Chapter 26

"Carter!" I yelled at his face, finally waking him up. He looks up at me for a long second, groans then turn to the other side, continuing to sleep. Damn it.

It's been three hours since I woke up and one whole hour of trying to wake this hog up. I sighed and grabbed the glass of cold water from the nightstand. If he can't wake up peacefully, then I am forced to wake him as I should have ages ago.

"Carter," I call him sweetly, ushering him that I am up to something, "Hm?" he grumbles and made a move to wake up, but changed his mind and stayed still. Good choice you made, mate. I opened the lid covering it and inched closer to him, this will be fun and satisfying for my little revenge.

"Alright then, you asked for it." I said then poured the contents of the glass on him, and in an instant, he flipped the blanket off him and quickly sat up and looked at me in shock, "What the fuck was that for?" he asked exaggeratedly then walked away to grab a towel and dry himself, "Thank you for giving me a good shower, what else do you want? Shampoo?"

"Much for being a morning person," I snapped, "It is almost eleven, and didn't even eat breakfast," I muttered.

"Allison wakes up first, so I assure you, there will be loads of food down there since she loves to cook but do not each much of it." he says, rubbing his face and sighing again.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and feed ourselves." I said and headed to the door, but as quick as a wink, he held me back, like he always does.

"No one knows you are here," he said. I looked at him with a fake smile, my eyebrows as high as they can be. This is so fucking great, now they will surely be thinking that I am letting him use me, while I came here to have a sweet cozy movie night. Oh me and my very own bad luck.

"Thank you so much for making me look like a girl who crept into your house which I am sure everyone will think that I have let us do the deed and stuff like that," I said, my voice dripping with humorless sarcasm.

"Do you want me to bring you food here?" he asked. I gave him a 'are you stupid?' look and folded my arms.

"I am not a slave to eat in a basement, Carter. Either you go and tell them that you brought me here along with the reason why, or I will not leave this place." I said in a final tone.

"I will sneak you up to my room then. I will be making sure if they are not around first, stay here and wait," he said and opened the door, walking out and leaving me with my hazardous ideas. Shooing those thoughts and shrugging to myself, I sighed and walked back to the couch and sat, waiting for him.

The wait is killing me at this point.

I have been roaming the whole room for an hour and a half and this is what I seriously get from being this patient? And to make it much better, my backpack and my phone are upstairs in Carter's room. I didn't think I would need them because I thought we would just watch some movies, eat snacks, sleep then wake up with a fancy breakfast, but of course what I think of always never happens, so I should just shut my mouth and accept what will happen or about to because this is all my fault.

"Whyy?" I exaggerated for myself and put my face on my hands. I could've read a whole book, or wrote a good paragraph for a speech, or maybe study, or even prepare for my—

The door creaked open and finally, Carter's head peaked through the peep, "Come on, the coast is clear." he said smiling a toothy smile.

"Thank the Lord for that." I said and head out with him.

"So, Mister Harrington, if they are not at the kitchen, then where would they be?" I asked, glaring at him.

"They are eating outside in the garden, there are lots of food on the table. And since Abi is awake too, there will be no need of hiding you after you change," he says.

"If I wear my clothes again, it will surely look like I slept with you because it is a night dress and you didn't lend me any clothes dumbass. I will stay in these clothes and just tell them that I borrowed you right now and came here to give you a textbook." I spoke what was on my mind. It makes no sense at all, but much better than wearing my clothes again and making things more complicated than they will be.

"As you like," he said and both of us started to walk up the stairs two steps at a time, it wasn't hard for me like other girls would say because I have long and slender legs, just like a basketball player.

"Can we buy a coloring book now? The pages finished yesterday." I hear Abigail speak, but before any of us would react, all of us stumbled on each other, almost making me fall on my back and right down the stairs, but Carter got ahold of me and pulled me back.

"Kate?" Alison calls confused.

"Kate!" Abigail squeals and hugs me tight. I hugged her back and swayed her a little, then put her back on the marble floor.

"How are you doing?" I asked Abigail and she shrugged, "I need a coloring book, it finished yesterday." she replies with what she said earlier.

"Carter, what is she doing here?" Allison mutters to Carter, "Well, can I not invite anyone who you do not know?" he asks putting his arms on my shoulders. Allison looked at me with a surprised shock making me shake my head hard, "I just came here then my dress got torn so I borrowed his clothes. It's not what you're thinking about. I mean me and him? Come on, you know?" I rambled in hopes she would understand me, but all she did was give me a weird glance and scoffs, "I do not know, but I have heard the same stutters before." she said and held on Abigail's hand, "Let us go, Abi." she tells her and walks back from the direction they came.

