His Sweet Sunflower

12. I'm gonna have to punish you

Nora woke up in Sarah's bedroom. She thought about the night before. What the hell happened? She never saw James act that way, which made her very confused. Could it be he actually liked her? She immediately rejected the idea because a guy like James would never like a plain Jane like her.

He could have anyone he wants. Besides, she saw him getting intimate with Jenny Fisher several times. Jenny was gorgeous, and there's no way he would choose Nora over her. He must've been trying to play with her emotions again. She couldn't let him do it.

Nora got out of bed and started to get ready for breakfast. The Alexanders always had breakfast promptly around 8 am on the weekends. Sarah's mom always made sure everyone was on their best behavior, and they have the picture-perfect family breakfast. Everyone except James. James would usually just grunt and walk out of there like the family has the disease. He was definitely the black sheep of the family.

Nora made her way to the dining room and propped herself next to Sarah.

"Good morning Nora, darling, how are you?" Victoria spoke cheerfully.

Nora gave her a shy smile, "I'm okay, Victoria, thank you for asking."

Nora's smile started to fade when she saw James walking towards the table. She expected him to grab a muffin or something then walk out without saying a word to them like he did every morning, but to her surprise, he pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. Nora blushed as the memory of their encounter last night suddenly replayed in her brain again. Did he actually kiss her hand like that, or was it all a dream?

"Oh! Look who finally decided to be part of the family." Sarah's mom exclaimed in a mocking tone.

James was already stuffing his face with scrambled eggs. "Just hungry. I don't give a f**k about being part of this stupid family."

"Son... show some respect to Victoria." Sarah's dad Matthew said, squinting his eyes at James.

"Whatever," James replied, taking another bite of his toast.

Nora quietly ate her breakfast. This wasn't the first time Victoria got into it with James. She made it clear from the beginning that she is not fond of him, and James felt the same way.

"Well, for someone who doesn't like to be part of the family, he sure doesn't have problems with freeloading off of it," Victoria replied. Hatred spilling off of her voice.

"Mom, can we not," Sarah replied, rolling her eyes.

James's eyes reflected mutual hatred. "You know goddam well I work my ass off to buy my s**t, Victoria. If you have a problem with me living here, I offered to f**k off a while ago, but dad insisted I stayed."

"Oh? You mean that crummy mechanic job you have? Do you think you could afford all of this with that? Maybe if you get your priorities straight and focused in school, you could make something of yourself. Instead, you are building up to be a low life like your mother." Victoria replied cruelly.

James stood up abruptly and punched the table, knocking over his glass of orange juice. Nora flinched. "YOU...DO...NOT... TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER. EVER."

Sarah's father spoke quickly, "this is no way to behave at the table, James."

"You always take that b***h's side. I am your son, goddammit. For once, you could stand up to her instead of being a spineless sheep." James replied, his voice deep with emotion.

"I am warning you son.... " that's all Matthew could say.

"Whatever, I'm going to my room. I've had enough of this s**t family for now." With that, James ran out of the dining room.

"You shouldn't have said that to James Victoria. You know how sensitive he is about his mother," Matthew said.

"Yeah, mom, not cool." Sarah agreed.

"I'm sick of his whole 'don't care about anything' attitude alright? Someone needs to set him straight." Victoria shrugged. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, honey," Victoria turned to Nora.

Nora quietly nodded. "It's alright, Victoria." With that, she excused herself from the table and headed to Sarah's room to pack up her things to leave. On the way to the room, she stopped halfway when she heard the heavy metal music coming from James's room. She debated knocking on his door to see if he was okay or just keep out of his business. So what if he was upset? Why should she care since he has been nothing but a pain to her?

Nora decided to check on him anyway. She stood in front of the door and knocked twice.

There was no reply. James probably can't hear a thing because of the music. She thought about forgetting about it and turn back to her room but slowly turned the door handle instead. It was open.

Nora stepped inside and didn't see James but heard someone in the bathroom. He must be in the shower. She quickly looked around the room. It looked like a typical room that a teenage boy like James would have. Posters of racing cars and motorcycles with half-naked women were plastered all over the wall. His bed was messy. Piles of clothes scatter in the corners of his room. Nora turned around to leave but stopped when something caught her eyes.

A sketchbook on his bed?

Nora walked towards the bed and picked up the book. James didn't seem like the artsy type. Nora thought to herself. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the book and gasped.

It was a sketch of a woman holding a baby. The drawing's realism was breathtakingly beautiful, like she would pop out of the page and speak to her anytime soon. Flowers bloomed all around them, indicating that they were sitting in a beautiful garden.

"Wow," Nora whispered. Did James really draw that? She flipped through the book, and there were pages and pages of beautiful drawings. How can an angry teenager like James create such beautiful things? Nora was surprised.

"What the f**k are you doing, Jones?"

Nora jumped, and the book fell off her hand when she heard James's angry voice behind her.

"Nnn... nothing... I was just leaving." Nora started to run out of the door, but James quickly slammed the door shut and dragged her inside by her wrist.

"Not so fast... what are you doing in my room, looking through my things?" James demanded answers.

"I... um ... I came to see if you were okay after that argument with Victoria, and the book was on the bed, so I got curious. I'm sooo sorry. I won't do it again, I swear!" Nora replied quickly. Her eyes are huge with worry.

James's facial expression softened. He moved closer to Nora. Nora finally took a good look at him, and her face immediately turned red. He was wearing nothing but a towel. His hair was freshly wet from the shower, droplets of water still dripping on his chest and abdomen.

He placed one of his hands on her lower back and pulled her towards him. He put his other hand on her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. The closeness of their bodies was nerve-wracking for Nora. She thought she would stop breathing and pass out at any moment.

"You are not gonna get out of this one. I'm gonna have to punish you," James said in a menacing tone, and Nora's heart stopped for a split second.