Mums words reverberated in my mind and I failed to get much of my Maths homework done.

I got up from the chair and sprawled myself on my bed, face down, loving the smell of the freshly clean covers.

I wanted to stay that way but sadly just like every other being I too needed some air.

The shrill ringing of my phone resounded from somewhere in the house and I scrambled out of bed in hopes of the call not ending. I rushed right past Mum throwing a quick apology over my shoulder and picked up my phone that was on the counter.

"Hello," I answered, slightly out of breath from the excertion.

"Lyra?" I heard a husky voice call from the other end of the call.

"Yeah..." I trailed off not really knowing who was calling, though the voice sounded familiar, due to my bad habbit of picking up the phone without checking the caller id.

"It's Dustin," he informed me.

"Dustin?" I stupidly echoed l

It took everything in me not to turn and run for the hills at that moment and the silence that stretched on for what seemed like hours was not helping my train of thoughts.

I mentally berated myself for being too impulsive offering to babysit his brother. I didn't even think his parents would be around. To be honest I didn't think at all. It was just one of those times when your mouth worked faster than your brain. Fortunately, Dustin decided to introduce me to his parents before it got more awkward.

"Mum. Dad. This is Lyra, a friend from school." He said looking back and forth between me and his parents.

It was like his words broke them out of a spell because not long after smiles took over their faces but his dad's smile was more of a reserved one, barely there even. I didn't know what to do so I smiled back at them, or at least I thought I did.

Dustin's mum walked over to me. I he

I woke up to my phone blarring next to my ears, almost giving me a headache. I groaned and scratched my cheek then reached out for it and without checking the caller ID, I picked it up.

"Morning Lyra." I heard a familiar voice on the other end of the call.

"Kate?" I asked but my voice was groggy so I cleared it.

"Usually people respond with a morning but hey who cares right," she said with a sarcasm filled voice.

I sighed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes and lay on my back staring at the ceiling.

"Morning Kate. How are you up so early? Aren't you supposed to be nursing a hangover?" I ask a little confused.

"It's ten in the morning Lyra."

"Exactly. Morning."

"People are usually up at this time you know and besides I hate sleeping in so yeah."

"Aren't you suppose to have a hangover?" I repeated my question.

"No. Abel made sure to give me some pain killers before I slept last night." She explained then paused before speaking up again. "So..."

"Yes Kate."

"You and my brother met huh." she more like stated.

"Well yes and no."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confusion clear in her voice.

I tried to run a hand through my hair but soon regretted it as my fingers got stuck in knots of my hair. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and placed my hand on my stomach.

"Abel and I met when mum and I just moved here and we also bumped into each other days after when I had a problem with the car." I tried to explain in between yawning.

The line was quiet for a while and I wondered If the call had ended but when I checked the phone screen I could still see the seconds ticking, showing that the call was still on-going. "Kate? Kate are yo-?"

"Yeah I'm still here," she cut me off. " Do--do you like my brother?" She blurted out.

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"I said do-"

"I heard you the first time." Now it was my turn to cut her off. "Why would you ask me that?"

"It was just a question Lyra. It only required you to either say yes or no."

I was about to say something when Kate spoke up, "Hold that thought. Mum wants me to do something so I'll talk to you later. And don't think I'll forget that you still owe an answer."

I sighed in relief and said ok just before the call ended.

Not a second layer, a knock came from my door, "Come in."

My mum's head popped through the doorway before fully coming in. "Hey Honey."

"Hey mum," I said as I got up from my sleeping position.

She walked over to me and sat on edge of my bed. "Work called," she started carefully guaging my reaction and when I didn't say anything she went on. "I'll be resuming work on Monday."

"Does that mean you'll be leaving?"

"Yes honey. But don't worry I'll have Mrs James look after you."

"Mrs James?" I asked.

"Yes. Pauline." She clarified and I mouthed an oh. "I talked to her and she said she'd be more than happy to do so. She even said you could stay over if you wanted."

"I can stay here on my own. There's no need for you to have her babysit me."

"Last time that happened you almost burnt down the house and besides I don't want to leave you alone." She stated.

"I'm now seventeen mum. I'll be turning eighteen in no time."

"There's no room for any more discussion Lyra," mum said as she got up, "I've already made up my mind." With that said, she left my room.

