.

“You couldn’t even reach it”, I said.

“Well anyway, what’s your name?”

“Anabelle Simons”

“Well nice to meet you Anabelle, now I will excuse myself to putting books into random shelves”

“may I help? I have nothing else to do, I literally just moved into town”

“sure”, She handed me a stack of books, “The go into the sci-fi section down in that corner over there, I’ll be in the kid’s area which isn’t hard to find if you follow the noise and maybe after this we could do something cool since you’re new”.

I slightly smiled at her and took the books. She never asked me if I really knew how to organize the books or anything, maybe she’s just here for the reading and paycheck. Who am I kidding of course she is, who is ever in it for work. After putting the books away in the order they should be, curse my OCD, I went to where Kairi had told me to meet her.I saw her helping a boy find a book he wanted, which lead me to think that she had one small spot for something. She spotted me and quickly ran up to me.

“Well it took you long enough, I need to timeout before we go anywhere”, Kairi pulled on my arm as if we were going to get our nails done.

“So what do you want to do? Wait! How old are you?”, She quickly stopped.

“15”, I answered.

“Still a kid, I see. I’m 24”, She then pulled on my arm and took me to a run down garbage alley with a group of boxes piled in 16 rows of who knows how many, “People come here to sing covers but you have to talk to the leader to get in. Meet me here at around 7, got it?”, I nodded, “Great, I have to head home now. I’ll see you later kay? Sorry, I wasted our time running”. After that Kairi left the dumpyard, I nodded to myself and smiled. I just made a new friend….who is 24…..who my mentor will most likely dislike. My smile vanished. phooey!

 

3: meeting him

I walked into the house known as Diana and slipped of my shoes. “You’re back! How was your walk?”, I heard Mr.Hashi in the kitchen.

“It was fine, made a new friend”, I replied.

“Really? What’s her name?”, He asked.

“Kairi Martinez, she invited me to hang out later on today”

There was a silence. I walked into the kitchen finding him with his arms crossed and a curious look on his face. “Kairi Martinez? The librarian who does nothing?”

I only nodded, looking down at the clean floor to my socks.

“....As long as you’re back by 10. You can go”, He sighed, “This is your first day here and I don’t want to ruin it”.

  Was that what being concerned was? I expected him to be mad, yell at me, do something, anything, to make me feel guilty. Wasn’t that what parents were supposed to do.

heh, parents.

My mother never really cared where I was, she practically wasn’t home at all. I don’t know what parents really do, only what the actors do on TV. Do they make fun of you on purpose and love it? Do they really have stupid fights? Do they really try to take a spotlight? Do they over exaggerate? Are some of them really bad at cooking? Do they put chips in their kids to track them down? Or is all that a lie? If yes, then what do they do?

 

    My curiosities are odd but I really never had a real parent. My dad left before I even know him and left me with my mother, who left me with my grandmother till I was 13. when I started being rebellious. I came to think the officers were right, no one wants me.

 

    7:00

 

“Thank you, Mr, Hashi!”, I smiled and automatically nodded my head.

“You are welcome, Anabelle. Remember 10:00”, He put on that creepy grin of his.

“I will, see you later!”, I walked away from the car and quickly spotted Kairi.

“Hey!”, She called out after spotting me.
“Hey!”, I replied.

“Hmm, Black Honda”, She examined the car leaving, “I see..”

“Is there something wrong?”, I quickly asked. She looked so curious, I was worrying.

“No, just means something. Come on, let’s go!”, She dragged me into the dumpyard which completely different from when I saw it last time. The row of boxes now looked like a stage and it felt like a whole concert.

“Hey! Kai!”, a group of girls called out and ran to us, “Hey, you must be Anabelle”.

“Yup, this is she. Ana, this is Ellie, Jane, Tara, Cornelius, Victoria: mainly known as Vic, and Zoey”. Ellie was slightly shorter than I was, about 5’ 4” exactly, she had red curly hair and freckles to compliment it. She was wearing black clothes like me but more in a Kairi sort of style. Jane was the average blond, I guess. Well not average, she wasn’t wearing hipster clothing. Just a flannel and black skinny jeans. Tara was probably the tallest out of all and wore a bob cut. Her style was too mature for me, not like in a slut way, but in a business way. Cornelius looked like fun, she had auburn curls and a lot of them, She looked Caucasian, and wore black eyeliner. She was the shortest I have to say. Vic, not to be rude, but I thought she was a guy at first, like one of those skater boy guys. “They are all around your age, pretty good for what I could find in just 2 hours, huh?”, Kairi nudged my arm. I slightly nodded and smiled.

“Alright then, I’ll be heading off to the corner over there if you need anything, and you girls treat her nice and introduce her to others”, Kair ordered then left to her destination.

“So this is your first time in the yard, huh? Don’t worry, it may be bizarre at first but you’ll get used to it”, Vic informed me.

“Yea..”, I responded.

4: next day

 

    “No, nothing. I might head out again tomorrow”, I say and turn to the window.

"You sure? Because I got a call from Kairi and-", I cut of Hashi.

"What did she say?"

“That you seemed jumpy during after but when I asked her if she knew, and she repelled my question”, he tilted his head slightly and looked confused. I admit to hating that look, it easily means "not to be rude but is there anything I should know about, you should tell me now". Well not really like that. His eyes were squinted and you never knew if they were actually open. He keeps a frown and one eyebrow rises, and yes a head tilt.

I sighed, "met new people, Kairi acted strange when I got there and identified the car then when I met this guy supposedly name Aoi she-", I stopped and looked at him as he stiffened a bit, "sorta did what you're doing now...", it took him a while to respond. His.face cleared from shock as he began to show his grin again.

"Sorry to worry you, I have no intention to but please for your own safety, keep no contact with him", He tried not to stutter. I nodded and watched as he left the room, “And just leave your dish in the sink, I’ll clean it later”, He called down the hallway.

 

Kairi’s POV

 

 I woke up to in the black designed bed, I had for quite a while. I looked around, from my dresser to my closed door which was just a mirror. The walls were blue and it wasn’t that big of a room. My computer chair was slightly out with a duffel bag, that was not very familiar to me, sitting there. I jumped of my bed.

“Ow!”, I heard a very familiar voice and jumped back onto the bed.

“Oops, sorry Aoi!”, I quickly apologized.

He gave me a scowl and turned in his sleeping bag by my bed, “This is why I should have taken the bed”, I heard him mumble.

I said I was sorry! Plus he would have done the same mistake. I tried to step over him and tripped, falling into my supposedly-a-dresser-but-really-a-desk-with-a-box-of-clothes-under-it and looked at my contacts and glasses. I sighed, “eenie-meenie-minie-mo lets go kill that effing hoe yadda yadda yadda yadda maury said you’re not the father”, my finger pointed at the contacts.

I grabbed my glasses to only notice Aoi was giving me a funny look.

“You still say that?”, Aoi asked me his face still not clear of surprise, finally sitting up in his bag.

“Yea, it really helps”

“Why can’t you say the original one. the kids use”,

“because its not as fun”, I say throwing on a cream cami and a pair of black cargo shorts.

“Its just words helping you choose something”

“well maybe I want it to be fun” and from that we started to argue.

I didn’t know my mother walked in, she was too short to notice but her voice wasn’t quiet.

“Callate!!”, she yelled in between us. She pinched his ear first then mine yelling the Spanish word in our ear again and left. I could hear the kids out the room laughing at us.

“I want the bed tonight”, he says laying back down.
“No way, I grew up in that bed, from being 7 to not even trying to move out of this house”, I say putting on a jacket.

“I’m only staying here for a few days, the least thing you could do is give me your bed”

“No, my room, my rules”

“huh, so that's why it’s filthy”, He shot back.

“Well it was clean to you came here”

“I don’t think a pair of lace underwear on the floor was necessarily be in a clean room”, He pointed to the little unmentionable on the floor. I quickly rushed to them and picked it up.

“Whatever, your mom made us breakfast”, He says getting up.

I quickly rushed to the door and slammed it, hoping my mother was downstairs out of the tenement. “I respect nudist and all but this is my family! Put on clothes, Cochino!”, I ordered him as he stands there not caring.

 

After another dispute, we finally got to breakfast but rather late. Well not as late as Aaron, he always tries to seem perfect. The kids with us were, well it was just  Ellie, Jane, Tara, Cornelius, Vic, Aaron, Jake, and two kids named Elliot and Joseph. Everyone was around and thats what I liked but not today nor yesterday.It was because of the stingy man, I share a room with. The only reason he got in was because he won my mother over.

