A couch is used to seat usually three maybe four people. My couch, in particular, is used to only seat three people and that's it. After that, the couch is not happy and is not very comfortable as you are stuffed in there like a sardine. The stuffing usually didn't happen for maybe once in a while, the only action the couch ever receives is when my mom and I are on it because there's a scary movie on and you can't leave a bitch behind. But with all the people in my house, you want someone to be left behind.
I watched as the Wallers who turned out to have the names Margot and Dale, take the little love seat that usually hosted my mom's butt. Mel, her dad, and Thorin took the three couch cushions and left me, Stacey and Matt to fight to the death for the two chairs that were remaining.
"Go ahead and take those chairs." My mom nodded at the chairs. "Flora and I can stand."
Or I could just go lay in my bed for the rest of eternity.
"Are you sure?" Their brows furrowed.
"Flora can sit here." Thorin squeezed his already crammed legs to the side and patted the seat.
As much as I wanted to be squished to the point that my body molds over the armrest, I was willing to stand. As one article that I read on the internet, standing is much better for you. "That's alright, I can stand." Or I could have gone and laid in my bed, but no.
"It's fine, there's room." Thorin gave his eyebrow a slight wiggle.
Mentally, I was giving every single person in the room the middle finger. Matt and Stacey only got a semi hard middle finger because it wasn't their fault and they're actually pretty cool. But the Wallers, ooh they got a hard middle finger along with my mother. Mel also kind of got a semi hard one but that's also for that time she forced me into a bush. Thorin Graham on the other hand.... he received two. He received two for being a cocky, attractive, manipulative asshole who knew when to strike while the iron is hot.
I grimaced while slowly and when I mean slowly, I mean at a snail's pace when placing my butt on the little seat. My thigh spilled over, forcing the flesh to slightly be on top of Thorin's. With my face toward what was going on in front of me, my attention was on what was beside me. Thorin was smiling dumbly while also looking at the others. His thigh began to move closer to me, pushing more of me onto him.
"Thank you again for taking us in." Matt said, holding Stacey's hand. "We were shocked that the power went out."
"I'm glad that we still have power." Mom chuckled.
Thorin's fully tatted arm moved to the side of me, resting on the arm rest. I didn't think too much about it at the moment because it was normal for an arm to be there. But it didn't mean that I wasn't staring it down like a hawk.
"I wonder how long it'll last for." Mel's father spoke up for the first time. His accent was thick like Thorin's.
The attention was on him, giving Thorin the ability to scoot the arm that was one on the rest to around my waist. I felt my heartburn coming on along with my stomach doing flips an acrobat would be jealous of. His fingers gently pushed into me as his hand pulled me closer to him.
Mom, oh how I thought we had a deep connection where we could tell when one was in distress, was not paying attention. She was too busy eyeing Mel's dad who was sitting there with his arms crossed on his chest and a mean scowl. Mel, who I kind of considered a friend, was also not paying any attention to what was happening.
It wasn't that I didn't like it. I actually enjoyed it, a lot. But the thought of Thorin just playing with me and seeing how uncomfortable was not my forte.
"Dinner!" I jumped up, leaving Thorin. "We don't have anything to make for dinner tonight, I'll go pick something up."
Mom gave me a concerned face. "Honey, it's too bad out there."
"I'll be fine."
"I can drive her." Thorin stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'm a great driver."
Mom stared at him for a moment, inspecting the tall asshole who knew that I was trying to escape him. "I don't know, I'm sure we can find something."
"I'll go with them." Mel stood up as well, giving me a big smile. "You can always trust me." She placed her hand on her chest while saying the words clearly.
My mother flipped her hair before sighing and nodding. "Fine, but please be careful. Just pick something up from the store and come straight back. Call if something bad happens and make sure you wear your seat belts. If you don't," she paused with her finger in the air. "I will destroy the three of you." She tried to make her voice stern.
*****
I got into the passenger's seat with a jacket and scowl on. Mel took the back seat though I wished she had driven instead. It wasn't like Thorin was a bad driver, it was just that he was an illegal driver. He wasn't supposed to go the speeds that he went or the style that could end us up in a car that's upside down.
"Where's your coat?" Mel squeezed the edge of my seat while talking into my ear. She was wearing a puffy coat who's bright pink color made me want to puke.
"That's a good question." Thorin added in. His attention was on the road that was completely covered with snow.
"My chub keeps me warm." I mumbled.
"You know what else keeps you warm?" Mel continued. "A coat."
And Thorin if you really think about it. The boy had personal space issues but he's always warm.
The car began to slide. My shoulder bounced off the windshield and nearly tossed me onto Thorin. I pushed off quickly and tightened my seat belt while praying that I don't end up in a ditch thanks to a guy who was a crazy driver. "Alrighty folks, if you could make sure your seatbelts are on and you sit back, we may have a pleasurable ride."
His jaw tensed. His very defined jaw. The jaw that sometimes I wanted to punch and kiss but not at the same time because that would be difficult. Either way, a stressed Thorin was a cool looking Thorin. Cool, that's an appropriate word.
I held my breath as the car continued to slide down the road in what seemed to be some type of Christmas snow globe wanna-be world. I don't get scared, I really don't. Well, I don't get scared when there no people involved that would cause me to panic but then again, I have come to the realization of being invisible which is not bad in my book. My ass also doesn't get scared when monsters are coming at me with a knife or when Mel is going all Hulk on me at the gym. But, this time I was actually scared.
Panic was slowly starting to settle when a car was coming toward our direction and that we could barely see it. The car swerved as much as we did, causing even more panic between the three of us. Thorin had to do some sick car tricks that forced us to stop at the side and allow them to pass. We sat there for a moment, only allowing our breathing act as our words.
