Chapter Four

Chapter Four

My hair was still on the damp side when I decided to head outside seeing as sitting in my room was painfully boring.  I didn’t put on any additional layers of clothes, mainly because I couldn’t find any heavier jackets hanging up in the closet, no hats or scarves either.  Sighing in disappointment, I hunted down a pair of converse and eagerly slipped them on.  Finally something more my style!

Noah seemed a little off after that Cassandra girl left.  He was flustered and watched me a little closer than he had earlier.  Before he would barely look at me and wouldn’t touch me more than he had to, but then when he came up to the bedroom, he was needing me to kiss him to try getting a point across to someone else, he touched me more delicately than I thought he would ever be able to touch anything.  He mentioned my scar, probably without even realizing it, which was exactly why I didn’t like people looking at it; they always stared at it or made some sort of comment, usually without even realizing they did it until it was too late.  Every time he noticed me trying to keep it out of sight, he looked like he wanted to stop me or to say something, but he never did.  He just took note of my habit.  I didn’t like it.

It was still snowing outside when I shut the front door behind me, the brick driveway starting to disappear beneath a thin blanket.  They sky was darker than earlier and the temperature had dropped a significant amount, goosebumps immediately painting themselves on my chest.

“So tell me something,” the voice made me jump and turn around only to find Ian standing next to me.  My reaction made him smile a little bit before looking away from me and off into a different direction. “How does one effectively prevent a snowball from hitting them?”

“Oh no…Ian, don’t you dare.” I moved away from him as soon as I saw the impish gleam in his eye and it was still there when he looked at me with a slight level of shock. “I’m not dressed properly for a snowball fight.”

“What?  Oh!  No, no,” he laughed.  He turned to face me and held up both his hands to show that he wasn’t holding a snowball, which made me relax a little bit. “I don’t mean to start one with you.  I’m kind of in the middle of one with Jake right now and he has a pretty spot on aim, hence my question for you.”

“You dodge it,” I said plainly.  There wasn’t really any other way to prevent being hit by anything.  However, as soon as I said that, the look on his face told me he thought of a better way to avoid it.  He held his hand out to me and I took it, but as soon as his fingers curled around mine, I regretted it.  The look on his face changed from impish to victorious but when I tried pulling away, he just twirled me once and then pulled me in so my back was against his chest.  As soon as my feet left the ground, I was hit with a snowball in the stomach, making me scream and then laugh. “Ian!”

“You use a shield,” he said in my ear.  Putting me down was his mistake, because as soon as I was free, I gathered up snow and packed it, chucking it at his chest before he even had time to move closer to the snow. “Why at me?  I’m not the one who threw it at you.” He nodded his head behind me and when I looked, I saw Jake walking towards us, tossing a snowball in the air casually.

I let out a sigh before dashing off the brick and into the yard, scooping up a handful of snow in the process.  It froze my hand on contact and my feet were quickly going numb, but I didn’t care.  I just ignored it as I moved towards Jake, barely dodging the snowball he threw at me before I released the one I had, missing him by a hair.  Ian threw one at me, hitting my leg and making me jump.  Its coldness soaked through my jeans as some of it stuck to the denim but I just brushed it off and grabbed more.  The next one Jake threw at me would’ve hit my face if I hadn’t brought my arm up to block it, but the one I chucked got him in his, making me cover my mouth as I laughed.  It wasn’t long before Ian got my face and I got his, laughing even harder when we hit our target.  Then they both came at me at the same time.

“It’s two against one, Jenna,” Jake warned.  He tossed his snowball up, catching it again in his hand.

“You have no chance.” Ian was packing his with more snow as he smiled at me.  He was right; I had no chance.  I just watched as they approached and when the wound up to throw, I bent down and quickly scooped up some of my own, throwing it at Jake’s face.  It distracted him from throwing his at me, and when I turned to look at Ian, he had released his, but thanks to my reflexes, I somehow managed to catch it.

“What now?” I held my arms out in triumph before throwing it back at him but he just got out of the way and started running at me, his brother joining him.  I screamed and turned around, running as fast as my numb feet could take me.  The cold air burned as I breathed it in, stinging when it came in contact with my already numb face.

I was grabbed from around the waist, spun around, and then pulled to the ground, somehow winding up underneath whomever it was that grabbed me.  Any attempt I made to turn over was denied so the only thing I could do was crane my neck, and upon doing so I saw that it was Ian who was sitting on top of me.  His smile was playful and hyper, his cheeks bright red from being hit in the face so many times.  Jake wasn’t far behind and as he got closer, he jumped on his brother and shoved a handful of snow into his face, some of which got on me.

