CARE vs DETERMINATION

     Cherry quickly approached a white car parked in the school parking lot, it was a BMW furnished with brown leather and all the glasses where tinted, it was perfectly waxed and shined as though it was silver wear under the sun. a boy leaned on the car, his height could've been estimated to 6'2 and his perfect physique  could tell anyone who glanced at him that he didn't play with his gym appointments, his blonde hair fell over his blue eyes as he tapped his feet on the ground and folded his arms as though he was anxiously waiting for someone or something. His eyes suddenly darted towards Cherry as she hastily approached the car

        "I've been waiting for you", His deep voice sounded both caring and authoritative.

      "I'm sorry, I had to finish up on somethings", Cherry said as she threw her bag In the trunk of the car.

      "you know mum doesn't like it when we get home late", he said as they both entered into the car and he started driving them home.

         "it doesn't matter, it's not like she's usually home so there's no way she'll find out", she said as she stared out of the window. There was a brief silence before he looked through the side mirror and saw Cherry in her normal thinking position.

      "I saw your paper today, it was good", he said desperate to start a conversation.

       "I know, thank you"

    "as much as I loved it I want you to promise me that you'll never write something like that again, I don't think Troy was happy about that. People don't know much about that guy, he may be dangerous and do something to you for drawing attention to him, you know he doesn't like attention", he said, he had somehow managed to switch from president of the students council mode to caring brother mode in an instant.

      "save the lecture for when it matters Holland. As a good journalist, I must find out the truth"

     " Cherry, you're not even aspiring to be a journalist, you just took this as a hobby, you're a science student, remember?"

        " thanks for the reminder but anything worth doing is worth doing well"

      "just don't get hurt, okay?"

              "don't worry, I won't"

    They pulled up in the garage of a duplex painted blue and white, it might've looked a bit small on the outside but it was actually quite big. The five bedroom building consisted of a surprisingly big living room, a play room, study room and a reasonably sized kitchen, it's backyard could host the company of at least 50 people, it's perfectly architectured figure combined with it's beautifully and naturally decorated surrounding was made in way that would naturally capture the eye's of any passer bye.

  They walked out of the car and walked into the house where hit by the aroma of grilled chicken and gravy and the sound of simmering food maybe bacon or chips, one couldn't tell.

          "are my babies finally home?", a woman with a petite figure came out of the kitchen, she had blonde hair similar to that of Holland's but had nutty brown eyes like that of Cherry's, her small Cherry coloured lips just like Cherry's and she had a small pointed nose, her hair was up in a bun and she wore as apron over her clothes. She walked towards Cherry and Holland and gave them one hug each.

         "mum, you're home early", Cherry said in excitement as she kissed her cheeks.

       Holland sniffed the air and sighed a bit, " I do love the smell of your cooking", he gave her a peck on the cheek.

     " I know you've been managing Holland's cooking for the past 1 month now so I decided to come in early today and surprise you, so let's ignore the fact that you two out rightly ignored my instructions to come home early and have a nice family dinner", she said to Cherry in a caring but hostile voice that made Cherry feel guilty

      "oh, so the surprise is for her", Holland said in a jealous voice.

      "don't worry, I also brought a surprise for you",she said as she handed him an envelope. Holland slowly opened up the envelope in anticipation of what was in it, he gasped as he read the papers and his hands went round his mother instantly.

        " I've been processing the scholarship for weeks now, you're expected there immediately you graduate"

     "mum...", Holland was about to start thanking his mum but he was interrupted  by her.

       " no need for any words baby, I already know how much you love me, now whose ready to eat"

         "Me!", Cherry said as she rushed to the kitchen and began setting the table.

  *********

  After dinner, Cherry went to her room it was actually quite cute painted pink and white, she actually didn't like the colour pink that much but found most of her things being pink thanks to her mum and dad, honestly, she was more of a blue kind of person. she lay down on her bed thinking about her plan to get Troy to host the party, asking her brother to plan it was out of the question because he obviously didn't want her to get tangled up with Troy, what the hell was she going to do. She thought about it then smiled as she realized that Holland had walked into the house with a box, "perfect", she said to herself as she smirked then got up from her bed, picked up a jotter and a pen and scribbled something into it as she gave a mischievous smile.

******

        The next day was like any other day except that the grade 12 students were holding a meeting in other to pick the person who would host the party. Class A and B had already gathered in one of the grade 12 classes as Holland walked into the class with a box in his hand. He walked to the front of the class and dropped the box on the table then dipped his hand into the box and drew a small piece of paper out and read it to the whole class.

        "Troy Rivers"

     Instead of the whole class to cheer like they were supposed to, they went pitch silent as they simultaneously turned towards Troy who was sitting at the back of the class, he seemed to be in shock as the book in his hand stumbled to the ground, he stood up from the chair still in shock.

        "That's impossible, I didn't even write down my name", he said to Holland in a more harsh tone than what he imagined In his head.

       " Then I guess someone wrote it down for you, we'll be at your house on Friday to prepare for the party", Holland said in a calm tone leaving Troy speechless as he glared at the whole class in disbelief. He couldn't argue, this tradition had been done for years and every host had to bear it.

      "Who the hell wrote my name, he said as he sat down"

        Cherry was peeping through the class window while all this happened.

           "Yes!" She whisper shouted once it has been confirmed that Troy was hosting the party. At least all her hard work last night didn't go in vain, she had stayed up all night writing Troy's name on different pieces of paper. She even had to wait for her brother to enter the bathroom this morning before switching the papers in the box with the papers full of Troy's name, it was hard work but she managed to pull it off and no one suspected a thing.