The Alpha's unfortunate mate.

Chapter 4 - Lost track of time

Chapter 4

“Mark, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to promise me you will do this.” I say sternly.

Mark nods.

“Anything Kiara, what is it?” Mark asked.

“I need you to get good grades in school and go off to college. I need you to be more serious in school and instead of pretending to do homework I need you to actually do homework.” I say to Mark.

“Okay but why? You get the good grades.” Mark said.

“Well, I need to look for work so we can run away and I can afford food. I need you to earn the grades to go to college and then get a better job. We have to look after Alicia.” I tell Mark.

“Okay Kiara I will try but I may need help. And when we plan to leave, let me know.” Mark said.

“Can you cover for me at school?” I ask Mark.

“Yes I will say you are with mom for a while or something.” Mark replied.

Mark hugs me again then I grab his book to read.

“Did you really answer this riddle with the words I don’t know miss?” I asked Mark.

Mark laughed and nodded.

“Well riddles are to help us think outside the box, and helps us to solve problems and find solutions.” I explain.

“Ok so how do I solve it if I have not got a clue?” Mark said.

“Look at the riddle, there are 12 people on an island. They are of similar weight but one weighs a bit more. There is a scale that can only be used three times. Now how do you find the one who stands out?” I read to Mark.

“I don’t know Kiara.” Mark said.

“Well think of it like this, what same numbers can equal 12?” I asked Mark.

“Kiara I really don’t know. Can you please just help me? And I can help earn a profit with mowing yards in return.” Mark tried to bribe.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Just watch in case you are asked to answer it in the class.” I tell Mark.

Mark watches as I grab a spare piece of paper and fold it, on one side I draw 12 circles along the top. And on the other side I draw 12 squares.

“Now there is 2 ways it could work, with the circles and the squares, they both start the same, you split them into 3 groups of 4. You use the scale once. Now with the circles, if it tips then the person is on that side, And then with the 4 people you split into 2 groups of 2. Then you use the scale a second time. Then split the group of two into one and weigh one last time. But on the squares, if the weight was not on the first scale use, you put the last group then split them. And that uses the squares second scale. Then split the two that it tipped on to find the odd person. So now that it is explained you have the answer.” I tried to explain as simple and quickly as possible with the drawing on the paper.

“So the circle one was easier to understand. Now how do I answer it?” Asked Mark.

“Honestly I think you just draw it in your homework book and then show the teacher so she can see it’s done. But I noticed you need to read The Lord of the Flies. Do you know what that is about?” I asked Mark.

“No, is it like The Lord of The Rings?” Mark asked.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Tell me you’re joking.” I say to Mark.

“I really am not.” Mark replies.

“Well, read it. You will get quizzed, I had to do that last year. There was 200 questions and then a essay on the book and then you also have to tell the teacher in a discussion what your point of view of the book is. So no matter what you hear, just read.” I tell Mark.

“Look Kiara, if you get hurt again I will try to stop it.” Mark says.

“No, you need to focus on homework. Look I need to find work, there is no need for both of us to not got to school. I need you to focus Mark.” I tell him.

“Alright but first you need to go to the doctors tomorrow to make sure you don’t have a broken rib or something.” Mark said.

“I plan to after I get some time tomorrow. I need to think of an excuse first. Like why am I bruised or why am I hurt.” I explained.

“What if you say you fell down the stairs?” Mark asked.

“Honestly, it is a basic excuse. We need something that is so unoriginal that it might seem believable. So we need to think really hard.” I explained.

I focused deep in thought for a bit and Mark was to. We lost track of time until Alicia came up to us.

“When are we going home Ki? I’m hungry.” Alicia said.

“We are going home right now.” I replied quickly.

We started walking home as quickly as possible.

“Do you think he’s home?” Mark asked.

I thought for a moment as we walked home. I hoped her stayed at the pub. But if we were to be home before he knew how late it was we would have to hurry.

“Mark take Alicia and go ahead, I need to run to the shop and buy some food to make it look like we needed to go shopping.” I whisper to Mark.

“Okay but I will try to stall for you if he asks.” Mark whispers.

Mark grabbed Alicia’s hand and walked off pretty quickly.

I decided to go quicker to the shops, I took a shortcut through the park. The park had a lot of trees in it and before I knew it I ended up getting distracted and losing track of where I was. Eventually after what seemed like 20 more minutes wandering aimlessly through the park I ended up finding the street lights in the distance through the trees. I ran through the trees to the street then walked the last two blocks to the shops. I had to hurry. I grabbed some bread and ham, some mince and some cheese, I grabbed spaghetti and sauce and I grabbed a couple bags of rice and vegetables. I grabbed a few more small things for the kids for school and I quickly paid then left. But along the way I noticed a group of guys following me. The others didn’t seem to want to be there but there was one following me and the others just followed him. I couldn’t see anything apart from their shadow. I decided walking the long way would probably be safer.

As I got closer to home I saw the shadows still behind me but then I decided to walk into a neighbors yard and then I jumped the last few fences to get home. It wasn’t easy to jump those fences with the groceries but it was worth it. When I got home through the back door I started to put the groceries away and prepare lunch for the kids tomorrow. I also prepped a few meals like spaghetti and mince to put into containers to freeze. Afterwards I went to Mark’s room and saw his door open a little. I knocked gently.