“Anyway, who was that girl you were with yesterday?”, Aoi asked.

“She was just a girl I met at the library”, I say. It was a lie though, Kenji told me to keep an eye on her, if she goes out. So I decided to befriend her so nothing gets suspicious. And I couldn’t tell Aoi that because he despises Kenji and is not supposed to know that I still keep in contact with him and the same goes for Kenji, he’s not supposed to know that I still talk to Aoi. Well, I don’t really like Aoi but Kenji’s not supposed to know my mother is housing him. Did I forget to mention Kenji has the same hatred for Aoi?

“Her name is Anabelle”, Tara says.

“She’s new”, Vic replies
“Lives on Illwood Lane”, How did Cornelius know that?

I stared at the three girls, hoping they understand they keep quiet.

“Illwood Lane, Now we all know I can’t go there”, Aoi says, “Its too far and I have no time”. Wrong, Kenji lives there.

“I’m leaving, don’t come look for me”, I get up leaving the dish on the table.

“Who would?”, I hear someone mumble. I ignored and left to the library on my regular boring day.

 

5: the great painting

third POV

The young man woke up to the sun shining into his window, but something was odd. He looked blind, of course he was not though. It was just his pale blue eyes gleaming at the sun rise. Nice thought, huh? Well, he thought he should have probably closed it at first, meaning to when he woke up, but he looked passed it and sat up. "Today seems lovely," he says turning to his Persian cat. He gets out of bed and looks for his best clothing. Sadly, he only had a simple black T-shirt and jeans. He sighed still looking at the window, "It would help if you closed the curtains but I guess sometimes you can't do stuff", He says and closes the curtains himself. The window rattles a little, "Would you wake up Anabelle for me?", The young man asks. The window shook again, but this time with more force to be heard out the house.

"Thank you", he says smiling at the ceiling. He through on his clothes and looked in the mirror. His hair was all messy and only did the usual. He ran his fingers through the parts that needed a combing most and tried to arrange it in his most preferable style.

'might as well use chopsticks if I can't wear my best clothes', he thought. He remembered he used to do that in high school, all the kids picked on him because Hashi meant chopsticks and well, that was his name. He knotted his hair up into a bun, pinning it with the sticks. His fringe was pulled back lazingly, a few strands of it coming out. 'the comments on this were not so lovely but who says the world has to be' he thought. He walked out of the room and into the hallway that has no decor. Just its plain light brown carpet and beige (white at first) walls. He went down the stairs and into the poorly decorated kitchen. The young man walked to the corner drawer of the counter and pulled out a carton of Marlboro's. He slipped one out and lit it. "Diana, open a window", He ordered. Diana shook the window again a bit violent and opened it. Of course the violent shaking meant to stop smoking but he never cared, he payed the papers that kept her alive. He saw that Anabelle was out of bed and looked awfully tired. "morning, you could make anything you'd like", he says, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaling a puff of smoke. Ana opened the fridge to see only foreign snacks and few basic foods.

"Not much of a variety, don't you think?", she says looking through, "did you hear the windows shaking, it was like a earthquake or something".

"Just try to make something, I'll head to the store while you're at it", The young man responds and heads to the door, "and it's `an' earthquake, not a earthquake. And yes, I asked Diana to wake you up".

Anabelle froze not knowing what to say or think.

The young man walk out of the store buying actual needs for his fridge. He thought he'd check on Kairi knowing about last night. Even if it was a short encounter, Aoi knew how to sneak into a lot of things. He drove to the library, and headed inside of the two glass doors. The young man walked to the check-in only to see a 5'3 Hispanic ducking under her desk.

"Hello, sir. How may I help you?", another woman asks.

"I am looking for Kairi Antoinette Martinez-Costello", he says.

The woman smiled and lightly kicked the girl under.

"Ai, ah, no hablo ingles", the girl says. He shook his head and called her name. She stands up reluctantly and sits on the computer chair.

Kairi's POV

Of course I knew we had to talk about it, so I said what usually said when I was 5, "Ai, ah, no hablo ingles". And I knew I didn't win when he said my name. I slowly stood up and slumped onto the computer chair.

"Are you on your break?", he asks. I was the owner's granddaughter so of course I could take of when I wanted and Kenji knew that. So, I nodded anyway, "good, meet me at the car". He stood outside waiting by the black Honda, honestly I wasn't really into the car but it was okayish, I guess. We both got in and sat in silence as he turned the vehicle on. "Did you know Aoi was out of jail if do how long?", he asks.

Yes, I knew. About a week ago.

"No, I didn't. If I were to, my grandfather would have told me", I lied.

"still no contact with him?", Kenji asks. I've started talking to him 5 years ago.

"No, haven't spoken to him in 11 years", I say.

"Now, what are we going to do about Anabelle?", he asks. I suggest we take her out of the state, but I shrugged. I felt like a little girl again, when everyone chose my sister except me, I was the little girl who only held secrets. Because I wasn't pretty, I wasn't smart, I wasn't social, I wasn't like Florence. She was popular, a model and would stomp on anyone who would take her fame away. Then Aoi, Diana and Kenji moved here. The three always hanged with me and knew nothing about Florence, and I had to keep it that way. I knew Florence would trash them our steal 3 kids, who I really counted as friends. Luckily, she never found out and never will. Kenji tried to snap me out of trance. "Kairi, were you even listening?", he asks.

"sorry, I was daydreaming, I guess," I slumped into the car chair more. He sighed, and stopped at a cafe.

"Well, anyway I decided to split the time we have with Ana", he rambles on. I ordered two coffees, a cake pop, cheesecake, and 5 brownies. No one desires more sweets than me, I still went trick-or-treating thanks to my fun-sized height. Kenji gave me an add look, "you still eat that much?", He asks. I rolled my eyes, "Aren't you afraid that, one day...", and rambly, rambly, rambly. I never cared about my weight! And as far as I know, I haven't gotten any weight in the past 15 years. And I don't need anybody telling me, I'm fat. Yea, sure I am a little but what can they do about it! And out of my whole rant is why I'm still single. I am a shame to strong people. "and you seem to be more interested in the brownie than my lecture", he finished.

"Come on, it's in the shape of a heart, how cute is that?", I squealed, holding up the little heart shaped sweet. I wanted to break it apart, saying 'now it's a heartbreak' but now was a seriously serious moment that I can not handle.

"Can we get back to our discussion?", Kenji asks.

"which one? The protein is good for you or the one about Ana?", I ask. See, not serious! I can't do serious, if I were too, I'd probably hide or zone out. He shook his head.

"You know what I mean", he sighs.

"Fine, yes I agree with the sharing time with Ana thing while the other keeps watch", I say.

"I never mentioned the watch part but that is a semi good idea", He says.

"why is it semi?"
"I don't have a cell phone, in case of warnings"

"oh, well here's mine", I pulled out an out dated blackberry.

"but-"

"take it if I need one I'll just ask for hers"

Ana's POV

"Then Vic decided to run across the field and throw the pants through the bleachers but instead they landed on some slut's lap", Kairi says after finishing a story. I laughed a little, and looked at the sky in the roofless tree house that was in her aunt's backyard.

"it must be nice to have a family", I commented.

"what about you and your mom", she asks.

"I rarely saw her at home, she never bought me anything, not even on Christmas", I reply.

"Harsh, mami always got me atleast 5 presents."

"how is it like? Live in a house with more than just yourself?"

"there's no privacy, it's loud and smelly, but I guess in the end, it's all just love"

"I wish I had that"

"I don't know older brother smells are weird"

"what's that like"

Kairi makes a face, "gym and dirty laundry...well hopefully it's gym"

We bursted out laughing.

"and if you were in my family", Kairi begins, "you'd hear a guitar being played outside your door and smell quesadillas being made in the kitchen, the sound of kids just running down the hallway and their laughters, but that's when I was your age.

"what goes on now?"

"you just wake up to a bland day, kids are fighting, and you make everything yourself"

"what happened to the guitar and cooking?"

"mí papí was in a car crash"

"I'm sorry"

"it's not your fault, after that I taught myself how to play bit ma won't buy me a guitar"

We both heard a honk outside the house and got up to look out the window. Mr. Hashi was just getting out of the car. "wait here sweetie", Kairi says and gets up and out of the treehouse. I came to the conclusion that she called all her close friends that. She called practically everyone I already knew "sweetie". I looked out the window and saw them just blandly talk. Kairi started jumping up and down waving her arms around. She was smaller than me but jumped about as high as a basketball player.

