Little Phoenix (The Census Book 1)

by Willow Dean

  “Better get going boys or you’ll get yourselves into trouble,” I tease jovially, throwing a wink their way.

  Micah points at me. “This isn’t over, Lala.”

  You betchya it ain’t.

  One of the car doors slams and jolts them into action. Causing them to scuttle away like little cockroaches.

  Urgh.

  I shudder. I hate those damn things. Any creepy crawlies just…no. No! I hate them.

  There’s just something about their tiny little bodies that can get anywhere. Along with their spindly appendages that allow them to move at mach-ten.

  Okay…maybe I’m exaggerating a little there. They can’t move at ten times the speed of sound, but you get my point! Horrible things they are.

  “Hey Sunshine, how are you today?” Jax greets as he walks in with Linc at his side, both of their arms overflowing with groceries.

  “Somebody is allowed to return to normality again,” I sing-song, giving him a wide smile as I take some of the bags off of his hands.

  “That’s awesome! I bet you can’t wait to get yourself back to college tomorrow. You’ve worked yourself hard,” he squeezes me in a quick side hug. “I’m proud of you.” he says quietly, kissing me on the head before moving over to the counter next to Linc to start unpacking the bags he just brought in.

  I freeze. My chest warms at his words and the sentiment behind them.

  Sure, the words themselves aren’t exactly something profound, but it’s a phrase I never thought I’d hear again. The only two people who ever said that to me were my parents.

  Now they’re gone.

  Rick’s deep rumble shocks me back into action. Clearly, Aus and Micah don’t know how to behave themselves for two minutes.

  Hearing him muttering down the corridor, I’m nearly down to the bottom of my bag when a certain container comes into view.

  Ah, yes. That will do quite nicely.

  “Seriously Austin, you better not drop that! It’s real-“

  “Chill out, Boss. I got this.”

  Turning around with my hands behind my back, I watch as they come through the door.

  “You better have it, otherwise you’ll be in deep shi-” Rick cuts off as a small object whizzes past his face. His eyes comically wide as he follows the projectile.

  I practically watch in slow motion as the egg explodes across Aus’s face, instinctively causing his hands to release.

  At an almost impossible speed, Micah sticks his foot out to catch whatever it is that Aus was carrying. Lowering it down to the floor somewhat, he does his best to at least reduce the impact.

  There’s silence as whatever was in the bag makes contact with the floor and clangs.

  No one moves.

  Slowly, every head in the room turns towards me. Drawing my lip into my mouth, I bite down on it. “Oopsie?” I wince, inching my hand with the second egg in it, behind my back to place it carefully back in the carton.

  “This is not what I meant when I said free reign, M,” Rick chastises through gritted teeth. “Jax. Check it.”

  I maintain eye contact with Rick as Jax walks over and takes a knee. Rick’s eye twitches at the little clinking sounds that come from behind him.

  I let my eyes stray to Jax, but snap them back just as quickly when I catch Aus and Micah out of the corner of my eye.

  Micah is watching Aus and snickering behind his shopping bags as Aus pulls his hands away from his face. Goopy strings of the jelly-like substance stretching out to connect the two together.

  Keep it together, Mila!

  A relieved or maybe an exasperated sigh, I can’t quite tell, leaves Jax as he stands up. Still, he says nothing.

  My stomach bottoms as I realise I may have screwed up. Big style.

  Adjusting his glasses, Jax runs a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, Micah arrested it’s fall quick enough. We should be good to go.”

  I feel like a deflating balloon as my shoulders sag, returning to their normal place.

  “Good. Get it set up and locked down. I don’t want any other mishaps,” he orders, giving me a pointed look.

  I hold my hands up and back away carefully, only to bump into the counter behind me, startling myself. The little yelp I let out doesn’t go unnoticed either.

  Thankfully, Rick doesn’t seem too angry as he comes over and hip checks me. “There’s no escape for you now, M. I was going to let you off unpacking tonight, but-”

  “Ya, ya. I know. I’ll get to it,” I grumble. “I still get my triple chocolate ice cream and vanilla latte though, right?” I ask hesitantly, looking at him from under my lashes.

