Chapter 10

"Well, shall we?" Carter asked, gesturing to a completely black door, probably his room.

"Why do you sound so excited and, you know, 'yippy' about me being in your room?" I asked unlocking his room and entering first. I can hear his chuckle and imagine him shaking his head behind me as he follows.

"Wow." is all I can say. Everything here looks so plainly... black. The walls were black, the long curtains covering half of the huge window black, the rugs black, the study desk and the chair black, the nightstand and bed sheets black. Just to be precise enough, everything here is black on black, except his open closet filled with dark-themed clothes.

"What is it with you and black?" I ask him plopping on one of the black sacs. I sighed in relaxation, it is so fluffy, soft and comfortable, that I literally drowned in it.

"Eh, this is nothing much. Just wanted to piss off dad." he said. I sighed again, this time in the exhaustion of what he deliberately repeats, and looked at him. I quite don't understand what his father did, or has done, but he, in the least, shouldn't disrespect him like this.

"Please, stop it." I said, but he scoffed, "You do not even know the whole load of bullshit he did." he snapped at me.

"Sorry, I am just telling you," I said and turned to the huge window that almost covers the opposite wall, and walked to stand in front of it. I see a clear sky with scatters of clouds here and there, no sign of the sun.

"Then do not tell me." he snapped again, I stayed silent.

"Why are you silent?" he asks.

"When are the people going to come?" I ask him back, ignoring his question. I wonder who the people he was speaking about could be.

"You will see," he said smirking slightly. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and unlocked it, dang, it is one past ten. Time flies fast these days, but now, it feels like it's stuck, because I am standing here wondering who the hell the people are, and he is lying on his bed, doing whatever he is doing. Boring.

"Okay," I turned to look at him, he was looking at his ceiling with his arms crossed behind his head. His gaze slowly left the black roof to meet mine, raising one thick and arched eyebrow with a questioning look, "So, what do you usually do when you are just sitting and doing nothing?" I asked, heading back to the fluffy sacs and sitting on one of them.

"Bring a girl here and-" before he finishes what he was about to say, I quickly grabbed a pillow of the sac and threw it at him as hard as I can, "Oh my God, Carter! Can't you at least be speaking decently for a freaking moment?!" I yelled at him. He is so blunt for fuck's sake.

"You are the one who asked!" he yelled back.

"You could've said it in a not-so-blunt way." I said rolling my eyes.

"We can-"

"No! Shut up!" I shouted and he laughed.

"I was going to say, we can play video games." oh.

"Now, who is the dirty thinker?" he asked with that stupid, yet beautiful smirk plastered on his face.

"Whatever, let's play then. Better than nothing."

"I like Call Of Duty, want to play that?" he suggested.

"I never played it and never will since I suck at it." I said and he chuckled, "So? I can teach you." he said, confidence dripping from his voice. He must be kidding me, Harris tried to before he offered, and I miserably failed. I even had training sessions with him, but the more frustrated he got, I just called everything off and played easier games instead.

"Really?" I scoffed, "Let's start then, teacher." I mocked him.

He moved from his spot and walked to the stand in front of the three sacs and below the hanging huge flat-screen TV, pulled some cables, and connected them to the huge TV, and into the PS.

"Stop calling me that, I do not like it." he said grabbing two controllers and handing the black one to me, then gracefully sitting at the sac beside me.

"So except Carter, you don't want to be called anything?"

"There is one..." he said, looking at me with a knowing smile. When I realized what he was referring to, I reached and slapped his arm.

"Stop it!"

"Okay, okay. Let us start. Feel free to ask me anything you find confusing." he said and I nodded, holding the controller and looking at the TV screen with such moral and confidence,

"Let's play."

~°~°~°~°~

"Yes! I win!" I shouted and punched the air. This game is such a fun one, I learned to shoot at the zombies in no time.

"You are still on the first and the easiest level, I would have passed it with my eyes closed." Carter brags, placing the controller he was holding beside him and putting his hands above his head to stretch.

The shirt he is wearing rode up the more he stretches, exposing his tanned skin just above his pants. I should look away, but I couldn't resist the urge.

"I think," he said, groaned and twisted, then swiftly stood up, "That we should eat, I am hungry." he finished.

"Out, or here?" I asked.

"Hm, what do you mean by here? In this room?" he says wiggling one of his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at him, why should he always connect things with that stuff?