“Dude, we’re on the same team!  You’re not supposed to get me!” Ian laughed, looking over his shoulder at his brother.  He quickly wiped the snow off his face but Jake prevented him from getting up.

“Sorry bro; can’t play favorites in war.”

“Uh, guys?  You’re kind of squishing me,” I pointed out, gasping for air.  They both looked down at me and quickly got to their feet, Ian helping me up in the process.  He reached around my back and brushed the snow off me as best he could as I took a deep breath now that there weren’t two full grown men crushing my organs.  I was still laughing.

“I’m starved,” Jake said between breaths.

“You’re always hungry,” Ian shot back.

“Shut up.  Dinner should be ready, let’s go check it out.” Jake turned and walked towards the house, leaving me and Ian standing there.  I shifted my feet but almost lost my balance due to how numb they were, laughing when Ian grabbed my arm to stabilize me.

“Here.” He put my arm on his shoulder and bent down, grabbed hold of my legs and stood up.  My arms wrapped around his neck and I rested my head on one so my head was next to his.

As Ian carried me towards the door, a tiny brunette came skipping outside with a cheery smile on her face, her laugh hyper and full of energy.  She had long legs that were hidden below a pair of perfectly fitted jeans and a flat stomach beneath a snug long-sleeve shirt that hugged every curve of her torso.  Her curled hair was messed up but continued to bounce as she moved, whirling around when she spun on her heel.  She froze when she saw us, her smile fading a little for just a split second.  Then it came back when someone came out of the house behind her, grabbing her hand and twirling her before putting their arm over her shoulder.

“You move quick, brother,” Ian said with distaste in his voice.  Noah looked away from the girl with him and over at us, his eyes giving away nothing. “Little early for that, isn’t it?”

“Never.” He grinned at Ian. “I’ll be back in a few; just gotta drop this little lady off.” He looked back down at the girl, who was staring up at him in awe.  They walked down the driveway, the girl laughing and trying to skip ahead but Noah always spun her back with a smile on his face.

“Classy habits of Noah Walker right there for ya,” Ian muttered as he walked through the front door and set me down before closing it behind us.  He wiped his feet on the large mahogany Victorian rug that took up just a portion of the large entryway’s tile floor.  I bent down and untied my shoes, kicking them off while using Ian for balance.  He opened his mouth to protest but just let me do my own thing.

“I’ll be right back; I’m just going to run upstairs quick.” I bent down and picked up my shoes, smiling at Ian before turning around and running up the stairs.  It was difficult to move very well at first but as my feet rubbed on the carpet, they thawed out.

I was warmed up by the time I reached the bedroom and pulled the fleece I was wearing off after tossing my shoes into the closet.  My jeans were wet so I pulled those off as well and grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants, taking off my wet socks after.  It wasn’t until then, sitting on the bed, that I realized just how tired I was.  Part of me wanted to just lie down and fall asleep, but the other part of me was hungry.  Plus I would have felt rude if I just ditched dinner without warning them �" Stacey seems like she makes a habit out of waiting before she starts eating.  Not to mention Noah would probably feel obligated to come up and either drag me down or to question me like something was wrong.

He would probably come to the conclusion that seeing him walk out with that little brunette had gotten to me. I felt the corner of my mouth tug up and shook my head as I got off the bed and left the room.  The hall was quiet enough to make my skin crawl, my stomach tying itself into a knot.  It kind of felt like someone was watching me and the more I focused on it, the more the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.  A cool draft touched the skin on my back causing goosebumps to immediately rise on my arms.  I took a deep breath and spun around, my hair draping over my shoulder, warm on my skin.

There was nothing there.

“Weird,” I muttered.  I took a couple steps backward before turning around, where I walked into someone that was standing in my way.  They didn’t make any attempt to touch me, though they didn’t make an attempt to avoid contact; instead they just stood there.  My heart jumped and I almost screamed but once I looked up, I relaxed. “It’s just you.”

“Don’t sound so casual…that kind of thing hurts some people,” Noah said.  His voice was flat, his expression uninterested.  We were outside his room, his hand pulling the door shut before I had a chance to even think about glancing inside.  There was something different about him when I looked up at his face but it didn’t take very long for me to pinpoint what it was. “You okay?  You seem kind of…paranoid.”