Kairi's POV

"wait here sweetie", I say to Ana as I climbed down the tree. I ran up to Hashi, of course he had a confused look. "I know what to do this Christmas for Anabelle", I pointed at him.

"and what is that?" He asks.

"Well Christmas isn't for another month, and it's sorta of a two person present"

"go on?"

"All three of us act as a family!", I jump up and down, waving my arms.

"I'll talk to you about that later", he says, sorta approving it.

I went back to the tree to call Ana down and pulled her straight. "bye sweetie", I hug Ana as she gets in the car.

I went inside my aunt's house and had some random but good soup she makes. "Maya?", I ask my aunt.

"Yes, dear", she replies.

"I can tell you anything, yes?"

"yes, why?"

"well, I know these two boys-"

"boy problems?"

"no, its just that they don't like each other and neither want me to contact the other and that is hard when ma let one in and I'm watching the kid of the other"

"easy, choose the one living with you"

"no, I sided with the other because I hate the guy taking over my room and I have a feeling they might find out about each other"

"dear, I don't think your mother would appreciate a man in your room especially one with a child".

My head flunked into the empty soup bowl. I can't tell her anything.

"besides is there a reason why you chose this man?", she asks. My head rose up, wondering to tell or not.

After spending the night at my aunt's, I had a call from Florence saying she won't make it into town. That is good and bad. Good because I hate her, bad because now in have to be the daughter of the town. When I said I was the granddaughter of the library owner that also means granddaughter of the mayor. Every year the mayor's granddaughter (our daughter atleast under the age 35) would be the great influence of the holiday festival. Florence was the supposedly "perfect influence" in our family. If I confronted the mayor about this, he would be horrified.

"I think the chocolate chip is good", I say, holding a giant chocolate chip cookie in one hand and a bag of two of each kind known to man.

"of course chocolate chip is good", Ana says "it's like the main cookie of cookies". We were heading back from the market with Kenji and bought a bag of two of each type of cookie they had. Well I bought them, Kenji went on another rant then bought his own food. In the end Ana and I decided to judge the cookies in the backseat and Kenji drives us home.

"I like the peanut butter", Ana says, "It's about as sticky as it".

"I wanna try the molasses", I picked up the cookie resembling a ginger snap but 10x bigger. I took a small bite and felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. I hear Ana laughing and looked at her, "what?", I ask.

"y-your face when y-you a-ate the c-cookie", she says. Ana took the other molasses and bit into it trying to imitate me but then suddenly she stopped after taking a bite and stops chewing.

"wow, so that's why you made that face", she says.

We both busted out laughing, I was able to catch Kenji chuckling a bit.

We dropped Ana off with the other kids and I was taken home. Kenji walked me to my door step and like any other dork, stood there. "I was wondering if you would like to go to the Holiday Hylands Festival with Ana and I?", he asks, "She would love for you to see her painting at the Christmas art contest and ...", he nervously rambles on . "Ken I'm the mayor's granddaughter I will end up going but I would love to hang with you guys other than rate stands. And it will help on our present to Ana", I interrupted. He smiled then said his thanks and good nights and what not and left. I went inside only to be greeted by my grandfather yelling in Spanish. "How come you are the only choice left for the festival?!", he screams at me. He didn't like that I wasn't Florence material. So I got chewed out for the rest of the night and taught the basics of I need to know for the festival.

Third POV

This young man is different from the one we usually talk about. He wore a navy blue shirt and black skinny jeans. He hair is slightly neater than the other and he did not look happy at all. He hid in the corner of the garden to only spy on two innocent people talking to each other. One he tolerated, a small girl with colorful hair pulled back and wore baggy clothes. The other he despised, a tall man were a black yukata and caramel hair tied up in such a girl fashion, as this man would put it. He waited till the man left and a little longer to go inside. Once he did, he took off to the room he slept in and saw the girl.

"I thought I told you stay away from him!", he exclaims.

6: Fest

 

Ana's POV

 

I was working on my Christmas painting with the girls, Aaron and Jake. Well Jake was learning a rock version of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.  Well everyone was busy, Aaron with his kissing booth, the girls on a restaurant , Jake on band and me with art.

 

"Hey, who's actually done?", Jake asks us.

"most likely Aaron", Cory answers, "and shouldn't you be too?".

"I am, I'm just bored, can I help Anz?".

"Sure, you could look for these lights", I say.

"I was hoping for markers and paper but okay", he got up looking for the lights.

"sorry but all I have are dark purple paints"

"still I could make a pony with that"

I laugh, shaking my head. I finally installed the lights to the painting and a glass cover over the whole thing.

"finished", I say satisfied.

"with what?", Aaron says behind me.

"my painting"

"it looks so depressing with the lonely girl in the middle of the woods at night"

"that's because I didn't turn it on yet"

"what?"

I slid the trigger to the right and a new picture lit up from the original one. A small girl smiling with her family stood santa's workshop.

By the time I turned it on, everyone was surrounding me to look at it. I got a lot of ooh's and aah's from them.

"how'd you learn that?", Vic asks.

"I learned myself", I say.

"You're definitely gonna win Anz", Jake says.

 

When I got back to the house, I heard weeping upstairs and went to take a look. I peaked through the crack of the door that lead to Mr. Hashi's room. I saw Kairi sitting on the bed as he cleaned a massive bruise on her back.

 

Third POV

 

The young man stared horrified by the petite woman. "I'm sorry, I let this happen" he held her.

"It's not your fault-", she was interrupted.

"I should've been careful"

"you didn't know"

"but still!!"

She took a gulp. "sweetie, It's fine, it could have been worse"

He sighed looking at the girl, "he knows we contact each other", the girl sat up abruptly.

"he doesn't know the whole story, Kenji"

"you wear this" he held out her hand and set it back down.

"I'll hide it", she practically cried.

"how?"

"I'll leave it in my pocket"

"Kairi, this is not a problem you could just throw away" the young man says, "I'm sorry to say but you'll have to lend me the ring", she pulls her hand away when he tries to pick it up.

"I promise he won't find it"

"I expect the ring tomorrow afternoon", he says, "I just need it for a few days and then I'll give it back".

 

Ana's POV

 

I left after they said something about ring. I decided to focus on my painting and put it somewhere for now until I heard a knock at the door. It was Kai with her huge smile, "hey sweetie", she says pulling me into a hug. I could tell she hid how she really felt from me, probably so I wouldn't worry. She was wearing a baggy shirt, supposedly Mr. Hashi's. I smiled slightly and hugged bag.

"how is your painting going?", she asks.

"I finished it", I answered.

"awesome, can I see?"

I nod and show her the picture with its light off.

She gave it a funny look, I laughed and slid the trigger to the right lighting up the whole picture.

"ahhh!", she smiles, "you're so gonna win, how long have you worked on this?"

"6 hours I'd say"

"wow, it would take me years to put in all those lights". I laughed and we both had a regular girl conversation about my painting. It was probably late at night.

"sorry, sweetie but you have to figure out yourself,we haven't told anyone yet and we're hoping the invitation would do that itself".

"aaww"

"I know, look I have to go now but I'll see you at the festival, okay?"

"alright"

"bye sweetie", she says kissing my forehead. She became more of a mother to me.

 

The next day, I submitted my painting. Everyone was getting ready for the fest.  I set the picture on the isle and heard a couple laughs a little far from me.

"let me guess you're 'showing your inner self'", a girl examines my painting. She wore neon green mini shorts, pink tank top and a flow shirt saying "hope" across it. She had Uggs and she wore was right for this weather.

"hey at least it's better than showing my ass right", I smile.

"whatever, who do you think you are for putting in sad trash into this festival?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know you thus meaning I never brought you"

The curly brunette scoffed, "I'm Ashley Dales, one of the contestants". I looked her plot which had nothing.

"Wow! A plot full of nothing that is perfect", I sarcastically say.

"it's not here yet Skrillex girl"

"and I don't care Britney Spears"

Her and stupid other girls just gasped. At the corner of my eye, I see Aaron. Well, at least it's someone I tolerate.

"hey, Ana-malia", he calls to me. Amber or whatever her name was started checking herself in a tiny mirror, "see you put in you painting in". He admires it once more.

"Hi Aaron", the blonde bimbo say a bit too loud.

He turns to then back at my painting, "yea, hey don't interrupt me when I'm admiring a piece of work that won't be revealed till tomorrow tonight".