  Throwing his head back in laughter, he looks back down at me and places a kiss on the top of my head. “Of course. I can’t deny you your first celebration. That would just be barbaric.”

  “Well...you can be-”

  “Don’t even finish that sentence, Micah Delany! I shall not be forgoing my tasty treats because you lack control of your own mouth!” I pout.

  Taking the egg carton out of the bag, with the utmost care, I place them gently on the counter and remove the rest of the items before tying the bag up.

  “It’s not me that’ll be the problem, Lala.”

  Looking up, I find him grinning at me gleefully.

  “Wha-”

  I’m shocked into silence as something is squished down on the top of my head. Releasing a whole torrent of ickiness that drips and slides through my hair and down my face.

  “Seriously, Austin?!” This time, I slam my mouth shut just in time.

  Poof.

  Thank goodness for quick reactions!

  Wiping my eyes doesn’t really help in the grand scheme of things. Although, I am able to get enough of a clear opening to squint open my left eye.

  Micah’s bent over double, busting up laughing with an empty flour pot in his hand. Turning to look over my shoulder, a ghostly white Aus stares back at me, blinking rapidly.

  Sharing a mutual look, we both glance to the door to make sure Jax has safely left the room with his package. Almost as one, I beeline for the fridge as Aus hightails it to one of the cupboards.

  We pincer Micah from both sides. Aus wields the squirty cheese as I brandish the whipped cream.

  Rick and Linc take a step back, getting well out of the way. Giggling like little school girls as they go.

  Well…that’s maybe a little off. They don’t sound like school girls at all.

  Rick’s laugh is more like a grunt-snort and Linc has this quiet whisper-laugh going on. Still, as reserved and broody as ever.

  “Food fight!” I yell, aiming my squirter at Micah. His head snaps up and the stricken look he sports is absolutely classic.

  He spins in the opposite direction to try and get away, only to be greeted with a face full of stinky, wet cheese.

  Depressing my plunger, Micah ducks his head at the last second causing Aus to receive a mother-load of whipped cream to the face.

  I can’t even pretend to be remorseful. Laughter explodes out of me as I push a flailing Micah into Aus and sprint back around the counter to hide behind Rick.

  Clasping my hands around his waist, I wipe my face on his back. It’s a pitiful attempt really as he has his leather jacket on, so there’s absolutely zero traction.

  “Hey now! No using me as a shield, that’s no- Or as a bloody dishrag, M! What the hell?!”

  He yanks on my arms, trying to extract himself from my grip, but I cling on to him like a monkey. Food is literally flying everywhere as I climb up the gigantic man-mountain, causing me to dodge left and right.

  Once I finally get to a safe position, I settle myself in quite nicely as he continues to try and grip my arms.

  The combination of egg and flour covering me, makes it rather difficult for him to get a good grip.

  “Onwards my trusty steed!” I point forwards, nearly getting thrown off as he bucks like a bronco. Snatching my hand back, I grip on for dear life.

  No way do I want to be dow
n low in a food fight!

  Oh…on second thoughts, maybe down low with these handsome fella’s wouldn’t be too-

  Ducking, I take cover behind Rick’s head as the room suddenly goes silent.

  Emerging from cover, I scan the room to see why everyone’s stopped. Peering over Rick’s shoulder, I manoeuvre myself slightly and come across the source of the silence.

  The gigantic blueberry pie that’s slowly sliding it’s way down Rick’s face.

  Someone must have thrown it with some force as it’s sticking beautifully. It catches on his nose for a second, before dropping to the floor with a plop.

  “Fortunately, everything is working fine. It’s all lock-” Jax walks a few steps into the room, cleaning his glasses with his shirt, stopping abruptly when his foot slides in something.

  Donning his glasses, his eyebrows raise up into his hairline. “What on earth happened here?!”