I kept a lookout while secretly freezing. The two were right about the whole coat thing. Thorin, the bad boy, was even wearing a coat and not just a light jacket like I was. Heat was blowing into my face and pulled tiny hairs out of my ponytail and into the air. Listening to music was something that I always did and at that moment, I wished I was. It was awkward and hard to not let my breathing take over the others like some balloon whose air was escaping and making it wheeze.
"You two good?" Thorin turned his head back to his cousin who nodded and then to me.
"Yeah." I said, finally taking in a regular breath. "Are you okay?"
"Me?" He was caught a little off guard. "Oh yeah, I just want to make sure you guys are alright." His hand went to the back of his head while giving us a nervous laugh.
"Well, it looks like we're going to be here for a little bit." Mel spoke up. "The roads are getting worse."
I sighed while leaning back into my seat. "This was a mistake, wasn't it?" I turned my head to face the two.
"You were just trying to be hopeful." Thorin leaned back on the window, his eyes didn't leave mine.
"Plus we can get to bond." Mel held her pale thumb up. At least she was positive about our situation. "And get away from those old people." She snickered.
"Aren't the oldest ones swingers or something?" Thorin asked with furrowed brows.
I parted my lips to answer his question about the indeed swingers and how they always had someone new at their door but I was quickly interrupted. "Yeah, I always see someone sneaking in their home." Mel emphasized the word 'sneaking'.
Thorin and I looked at each other with large eyes and a little panic. "Yeah, they have been doing that for as long as I've been here." I tried to shift the topic more about them and less about the 'sneaking'.
"Yeah, it's just that everyone can see it. Even when they try to use their backdoor. I'm just glad that they're too old to use a window or something to get in." She leaned back in her seat with her hands behind her head.
"Why is that?" I gulped.
"Because it would be dangerous and definitely be seen." She smiled.
"Maybe the danger is worth it." Thorin matched her expression.
Topic change. This was where I came in. Flora Greensteen is known for being the best for dodging anything, people, mothers, work and especially topics that had an underlined shade. My mother was also very good at this, passing the art down generation to generation to make sure that things were kept well hidden and not talked about. I thank the heavens for her every day.
"Ugh, I'm so bored." I whined. "I wish I could just have stayed in bed."
"Same." Thorin said lowly.
"Do you guys want to play I Spy?" Mel offered.
"I spy.. something white." Thorin said with annoyance in his voice.
"I'm going to take a long shot and say this white thing is the snow." I used my second language, sarcasm on Thorin.
"Woah, good job Flora! I didn't think you would have gotten it in a million years." He threw it back, smiling.
"I know something you won't ever get in a million of years." I mumbled underneath my breath. Thorin must have heard it and started to crack up. His laughter was better than the sound of silence.
"We'll see." He said quietly.
Mel popped her head back up into the front part of the car. "What are you two saying?" Even when in a snow storm, her green eyes still twinkled.
"Nothing." I tried to move on, using my powers once again to dodge her questioning.
"Let's play never have I ever." Thorin offered a game this time.
We each held our ten fingers high into the air. "Flora, you can start." Mel smiled.
"Uh.. Never have I ever..." I began to think. "Kicked someone's ass." I smirked because I knew Thorin was going to have to put down his tattooed fingers.
The cousins both removed a finger, leaving me in the lead. It was Melody's turn. Her face scrunched up when thinking about something that she had never done. Honestly, I didn't know what she has ever done. I didn't know her that well, as well as Thorin but I still liked to think of her as a friend.
"Never have I ever...." She trailed off. "Been in Mr. Louis's classroom."
Thorin and I both placed a finger down.
"I see how it is." He snorted. "Never have I ever been to the gym that the two of you go to."
I was down two and so was Mel.
"Evil, just evil." I scrunched my face. "Never have I ever had an Irish accent."
I was in the lead. Both Mel and Thorin had three down and I only had two.
"Never have I ever sneaked out of my room in the middle of the night." Mel tried to play it cool and catch us.
"Everyone has sneaked out once or twice for a midnight snack, put your finger down Mel." I laughed.
Again, I was still leading even with a frowning Melody.
"Never have I ever been to the girl's bathroom." Thorin chuckled.
Mel only had four fingers left. It was time to take this into consideration and crush her in the game.
"Never have I ever had red hair."
"Bitch." She shook her head while placing another finger down. "Never have I ever left the house in the middle of the night."
Thorin placed his finger down.
"That's what I thought." She said sharply.
"Never have I ever have been nosey." Thorin continued the game.
Mel and I lost another finger.
"Never have I ever gone snow boarding." I tried to keep the game light.
I failed.
"Never have I ever lied to my cousin." She continued onto the same path of trying to get the truth out of Thorin. Again, he removed a finger.
"Never have I ever minded my own damn business." Mel lost another finger.
"Never have I ever drank alcohol." The both of them curled another finger down. This time, it was Mel's second to last finger. Instead of keeping a reasonable finger up in the air like a pinkie or index, she kept her middle finger up.
"Never have I ever been in Flora's room." Thorin and I both placed a finger down at the same time.
My stomach began to twist and turn. Guilt had taken a hold of my organ and squeezed it like silly putty. It was easy to see the hurt in Mel's eyes from her not being told. It wasn't that I didn't trust her with the information, I just didn't want her to know. I enjoyed the secret meetup, it made my boring life somewhat interesting even if I say I 'hate' it.
"Never have I ever gone outside to spy on my cousin in a bush like some creep." Mel placed her last finger down. "Oh, I guess you're out of the game, Mel." Thorin scowled.
Ayye! So I'm back home, I was on a choir trip. WE WON TWO SUPERIORS! WOO! Anyway, sorry for the crappy chapter. Things are going to start to speed up though so get ready. It's going to hit yo asses hard too. Remember:
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