DOOMED ATTRACTION

SIX

I spent the entire evening there mowing through bags of snacks and boxes of tissues as we watched cartoons I'd long since abandoned as being too childish.

" You're a hypocrite", Baron chuckled next to me, distracting me from my wandering thoughts.

The way my father had always grasped my pinkie finger whenever we walked together was still fresh in my memory. In fact, if I zoned out enough, I would still feel the roughness of his palm as we walked along the bookstores in search of new books to read.

" You'll swear by everything to other people that you don't watch these things any longer, but here you are."

I grin at him, teeth stained orange from the present snacks my hand was shoved in. " No one will ever know", I throw back, swiping my orange fingers across his face so they leave a streak. I was grateful for the try at distracting me, it didn't work, but what mattered was that he cared enough.

He smiled, looking devilish. "Oh, won't they now?"

I narrow my eyes at him." No,they won't."

"I see."

-*-

" Food for all!", I announce zipping in my house. It was late, early morning but who cared?

" You're late." The overhead lights mum insisted we put in the kitchen framed her auburn hair so she looked nothing like the mum who'd given birth to me. She looked like she was twenty four again.

I went up to her. " I hope I look half as good as you do when I'm your age mum", I whisper, hugging her.

" You'd better remember you love me when I'm waking you up four hours from now." She sipped a little coffee, giving the oven clock a meaningful glance.

Shit. It's two thirty. School's in less than seven hours.

"Seven?", I plead, turning my brown eyes on hers.

" You just keep making it worse for yourself", she chuckled, turning back to her cup of coffee.

" You're really going to be this way."

She just stretched her hand out, and I quietly placed the spaghetti Ayla had packed for me in the freezer.

My bedroom door was open, and the light from the nightlight I kept on all the time spilled into the hallway, bathing the dark tiles an ethereal dim tangerine color.

" Right!" I grab my laptop, opening the draft of the novel I'd been working on for more than a month.

" She's going to kill me", I groaned after thirty minutes of staring at the last line I'd written over four days ago. The last line that was beginning to look stupid every passing minute.

I mean, what was I thinking when I wrote "You need to be true" ?

Who's ever true to themselves?

Suddenly Ayla's tired face appears in my head.

She'd later come down from her room at around ten. Her normally emerald eyes looked like weak green tea, and even if that didn't give her away, the splotchiness of her cheeks where she'd rubbed it raw with tissues would have done the job.

I didn't say it out loud, but the words reverberated in my head.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I press my head deep into one of the pillows decorating my bed. "What were you thinking?", I groaned with the pillow muffling the sound.

Aunt Avery had been a good friend....and I'd gone ahead and done that to Ayla.

"Damn it." I close the laptop, placing it gently on the bedside table. "Levi's love story can bloody well wait."

After all, even I the writer didn't have one.

Counting off all the boys I knew, or wasn't repulsed by, I muttered,"Doesn't look like the writer will ever have one."

-*-

WHAT IS THAT?! , I screamed in my head. Last I checked - and I check very frequently - I had no furry friend living with me.

None.

Not a dog, not a squirrel, not a car and definitely not one who could crawl up my nose. So why...why was my nose itchy like something was...."Tchewww!"...playing tag in it?

" Tchhheww!", I sneezed again, my hands swiping at whatever alien thought could disturb me.

"You're bold", I sleepily mutter, when the animal simply doubled and entered my second nose.

" Who do you think you are?", I growl, refusing to open my eyes. Once my eyes are opened in the morning, there's not a chance of me getting back to sleep. Even if I wake up to pee.

I owe my writing career to that simple fact, but now it was a nuisance. A goddamn nuisance.

" Get away!"

" Arghhh", I yell, jumping off of the bed as the animal became three and jumped inside my ear.

I grabbed one of the paperbacks I always kept on the nightstand and swatted at the animal.

" I. told. you. to. back. off", I grunt, swiping at the animal with every word I say.

" Kayla!"

That's mum.

My eyes snap open. Mum stood at the edge of the bed, a feather in her hand as she stared at me.

" Erhh", I mumble, backing away from her, " I thought it was..."

" Get here!", she let out a yell, bringing the feather along with her as she tackled me to the bed and began tickling me.

" Mumm...mu..mumm...please", I collapsed in a fit of giggling, " please...", I howled, bending over as my tummy began to ache.

" That'll teach you", she smiled, breathing heavily as she leaned against the bed head.

" It's time to get ready for school", she said, getting up the bed.

She paused at the doorway."Breakfast is cereal, and lunch is packed."

" Thank you mum", I grin, and glance at the clock..and I send her another grateful smile. She'd waited an extra twenty minutes before waking me up.

I prowl into the bathroom, towel slung over my shoulder.

I pause right before I enter the bathroom. "I still love you."

" I love you too, Kayla."

" I'm off to work", she blew a kiss to me before she turned on her heels and entered her room.

Rushing my morning routine, I bounced out of the bathroom in record time, only twenty minutes spent. School started by eight, and it'd take us less than twenty to walk there.

" Bye mum!", I shouted as I passed her room.

" Bye love!"

I barrelled out of the house only to slam into Baron outside the door.

" Hurry up!", he yelled, tugging on my hand, " we're late."

I shot him a look. " I'm not late. I'm still able to run. See?", I countered.

" Christ", he scoffed, barely even looking at me as he grabbed my hand again," your jokes are lame."

" Yeah, sure. They're lame but you've got a silly grin on your face."

" Heard there's someone new at school", he effortlessly said as he slowed down his pace to run beside me.

" So?"