Really? I reached up and touched his cheek; his eyes unfocused yet full of humor. “Yeah.  Are you seriously drunk right now?” Drunk before dinner…usually people don’t start drinking until they’re eating or finished eating dinner.

“Just…just a bit buzzed but not drunk.  I was earlier though.” He winked at me and turned around, walking away without me. “I’m surprised you noticed.”

“Oh please, I work at a bar and grill.  It doesn’t take a genius.” I watched him walk and he seemed to have been walking fine, so I didn’t feel like he needed any assistance or to be just sent to his room for the night. Wait… “Earlier?”

“Remember that little brunette?” He looked over his shoulder with a playful smile, his eyes looking me from head to toe before turning back around. “Hurry up, they’re waiting for us.”

Sure enough, Stacey and the boys were sitting at the table waiting for us.  The goosebumps that were on my skin earlier had disappeared and my heart had slowed.  Stacey and Jake watched Noah while Ian watched me with a smile on his face.  I smiled back and made my way to the chair between him and his mother and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Cassandra seemed to have been in a foul mood when she left earlier,” Stacey informed, looking suspiciously at her oldest son.  There was a gleam in her eye that made me think she knew something, her warm brown eyes now a little colder than usual. “What did you say to the poor girl?”

“Really, ma?  ‘Poor girl’?  She’s a f*****g nightmare.  You’re always trying to keep their visit as short as possible.”

“Yes, but I don’t try to infuriate them.”

“That’s where you don’t know,” Noah laughed, his tone still polite towards her. “I barely said anything to her, but she sure did cross a line with someone else.” His eyes fell to me but quickly left as an older man came into the dining room, placing a bottle of beer in front of him.

“Jenna, you’re the one that made her so angry?” Stacey’s voice filled with disbelief, which was quickly replaced with understanding when she took note of how quickly Noah had finished his beer, her eyes refraining from aiming at me for no more than a couple seconds before looking back at Noah.  Already? Another was brought out to him.

“And you’re still alive?” Ian’s voice made me look at him only to see complete and utter surprise, his jaw slack.  Jake had a similar look on his face, though unlike Ian, he was looking at Noah.

“You think I’m going to let that one touch her?” Noah shot Ian a cold look, one that made his brother quiet down with understanding.  I couldn’t help but feel like they all knew something that I didn’t, but when I opened my mouth to say something, my skin started to crawl once again as the feeling of someone watching me returned.  I shrugged my shoulders to try shaking it but it didn’t help.  The hair on the back of my neck stood up as my heart picked up speed.

“H-hey Jen, you okay?” Ian lightly placed his hand on my shoulder and attempted to get me to turn to face him.  I blinked a few times and sighed, realizing I had dropped my silverware onto the table.

“Uh…please excuse me.” I got up and rushed out of the dining room, heading straight for the stairs.  Once I reached the first step I moved into a jog as I went up.

What’s wrong? Again, that voice popped into my head, deep yet full of curiosity.  It seemed softer than when it told me to ‘breathe’, which was what made it even more unfamiliar.  I shook my head and kept going up to my room.

“Great!  Now I’m hearing voices,” I muttered to myself as I shut the bedroom door behind me.  It was quiet in the room; a comforting quietness.  My sigh of relief was loud in the room as I made my way over to the bed and pulled the heavy comforter up in order to crawl under it.  The soft mattress sank under my weight as the comforter held me down within its cool warmth.

Noah was drinking in the middle of the day.  He got drunk, went out to find a girl, brought her home, probably slept with her, and then took her back to wherever he got her.  Still on a buzz he went to dinner and continued to have a couple of beers at the table.  Stacey didn’t seem as warm and welcoming as she did at breakfast, her eyes remaining darker than usual as she hardly looked at me long enough to maintain decent eye contact.  Jake was quieter than he had been all day while Ian took the initiative to speak on his behalf.  They both seemed understanding of their older brother when he commented that he wasn’t going to have let Cassandra touch me.  Although the way Noah worded it struck me as odd: “…that one…”.  My brows pulled together as the thought of his comment led everything into a brick wall.

The voice came back into my head, leaving a parting gift for the night, still familiar enough so that I should know it, yet there was something about it that masked it.  It seemed like there was almost a snarl to it, though it was primarily smooth and somewhat soothing.

Don’t worry about it.