  Scrambling like a maniac, I try to throw myself off Rick as motion returns to the room.

  I don’t get far.

  “You. Are not going anywhere, M.”

  “Oh shit.” I squeak.

  “Oh shit, indeed.”

  16 Mila

  Cleaning up after the food fight last night was not really the celebration I had in mind.

  Fortunately, I still got my tasty treats and that’s all that really matters. It was probably a good thing as well, seeing as it exhausted me and I got a good night’s sleep before the shit storm that is today.

  I had been looking forward to my first day back and the change of scenery it would afford me. It was really nice spending time at home with the guys, don’t get me wrong. I just desperately needed something…different.

  The only drawback to it is, I’m not getting all of my freedom back just yet.

  The joy of independence! Wait a second…oh yeah. That’s right. I have none.

  Not only will I have at least one of them watching over me like a hawk at pretty much all times. But, they’ve also transferred into the majority of my classes to -and I quote- ‘keep a closer eye on me’.

  Besides being a spoiled brat, I still have some reservations about being fully independent. Particularly being alone.

  Not that I would tell any of them that of course, I’ve not worked my ass off to get my limited independence back, only to have it taken away again just as quickly.

  No siree.

  Unfortunately, I was so caught up with the thought of getting back to college and having some form of normality back in my life, that I’d completely forgot that apparently, the whole world knows what happened to my family and I.

  Although they weren’t privy to all the gritty details, they knew enough to be able to gossip…and gossip they did. Teenagers aren’t known for their rational thought processes or ability to think for themselves, let alone ignore Chinese whispers.

  Gem’s sister clearly wasn’t tight lipped either. She evidently enjoyed having free reign to add fuel to the fire while I was absent. In fact, I would bet my life on her being the source of the outrageous speculations that seem to be popping up out of nowhere.

  I was kind of thankful that none of the guys were in my first lecture. It’s not that I really care about the accusations being launched my way. I just know that they would.

  Heavens only knows what sort of trouble they would have gotten themselves into after witnessing the verbal abuse I was subjected too.

  My semi-independence appears to have been a blessing in disguise.

  Go, go, pity party for one!

  Making my way to my second lecture wasn’t any more pleasant. Although a small slew of people appear to be relieved and happy to see me, others kept their distance and appeared decidedly skeptical. Acting almost as if they expected me to flip-out and jump them at any second.

  The rest of them were just downright nasty. Tossing death glares at me as if to say, stay away from the crazy bitch, she went mad and killed her best friend and left her too bleed out alone.

  They aren’t exactly wrong.

  My mouth goes dry at the thought. After all, I did just leave her hanging in the backseat of the car, bleeding as I chose instead to try and set my dad free.

  Albeit the most sensible option at the time, what kind of best friend does that make me?!

  Micah’s holler alerts me to his presence a second before he barrels into me, grabbing me around the waist to stop me from going down. “Lala!”

  Even his usual bright spark can’t bring a true smile to my face today.

  “Careful brother,” Linc chastises as he walks up behind us.

  “My bad, my bad. I’m just excited for Sayuri to enjoy her first day back in the big wide world,” he exclaims energetically, raising his arms to the sky and doing a little twirl.

  That one did get a small chuckle out of me. Especially when he starts to walk backwards with a megawatt smile on his face, offering me a sly wink.

  With a distracted huff and a small shake of my head, I continue walking on to my next destination.

  Sayuri, I wonder why he keeps calling me that?

  I barely even begin to form the words to ask when someone knocks into me, causing me to stumble. Micah lurches forward and catches me, setting me straight, before glaring furiously at someone over my shoulder.

  Usually full of nothing but rainbows and sunshine, it’s an expression I haven’t seen on him before and it sets me on edge.

  Keeping an eye on whatever’s going on, he speaks with a hint of a growl as his hands run gently across my body, assessing me for injuries. “Are you okay, Mila? You hurt anywhere?”

  My hand goes to his chest to try and get his attention and appease some of his anger. “I’m fine, Micah, don’t worry. It’s no big deal,” I soothe.