"what do you mean? the painting is right there"

"no, it's not, you just think it is" he says still staring.

"you know the more you stare the more stupid you look" I tell him. He turns to me,

"speaking of stupidity may I have your art's switch in marriage?", he asks. I bursted out laughing and nodded. "yess, I'm keeping it but of course after the festival", he says.

Ashley did not look happy with us.

"Aaron why don't you come and see my painting?", She asks.

He looks at the lot, "um, because there is nothing there", he starts to laugh and so do I.

"It's still at home", she quickly says.

"Tell you what, I will unless it features a cop out with Dunkin' Doughnuts", he points at her.

"s-sorry but I could add it in now"

"yea, go do that", he suggests as she runs off to do his advice.

"why?"

"so you have less a competition besides she-"

"no no no, why Dunkin' Doughnuts? Krispy Kreme is way better", I stated. Everyone soon came in looking at the art. Then the hippie and her squad came bag, and she actually did what Aaron said. Her's was an actual picture of cops in a Christmas themed police car drinking coffee and eating doughnuts. Everyone and I left the area and the Aaron admirer and her clique were the only ones who stayed. I went home after that feeling happy. Mr. Hashi and I stayed up watching old Christmas movies and eating snacks in the living room.

"How do feel about the contest?", he asks me.

"Pretty good, some kid told his admirer to draw a Dunkin' Doughnut cop out", I sipped my not-homemade milkshake, "she actually did at the last minute". He laughed at the idea. I went to bed when Rudolph: Red Nose Reindeer was over. Today was a good day and tomorrow was Christmas Eve

7: Christmas

 

Ana's POV

 

I was working on my Christmas painting with the girls, Aaron and Jake. Well Jake was learning a rock version of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.  Well everyone was busy, Aaron with his kissing booth, the girls on a restaurant , Jake on band and me with art.

 

"Hey, who's actually done?", Jake asks us.

"most likely Aaron", Cory answers, "and shouldn't you be too?".

"I am, I'm just bored, can I help Anz?".

"Sure, you could look for these lights", I say.

"I was hoping for markers and paper but okay", he got up looking for the lights.

"sorry but all I have are dark purple paints"

"still I could make a pony with that"

I laugh, shaking my head. I finally installed the lights to the painting and a glass cover over the whole thing.

"finished", I say satisfied.

"with what?", Aaron says behind me.

"my painting"

"it looks so depressing with the lonely girl in the middle of the woods at night"

"that's because I didn't turn it on yet"

"what?"

I slid the trigger to the right and a new picture lit up from the original one. A small girl smiling with her family stood santa's workshop.

By the time I turned it on, everyone was surrounding me to look at it. I got a lot of ooh's and aah's from them.

"how'd you learn that?", Vic asks.

"I learned myself", I say.

"You're definitely gonna win Anz", Jake says.

 

When I got back to the house, I heard weeping upstairs and went to take a look. I peaked through the crack of the door that lead to Mr. Hashi's room. I saw Kairi sitting on the bed as he cleaned a massive bruise on her back.

 

Third POV

 

The young man stared horrified by the petite woman. "I'm sorry, I let this happen" he held her.

"It's not your fault-", she was interrupted.

"I should've been careful"

"you didn't know"

"but still!!"

She took a gulp. "sweetie, It's fine, it could have been worse"

He sighed looking at the girl, "he knows we contact each other", the girl sat up abruptly.

"he doesn't know the whole story, Kenji"

"you wear this" he held out her hand and set it back down.

"I'll hide it", she practically cried.

"how?"

"I'll leave it in my pocket"

"Kairi, this is not a problem you could just throw away" the young man says, "I'm sorry to say but you'll have to lend me the ring", she pulls her hand away when he tries to pick it up.

"I promise he won't find it"

"I expect the ring tomorrow afternoon", he says, "I just need it for a few days and then I'll give it back".

 

Ana's POV

 

I left after they said something about ring. I decided to focus on my painting and put it somewhere for now until I heard a knock at the door. It was Kai with her huge smile, "hey sweetie", she says pulling me into a hug. I could tell she hid how she really felt from me, probably so I wouldn't worry. She was wearing a baggy shirt, supposedly Mr. Hashi's. I smiled slightly and hugged back.

"how is your painting going?", she asks.

"I finished it", I answered.

"awesome, can I see?"

I nod and show her the picture with its light off.

She gave it a funny look, I laughed and slid the trigger to the right lighting up the whole picture.

"ahhh!", she smiles, "you're so gonna win, how long have you worked on this?"

"6 hours I'd say"

"wow, it would take me years to put in all those lights". I laughed and we both had a regular girl conversation about my painting. It was probably late at night.

"aaww, do you have to go?"

"I know, look I have to go now but I'll see you at the festival, okay?"

"alright"

"bye sweetie", she says kissing my forehead. She became more of a mother to me.

 

The next day, I submitted my painting. Everyone was getting ready for the fest.  I set the picture on the pallete and heard a couple laughs a little far from me.

"let me guess you're 'showing your inner self'", a girl examines my painting. She wore neon green mini shorts, pink tank top and a flow shirt saying "hope" across it. She had Uggs and she wore was not right for this weather.

"hey at least it's better than showing my ass right", I smile.

"whatever, who do you think you are for putting in sad trash into this festival?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know you thus meaning I never brought you"

The curly brunette scoffed, "I'm Ashley Dales, one of the contestants". I looked her plot which had nothing.

"Wow! A plot full of nothing that is perfect", I sarcastically say.

"it's not here yet Skrillex girl"

"and I don't care Britney Spears"

Her and stupid other girls just gasped. At the corner of my eye, I see Aaron. Well, at least it's someone I tolerate.

"hey, Ana-malia", he calls to me. Amber or whatever her name was started checking herself in a tiny mirror, "see you put your painting in". He admires it once more.

"Hi Aaron", the blonde bimbo say a bit too loud.

He turns to her then back at my painting, "yea, hey don't interrupt me when I'm admiring a piece of work that won't be revealed till tomorrow night".

"what do you mean? the painting is right there"

"no, it's not, you just think it is" he says still staring.

"you know the more you stare the more stupid you look" I tell him. He turns to me, "speaking of stupidity may I have your art's switch in marriage?", he asks. I bursted out laughing and nodded. "yess, I'm keeping it but of course after the festival", he says.

Ashley did not look happy with us.

"Aaron why don't you come and see my painting?", She asks.

He looks at the lot, "um, because there is nothing there", he starts to laugh and so do I.

"It's still at home", she quickly says.

"Tell you what, I will unless it features a cop out with Dunkin' Doughnuts", he points at her.

"s-sorry but I could add it in now"

"yea, go do that", he suggests as she runs off to do his advice.

"why?"

"so you have less a competition besides she-"

"no no no, why Dunkin' Doughnuts? Krispy Kreme is way better", I stated. Everyone soon came in looking at the art. Then the hippie and her squad came bag, and she actually did what Aaron said. Her's was an actual picture of cops in a Christmas themed police car drinking coffee and eating doughnuts. Everyone and I left the area and the Aaron admirer and her skanks were the only ones who stayed. I went home after that feeling happy. Mr. Hashi and I stayed up watching old christmas movies and eating snacks in the living room.

"How do feel about the contest?", he asks me.

"Pretty good, some kid told his admirer to draw a Dunkin' Doughnut cop out", I sipped my not-homemade milkshake, "she actually did at the last minute". He laughed at the idea. I went to bed when Rudolph: Red Nose Reindeer was over. Today was a good day and tomorrow was Christmas Eve.

 

I woke up, my alarm clock ringing at 5:00.  I took an online school course now but I was lazy and headed down stairs. Hashi and I ended up watching reruns of "Full House" and eating cereal. He only cooked for dinner as I have noticed. After watching season 1, we heard a banging at the door. Kairi ran in, "You need to see this".

 

All three of us rushed to the palette of my picture. Except now all that there was just pieces of glass shards everywhere, some of the whole lights were gone and the painting was smeared. My hard work all gone. I kneeled down at the palette, staring at the damaged work of art. I wanted to cry, the painting meant a lot me. It showed what I had in the dark and what I wish for when it lit up. "someone did this on purpose, sweetie is there anyone new you talked to yesterday, who is as well in the contest?", Kairi asks, as she put her hands on my shoulders.