"You did not have to stutter like that, I could have handled it better," he said. I glared at him and was about to snap at him, but instead, "I am so sorry, dear. Now, can you please take me to Jenny's house now?" I ask sweetly.

"Oh no, I know this attitude, we should have breakfast now, then we may go," he said, daring to smile. And damn it, I love it when he does that.

"Asshole." I mumbled, but smiled a small smile and walked with him to the garden of his house. As we reached the table, my mouth dropped. Is there anyone more than fifty people living here?

"Carter, how many people do you usually be here and eat?" I asked.

"Just me, Allison and Abi, sometimes Cole and Xavier." he answered.

"And what happens to the leftovers? What will you be doing to it?" I asked sitting in front of a huge pile of waffles and Carter sat directly at the opposite chair, "The workers of this house will eat, then if there are any more, we give it to the charity." he replies.

"Charity? You really do give it to the needy people?" I asked happily, these actions and talks of him burst and erupts something euphoric inside me.

"Yeah, of course. It would be a great shame if it is thrown..." he trails off, "You know, I do not give a fuck about any of this shit, I eat then leave." he suddenly changes his attitude.

"You don't need to be rude to tell me the good things you do for people," I said taking a bite from the cherry syrup covered waffle. This is a dream Carter is living in. He has this huge house, eats delightful foods, sleeps on clouds, wears brands, he should be grateful and happy for all of this blessing he has got.

"If I were you, I would've made myself a chance to get what I want at school." I suddenly blurt out.

"What?" he asked, seeming too engrossed into thinking, "I said that we should really start going after we eat." I change what I wanted to say, secretly thankful that he didn't hear me, or I am kind of sure it would have turned to another battle.

"Eat slowly so you would not choke and make another issue, it will be okay. I will take you right in time. I promise." he said, looking at me intently.

"It's actually not in time, or on time. We are late. I don't want my parents to think that I lied to them. Whenever I sleepover at Jenny's or Harris' house, I should be coming back before twelve, and now it is eleven thirty. Are you even listening to me?" I asked when he zoned out looking at me.

"Shit, sorry, I do not know why I keep doing that these days," he says and threads his hands through his already messy hair, which looks so good and sexy.

"Can you pass me the drink please?" I ask pointing to the teapot. Nothing is better than freshly made tea in the morning.

"There is mango juice if you want," he says but passing it anyway.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you, how did you know what you put in that room was my favorite stuff? From the color to the snack, and to the snack to the sac. Woah that rhymed right?" I asked surprised at what I said turning like a rap.

"No, it did not." he denies.

"From the color to the snack, and from the snack to the sac! It does and it is perfect." I said repeating it again and again changing my voice to a deep man's voice, "From the color to the snack and to the snack to the sac, aye!"

"That is childish and oblivious, love bunny. I will give it a five point, five out of fifteen." he said, chewing slowly and gracefully.

"But you should support me more! So is this what will you say when I'm on stages and present something to everyone?"

"First, try to do that, until then we will see who will support who," he says and finishes off his plate, "Now who was the one who said they need to go quick and does not want to be late?" Carter asks sarcastically looking at my half eaten food.

"I eat food at a slower pace than you, and rather than eating like a monster, I will eat my food slowly and carefully too." I answered.

"I got a text from Cole," he states, completely ignoring my statement, "He said he will be coming soon with Xavier," Carter tells me and comes around the table and sits next to me.

"Well, we should go out quick then, I ate enough." I said standing up, "Wait, I said that to make you stay, not... fuck, I should have not told you." he muttered the last part and stood up too.

"Can you bring my stuff from your room, please? I am too lazy to bring them myself." I said giving him the puppy eyes.

"Okay, I will be changing too so I could take my time, you can eat until that."

"Oh no, I will just walk around the garden." I said, waiting for him to leave, but he isn't moving.

"Uh, what are you waiting for?"

"For you to leave first, I am a gentleman," he said smirking.

"Oh, you very much are one," I muttered and left him walking to the heart of the garden filled with flowers and beautifully decorated trees.

The air is so fresh that I feel like my lungs themselves are breathing instead of my nose, lucky me the sinus won't be attacking me anytime soon. I plucked a wide and beautiful white flower from a bush and put it under my nose. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell like grass, but it does have its own good smell.

"Hey! It took years to plant these!" Someone yells behind me, making me jump out of my skin and turn back quickly, "Sorry, sir! I just wanted to smell them," I apologized to the old man wearing a gardening cloth and a green hat. He looked Asian, with the straw-made hat and his long white beard.