"Where do you want to eat, though?" he asked.

"Here, with your sister. I really like her, she is so sweet... unlike you." I said standing up too.

He rubbed his face and sighed. He walked to the door and opened it,

"Come with me, you do not want to be lost in this big shit of a house," he said. This guy... I can't...

We walked down the long and slender marbled stairs, "I think you need to tell me who the hell...." when we reached the kitchen, I spotted a small crowd right around the visible at the small hallway of the front door, and amidst the group of people, I saw the two most familiar faces. Oh my gosh...

"How did you two come here??" I asked both of my best friends, walking to and hugging them with each of my arms.

"Your new friends threatened us to," Harris grumbles, eyeing Carter.

"They are not my friends, and trust me, Harris, he brought me here without me knowing that we will come here." I tried to assure him.

Cole gasped and placed his hand on his chest, "I am hurt, Kate. You really did hurt my feelings." he says, wiping a fake tear under his eyes. This guy is always dramatic and weirdly funny.

"It is true, Cole, she is not our friend," Carter says, supporting my point. I felt a tiny part of my heart tinge in disappointment, why did he say that?

"Anyway, why did you bring them here? I thought we would just talk and that would be it?" I asked eyeing the three boys.

"We will, but first, let's welcome you," Xavier said, giving Carter an indescribable look.

"Kate, what the heck did you do without telling us?" Jenny asked me, putting her hands on her hips, and yay me, all the attention shifted to us. I see Xavier frown, and I tried to suppress my laughter. Everyone ignored his statement, poor Xavier.

"I didn't do... I actually, know..." I stammered. Jenny, Harris and I never hid anything from each other since the day we met, which was at the elementary school, and now I don't know how to explain this to them.

"Okay, let's all of us settle down, shall we?" I said, in hopes of giving time for myself.

"The living room," Carter says and leads us to a wide, elegant and glorious living room. I still can't register on to how Carter talks bad about having a house like this. If it was me, I would've bought as many Oreos, Cheetos and ice cream as I can, then sit back and relax, watching my favorite shows with Jenny and Harris.

We all sat on the black sleek leather sofas, me situated between Jenny and Cole, Xavier and Harris sitting next to each other on the other one, and Carter, who is sat on one of the sofa chairs, which is located right in front of me.

"So, who will explain to us, what is going on?" Harris says, his eyes narrowing on Carter.

"Why is Carter watching you?" Jenny whispered beside me. When I looked across the room to look at Carter, he is indeed looking at me, as if I am doing something amusing for him. I looked away and shrugged at Jenny's question.

"Carter is a weirdo, maybe he is planning something on me." I circled my index finger around my temple, gesturing for her his weirdness.

"Carter is a hottie, and he is looking at you!" she whispered loudly, and I quietly shushed her. She crossed her arms and pouted like a child, "I was just telling you." she whispered, slowly this time.

"Who is this Carter guy you two are talking about?!" Cole asked loudly, making me snap my head towards him. I looked at Carter, his eyes widened a fraction, telling me not to spit out anything about him.

"What are you talking about? Who is Carter?" I asked back, playing dumb, for Carter.

"What do you mean? Carter is right th-"

"Yeah! I forgot, he is that hottie you were talking about yesterday that we met at the restaurant, right?" I ask her, pleading her with my eyes to shut up and go along with what I just said.

"Right, that guy," Jenny said, in a suspicious voice. Her cheeks tinted a little redness on it, her gaze traveling to where Xavier is sat.

"So, Scott, care to speak first?" Xavier asked Carter, but he shook his head.

"Let her talk," Carter said gesturing to my direction with his head, meaning I should be speaking, damn it.

"Let's wrap it all up, alright? So when I was walking down the streets to my home, I saw Scott talking with monster-sized gangsters," Cole interrupted me by his laugh, "Gangsters? They are drug dealers, Kate."

"Lord, give me strength." I hear Jenny mutter, squeezing on my arm.

"Anyway," I continued, "I was curious about them, so I followed where they went and,"

"Good to know that you are always this curious in the bad times too," Harris said, sarcasm filled in it.

"So, when I entered there, I heard Cole and Xavier come, and I hid so they can't see me,"

"Which she failed miserably. If you guys saw how sh-"

"Can you-"

"All of you, shut the fuck up and listen to her," Carter said loudly and firmly, his voice echoing, making us all stop

"Thank you," I gratefully said to him.