"Ashley Dales, her mom's number is 865-2157", Aaron says coming in, "I'm pretty sure she done it, she made fun of An's painting, and I knowing a bit about her, I sorta scammed her on her painting". He came over to help me up. "everyone thought it was a laughing stock when the artist were taking looks at others last time I heard, she must've taken her anger out on this", he finishes.  

"I'll ask others about this", Kairi lets go of me and drags Aaron along with her.

"lets go home", Hashi whispers softly as he puts an arm around me. I head back to my room after that hoping none of this really happened. That if I just go back, everything will be fine. Hashi soon came in with a ham sandwich. "I've made lunch", he says setting the plate on the nightstand by my bed. He sat next me pulling me into a hug., I would've refused it but I needed the comfort. "I know that painting meant a  lot to you but you still have a chance for the contest", he says.

"how?", I ask, it came out muffled in the black yukata.

"the judges have decided to let you re-submit tomorrow at anytime before the contest".

"thanks but I don't have anymore supplies to re-make it plus not enough money"

I hear him sigh as he slowly released me, "I'll be back before dinner. Please eat your sandwich", he says, leaving the room. I guess I fell asleep after eating because I didn't wake up till the next day.

Christmas Day.

As I did, I felt a dry tongue licking me right on my cheek bone. I opened my eyes looking at the fat yet furry cat putting her paws right on my face and meowed. I set Lovelie on the side, surprised she came into my room. I looked to the front and saw my destroyed painting, a few things to fix it and a note.

 

Everyone wants to see your idea, Ashley is disqualified from the contest and can not participate in any Hylands High activities. Thought to let you know.  You have till 7:00.

 

                    ~ Hashi

 

Took me six hours to make it, probably 3 to fix it and it is now 9 am. That's enough time.

I called Jake over since he'd know what to do.

"I was told to keep your new painting a secret and that I was here a secret", he blurts as he sits on my bed.

"ok", I say handing him the the lights, "now put all these into the new ones while I make the same painting from before".

"why the same painting?"

"because I'm supposed to fix it not make a new one".

"still I'd rather have a new one instead"

"this isn't your painting Jake"

"I'm just saying" he mumbles arranging the lights as I said. After a while of bickering, painting, circuiting, lighting, burning fingers, electrocuting, screaming, nailing, and re-doing almost what I have been through. We finished at 6:30. "hey we finished", Jake smiles, "I deserve half credit".

"Jake, your secret", I remind him.

"oh yea, well we better get going", he says. We rode with Hashi to the festival. I re-submitted my art and waited. Well really I just ate at the girls' restaurant which wasn't all that bad. I then checked out some other stands of my interest. But sadly I didn't have long and had to return to my palette. The judges would ask what the art was, why this choice and why it should be one. And I knew all answers. Translucent lights, reflects feelings and others could imagine something else. And I repeated that through my head. Translucent, feelings, imagination was mainly what I remembered but yet again I was nervous because what if it's not what the judges want. If it isn't then it's not the right thing to show my mother how I truly feel. I zoned out not even thinking of how close the judges were. My eyes focused on a painting quite similiar. A family together near the Christmas tree. When the artist caught me staring and smiled, I flashed back only to see the judges next to the palette next to mine. I gave a wry smile back to the other guy, he put up his hand as if he understands. I turned back only to see the judges at me and I completely forgot what to say.

"t-this i-is uhh", I stuttered. I could feel their eyes on me, glaring down.

"this is many ways", I hear a familiar voice, "it is designed to be seen as a girl standing alone in the dark but once you turn this knob". I looked up to see Hashi nudging my arm.

"i-it is the same girl but in Santa's Workshop with her family", I say, turning the new knob. The judges wrote on their clipboards, which made me nervous.

"this painting can mean anything to anyone from a lonely orphan to a family of security, maybe even a personal meaning. For this girl, it means from what she had in the past to what she has now and at the perfect timing since she has it today" Hashi says.

I didn't agree with him with the having, it's what I wanted not what I have. But then it clicked. From when Kairi calling me sweetie and practically watching over me all the time to Hashi watching a family show and eating snacks with me. I did have a family, I did have love, ever since I got here I did.

 

The judges were about to announce the top 3.

and they are....

 

A/N: MERRY XMAS FROM ‘MURICA

 

8: insane

 

A/N: I KNOW I RE-TYPED PART OF THE LAST CHAPTER 6 TO 7. ALL EDITS WILL BE FIXED AT THE END.

 

the top 3 were Shane Carson, Gracie Xeng, and me. Anabelle Simmons. Gracie scored 1st, I second and Shane, the guy from before, 3rd. The three of us congratulated each other and complimented on what we liked most about them. I saw Ashley on the side of the fest glaring at me. I would have said something but Gracie came over and gave me a huge hug. "I'm glad she's banned", she says, "the only reason she wins is because she's related to the mayor". Shane came along to and said the same, and how they knew her from school. I never knew she was that kind of person well I actually did from the start. The two, the others and I decided to have a snack before we all headed home. "so you wanna hang out sometime?", Shane asks. I nodded and we scheduled to try to paint something together at my house on the weekends, along with Gracie of course.

Driving home was a bit fun we all tried to sing carols until Kai got a headache from our screaming. It was a fun Christmas, it wasn't like my usual ones, being lonely.

 

Kairi's POV

Tonight was fun and even better. Aoi was finally gone. My mother had given me a necklace I'd rarely wear, a notebook, new laptop, new clothes and a black acoustic guitar, like one my father had. It had a note attached.

If he were here he would be proud ~ma

 

I smiled and picked up the instrument, setting it on my lap. It felt like the exact one. I remember when I was little and always touched the black wood. I always hit the wood along with music. I never knew anything about a guitar, still don't. I smiled at the memories of him. But what would he be proud of. I looked at my hand, I gave it to Hashi, I would tell myself. I looked at the pair of glasses on the table. My eyes widened as I checked my pocket. "it" was still in my pocket and so was Ana's present. I rushed out of my room, to the door, down the stairs, to the entrance door, out to the street and straddled myself onto my Harley. I soon got to corner of Illwood Lane-

CRASH!!!

I woke up to a bright light and beeping. A few faces came into clear. My mother, Kenji, Ana and one person that just had to come. Florence.

"she's up", Ana says.

"you okay?", Florence asks.

"what happened?", I ask.

"some bozo hit you on purpose, we know they did since they didn't bother to tell anyone!", Florence fumes, "you just have a broken arm and a really bad concussion nothing too serious though".

"seems serious"

She fake gasps, "I thought the great Kairi Antoinette Martinez-Costello didn't care for seriousness". Yea, she was my sister. I smiled at her comment and turned to Kenji.

"where are my clothes?", I ask.

They all pointed to a chair with black clothing.

"Ken in my pants pocket is the ring and a necklace for Ana", I say. He searches through my many pockets and finally finds the jewelry handing the black one to Ana and puts the diamond one in his pocket. The nurse escorted Ana out since kids weren't allowed in yet. My mother started to discuss stuff, I was about to fall asleep though until Kenji shook me.

"you didn't listen did you?", he asks. I shook my head, smiling tiredly. I looked at Florence, who didn't seem to happy with us. "get some rest, okay?", he says sitting up. I nodded and looked at my mother, who smiled at both of us. Kenji and ma left, leaving only me and Florence.

"I've seen you've gotten cozy", she says, sitting in the chair next to me.

"nah, I'm still moving around"

"yea right, how are you if you have a guy", she winks

She's not supposed to know him.

"we don't see each other that much"

"seems like you guys do"

"he's two years older than me"

"you're both legal"

"and you're insane"

"then what about that ring? The diamond one?"

"h-his mother wanted me to fix a crack"

She shook her head in disbelief.

"why does it matter to you anyway?", I ask.

"no offense but I don't want you with a guy", she says, looking at my confused face, "look, when I was five tía told me that when we were older, you'd get married and all while I end up like her. She told me that everyone favored me and that's what they did to her but then mom got married before her and Maya actually never did find a guy. She told me she always made fun of mom and then I saw you two together and then I realized I'm doing the same, so I guess I'm sorry?", she says giving me a small smile.

"first of all, I forgave you years ago, sorta", I say, "second, that can't be true. What about grandma?".

"grandma was an only child", she reminded me, "it happened to Maya, Arianna, Jackie, Carroll, Noah and Kristy and we all have the same personality!!".

"that's not true! There's Maria", I say.

"she's married into the family", She says. I made a face,"explains why she's married at all", I say. After she left, I thought about it and she was right all the weird less attractive girls were married but that doesn't mean I would.