"These are unique flowers, they are called Kadupul. As much as they are beautiful, they take much patience and time to bloom. They rarely do that." he says coming closer to it and watering them, "Such a waste because no one will give them the time. Everyone now is thinking about their income and how to get that as fast as they can." I said.

"Little girl, if you want to be successful, it will not be coming that easily. It needs patience, time, and a good environment, just like these flowers. You are right, the generations coming these days are trapped in a surrounding that doesn't teach, show, and hear the benefits of mother nature and what's inside her." he says touching one of the flowers lightly.

"True, but we can change it. There are ways of showing everyone that it is not too late to improve things." I replied, not knowing why I felt so easy talking to him about worldly issues.

"You do have such a blooming mindset, little girl. Don't let it be destroyed by anything, let it grow and mature. I can see you will be up to something no one can imagine and sketch in their heads." he said with a small tug at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, I'll take that as a compliment," I said chuckling.

"You are a new face to me, I believe that you are friends with Carter?" he asks.

"Yes, you are right. But how did you know?" I asked back, "There is something very familiar in you compared to the three siblings. Best believe it is at how you two can compare the nature and reality's illusion at a balanced equation." he said.

"I don't understand, sir, what did you say?"

"You can call me Mi. Soon, very soon you will understand what I mean." Mi said moving to the pathway, and I followed him, wanting to talk to him more. I love this type of talks about issues and their solutions, it is refreshing to know that someone is still interested in these topics since everyone is focused on the unnecessary.

"You look like you have much wisdom, Mi. I didn't meet anyone without them seeing me in such a way then maybe humiliate me." I said catching up on him and walking next to him, I am much taller than he is, but I wasn't uncomfortable. Weird, maybe it's because he is very much older than me.

"Nobody in the world can disgrace you, because it is in your hands. If you accept it, then it will be as it is, but if you don't, you have to carry it to your home. Nobody can humiliate you. Humilation needs your acceptance." he says stopping to one dried bush, "This friend has been through very much. I tried to water it, put more fertilizers and everything I can do to save it, but I failed," his smile widened a fraction, "Correction, I thought I failed."

"What do you mean, Mi? It's dead and all dried up."

"Look closer, look deeply through the spiky branches and dried leaves, right there," he said pointing to the inside of the bush. I squinted my eyes and looked inside the leaves and branches, and much to my utmost surprise, there was a beautiful pink flower in the middle of the whole bush. It looked completely different and doesn't look like its place is there.

"But, how?"

"I didn't listen to its calls, it was telling me to leave it alone and give it its time to mature and change, see? This friend of mine tells that it is okay to look and feel worthless, because one day, that passion inside you will bloom like that little flower inside this dead and hopeless cage," he said.

"Woah, this is such a huge message from mother nature herself," I said, amazed by that flower. Could I someday be like this? Would I ever crack my shells and renew myself into a modified and better me? Of course.... no I can't.

"It was such a great time we spent together Mi, but I better go now. Carter is probably looking out for me." I said, giving the garden one last look.

"Off you go, little girl, off you go." he bid me goodbye, continuing to look at the flowers lovingly.

"Love bunny, where have you been? I almost thought you left on your own." Carter said as soon as he spotted me. He looks disturbed, it can't be just because he couldn't find me for a few minutes now is it?

"With what? My imaginary car? Let's go now." I said and started to walk to his car. But his words stopped me,

"There is something that happened that you would not like at all," he said behind me. I turned to him and cocked my head, "And what is that?"

He took out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, then handed it to me, "You remember when I told you that I paid for your friend to get your back for what we have done?" he asked.

"Leslie is not my friend, but yeah, what happened?"

"I fucked up so bad," he said. I looked down at his phone, it was text messages from him and her;

7:50 AM *U up?*

8:43 AM *Yeah, sup?*

8:44 AM *Just wanted to know how ur date went ;)*

10:02 AM *It was good, tnx for the help.*

10:03 AM *Well, I want another favor.*

10:28 AM *?*

11: 35 AM *I need you to do me something, or I'll tell ur gf's parents that u did sth to her... :p*

11:40 AM *Tf?*

12:11 AM *Dan is my father.*

"And who is Dan?" I ask, my heart racing for the fact that I am between this chaos. If my parents knew that I slept with a boy, mom will skin me alive then dad will hunt Carter down, stab his heart and twist it, then throw his dead body in jail.

"I do not know a shit about my dad, but I clearly know that Dan is his biggest supporter and his friend,"

I looked at him expectantly, "And?"

"And when it is time for any type of competition regarding their business, they always compete against each other that they want to rip each other's throat."

"Why did Leslie tell you about her father then?"

"We fucking fucked up, love bunny." he whispers, "So bad."