I didn't really have any topic in mind for this chapter, any ideas?

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"Shawn, why's your room messy?" I
demanded when I saw the great disarray in my best friend's room. His large room was always disorganized each time I visited but today was the peak. Today, his clothes were strewn across the floor, totally concealing the blue and black rug I always admired. No inch of his room was bare of clothes, his boxers were hanging over the large LCD TV in his room.

After taking a survey of his room, I turned to Shawn with my hands crossed over my chest.

"What?" He pushed away the pile of clothes from his bed and sat on it.

"How do you even manage to find your books in this mess?" I demanded and moved towards his bookcase which had clothes in it too. I tripped over something concealed by his clothes and fell to the floor.

"Are you okay?"

Still on the floor, I bent my neck to properly observe Shawn who was almost bursting out in laughter at my awkward position.

"You're a walking pig." I muttered as I checked what had made me lose balance. It was a dumbbell. Seriously?

Shawn stood up from his bed and came over to help me. "Why are you friends with me then?" He stretched out his hand to me.

Grinning, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the floor beside me. He groaned when his face connected with the floor.

"Ouch!" He cried out.

While he struggled to get off the floor, I straddled him and placed a leg of his pair of black socks over his nose.

Shawn made a disapproving sound. "Jeez! Hazel, get that thing away from me."

I let out a wild laugh as Shawn tossed the sock away. He grabbed my waist and pulled me down till I was resting on his chest and my face was parallel with his.

His eyes widened and mine did too at our compromising position. My hands were on the floor at both sides of his frame and if I just moved my face a little bit, our lips would be touching. Shawn didn't bother to push me off him like he would whenever we were play fighting, so I didn't make an effort too. Instead my heart started thumping insanely against my chest as one of his hands left my waist and came up to touch my face which heated up at the electrifying contact.

We broke off immediately at the sound of Shawn's mother's voice at the door.

"Are you guys okay in there?" She asked.

Shawn moved back to his bed and sat on it. I could see confusion filling his eyes. "Yeah we are!" We yelled out.

The sound of Mrs Stuart's receding footsteps jolted my attention back to Shawn who was typing away on his phone like nothing had happened. He only looked up when he felt me staring down at him.

He started walking towards the door. "Let's go down for lunch."

I nodded like a meek lamb. On a normal day, we would have argued about going down for lunch or who to get past his door first. But today, I just let him off. As he slammed the door, I stared back at the mess of clothes and noticed how much alike they were with my life now. What have I gotten myself into.

At lunch, Shawn and I stayed on different sides of the table without even uttering a word to each other. This came as a surprise to both his parents because like I informed, Shawn and I were never quiet, like never ever. Allie, his younger sister sat next to her mom, minding her own business.

Mr. Sebastian Stuart cleared his throat and I raised my eyes to him. "So, Hazel, how are your parents doing? It's been awhile since we met up with them?"

"Well, they're OK, work and all that." I replied simply.

My parents weren't workaholics but yet,work gnawed at most of their time. They came home everyday in time for dinner, but it was my greatest wish to spend more time with them everyday.

Mrs Stuart sighed. "I think I need to come over there one day and talk a little sense into the head of my best friend.

Shawn's dad chuckled and dropped his fork on his empty plate. He leaned sideways and gave his wife an endearing kiss on her left cheek.

When I looked at Shawn's place, he wasn't there anymore, neither was his plate.

His parents noticed too, but they merely exchanged glances.

Mr Stuart pushed back his chair and I blocked my ears at the screechy sound it made. His wife seemed to share in my discomfort because she whacked his head with a table napkin. "Alright ladies. Work calls." He grabbed his pager and left Shawn's mother and me alone.

"Let me help clear the table." I offered as she started packing up the dirty plates. She gave me a brief smile.

"Sure." She carried the first set of plates to the kitchen sink and dumped them there.

I stared at her in admiration, wishing my own mom could be like her. Hey, don't get me wrong, my mom was the nicest person you'll ever meet but at the same time, she was too busy for my good.

Mrs Stuart worked at a bank close to their house, so it afforded her time to be with her family. Her husband was a successful computer programmer and owned his own organization, Technex.

