6 Trying (and failing) To Eavesdrop

I quickly rap three times on the door of my best friends door while trying to forget the instance that happened with my a father a few mere minutes ago

"What the hell are you doing here?" Grace yells at me as she opens the door

"Nice way to greet your best friend" I say sarcastically with a small smile on my face

Grace processes this and says "I apologise. What the berries are you doing here?"

I roll my eyes and barge in the house ignoring Grace's confused looks and march to the kitchen thirsty for some water and manage to crash into somebody and as I begin to fall, I decide to take out my bad luck on the person who crashed into me.

Yep, it was totally that person's fault. Not mine, Nuh-Uh

"We really got to stop meeting like this, you lying on the floor does not make you a damsel in distress, princess"

My heart beat skyrockets as my eyes finds a pair sea blue eyes peering down at me

Princess? No-No-No- Berry NO!

"Princess, you say?" I manage to croak out

"Would you prefer darling?" He says with a light chuckle

I wince at that and glare at Leonard as a relived smile makes its way on my face. And making that face and looking beautiful in it is what you call multitasking.

"Are you in pain?" Leonard asks me with a hint of worry in his eyes as he takes in my expression

That man is blind, I swear. Not appreciating the skilful art at all

"You are lying on top of me and you dare to ask that?" I say scowling at him

Red colours his cheeks which makes me smile. With the blush still in cheeks, he stands up and offers me his hand

Before I can get up on my own, he proceeds to grab my hand and yank me close to him, way too close to him.

Alert! Personal Space Invaded!

My mind goes haywire as I try to think of something- anything but Leonard beats me to it

"What colour is my eyes?" He whispers as his arm around my waist tightens

I look at him and before I can stop my mouth, words run out jambling over each other "An endless hue of blue that I can drown in"

I think I just quoted the book that I had been reading..

Damn you worthless romantic books yet addicting books. I need to stop scrounging in Marie's room to find something to read, it ain't good for my health

He blinks startled "What?"

Heat spreads from my neck to my cheeks making me despreately hope that the blus- I mean the strange thing occurring on my face (I have no clue what it is) isn't visible "Blue! I said blue"

Before he can say anything to make me even more humiliated, the small bulb flickers on saving me from my demise

Thank you God!

"Tessa, Leo, are you to engaged in a not exactly rainbows and sunshine relationship?" A really, really, really familiar voice makes its way towards me, making me snap my head towards the door and confirming my fear.

Hey God, just so you know, I am taking my thanks back.

I yank back, slipping easily out of his grip and yell while pointing to Leonard "He tried to get all lippy-tippy"

Leonard gasps in shock "I did not"

I put on a quivering face and look at Grace with my best I-Am-A-Damsell-In-Deep-Stress "He did Gracey, he thought I was a weakling"

Grace looks sharply at me when I say weakling and rage fills her eye. I smirk at Leonardo

You are dead meat pal

Grace fumes and turns to her brother "LEO! HOW COULD YOU?! THIS IS SCANDALOUS!"

Then she takes out her black parasol from the parasol bag she had created which hung from her right arm and begins stabbing Leo while screaming at him.

"You.Stab.Bloody .Stab. Chauvinist. Stab. Pig" Grace screams in a war like manner while I try hard not to snort

Leo glares at me and pleads with his twin to release him from his torture and I finally give in under the pressure and crack up laughing successfully shutting up both of them.

I manage to sober up and realise that I fell on the floor while I was laughing. I close my eyes to control my panting breaths

"She lied, didn't she?" Grace whispers softly

Pant. Pant. Remembering Leo's face .Har- Har. Pant. Pant

"Yes. She did" Leo says in calm controlled voice

Still panting..

Suddenly four pair of hands grab my innocent writs and equally innocent ankles lifting me and take me out in the windy night

Am I going be neighbours with little earth worms, their mates and their tiny little kids?

As they walk, 'accidentally' (IT IS A PLOY, I TELL YOU! A PLOY) almost losing their footing and jerking me in the process

I scream. Not the 'Oh-my-god-I-am-a-damsel-and-I-just-saw-a-person-trying-to-kill-a-rabbit' instead I scream 'BLOODY MURDER'

A person a few metres away turns towards us making Leonard and Grace freeze.

The person comes near and shouts in a feminine voice"What are you doing?"

They are dragging me with them and I am screaming bloody murder. Ya still want an answer to that hun?

