Trouble in Paradise?
Chapter Sixteen

"Let's go," I said, walking with Blake out of the school building. After we had gone back to class and cleared things up, we met up at his locker. Now you're caught up.

"Okay," Blake agreed, following me out to where the buses sat and waited for the kids to pile on. We got on, taking a seat in my usual spot. Some people looked at us funny, especially at Blake, as if to say 'why is he with her?'

"So, how much did your tutor teach you?" I asked, trying to get a grip on what he needs to learn/relearn.

"It's not too bad, I was just put on the spot. I'm supposed to go over words each night but..." he trailed off, scratching his head.

I nodded. "Okay, that's what we'll do then."

The bus revved, the driver pulling out of the school car park and onto the roads. Blake and I chatted until it came to my stop. We both got off, and started walking in the direction of my house.

When we got there, Blake looked up at it. "Wow, nice house."

"It's what I call home," I shrugged, opening the door and leading him in. We dropped our bags at the door and I gave him a quick tour of my house. No one was home, so we had the house to ourselves.

No, you dirty minded people, we are not going to do anything like that.

I took him upstairs to my room where I got out some pencils and paper and we started.

We mostly just practiced words, that came to my head, which I wrote down and then watched or helped Blake pronounce and read them correctly. We even practiced a bit of spelling before Blake had to go home.

I walked him downstairs and to the door, just in case he got lost and broke something which would be very likely because, you know, it's Blake.

"Thank you for helping me," he said, with a sincere look on his face. "Honestly, no one has done something like that for me before."

I smiled warmly at him. "It's no problem. You're my friend, friends help each out."

He nodded and gave me a quick hug, his strong arms engulfing me and then quickly letting go.

"You can get home?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll just walk to the park and get my mum to pick me up from there."

"You sure?"

He nodded. "I'll be fine. See you at school tomorrow."

I waved as he walked backwards down the driveway. "See ya."

After Blake left, I tried to work on homework but my mind just wouldn't focus. I decided to stop working. I got up from my desk and went into my closet, changing into some black shorts and a tank top. I grabbed my phone and my headphones before going downstairs and locking the door.

I jogged down the driveway and down the street. I put music on and I was lost in my own little world, vaguely aware of the direction that I was running in and what corners that I was turning around.

Around half an hour later, I found myself at the park. I didn't see Blake there, so he must've gotten picked up. I shrugged and started walking through the park, looking at all of the nature and the wildlife that was around me.

Then I could see the playground coming into view as I walked closer to it. Like every day, kids were running around with excitement and energy coursing through them. The parents chatted on the wooden park benches, sitting with their prams.

I then spotted two familiar little girls, twins to be specific. They were going down a large blue slide. Once they had stopped laughing and got down from the slide, they spotted me and start running towards me. I bent down onto my knees so that I could talk to them at eye level.

"Hello girls," I said, laughing at their adorable little giggles. They were wearing dresses today, Ally wearing an orange one and Ellie wearing a purple one. They looked cute, their hair was tied up in messy pony tails which I guessed had been done by Ethan.

Speaking of him, where was he? I need to know what direction I should run in.

Only kidding. Slightly.

"Where is your brother? Didn't he say that you two shouldn't run off?" I asked them, my eyes searching around the park for a tall teenage boy. It took a lot of effort to not call him a rude and unladylike word.

The girls then shared a look, a look only twins could share, and started looking around for their brother.

"You know, you should really stop kidnapping my sisters," a voice sounded from behind me. I turned around and smiled sheepishly, scratching my head.

"I didn't kidnap them. They ran over to me," I defended. Ethan rolled his eyes before grabbing the little girl's hands.

"Do you come here every night?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, they love it here."

"Don't you have sport, or go to parties?" I asked, confused.

He nodded. "I have training, but because I can't go I have to catch up on the weekends, which I should be using to get homework done," he explained quickly, seeming unsure that he was even answering my questions.

"Oh, but it must be nice to spend time with your sisters?" I asked, probably pushing my luck with the questions but I kept going.

He shrugged. "I love them but there are times when I would like to do the things I want to do after school," he replied.

I nodded. "Well, I could look after them for you if you want?" I asked.

I don't even know why I asked, or what compelled me to ask that question. I just did it, but it was too late to take it back now.

He looked at me with a baffled expression. "Why?"

I honestly didn't have an answer for that one. "I don't know, it's a nice thing to do I guess. Plus I like your sisters," I said, making a funny face down at them to which they started giggling uncontrollably.

He looked at me with an unsure look, as if he was actually considering it. "Can I even trust you to look after them for a couple hours every day after school?"

I bit my lip. "Of course."

He nodded. "Alright, but not because I like you. Only because I have shit to do after school, or else I'm going to be kept down."

I smiled at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but it starts tomorrow and you're not doing weekends," he said. "And this doesn't make us anywhere close to friends."

I rolled my eyes but agreed anyway. "Sounds good to me."

He nodded. "I gotta get them home."

"See ya," I replied. He nodded his head in goodbye, taking the girls with him as they walked out of the park.

I walked back home after that.