 

Ana's POV

 

It was sad to see Kairi like that. At least I saw the crash and the gift she got me was petty cool it was a black necklace with a dark purple jewel that turned a lavender color when it shined in the light. Hashi came into my room witha sly smile. I gave him a wave and put my notebook down. "it's good that you found Kairi, who knows what would've-", he stopped and looked at my drawing, "how long did it take you to make this?", he asks, sitting on my bed.

"a few minutes", I ask. He smiled looking down at the drawing. It was everyone I knew from Tara to Zoey to Gracie to Aaron to Kairi to Hashi to Lovelie to Diana. Everyone was smiling and just having fun. He pulled me into a hug, "I'm glad you like it here", he says. We stayed like that for a couple of seconds, he interrupted by tickling me. I leaned back laughing so loud it can be heard throughout the house.

"s-stop H-hashi", I tried to speak, "no, stop! Dad, please". I was unaware of what I said till he did stop.

"I-I'm sorry I-I didn't mean to-", I stuttered but silenced when he hugged me.

"it's alright! I know you need one", he says.

"you're not going to tickle me again are you?", I ask.

"not now, no", he answers, "come on, let's go have dinner"

"umm, Hashi it's 3 am"

"then we'll have a late snack", he says clapping his hands together.

 

After that night and Kairi's recovering, Shane and Gracie came over. We all started to draw up some ideas on stuff. "hey can you tell me where the bathroom is?", Shane asks.

"at the end of the hallway across the staircase", I answer. As he leaves, he comes across Hashi and as he does, he gives him a dirty look. Hashi only smiled and walked into his room which was a door away from the bathroom. A few minutes went by and I went to see Hashi for the water colors but when I did.

"Shane? What are you doing in here?", I asked.

"oh uh just lost my way through the house", he says.

"okay, well let's head back to my room-"

"my mom called And I have to go", he says heading into my room hanging his stuff. After bidding farewell, I couldn't stop thinking about Shane. Did he really Getty lost over easy instructions? And if not, did he go into Hashi's room on purpose? And if so, why would he?

 

Kairi's POV

 

"is it in?", I ask a little worried.

"hold still", he chuckles slightly, next to my ear.

"ow! Stop it hurts", I push Kenji away. He sighs continuing to put it in, "Kenji stop please!". I shake my head, gripping onto the sheets.

"well it wouldn't have hurt if you kept still", he tells me, putting down the earring, "now will you let me help you with this?". I got up from the bed, taking the earring and walking to the mirror.

"maybe I could put it in myself", I say. Of course I couldn't put the damn earring in my own ear, I haven't worn earrings in a long while, "I like it better as a plain ring". I looked at the extremely rare ring which is now an earring. It was the one Kenji gave me and then I gave back. It was a 52 karat diamond and 14 karat gold. And part of it was grinded into making it an earring, which I hated.  "okay, maybe I need a little help", I admitted. Kenji came over and tried to put the earing through the already peirced hole. Finally, it goes through.

"there", he says kissing my cheek. I quickly pushed him away a bit.

"is Ana here?", I ask.

"no, why?"

"I don't want her to know I'm engaged to a man that cleans at least once a month"

"I clean more often that", I gave him a look, "okay maybe I don't as much as I should"

"and that has to change or I could just clean myself if you'd like"

"we'll talk about these things later", he says. Of course I knew we could wait till later it's more polite too, in my opinion. I looked at the ring which pretty much looked like a hideous earring.

"I have been thinking on going to the beach this weekend", I say. There was a knock on the front door. We rushed down, to only see the police at the door. With them was Anna.

"Is this your kid?", one of the men ask.

9: the somewhat climax

 

"uh, sorta? I'm her guardian", Kenji says.

"do you have papers?", the policeman asks.

"I will get them right now", says Kenji. Of course the men barged into the house looking for the papers themselves. Kenji rolled his eyes and went upstairs to look for the papers. The sleaze-bags followed us to his room and looked through his drawers, closet, and under the bed for containers that could have the paper.

"they are not in here", one says.

"hold on, just a minute", I say, "I have a photographic memory and he has told me everything that goes on in this house in case he forgot something, and the papers would exactly be in this drawer". I pointed to the nightstand that probably has been there since this house was built. One if the guys goes to the drawer and opens it. He scattered through the drawer and pulled out three little square packages reading trojan across each of them and looked at us. "so what? It's normal for people to have those in a nightstand", I say. I could feel Kenji's eyes on me, it's not my fault he put the papers in there.

"no papers", the police man says.

"what?!", Kenji says, running to the drawer, pulling out the trojans, a lighter, carton of cigarettes, driver's license, random political papers (none being the ones we need) and an inactivated cell phone.

"we'll be calling the girl's parents", the man says,"put the cuffs on him, he's arrested for kidnap". That part didn't make sense to me. He didn't kidnap her! I know every single momenT that happened because he tells me! Shoot I force him to tell me!

"hold it!", I shouted furiously.

"what now lady?", one of them say.

"You may barge in here, go through our privacy but no way in hell are you accusing this man for kidnap!", my voice echoed through the house, "besides we're getting married in a few weeks and I don't want wedding picture as a mug shot!". I'm pretty sure Ana heard that. They all looked at me as if I were insane.

"fine, we'll give you till you're wedding to fix this up", the guy says. They left after or arrangements of the agreement. Kenji lit up a cigarette, which I knocked to the floor. He gave me a what-the-hell face.

"don't give me that look, my bluff failed and you have no idea where the papers are!", I shouted.

He sighed, "I'm pissed too, that's why I was about to smoke", he takes out his ponytail and grooms some of his hair down and lies onto the bed.

"I know your habit but can you please stop it?", I ask, sitting next to him. He sat up and let his lips brush against mine, "we all know I won't", he says.

"you know I did find it kinda funny when he found the condoms?", I change the subject.

"yea, I should probably throw them out", he says looking at the packages on the floor.

 

Ana's POV

I hated the police and they hate me, I watched as they left and it made me feel different. My mother had given me up on the first chance but Kairi and Hashi fought for me. Is it bad that I could easily choose two people who I have only know for about a month over a person who had given life to me? Well, technically I have spent more time with them then my own mother and she did live me with my grandmother the first few years of my life.  Yet again, they have a part-time and no job and the reason my mother is working so much is for me. I kinda jiffy waited on the couch, waiting for someone to come down. I made up the conclusion, if Hashi comes down first, it's easy the cops wanted, if the cops come down first and just them, We are all good. I heard Kairi screaming a lot and she did say a few shocking things, to me of course. I mean the things she said were shocking to me, she never said them directly to me. The police came down only and just left, Kairi and Hashi came down a few minutes later.

"Sweetie, I have some news-", Kairi said.

"I heard everything, we need to find those papers before your guys' wedding", I say.

"was I loud?", she asks.

"you were angry", Hashi says.

"do you two have any enemies?", I ask.

"well there's Aoi, Florence, people who just plain hate me, my mother-", Kairi says.

"enemies are people that want you dead, Kairi", Hashi interrupts.

"and that's exactly who I'm naming"

"she means people who might matter"

"most likely Aoi and my mother but..."

I ignored her after that, she wasn't really much help and started thinking of people who seem mainly targeted to Hashi, mainly ones I have seen. Then it came to me, "how about Shane?", I say.

"who?", Kairi asks.

"can't be, don't know him to well", Hashi says

"well, he seemed to hate you", I say.

"all teens do that"

"yea, the delinquent ones who see creepy strangers around the streets"

"why do you want him to be a suspect?"

"I don't I just think he at least had some information we could use!", I yelled. Hashi and I both eyed each other.

"you know what?", Kairi says, taking Hashi by the arm and pulling him into the kitchen.

 

Kairi's POV

 

I slapped Kenji right across the face, "stop fighting with her, she maybe up to something", I let out in one of those screaming whispers.

"she's just a kid and so is he and how can they possibly know anything?"  He asks.

"she knew where and who to sell drugs to", I say.

"that means nothing!", he quietly exclaims.

"it means if you just separate teens from being kids, they know a lot about what adults do", I cross my arms.

"are you trying to say that Shane may have done something similar to Ana?", He asks.

" and you say I'm stupid", I replied.

 

3rd POV

 

"it's done, here they are", the young boy says, holding up a roll of papers.

"good", the young man with black hair says taking them. He searched through the papers and looked at what they said on each one, "my how did you get this done?".

"easy, get close to the person then take what you need and put it in a painting", the young boy replies, "but what I want to know is how do I get revenge?".