I felt angry at the way mum was acting. I threw my covers off of me and walked to the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. I came out and applied some lotion and got dressed for the day in loose fitting sweats and a tank top. After that, I made my bed and grabbed my phone from the nightstand and left my room.

When I walked in the living room I saw mum talking on the phone. I plopped myself on the couch and took the remote from the coffee table, flipping through the channels till I found an episode of 'The amazing world of gumble' and decided to watch the show. Soon all my attention was in the show and I laughed at some of the dumbest things.

"Lyra," I heard my mum call from somewhere in the kitchen, "Can you check who's at the door."

I was so caught up in the show that I hadn't even heard the door bell. I got up from the couch and headed towards the front door. When I opened it, I was greeted with the last face I'd expected to see.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with my arms crossed over my chest not bothering to hide the distaste in my voice.

"Is your mum in?" He said ignoring my first question.

"Yes. Why?" he didn't answer that question either so I slammed the door in his face and just as I turned around, ready to leave, mum came to the door.

"Who was it?" She asked.

"No one," I replied but she eyed me skeptically before opening the door and found Owen still standing where I left him.

"Owen," my mum said and I left them and went to resume what I had been doing earlier.

I tried to block out their conversation but I couldn't help but wonder what it is that he wanted.

"Gran told me to bring these over. She said it was her way of wishing you goodluck on your journey."

"Oh. She shouldn't have." I heard mum say, "Come in."

I saw Owen make his way over to the living room from the corner of my eyes.

"I'll take those," mum said getting what looked like homemade cookies in a tapperware. "Please make yourself at home." Surprisingly, Owen sat down and he chose to seat next to me on the love sitter which made me tense a bit.

I tried to zero-in on the show but with Owen practiacally drilling holes in the side my head with his eyes, it was harder said than done. I heaved a sigh and stared at him, "What?" I asked as his stare didn't even falter despite having caught him staring, more like glaring.

He chose to speak only when he heard my mum coming closer. "Did you manage to fix your mum's car," he asked casually.

My eyes widened at his question and he smirked as if happy with the reaction he got from me. I looked up and saw mum come in with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Mum came in and handed the now empty tapperware over to Owen.

He stood up and looked at my mother then me. "I don't want to get Lyra in trouble," he said although I was pretty much sure that that was exactly what someone wouldn't have said if they didn't want to get me in trouble.

"Don't worry. She won't get into trouble." Mum tried to assure Owen even though we all knew she didn't mean a word of what she said.

"I was just asking her if she got your car fixed because last time I saw her with it, the battery was dead." Why on earth he would pretend to care was beyond me or was it a way of getting revenge.

"I should be going. It was nice seeing you. Lyra." He said the last part with a mischievious look in his eyes.

"Tell Pauline we said thank you for the cookies." Mum said and smiled at Owen.

As soon as the front door shut close, mum looked at me and the smile she'd had a few seconds ago was replaced with an angry look.

"Explain." Was all she had to say for me to spill my guts out. I told her everything that had happened that day.

"I'm disappointed in you Lyra," she reprimanded me. "Why didn't you tell me what happened? I had to find out from someone else." I couldn't find the courage to lift up my head because I knew I was wrong.

"It won't happen again," I whispered.

"It better not. This just proves me right. You're not going to stay here alone. You'll be staying with Miss James till I get back."

"But mum-" I started but was soon cut short by the look she sent my way.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are," she sighed then came to give me a hug. She pulled away and held me at arms length, "I'll be leaving soon and I want to be on good terms with you but you should know that I'm not leaving you here alone."

I hate Owen.


Mums words reverberated in my mind and I failed to get much of my Maths homework done.

I got up from the chair and sprawled myself on my bed, face down, loving the smell of the freshly clean covers.

I wanted to stay that way but sadly just like every other being I too needed some air.

The shrill ringing of my phone resounded from somewhere in the house and I scrambled out of bed in hopes of the call not ending. I rushed right past Mum throwing a quick apology over my shoulder and picked up my phone that was on the counter.

"Hello," I answered, slightly out of breath from the excertion.

"Lyra?" I heard a husky voice call from the other end of the call.

"Yeah..." I trailed off not really knowing who was calling, though the voice sounded familiar, due to my bad habbit of picking up the phone without checking the caller id.

"It's Dustin," he informed me.

"Dustin?" I stupidly echoed loudly, almost face palming myself for my loudness.

"Yeah," he chuckled at my reaction causing me to

Chapter 10