"So anyway, they caught me, a little scene happened among the gangsters and us, and..." I remembered that scene I badly wanted to tell Jenny, "Oh my goodness, you know what happened Jen?? One of them called me a freaking stripper! I was like, what the heck!?" I exclaimed and huffed, forgetting for a moment that we are circled with people watching us.

"No way," she gasps, "I would've been all ninja on them if they said that to me." Jenny said.

"I was about to, but Xavier cut me off, calling me his 'girlfriend'." I said, air quoting the word. I can swear I saw a hint of disappointment and sadness on Jenny's face.

"Why thank you for thanking me." Xavier mocked. I raised my eyebrow at him and scoffed, "You could've said, my friend or my sister or-"

"Scott's girlfriend?" Xavier said, making me choke on my saliva.

"I would've strangled and fed you to the stranded dogs." I snapped, Carter clearing his throat made me look at him, his eyes too intense, so I looked away and just ignored him.

"Wait, are you two new to the school? I was wondering about this the whole time." Harris asks Xavier and Cole.

"We are at Redsie high, where Scott was there but got expelled," Cole explains and I, being the dramatic and nerdy girl I am, gasped loudly with my eyes and mouth wide open, "You came to our school because you were expelled??" I asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah, so?"

"You have done something, and gotten expelled, you're here talking like a normal person?" I asked in horror. If it was me, I would've never gotten out of my room. One of my biggest fears is doing something illegal at school and getting punished for it. No way in hell I would even try to think of it, it gives the cills.

"Am I supposed to be an Alien?" he asks, sarcasm filled in his tone.

"She is just a freaky nerd," Jenny tells Carter.

"I am not." I defend myself. She scoffs and rolls her eyes at me.

"Back to the point people, what happened after the scene with them?" Harris asks me impatiently. Oh yeah, the story.

"Well, they told me to do them a favor, unless they won't let me go." with that, I finished explaining.

"So, what is the favor they asked you for?" Jenny asked.

"That's the reason why I came here."

"No, she did not." Carter spoke and took all of our attention.

"Excuse you? You're talking about Kate?" Harris asks, slight anger detected in his voice. Carter snapped his head towards us and blinked, as if he was caught doing something.

"It slipped from me," he mutters, "I was thinking about something else, not about her."

"Finally, since everything is done, let's party!" Cole said, whooping and clapping.

"No, we should go home." I said, looking down at my hands.

"Come on, Katy! Stop being the killer of the mood. And also, we brought your friends here to party. More people, more life of the party!" Cole said, pulling me with his arm. and hugging me

"I don't care what Kate would say, so count me in." Jenny said and high-fived Cole above my head.

"Let it be Friday, it will look and feel more like it," Xavier said and I nod my head.

"That is much better," Carter and I said simultaneously. This time, I didn't look at him, instead, I looked at Harris and asked "So, you just came along with them?"

"Of course no, we tagged along with them by my car," he said. I knew Harris won't leave his car. He loves it so much as if it is his... okay, I got nothing to compare to, but you got the key point.

"Let's bounce then," I said and all three of us stood up.

"Oh, shit," I cursed, "I left my stuff upstairs. I'll retrieve it, then come back." with that, I speedily walked to the stairs, got in the room, and grabbed my bag. As I turned to the door, Carter was standing at the doorway, leaning on it.

"So, will we meet tomorrow?" he asked, looking at my eyes with such amusement.

"Probably not, I have a lot of stuff to do and I will be busy the whole time," I said trying to pass him, but he blocked the whole way.

"Busy doing what?" he asked me huskily, narrowing the space between us. My breathing pace quickened, and my heart is beating faster.

"School stuff, this is the senior year, Carter," I said, trying to catch my breath, why am I being like this?

"Okay, well in the least, I hope we would see each other," he said.

"Okay," I replied quietly, and with success, passed him and he let go of me.

I walked down the stairs and went to my best friends, "Done?" Jenny asked me and I nod, shaking my bag.

"Bye, guys, see ya at the party!" Cole says as we head out the door.

"I can't believe that you were with these hotties without inviting me..." Jenny whined as we all hopped in and entered Harris' car.

"Jen, be serious. Why were you with these guys, Kate? Have you gone mad or crazy?" Harris practically yelled at me.

Oh boy, this is what I was fearing since the day of my doubt feeling...