Well, I spent most Saturdays afternoons here because my home was freaking large and my brother Blake was rarely at home, business and stuff. So, virtually everyone in my family was always occupied, that's why most evenings after school, I came straight here rather than my house where only the maids would keep be company.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind." The sound of Mrs Stuart's voice cleared my thoughts. I looked up into her deep brown irises and smiled faintly.

"It's mainly school." I lied.

Mrs Stuart did not seem to believe me. We carried the final set of plates into the kitchen and left them in the sink. "That's a clear lie...you know you can confide in me. Is it your parents?"

With the way Mrs Stuart was staring eagerly at me, I knew she meant no harm.

"I feel we're all gradually falling apart. My parents barely have time for me and my brother, it's all about work."

Mrs Stuart picked out the particles of remaining food in the plates and dumped them into the black dustbin close to where she was standing."I hope you know your parents love you."

"Yes, I do, but..."

"Hazel, everything they do is for your benefit."

"I don't dispute that."

"After my parents passed on, I grew up with your dad and his other siblings even if for a brief while before I left for Hawaii. Your grandparents were always running around to make sure we had the best, I never doubted their love for us. Hazel, I want you to know that no matter how you may take it, your parents love you with every fiber of their lives, business or no business, do you understand?"

I nodded and faced the plates before me. "Yes, I understand."

Mrs Stuart started washing the plates and passing them to me for rinsing. "Try talking to your mother today, will you? I'm sure she'd figure something out."

I think I'd definitely give that a try.

Waving thoughts of my parents aside, I pondered on where Shawn might be.

"Mom, could I get an orange juice?" Allie's tiny voice asked. I turned around just at the same as her mother. The five year old was wearing a faded yellow dress and her blonde strands were bunched up to form a small ponytail.

"Yes sweetheart, you can. Let me get it for you." Mrs Stuart dried her hands under the automatic dryer located above the sink.

Allie shook her head. "No, mum,I can get it myself." She started prancing towards the tall refrigerator.

Mrs Stuart gave me an amused look and stayed back to see what Allie would do since the handle of the appliance was quite far from her reach.

Allie realizing our eyes on her looked back and said:

"Don't think I can't open it, I will."

I blinked as she pulled a small stool towards the refrigerator and used it as a leverage to get to the handle. She carefully took out the plastic can filled with yellow liquid and closed the refrigerator.

Allie raised the can like it was a trophy. "See, I got it."

Mrs Stuart laughed and commended her daughter's intelligence.

"Haze, what do you think?" Allie asked looking straight at me. Her eyes were just like her brother's and father's, blue.

I grinned. "I think...that you're the smartest kid ever."

"Yay!" The little girl cheered, displaying her little teeth. I hurried over and helped her off the stool. She took the can straight to her mother who poured a little quantity into a cup and gave it to her.

I looked out through the window and found the sun slowly retiring into the clouds. Time to go home.

"I think I should go now."

Mrs Stuart who was talking to her daughter looked in my direction. "OK dear, don't forget to say hi to your mother, OK?"

"Yes, I will." I strolled into the dining area and found my bag sitting in one of the chairs. Fortunately, I had brought it from Shawn's room earlier, saving me from another awkward moment with him.

So, with that, I skipped out of my second family's house and called my driver to come to my rescue. Even though I had protested, mom instructed me to never come home alone in the evening, she gave me the liberty in the morning to go with Shawn, but in the evening, no.

In ten minutes, Mr. Todd, a man in his early forties appeared in an Escalade and I hopped into the back seat when he stopped.

"Good evening, Todd."

I could see him smile from the rearview mirror. "Hello there, Hazel."

The glasses were tinted so there was not much I could see outside so instead, I reached out to the dashboard and played some of my favorite songs from Five Seconds of Summer till we got home.

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Well, guys, what are your thoughts on this chapter?

What do you think about Shawn and Hazel? Do you think anything would happen between them?

Just keep your fingers crossed for the best.

I know I'll be getting some questions about this chapter.

A million thanks to you for reading.