  Nodding stiffly, his eyes remain fixated over my head. His arms flex intermittently as if he’s holding himself back from handing out a beating.

  “Micah, look at me.” Running my hands over his jaw line, his eyes drift towards mine. “I’m okay. I promise,” I say with a small smile. The concern drops from his eyes but the anger remains just as fierce.

  Pulling back slightly, I turn to find Linc pinning a larger guy to the lockers by his throat. Leant in close, he speaks in hushed tones.

  Despite the fact that the dude is bigger in stature than Linc, he pales and nods his head frantically at whatever it is that Linc just said, offering apology after apology.

  The second Linc releases him, he bolts off down the corridor. Linc however, doesn’t move an inch. Instead, he stands with his forehead leant against the lockers as his fists clench and unclench at his sides in time with his heavy breaths.

  Before I can even take a single step, Micah’s arms tighten around me. Leaning in close he whispers, “Give him a minute, Sayuri. He needs a second alone.”

  There’s that nickname again. I like it. I just have no idea what it means!

  Just as I make a mental note to ask him what it means later, Linc finally calms enough to come back to us. His emotionless mask slips firmly back into place as he strides over and retrieves my bag from the floor.

  Huh. I didn’t even realise I’d dropped it.

  Throwing it over his shoulder, he takes one of my hands in his as Micah takes the other. Both of them march me off to my next lecture in silence before heading to their own, assuring me that they’ll see me at lunch.

  Of course, that leaves me all on my lonesome to deal with the circling sharks that await my arrival inside the next lecture hall.

  Oh, the joy!

  Apart from the stares and the hushed whispers, the rest of the morning is relatively uneventful.

  Feeling exhausted, I head over to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and a coffee. Ignoring the near constant taunts and whispers that seem to be following me around like a bad smell, I move outside in search of a free spot.

  It’s warm and sunny out and there’s a lovely breeze. Happiness fills me as I seek out the maple tree that Gem and I usually sit under, finding it empty.
>
  Perfect.

  Laying down in the shade, I take a second to let the memories wash over me as I recall the last time we sat under here together.

  Gem was gossiping about how Sally Fairbanks tried to hit on Troy again. She was annoyed because she saw Troy as her ‘plaything’ and nobody else’s.

  Gem was a very…possessive individual.

  Smiling at the memory of the mega pout she had plastered on her face, and the sound of her voice as she told me all about her fantastic love life, I close my eyes and relish the cool, fresh air.

  The rustling of the leaves in the wind and the chatter of the birds are the only noises that fill the quiet space. Everything is just so peaceful.

  I just wish I could lay here forever and forget about the world. Disjoint myself from reality an-

  A hand drops onto my shoulder and jars me awake. “Relax,” Jax’s low timbre soothes my frazzled nerves. “It’s only me.”

  “Sorry, dude. I must have fallen asleep,” I mumble, sitting up against the tree and stretching out. “What time is it?”

  “It’s halfway through lunch. Don’t worry, you have plenty of time to eat,” he answers with a smile, dimples and all.

  Cute.

  Reaching for my sandwich, I blindly begin to unwrap it as I curse my lack of awareness to my surroundings. I’ve never been this jumpy before. Not even after that nig-

  Nope. Not going there right now.

  Jax sits cross-legged next to me and starts to dig into his salad pot. I chew on my mouthful as I watch him in disgust.

  Everything is always so healthy with him. It makes me sick. Like seriously…who has a salad pot every day? It’s just wrong.

  Pizza and fast foods are all that matters in life. To not utilize their greatness is considered blasphemy and is seriously disrespectful to the junk food Gods, and you really do not want to anger them!

  Doling out clear skin and bucket loads of bountiful energy like it’s halloween candy, they reign down their wrath on those who dare oppose them.

  It’s a dangerous life choice and is most certainly not one I will be making anytime soon, despite Linc’s insistence on a good diet. At least he still allows me my little slice of the good life.