Daniel Wright's Story

This morning I woke up to Ren's face right in front of mine, which wasn't exactly a sight to behold and to make it worse, he had tipped water all over me in an attempt to get me out of bed. I can honestly say it was a failed attempt, as the heat made the water cool me down rather than shock me into waking up completely. Ren rolled his eyes at me. "We're taking Winny to school." I peeled my eyelids open for a second time and sighed. "You can drive, I can't. Why do I have to come?" I whine, sitting up. "Because you need to get out. You can't stay in bed all day."

Before I could even respond to that, Winny bolted into the room and practically dived onto the bed. She was almost too energetic for her own good sometimes. "Come on, Blue!" she prompted, dragging me out of the sheets by my arm. "Fine, whatever," I said, having finally given up. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ren smirking, which only made me want to throttle him. "I'm glad you take so much joy in my suffering," I muttered, only to receive a large smirk from Ren and a giggle from Winny. "Get out then," I snapped and they both left the room so that I could get changed.

Around 20 minutes later, I left my bedroom, washed and dressed. I hated going out without having a shower first, but I hadn't been given much time and I was pretty sure I'd made Winny late for school, judging by the frown on her face. "I know, I know, don't start." She hooked her arm around mine and we left the house soon after. We dropped Winny off at her school and waved goodbye, and when she was out of our sights we got back into the car. "Where to?" asked Ren, and I shrugged. "Home," I replied, causing him to frown and shake his head. "You're not going back to bed. Where to?" I took a moment to think. "Well, since I don't really have much choice, I'll let you decide."

Ren smiled over at me and after a second of silence, we drove away from the school.

So, me and Ren had been driving around for about half an hour before I saw a book store by the name of 'The Works' out of the corner of my eye. It was one of my favourites, although books weren't really my thing. Winny loved them though, and most weekends we would just walk up to the Town Centre and have a look inside. If there was one thing Winny loved more than life, it was being treated to a day out and a good book to read afterwards. "Hey," I said to Ren, "pull over." He nodded, uncharacteristically compliant, and pulled up in the Car Park just to the side of the shops.

We both got out and walked into The Works, which was practically empty, save for two teenage girls. Ren looked over at me and shook his head as if to say 'don't even bother', because he knew just how much I loved screwing with random people inside shops. There was just something about jumping out and scaring them that I found really amusing. The only downside to it was that I'd been kicked out of several shops that way and I was not about to be kicked out of Winny's favourite store. She'd slaughter me. "I'll behave," I assured him. He lifted his hand and cuffed me around the back of the head. "You'd bloody well better."

My first section of interest was romance, as Winny did love her cliché romances, which she was hoping that one day she'd find herself, however unlikely that was. I wasn't all that fond of it really, for reasons better left unsaid. Whilst walking through, I had become so sucked into the books on the shelves that I hadn't even been paying attention to where I was walking and had bumped into one of the girls I'd noticed before. She gave me a bit of a shock and I stepped back a bit. "Sorry," I said quickly.

At this point I had 3 books in my hand all romance and drama based. My favorite kind of romance. Kayla was nowhere in sight, but I looked up when I saw two men enter the building. I gave a quick look around for my sister and I spotter her in the supernatural section. Playfully rolling my eyes I looked back down at the book I had just picked up. The title was called, Crimson Kiss, so it must be good. I moved on peeping at all the books that caught my eye. Then out of nowhere I ran into someone and all my books went tumbling to the floor. "Sorry," I bent down to pick up the books. When they were safely in my hand I looked at the person who had apologized.

"It's fine," I said. It was one of the guys who had entered the stores. I would have pegged him for someone who enjoys romance novels, but you are to never judge a book by his cover. I smiled. It seemed like a friendly gesture, but I was laughing because I said that in a book store. Kayla would have laughed at my corniness. I looked down at the books in my hand and looked back at the guy. I needed to say something. Awkwardness would not go over well. "So umm are you getting a romance novel for a friend?" I asked. I still didn't believe he was getting a romance book for himself.

I hugged the books clsoe to my chest thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong right about now. Clearly he was over 18 as was the other guy that had just walked in with him. My sister was no longer in my sights. We could get kidnapped. Killed. Or made fun of. That sounds dumb, but it was just a thought. No talking to strangers... I heard in my head. That is something my mom says, but I always retort with, 'then how will I make friends'. I knew she meant someone like the guy before me, but still. The comment was pretty smart. I couldn't stop smiling at the thoughts floating through my head, but when I came back to reality my smile was a bit more subtle.

I couldn't help but feel really bad when the girl had to bend down and pick her books back up. She looked up at me and the only thing I could do in response was faintly smile. "It's fine," she said. I nodded and turned my head to the book shelf a second time. I had no intention of pressing for a conversation, as I don't much like talking to people I don't know, even if she was just an innocent-looking kid. For all I knew, she could be a cannibal or a psychopath. It was only then that I realised that I had such little trust in people, it was almost shocking.