"shut up, it will happen soon", the man says, "mention this too anyone and your mother is next", he gets into a black car and drives off.

"you said he killed my sister", the boy mumbles, "shit". The boy runs off to find the only person to talk about this too.

 

Ana's POV

 

I didn't talk to Hashi for a while. I still thought Shane stole it. How did we get to the point where we assumed someone stole the papers that claim Hashi has custody of me? Well whatever, I helped Kairi move into the house, and put extra stuff into the attic until I came across a picture of this one guy who I haven't meet. He looked about my age but a teeny bit mature. His smile was smile but heart warming, he had dark brown eyes that may seem soulless but are just kind of saying "hi". Next to him was a small girl wearing an old Christmas sweater and a long jean skirt. She wore her black hair in to pigtails and the ugliest pair of glasses. They were that nerd kind, the ones where the lens were circles. The only thing I saw in the picture was that the boy was perfect and probably had any girl all over him but no. He choose to stay with this petite nerdy girl who was probably the abomination of his life! And why did Kairi have this?

"hey Kai, what's this?", I asked. She came to where I was and smiled slightly at the pic.

"His name was Chance, the only friend I had", she answers.

"how come I haven't met him? Or heard of him?", I asked. She pursed her lips.

"H-he was in fire, it's not healthy for me to talk about him", she stutters. She takes the picture from my hand and slips it into her back pocket. After, we got everything completely moved in, we all went to get ice cream to relax. We were at the pair enjoying the sunset until Kairi got annoyed and turned to me.

"we are supposed to have a get along together and Kenji is on his phone", she whispers, "he is so concentrated on it". I looked over her shoulder to see that she was exactly right. He just got it and now is like a teenager except instead of contacting his friends, it was his patient who was going through a mental breakdown as we speak. He went back into being a therapist, for Kai's mom's sake of course.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back only to witness Kai's ice cream cone close to Hashi's face.

"hey Ken", she says. He turns running right into the cone, vanilla across his cheek. Kairi and I started to laugh. He turns to me.

"oh, you think that's funny", he retorts, smearing his ice cream on the ridge of my nose. Kairi starts to laugh harder and points at me, so I smeared my ice cream on her cheek. We all started laughing and stopped to view each other.

"so. The wedding is in two weeks?", I ask. Before anyone could reply, Kai got up and walked away. I looked to where she was going and saw the woman from the hospital there.

 

Kai's POV

 

"Hey", I mumbled quietly.

"What is this?", Florence barks. She held up a card with elegant designs, "you said you didn't see him that much and I find this in mom's drawer 'you are invited to the wedding of Alexander Hashi and Kairi Antoinette Martinez-Costello' I thought you said his name was Kenji". I looked at the floor my eyes watery.

"I'm sorry Flora", I whimpered.

"don't pull that crap Kairi, you lied and- oh how would Chance feel about this? He died in a fire helping others out and sending one small text to the girlfriend he had for five years and-"

"Shut up! My life isn't run by you so why should I listen to you! You don't know anything about Chance, but I know that he would never accept someone like you.", I cried, "and if you respect me then you will accept my wedding and stay for all of it and never mention Chance again. You don't know how much pain I had and how long it took me to recover". She had a blank face, then nodded. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Kenji. Anabelle  was right behind him.

"Kairi, we need to go home", Kenji says. I nodded

After the long day, I quickly got ready for bed and lied on my side of the bed.

"you haven't said anything since we got back", I hear Kenji on the other side.

I turned to face him and buried my face into his chest, "do I have to tell you everything?", I ask, trying to hold in a cry.

"if it helps you, you can", he says. I stay silent, I didn't want to talk about my past.

 

Anna's POV

 

I couldn't sleep that night. That woman was there, making Kairi cry, I may have to go back to my mother's early. Mother, it's been a long time since I have seen her. It would be heart breaking having to leave these guys here, it's heart breaking now. I fell asleep, and dreamed about living here permanently, it would be a lot better for me. The next day we all ate in silence at breakfast.

 

I went into the backyard to draw and hang with Lovelie, until I noticed something wrong.

Lovelie was making soft moves as if she were hurt and laid down to her side. "is everything okay, Lovelie?", I ask, setting down my pencil and notebook.

I picked her up and set her only my lap. Her breathing was fast but her pulse was extremely slow, "Hashi!", I call out. Kairi and Hashi came out of the horse looking worried. "something is wrong with Lovelie",  I confess. Hashi quickly checks on her and pulls his hadn't away from the cat.

"no pulse nor breathing", he whispers. His tears were visible within a mile. In my lap was his best friend who is no longer with us. All of us did nothing but stand there looking at the cat.

 

Flash back

"someday I'll be able to fight Vincent just wait", the young Kenji says.

"sí", answers Kairi as she treats to his black eye. She spoke in a high voice.

He signed at get answer, he didn't know a single Spanish word but taco, and she only knows very little English.

"er, how is ESOL treating you?", he asked.

"¿Bien, y tu clase?", she asks.

"umm..okay, I guess", he asks not knowing what he answered.  

"¿bien, mi padre puede tocar la guitarra, quieres tu escuchar?", she asks.

"ummm, I think I heard my mom calling me so I'm gonna go now", Kenji tells her, exciting the tree house.  She turns to stuffed bunny and smiled, " it's funny how he is in both Spanish and Chinese class" .

Kenji walks home covering his eye with what Kairi called pollo congelado which he was sure was a frozen chicken. He spotted something coming towards him with his good eye. It was a sick cat that was finding it's way to somewhere.  He felt bad for the cat and decide to take it to his mother, who was a vet.

"relax, Kenji she's fine", guys mother tells him, "she just needs some rest and food, and if you can't find someone to look after this cat you can keep it".

It had been 6 weeks since he found the cat.

"hey, Kairi I got a pet", Kenji says entering the tree house, bringing his unnamed cat.

"un gato!", charger exclaims running up to pet it.

"yea, help me come up with a name for it", Kenji says.

Kairi took the little furball and set it on her lap.

"well if you want the cat you could have it", Kenji says.

"mi Mami no gustan gato", she answers shaking her head.

"why don't we just come up with a name", he changes the subject.

"Lovelie?" , the girl suggests.

"okay then Lovelie it is", he agrees, "besides it's the only word I heard you say in English".

She laughs and they both begin to play with Lovelie.

 

They buried the shoebox in the middle of the garden.

"I-I'm sorry Kenji", Kairi says, "we all knew how much you loved that cat". She puts a hand on his shoulder. His eyes were so watery and red.

"it's not your fault it's been years since I find her her time is now up", he says.

"it's not anyone's day is it?", I ask, as we head back into the house.

"no, not at all", Hashi says.

Everything was quiet that day, and I started getting bored so I headed to the attic. A lot of interesting stuff was in there. I found a box full of pictures and books. I searched through the box finding a picture of a young Hashi smiling and a guy who looked like the one from the dump concert, but younger as well. I left that one picture out for suspicion. I found a journal reading Kai's name in it and to my curiosity I took a peak.

 

Flash back

"Kairi, Kairi you're such a nerd, not even animals would let you into their herd", the 2nd grade children mocked her.

"hey, leave her alone just because she wears glasses, likes to read and can't speak English as good as you doesn't mean you could just make fun of her!", one kid says. He was about as small as her. One ear was pierced, his eyes were a brown color and well like me, he was hispanic.

"gracias, Chance", Kairi says getting up from the floor. " hey, I know you'd do the same for me", he gives a bright smile.

"I have a chee house we can play in", Kairi say.

"cool, but I have to ask mi madre first she gets mad if I plan something without her knowing", he says.

 

"I don't believe tu hermana es Flora, she so mean to her friends y es muy mal at every one", Chance complains switching between the two languages.

"I usually stay up in here because mi Papi only built it for me", Kairi brags, "I always stay up here. I always dibujo, escucho la música, y do my homework."

 

10 years later

"hurry, you're gonna miss it", Chance calls out.

"wait, my legs don't carry me as well as anyone Elses", Kairi says, trying to catch up.

Chance stops and lifts her as soon as she got choose enough. Kairi smiles and presses her forehead against his. "you're too fast", I complain in a joking tone.

He lets a deep chuckles and kisses her.  They went to the soccer field where only afew guys were at.

"hey I need to practice will you cheer me on, sweetie", Chance flashes a smile.

"I'll do the best I can", she smiles back. Kairi say on the benches and began texting random friends.

She waited half an hour for him to finish.

