Chapter 5

LANA

I'm sure the slap had hurt my hand more than it had hurt that jerk... it stung like crazy! My heart beat furiously within my chest and I wished that I'd punched the idiot instead of just slapping him. I was going to apologise for my brothers... But suddenly I was glad I hadn't got to that!

It was going to be a long summer with him living next door... but hopefully I'd be able to avoid him like the plague.

"Fingers crossed." I whispered into the darkness before I spun around and went back inside.

I had just started to climb the stairs when I heard my mother call from the kitchen, annoyance staining the tone of her voice.

"Yeah Mom?" I answered as I entered her domain, leaning up against the door frame.

Mom looked up at me and waved me over to the kitchen table where she sat organizing her special cutlery into its giant oak box, decorated with fine golden detailing.

"What happened?" she asked, not even bothering to look my way as she laid a silver knife into its protective velvet casing.

I heard my voice quiver when I answered. "When?"

Her gaze darted up to meet mine, a knowing look deep in her eyes. She knew I had slapped him.

"Rhett called me a bitch when I went out to apologise for the guys messing with him at dinner." I spilled, hoping that his actions would draw some of the attention from my ladylike behaviour.

My mother just shook her head sadly and returned to her cutlery, a moment of awkward silence passing between us. I sighed and turned to leave, upset with myself for snapping. My mother had very strict rules about ladylike behaviour, her British heritage evident in every step she took and every breath she exhaled. As a result, I was expected to act with the same level of decorum.

"Lana, you will invite Rhett to your birthday party to make up for your actions tonight." my mother called as I tried to escape the kitchen.

"But Mom..." I started, silenced by her glare.

"He was a guest in our house and he's unfamiliar to the area." she sighed. "He's just a lost kid, Lana, and I expected you to behave like a hostess. Hostesses do not slap their guests at the slightest provocation. You will make it up to him and you will be civil about it. No questions asked."

I wanted to scream! OH HELL NO! There was no way that low-class bully was going to ruin the one thing I looked forward to every year. Something had to be done about him... and quickly.

Slamming my bedroom door closed and grabbing my cellphone, I dialled the one girl I knew would be on my side.

"Lanie! I wasn't expecting you to call until tomorrow!" Willow squealed.

I smiled despite of myself and launched myself forlornly onto my bed.

"Willow, I need your help."

I heard a thud and then glass shattering from the other end of the phone as Willow swore in a colourful array of language.

"Sorry, knocked over my lamp." she admitted before pressing me for more information. "Okay, who're we going to kill this time?"

"My neighbour's useless son." I said with a smile, somehow not feeling nearly as vindictive as I had moments ago.

"What did he do?"

I sighed, leaning back against my fluffy pillows before spilling my guts about how Rhett had behaved, knocking my self esteem around like a punching bag.

"And then Mom shouted at me for hitting him and is forcing me to invite him to my birthday." I finished.

"Woahhhh... the dude sounds like a real piece of work." Willow moaned.

"What do I do?"

I crossed fingers that my friend would have the number of a brilliant hitman on speed dial. No such luck.

"Lana, it seems like you're going to have to ride this one out. Kill him with kindness, so to speak. I'll be over in a few days and we'll reassess the situation when I get there... but in the meantime, just be civil. You'll be asleep in a few weeks time anyway, so no need to stress about a guy who's only here for a little while."

I sighed, not too happy with the outcome of this conversation.

"Fine. I'll be nice...but only until you come around. Then you'll see what kind of a jerk he really is."

Willow laughed and I could hear the scratching sound of her sketching, something she did often when she was frustrated by something.

"Okay, your turn. What's wrong?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Oh come on! We've been best friends for years! I know you better than you know yourself."

She laughed and I could hear her rip out the page she had been sketching on.

"Well, you know I keep having dreams of you and those others... the two guys and that blonde chick?" she waited for my response before she continued. "Well, I saw a guy who looked just like one of the guys from my dream! Only it wasn't in a dream. It was in real life!"

Willow's family, being hippies and "one with the universe", were really superstitious so no wonder why this freaked her out.

"Which one and where?" I asked, trying to sound as concerned as she did.

"The one with the black hair and the blue eyes that look like ice. My parents took us to this ice-skating rink in the park close to where my grandparents stay over Christmas. The next thing I knew I crashed into this guy who turned around and glared at me, not saying a word to me. I wondered where I had seen him before when BAM! I remembered. I was so freaked out that Fern had to take me off of the ice."

"That's so weird." I admitted. "I'm sure Fern was just as freaked out as you were."

Fern was Willow's younger brother and quite the hypochondriac. And yes... Fern is his real name. Their folks were obsessed with plants it seems, and their poor children had to live with the names they were given - Willow, Fern, Ivy, Maple, Reed, Lilly and Thorn (yes... contraception isn't at the forefront of their minds either).

"He was a bit... but I'm weird and he's come to accept it so I don't think it was too bad." she laughed.

I heard another crash and Willow swore.

"Lana, I'll have to call you back later. But I'll see you this weekend anyway. 

Party time! Woohoo!"

With that, she put down the phone.