Before December

Chapter 4

Waking up the next morning, I felt a heaviness sitting on my chest. One month. It had been one month since I'd found out my parents and little sister were gone. It felt impossible that the rest of the world had carried on as normal for four whole weeks. People had gone to work, complained about traffic, ordered coffee and argued over what to watch on TV while my entire life had been ripped apart. I was beginning to forget the last time I'd smiled and actually meant it. Probably at the school party, before Uncle Will had walked through those doors and everything changed. That version of me felt like someone else now. Someone who worried about stupid things like whether we'd bought enough balloons or whether the DJ would play the right songs. What I wouldn't give to have those problems back. I checked my phone. Nine o'clock. There was no way I was ready to get out of bed and face a house full of people I hardly knew, especially when every one of them probably remembered exactly how I'd arrived.

I went back to sleep.

Two hours later, blaring hip-hop jolted me awake. I shoved a pillow over my head, but the bass seemed to vibrate straight through the wall. Throwing the covers back, I jumped out of bed and marched out of my room. Whoever was playing this music so damn loud was going to get a piece of my mind. I wasn't surprised that it was coming from Theodore's room. I hammered on his door until he finally opened it.

He stood there with that stupid, smug grin and said, "Have you come to join the party?" before disappearing inside his room, leaving the door open for me to follow him in.

"No! I haven't come to join your stupid one-man party! Turn the music off!" I yelled over the noise.

Theodore walked towards me then stopped in front of me.

"Turn it down."

He raised an eyebrow. "No."

I stared at him. "No?"

"That's what I said."

"Are you always this annoying, or are you making a special effort because I'm new?"

His mouth twitched. "You think I'm annoying?"

"I think there are probably people three counties away who think you're annoying. They can hear your music too."

That earned me an actual laugh.

"Glad you're entertained. Some of us are trying to sleep."

"It's nearly noon."

"And?"

"And normal people are awake by now."

I folded my arms. "Normal people don't try to deafen everyone within a five-mile radius before lunch."

"You were drinking champagne for breakfast yesterday."

My mouth dropped open. "That was not breakfast!"

"You sure?"

"I hate you."

"We've known each other less than twenty-four hours."

"You've made an impressive start."

"So have you."

My stomach did an irritating little flip.

Seriously?

I was angry with him. I was supposed to be angry with him.

"I'm trying to sleep! At least turn it down!" I stomped, which only made him chuckle.

He stepped closer, forcing me to tilt my head back to keep glaring at him.

"No," he repeated, quieter this time.

Heat crept into my face, which was ridiculous. I was furious with him. So why had my stomach suddenly forgotten how to behave?

"Why not?" I breathed out a little shakily, but wanted it to be more of a stern voice.

My head was back against the wall and his face was now right in front of mine, his hand on the wall behind my head. His eyes were that same impossible blue I'd noticed in the kitchen, and for one stupid second I forgot what I was supposed to be arguing about. My gaze betrayed me and dropped briefly to his mouth. Oh, for God's sake. I immediately looked back at his eyes, but the knowing curve of his mouth told me I'd been caught. Heat flooded my cheeks. Brilliant. Fair skin and embarrassment were a terrible combination. Not that I wanted to kiss him. Obviously. He was an asshole. I really wanted to run away and hide in my room. He can play his damn music as loud as he freaking wants.

"I don't want to." His grin widened, then left me where I was and carried on with what he was doing.

I immediately left his room and ran into mine once I was out of his sight. I shut my bedroom door, dropped face-first onto the bed and screamed into the pillow. Theodore Henderson was officially unbearable

The music had been playing loudly for over an hour now and my head was beginning to pound. I was sick of it, so I got changed, grabbed my headphones and went for a run. I decided not to go too far as I had no idea what was nearby, but I wanted to explore a little outside of the gates. Once I was out of the long driveway, I slowed for a moment and looked both ways. Both directions appeared almost identical—narrow roads bordered by trees and old stone walls, with absolutely no clue as to where either one led.

"Helpful," I muttered.

I chose left.

The farther I ran, the more isolated the place seemed. Back home, I couldn't go ten minutes without passing a convenience store, gas station or somebody's house. Here, there was nothing. Just endless greenery, fields appearing through gaps in the trees and the occasional car that made me instinctively move to the wrong side of the road before remembering that everything here was backwards. Even that annoyed me. Different roads. Different houses. Different accents. Different country. Different life. I turned my music louder before my thoughts could go somewhere I didn't want them to, but forty minutes of running gave me absolutely nothing. Eventually, I gave up and turned back.

Apparently, left had been the wrong choice.

Approaching the steps to the front of the house, I took in the beauty of the grand building. For the first time, I really looked at the house. It was enormous. Pale stone walls, towering windows and huge white doors made it look like something straight out of Pride and Prejudice—if Mr Darcy had discovered modern architecture and unlimited money. Whoever had renovated it had somehow kept the old grandeur without making the place feel like a museum. It was pure genius. There couldn't be anything else like it. The interior was just as grand with its high ceilings and chandeliers. Every room was as big as the last. Even after two days, I still couldn't get my head around the fact that people actually lived like this. More importantly, I couldn't understand how I was supposed to live like this. Nothing about the place belonged to me. The bedroom wasn't mine. The food wasn't mine. Even the towel I'd used that morning belonged to someone else. I suddenly missed my bedroom back home so badly that my chest tightened. I pushed the thought away and headed inside. I kept my headphones on as I headed through the house and into the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I drained half of it before heading upstairs.

For the first time since I'd arrived, I pulled the curtains fully open. Sunlight flooded the room, and my gaze dropped immediately to the pool below. After grabbing a towel and changing into my black bikini, I headed downstairs.