TEN

It was the girl.

I said hi and she immediately kept quiet.

"Oh no, don't stop, it was beautiful."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Thanks, the only other person who has said that to me is my mom, since, I'm too shy to sing before anyone else."

"...I'm Tommy Hawkins, what's your name?"

"Lucille Stone."

"Wait, Lucy Stone's your mom?!"

She nodded and said,"Having someone so famous as your mom makes you a magnet for bullies."

"I know how it feels, my brother is Mark Hawkins."

"You live with your brother? What about your parents?"

"...they died in a fire, last month."

"I'm sorry, my dad died in a car crash two years ago."

"Wow, we have so much in common."

She nodded, we stayed there and talked, not paying attention to the time. She then said,"My birthday's next week and my mom is throwing a party, I'd like for you to come."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Here."

She handed me a well made and scented invitation card which also had the address, I said I'd be there.

Mark picked me up from school and I said,"I made a new friend today."

"Oh really? What's his name?"

"Her, actually, Lucille."

"Lucille what?"

"Lucille Sto..."

Oh yeah, he hates her...

"... waway, Lucille Stowaway."

"Stowaway?"

"Yeah, she's Irish, no names weirder than those from the emerald Isle."

He shrugged his shoulders then I asked,"She invited me to her birthday party, can I go?"

"Of course, I'll like to meet this friend of yours."

"What? No! She's... really shy and would only want to meet my guardian once we are really close and personal."

"Okay?"

We reached the house and I quickly ran up the stairs to get to my room.

I looked at my old nemesis...the TV, then went to put my bag down. I then slid down the stairs to go to Mark but frowned deeply as I saw him and Oleh kissing again.

Oleh opened her eyes and saw me then grinned and continued what she was doing, I also grinned, went to the living room and yelled,"Mark! I need help!"

He opened his eyes and rushed to the room he heard my scream from, Oleh was furious and was going to exact her revenge...

"Tommy, what is it?!"

"I can't open this jar of pickles."

Mark was ambivalent.

"You gave me a heart attack."He said as he picked the jar up.

He effortlessly opened it and gave it to me, as he left, I took a bite of one of the green, warty, sausage shaped vegetables when I gagged.

I just remembered, I hate pickles.

Before he left, I called him, he turned back and I said,"Please don't go, I want to spend time with my little brother."

"Okay, what do you want to do?"

Ash quietly purred on his chair while Mark and I floated around in Virtual reality.

I blasted a zombie vampire and warned Mark of one behind him, he turned and blasted it then I let out a sigh of relief.

I saw a huge roaring Count Tyrannozomboss rex and yelled,"The king of the zombies, fire!!!"

Mark removed his glasses and said,"That's not the king of zombies, it's just Oleh."

"...the queen of the zombies, fire!!!"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes then went to her, carried her like a baby, while she hugged him and they rubbed their cute noses together.

Yuk!

He placed her on her feet and she said,"I was wondering if we could go out to eat tonight."

"Sure, where?"

"The rose bud restaurant?"

Are you crazy?!

I had been in New York for barely a week and yet I already knew it was The restaurant. It specialised in European food though their skill sets weren't limited to the top continent of the world. The cheapest meals there were over five hundred bucks and the weirdest part is, Mark agreed.

I reluctantly changed my clothes into something more formal as I didn't want to embarrass myself then we entered Mark's blue Lamborghini.

The car drove to the huge restaurant and we walked in, with the red silk carpet beneath our feet, the well arranged furniture around us and the rich people enjoying their overpriced meals.

We went to the best table and ordered our food.

As time passed by, I doodled on a tissue that had been placed on the table.

"You draw?", Mark asked.

"...yes."

"Cool, can I see?"

Oh boy.

"No, I'm pretty shy, have low esteem and confidence in my own works."

"I wouldn't judge you."

"Nah, it's okay."

He arched one of his thick eyebrows and quickly snatched the paper from me.

Oh girl.

"Really Tommy?"

It was a picture of Oleh picking her nose and scratching her butt like the monkey she was.

I nervously chuckled then Oleh excused herself. She wasn't gone for long when the waitress brought our food.

I ate to my satisfaction and had some macarons as my dessert.

I realized they were crunchy but didn't mind, until...

"Wait Mark, are there peanuts in this?"

"There aren't supposed to be, why?"

"Because..."I said while looking at the purple mini cake with peanuts in it and said,"I'm highly allergic!"

Mark widened his eyes when I started to cough, my throat was swelling up and I couldn't breathe.

I felt Mark picking me up and running to the car with Oleh but didn't hear anything, soon I closed my eyes...

I woke up on a hospital bed and saw Mark sitting by my side with his head down.

"Mark?"

"Tommy, you're awake! I'm so sorry for being so irresponsible, I will never do that again."

"It's not your fault little bro."

He smiled and I saw Oleh grinning.

Mark had an appointment with the C.E.O. of another company but wanted to cancel it because of me.

I begged him to go, telling him I'd be fine and he nodded and left.

Oleh walked closer to me and said,"Did you like the surprise?"

"It was you who put the peanuts in the macarons!"

"Yes I did."

"Do you want to kill me?!"

"Maybe I do."

"How did you know I was allergic to peanuts anyway?"

"I did a background check on you."

"What?! How dare you invade my privacy like that?"

She chuckled evilly and said,"Don't mess with me little human being."

As she modelled out of the room, I was furious.

I lay on my side, crying angry tears, till a soft and fluffy object came on my back...

"Ash? What are you doing here?"

It just purred and claimed me.

With the cat there to calm me down, I felt a lot better.