"hey sweetie", he says walking over and plants another kiss on her cheek.

"hey, smoothies right?", she asks. He nods, agreeing to the suggestion.

"you know ever since 7th grade you never grew any taller", he says. Kairi elbows his stomach as they head out for their drink.

The next day, Kairi got a message from Chance.

'heading to work won't be back till seven` it says.

He volunteered at a manor care for the elderly. Kairi spent her time at the library. She felt odd without someone by her side so she hanged with Kenji throughout the day. It was eight when she got another message from Chance. 'I'll be back around 7:45 had to stay a bit late, love you sweetie` she was in her room when she saw the message.

"Kairi!", her mother yells on a terrified voice.

Kairi rushes out the room, seeing her mother crying,"it's on the news, I'm sorry mi'ja", she says. Kairi looks at the TV in horror. The manor care clinic was on fire and one of the burning victims crossing by the screen was Chance. Tears came down Kairi's cheeks. A she rushed into her room to try calling him, hoping none of it was real, that he was safely home waiting for her to call. No answer. Kairi curled into a ball on her bed reading the last message she'll ever get from Chance.

It has been 5 months since Chance's death, and Kairi still wasn't over it. She laid in her room repeating what he said in the message, especially the word "sweetie".  Kenji always came over to see if she was okay, he was always a big brother towards her. A year later, they started going out and she seemed okay as long as no one mentioned Chance and she still uses the word "sweetie" but as a nickname for everyone.

 

KAIRI'S POV

 

It was the day of the wedding and I felt like I was gonna vomit again. I wasn't nervous but I did see a doctor a few weeks ago and I decided I'll tell everyone at the reception. I was just trying to put eyeshadow on when I saw Flora in the mirror.

"hey", she says walking into the room in a formal dress.

"hi", I mumbled.

She came over and started doing my make-up for me.

"I'm sorry for going off on you it's just that I  dreamed of getting married and all", she says, "then tía scared me with that stupid marriage myth and really I am sorry".

"it's alright", I say, with a small smile, "it was just a big surprise that I was married".

"yea, that was a big surprise what's next a baby?", she laughs. I laughed as well as she finished my make up. "come on, your groom awaits", Flora says.

 

"you may kiss the bride", the priest says. Kenji kisses me softly on the lips. I was happy to see everyone there. My mom, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins on one side and his dad, aunt and uncles on the other. I stayed in a small gazebo a bit far from the reception but that didn't stop his father from finding me.

"hey, what are you doing away from the party?", he asks. He looked different from his son. He looked for like Aoi in my opinion but with longer, sleeker hair. And he had a goatee.

"bit nervous", I answer.

"really? the great Kairi Antoinette Martinez-Costello is nervous?", he asks.

"does everyone seem know that name?", I say. He laughs and sits next to me.

"yea but now they have to say Kairi Antoinette Costello-Hashi", he corrects, "by the way, have you told yet?".

"no, not yet I'm announcing it at dinner", I smile a bit. He smiles and gives me a hug.

 

It was dinner and my heart was pounding, I puked 9 times already and getting a headache, but finally I stood up and hit my fork against my glass. Everyone turns to me.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming", I began, "it's actually great to see everyone again and I'd like to make an announcement. My husband doesn't even know this news either so I'd like to share it now since I'm gonna get a lot of questions if I don't. I recently moved in with Kenji, and we are currently helping a girl get back to good choices, which I think we are doing perfectly on, and it made me think that maybe I would like a kid someday. Well, that won't be long because I recently discovered that I'm actually having more than one, three actually".

I looked at Mr. Hashi, who was smiling brightly at me, everyone else was talking about it, and Anne plus Kenji staring wide-eyed at me as I say down.

They started to ask questions about it, but When I was going to answer, I saw Aoi in the distance.

"Kenji, look", I say quickly spinning him around to see. Aoi waved papers in the air that seemed way too familiar, and behind him was a boy way to familiar. Kanji and I marched up to them.

"what are you doing here?", Kenji asked in a threatening tone.

"aww, I just wanted to see my younger brother marry his younger wife", Aoi says.

"what's that in your hand?", Kenji asks.

"just papers to get rid of little Annie, you guys wanted to adopt her, right?", he asks, "I was able to get in on the conversation with you and her mother, saddening how she is willing to get rid of the rag doll, yea so I used this guy to grab the custody papers, isn't that right Jake". He ruffles the kid's head.

"he killed-", Jake screams.

"shut up!", Aoi tells at him and covers Jake's mouth.

We noticed the police come up and Aoi was off with Jake.

I clutched Kenji's hand and he looked at me.

"I'll get him, you talk to the police and make sure Anne is safe", he says kissing my cheek. After that, he takes off to quickly find Aoi. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned around to see Mr. Hashi.

"they still haven't gotten along?", he asks. I shook my head and hug him as I started to cry.

 

KENJI'S POV

 

I panted as I ran through the woods. "remember this game Kenny? The one you always played with Diana", I hear Aoi's voice. I ignored his taunt and kept running to wherever his voice was.

 

Flash back

 

"come on, Kenny just follow my voice", Diana says.

"but it's hard and I'm scared", I cry.

"Kenny!", she calls out.

I quickly ran to a tree in front of me to see Diana. I quickly clung to her leg, "you scared me", I muffled.

"one more game then we can go back inside I promise", Diana says hiding again, "okay come and find me", she calls in a distance. I looked around and whimpered a little. "Dia!", I call out.

Silence.

"Dia!", I cried again.

Still no answer.

"Kenji, come inside, where's Diana?", my mother calls for me. I turned back to her, my eyes red. She saw how terrified I was, "Kenji get in the house, I'll look for Diana".

 

4 days later

"you couldn't find anything?", my father asks the police.

"I'm sorry, sir your daughter are gone", they say, "since your son is the last person to see them may we speak to him?".

"h-he's only six"

"he may remember something"

"fine, Kenji please come down", my father calls me down, "you're gonna go on a trip with the nice police man okay?"

I nodded and put on my coat and shoes.

 

"can you tell me what happened when you last saw your sister", the man asks.

"we were playing hide and go seek and I couldn't find her and I started to worry and my mommy came out of the house and said to go inside. I told her I couldn't find Dia anywhere and she say ' Kenji go inside' but I never saw Dia again", I say shaking my head at the end.

 

A few days later, they found his mother unconscious and Dia's body cut into pieces. The murderer has never been found. But now that I think about I get a slight ideal on who it was.

 

I looked to the right and saw Shane. "what are you doing here?", I quickly ask.

"I know what Aoi is up to he wants to get rid of everyone you love first then you", Shane, whispers, "I can help you and I'm sorry for the scowl a few weeks ago that's when I saw Jake in the house trying to grab the papers".

"and how do you know that?", I asked.

"he used me once told me this guy killed my mother and he needed something from the guy used me to get it and next thing I know it's just an innocent man bleeding on the floor, and that's why I came to Hylands", he answers.

"fine", I say, "what do we need to do?".

"get back to the reception, he lead you here on purpose so he can go back and get Anne and Kairi", he says, "your father is there and since I did a background check on both guys and you, this time might be different".

 

KAIRI'S POV

 

"Anne, this is Kenji's father", I say, "now will you excuse me as I go inside for a second".

I rushed inside to see Kenji, himself. "thank goodness you're here, listen Anne-", I stopped in mid-sentence, "you're not Kenji". He was smiling an odd smile, not a sincere one either. I quickly tried to run but he caught on to my arm.

"now, triplets you say?", he asks, holding a knife against my neck and another against my stomach.

 

KENJI'S POV

 

"we need to look for him", I say.

"found him", Shane points out a guy who looked at tad like me and was pulling Kairi by her arm, "got a plan, without Anne or Kai dead he can't kill you, so I sneak to get the papers and-", Shane was interrupted.

"Kenji, Aoi is back, I tried everything to settle disputes and nothing and K-Kairi", my father was rapidly speaking.

"I know, where are they now?", I ask.

"parking lot, I tried finding you Everywhere", he says. I nodded and ran to the destination.

"Kenji wait up", I hear a voice similar to Kai's, "everyone's wondering where you guys are", I noticed it was Kai's sister, Flora, "but then I saw what happened and I thought it was you but then I noticed the hair color was a bit too dark and everyone is inside right now and just get back Kai".

"have you told the police?"

"he saw everything and took after them"

"alright, Shane you stay here and watch Anne make sure Jake nor Aoi is around just in case he came back”, I order running to my car.