"We were playing hide and seek" Leonard shouts back

Oh really? Who is the seeker?

I wait for the women to help me as I am pretty sure that my derrière is two seconds away from having a long and really felt embrace with the hard ground.

"Alright! Have a great night!" The woman shouts before walking away

What?!

Is she serious?!

Leonard and Grace sigh with relief and I open my mouth to scream when Leonard who is holding my wrists quickly and somehow magically puts his arms around my armpits and closes my mouth firmly using his palms

Can't breathe

I am about to bite his hand when he suddenly lets go and I land on the ground and feel something..wet

Damn! It is the soggy swampy

I get up, trip and fall down again so the swamp has also spread over the front of my ratty old gown

Fury enters me as I see Leonard and his partner in crime laughing their arses off and pointing at me as if I just pulled out the most hilarious expression ever

"Your expression was just hilarious" Leonard says pointing at me and laughing his arse off even more

That does not count!

I put on an innocent expression before slowly waltzing my way towards Leonard.

"Leonard?" I say in a soft tone

"Yes?"He says still laughing

"I like you" I say forcing out the words

Leonard stiffens and his face blanks in shock "What did you just say?"

I reach over and hug him tightly before going back a respectable distance "Dimwit" I say snorting

Then I break into a run ignoring Leonards voice which says something along the lines of cheater, not fair and damn it while Grace keeps on laughing her boisterous laugh

***

The moon arose and shone upon the lake, which lay one smooth expanse of silver light. She shone upon the hills and rocks, and cast upon their hollows and their hidden glens in a blacker depth of shade.

I gasp at the beauty of it and wish that my eyes were the shutters of a camera so that I could save the picture in my head and look at it whenever I wished to.

The wind whistles and swerves past me making my light brown hair tangle themselves and also slap my face.

I fist all of my hair in my palm, twist the ponytail that I have created and wrap it around its origin turning it into a bun before securing it with a small mahogany wooden stick.

Even due to that, a few strands of my hair escapes and lightly dance in the wind. I sigh wondering why didn't I get a tie to tie my hair.

I raise my fingers and waggle them before entailing them together, as I look at the roof beneath me, I realise that my fingers look like a.. bird. As I adjust them, a low sound catches my attention.

Peeking down from the roof which is under my balcony, I see a man speaking with... Uncle Stefan?

What in the sunshine and rainbows is the king of half of Verocia doing at approximately-

I glance at my watch

-Midnight?

I strain to hear the voices as my inner angel gently annoys me

'Anastasia! It is rude to eavesdrop on others conversations' She says sounding surprisingly like Marie would have

Frowning in concentration I mumble "Put a sock on it for a while"

"I won't" Wait- That sounds way too much like-

"Marie?" I gasp as I see her look at me from my balcony

Can't I break some rules in peace and quiet?

"I- I am not eavesdropping!" I protest sounding indignant. How could she blame me without even consulting me?

"Oh, really?" Marie says batting her eyelashes at me "Then what were you doing?"

"I was admiring the stars" I defend myself and mentally praising myself for quick thinking

"Then why were you grabbing your ear lobes and stretching them and trying to make your ears bigger?" Marie says

"Uh-Um.. I was trying to listen to the pain of the stars" Pain? Really Tessa?

"Pain you say?" Marie gives a sigh and asks "How much longer do you think you could continue this Anastasia?"

I open my mouth to argue but stop when a shimmer of light of moon helps me see Marie better and realise that there are dark circles under her eyes

I shut up and without a word began going towards my balcony before swinging my legs over the metal railings and finally standing beside Marie

"What happened?" I ask quietly

"Life Anastasia. Life" Marie says with a hint bitterness in her voice

"What? Are you trying to be one of those people who are depressed about anything and everything?" I joke trying to lighten up the darkness which had just formed

Marie ignores the joke and a unhappy chuckle escapes her mouth "Father is fixing my marriage"

Mother of holy crap say what now?

"What?!" I exclaim

"He is told me that he has already found the groom" Marie says her shoulders drooping in defeat

I stay there with my mouth open

I think that a fly just entered my mouth

Focus Anastasia! Focus!

"But wasn't the ball held so you could find a groom?" I say my mouth still agape

"No, it was so that the groom could see me in real life" Marie says her voice close to defeat

Since I am absolutely horse crap at talking feelings with a human or even an animal (Racoons never show what they feel. Never) I just grab Marie into a hug

I really hope its going to be alright May

****