CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
note— i made an edit for this book, who should i edit next?
Andy hadn't left her room in four days. Eve and Ava had made it their mission to make Andy leave the room, Eve stole Andy's phone, hoping that would make Andy get out of bed but to no avail, Andy hadn't even realised her phone was gone. Ava would blast her music, her and Eve's room being the one closest to Andy, but once again it was like Andy didn't even realise. The only person who had gotten any response from Andy was Leo, the six-year-old and Andy's favourite of the Quinns.
Olivia and Darrell didn't know what to do or how to help. They didn't want to call Daniella, but they knew that if this behaviour kept up, they would have to.
"I'm going to call him," Darrell picked up his phone.
"Darrell, you can't! We talked about this, we need to respect Andy's privacy," Olivia counted as she shook her head. The couple had been debating between calling Benji for the past two days, Darrell knows that whatever has upset Andy is Benji's fault, and Olivia knows this too, but she also knows that teenage girls need space.
"This isn't healthy. Liv, she hasn't left her room in four days! She's lucky that this is the last week of the term or else, she would be falling behind in class."
Olivia sighed, "Fine. Don't yell at him. We don't know if he is the reason why they aren't talking, for all we know it could be Andy's fault."
Darrell nodded. The blonde hair man searched his contacts until he found the one labelled 'andy's boy friend' he had done it as a joke. Ava would always tease Andy about Benji being her boyfriend which Andy would reply that he was her boy friend, after that the Quinns would continue to call Benji her boy friend whenever he wasn't around.
Ring, ring, ring. "um hi, this is Benji speaking."
"Benji, hi. This is Darrell speaking, Andy hasn't been feeling too well, and Olivia and I agreed that a visit from her friends might cheer up her mood. Would you be able to come over?"
For what felt like a minute there was silence. "I'll be there soon."
"Thank you, see you soon." Darrell hung up the phone and looked at his wife, "I didn't yell."
Liv kissed Darrell's cheek, "I'm proud of you," she joked.
Four days ago, Benji's best friend had told him that she was his enemy and two hours later that he had decided to become a double agent. He's still trying to process it all though. Andy and Benji never fight, sure they have had small spits but never had they argued about anything serious.
He's thought about calling Andy. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for yelling at her (although he thought it was justified) and tell her of his plan but he didn't. In between helping Tiffy catch up before the end of term and his patrols, he hasn't had time to visit Andy, at least that was the excuse he was going for.
As selfish as it is to say, Benji was happy he didn't see Andy at school. It isn't uncommon for kids to skip the last week of school, most of his classmates had, so he didn't find it a reason to worry.
When Darrell called Benji, he felt his heart drop into his stomach. Andy hadn't felt well, was it about his reaction? of course it was, he hissed to himself.
The bus ride to Andy's house was short, he tried preparing what he was going to say to Andy but he couldn't get anywhere while remembering her crying. Now that his anger was gone, he felt nothing but guilt, he didn't even hear her out, he made her cry. What she is doing is terrible but he trusts Andy, she isn't a bad person.
"You need to be careful!" Mullo squeaked.
"I don't need to be careful, Mu. It's Andy, she won't hurt me."
Mullo frowned. For the past four days, they two had gone over this conversation many times, each time the two not being able to agree. "Just- be careful, okay?"
Benji sighed, "Okay."
Mullo went inside Benji's as the boy walked up to the Quinns' front door, he took a deep breath and knocked twice.
Eve answered the door, the blonde eleven-year-old was tall for her age, with pale almost snow white hair and icy blue eyes, the only different between her and her twin was the washout hair dye in Ava's hair. "Benji!" Eve gushed excitedly, she grabbed his arm and walked him inside the house.
Benji knew about Eve's crush on him, Andy had told him once and now whenever he is around the younger girl he feels extremely uncomfortable. "Hey, Evelyn. Could you bring me to your dad?"
"Dad just left, he had to take Leo to a swimming lesson. Mum and Ava are gone too, they needed to run to the shops. Dad told me to keep an eye on you as you talk to Andy."
"Um... okay."
"Of course, I don't really want to watch you and Andy talk, Andy hasn't been very social lately. So I'll leave you two alone as long as I'm occupied."
"Eve, you know how your parents feel about you using my phone-"
"I also know they don't want you and Andy in her room by yourselves."
"Fine," he gave up. Benji grabbed his phone out of his back pocket and undid his lock. "Don't go on my Instagram, but you can use my TikTok as long as you don't post anything, okay?"
Eve grinned as she grabbed the phone victoriously, "Deal."
Eve walked over to her and Ava's room, her head buried into his phone, he rolled his eyes. He couldn't imagine what she would be like next year when she has a phone of her own.
Benji stood at the front of Andy's door. Mariposa's door. He placed a comforting hand on his miraculous, "Andy?" He asked, placing a small knock on her door.
"Benji?"
"Can I come in?"
No response. Benji shrugged, taking the silence as a yes and opened the door. He got a mouthful of dust, the dulling smell of days-old food making him feel like gagging, her room was the worst he had ever seen it, it was like she hadn't even felt her bed.
"Why didn't you tell them?" His heart dropped, straight to the point. Benji opened her windows, the fly screens collecting dust. He looked around, so much closing. No! Focus. But it's hard to focus with so much mess around him.
"I considered tell them," Benji told Andy, he avoided her eyes by collecting the bowls and cups which was where the old food smell was coming from, he was about to gag.
"You don't need to clean," Andy sat up in her bed, her hair a bird's nest but the sight still made Benji's heart flutter.
He put all the bowls he had collected on her desk, much better. "I know."
"Sit," she patted on the end of her bed, "Please."
Benji's cheeks turned a colour brighter than Freddie Smith's carrot hair. He walked over to her bed and sat on the edge of it, "I couldn't tell them, I couldn't do that to you."
Andy frowned, "Why? I probably deserve it, you hate me now."
Benji shook his head, "I don't hate you, I just don't understand you. Why? Why would you do this? To innocents, to our classmates!"
"Do you remember how my father was always studying Chinese myths?"
"Yeah, but-"
"He was looking for a way to get my mum back and he found one! The miraculous of the Black Cat and Ladybug, when fused they grant a wish, my father was going to wish year my mama had never gotten sick and I'm going to wish for the same thing."
That's crazy! He thought. Colin was mad and Benji is pissed that Cole had corrupted Andy like this. He balled his hands. "You don't need to help, I won't use your identity against you, you can keep being Souris, I won't hurt you."
"But you will hurt my friends?" His voice was colder than he had intended, meaner. "Andy, I'm sorry- I didn't mean it like that."
Andy shook her head, "It's fine Benj. I don't want to hurt anyone you know. But sometimes, my akumas have a mind of their own. I can't always control them. I'm sorry about Tartaruga, Miss Mackenzie didn't think that one through."
Benji bit his lip, something about Andy blaming Miss Mackenzie for her actions as Queens Gamit didn't sit right with him. "I will help."
"You will?"
"Yes but we need rules. The first one being no death, I don't want any blood on my hands."
"Okay, and the second rule?"
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
I'm so excited for the next chapter!
Like, comment and tell me what you thought!
1504 Words
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top