"So, umm, are you getting a romance novel for a friend?" she asked, causing me to turn my head to her. "Yeah," I said in response. "She's like obsessed with this shit." I rolled my eyes just thinking about how much Winny loved the whole idea of romance. Ren appeared from around the corner with a large pout forming on his bottom lips, causing his lip rings to dig into his chin. He always hated that but by the looks of it that was the least of his problems. "They don't have Fifty Shades!" he whined. I chuckled loudly. "Have you checked in this section?" I asked, referring to the long line of romance novels. "Does it really count as a romance though?" I shrugged. "I assume so."

I turned to the girl. "I haven't seen you here before," I said, slightly confused. The area I lived in wasn't so big, and I knew pretty much everyone. "Are you new here?"

I smiled as I pulled out yet another book into my collection. "So am I," I said. I already liked the girl he was talking about. She sounded like loads of fun. And anyone that likes romance is someone that I would like to be friends with. I was debating on whether not to put one of them books I had in my hand back or not when the guy's friend showed up. He looked pretty cool and his complaint on the store not having fifty shades of grey made me laugh. I put Crimson Kiss back since it wasn't dramatic enough.

"I haven't seen you here before," I had to keep from smirking. No shit. I kept that thought in my head since it would be pretty rude to say out loud. "Are you new here?" I put back one other book leaving me with just two. I turned to face the guy speaking to me. "Visiting." I didn't think he needed to know more. It's not like I knew him. Or he needed to know me. For all I knew he was still planning to kidnap me and my sister.

"Kami!" Speaking of sister. I let out a sigh and turned around to see my sibling walking up the aisle. She was holding a vampire book in her hand and a book we were forbidden to read. "Why is Fifty Shades of Grey in your hand?" I asked her snatching for it. Kayla rolled her eyes. "I wanted to read it. Why else?" I hit her with the book and turned around to hand it to the guy who was complaining about not having it. Kayla grew wide eyed. "Why the hell would you do that? That was the last one!" she screamed at me. I shrugged. I could care less. She growled at me and then stomped away. I was going to be in for it later.

"Isn't she wonderful?" I asked to no one in particular. My sister really did know how to make an impression. I put one more book back onto the shelf and turned towards the guys. "Nice talking to you, but I gotta go." I left the romance section and started searching for my angry sister. She was going to hide for as long as she stayed angry.

I couldn't help but watch the girl's movements closely as she put one of her many books back on the shelves, presumably because she wasn't interested in it anymore. She turned to face me and I greeted her for a second time with a broad smile. "Visiting," was her only response, and just from that I could tell she wasn't willing to share information with a total stranger, even one that was only a couple of years older than her in appearance. She certainly was a smart one, or at least I thought so. Ren had somehow managed to catch on to the fact that I was watching her closely and walked a little closer to nudge my arm. "Don't you even dare," he muttered in my ear, causing me to frown. "I wasn't even-"

I was interrupted by the other girl I'd seen when I first entered the store. Ren almost gasped at the sight of Fifty Shades and was practically jumping up and down on the spot, but had managed to suppress his girlish squeals which I was thankful for. This time it was me nudging his shoulder. The first girl passed it to Ren after snatching it off his sister and he almost passed out on the spot. He turned to me and mouthed the words 'I finally have it,' before darting off towards the counter to actually buy the damn thing. I too liked Fifty Shades, mainly because it had funny words in it that when read aloud could make a whole crowd of teenagers laugh.

"Isn't she wonderful?" the girl questioned, and assuming that she was talking to me, I answered. "She seems like any normal younger sister, but that's only because I grew up being the twin of a mutation." I almost allowed myself a small chuckle, but nobody ever liked the guy that laughed at his own jokes... like, ever. "Nice talking to you, but I gotta go." I turned back to the books as she walked off. "See you around, kiddo," I called at a reasonable volume. Ren bolted towards me, flailing the book in the air like it was his most-prized possession in the entire world. "I have it, I have it!" he squealed. I shook my head and laughed, before gripping his shoulder and practically dragging him out of the store.

I went to the counter and pulled out my cash. My sister skipped up to me and I flinched. I swear She was coming up to hurt me, but she put the book on the counter and I paid for the both of them. We linked arms and skipped out of the store in a fit of giggles. Nothing funny was said, it was the skipping that had us laughing. We stood on the street not sure where to go. "Food." my sister said. I agreed and we skipped down the street looking for food. We don't know where we are or where we are going, but we are going to skip until food appears.

A pizza place appeared to our left within 2 minutes of skipping. "Amen!" My sister shouted before running inside. I laughed at her and walked inside. I checked the window to see if we were being followed by the guys, but we weren't. I was being extra paranoid for no reason. I got up to the counter and order a large pepperoni and pineapple pizza. it was me and my sisters favorite. We found a table to sit and wait at. We started playing hand games to pass the time. Some people would stare at us because we would be laughing extra loud, but it made our laughing worse.