C h a p t e r : 3

Tyrone

Faye Foreigner

--

I leaned my head against my propped up elbow and scrolled through my text messages.

Lucy: Where are you?
Lucy: You're never late.
Lucy: Wait Ken told me what just happened. You okay?

I sent her a text telling her I was fine, and that I would be back at school by Monday.

I had done as Jen ordered and emailed my teachers, who sent me an email back wishing me better and telling me what I'd be missing Thursday and Friday.

After I made sure I read through the emails I received back, I closed my mail app and went to my bathroom. I turned the faucet of the shower on and waited for the water to turn warm.

I stepped under the water and ran my fingers through my tangled hair, sighing softly when it fell against my skin.

My arm especially felt the affects of the warm water. At first, it set off a slight stinging sensation. But after that it felt like bliss. Puss and other fragments of the infection washed off, leaving bumps on my arms, but not disgusting and irritated. My skin wasn't flaming red either, instead it turned a shade of soft pink. The water helped with relief, meaning to me that I need to put some cream on it. The dryness of my skin obviously hasn't been helping.

After showering, I applied the medicated ointment and some cream, then carefully pulled on a sweatshirt and blue striped pajama bottoms. Leaving my wet, blonde hair down, I went to the bigger room and curled up on the couch.

Bringing my knees to my chest, I went through Netflix. Options of what to watch were limited, since my taste right now was something action-packed and violent.

Oh, boy did I have some serious problems.

I wished they had the Lion King on here, seeing as that movie was my absolute favorite. It's sequels, too, were my favorites. I used to own the movies, once upon a time, but one day they disappeared. I suspect Kevin stole them for his daughter, Zoey, but I never asked him if he did.

They had one of the Fast & Furious movies, so I went with watching that, hopefully it will crave my action craving.

Halfway through the movie, I heard the door upstairs open. I lifted the remote and paused the movie, listening to footsteps go down the stairs.

Only moments later, I saw Jennifer step off the last one with a plate in her hands with pizza on it.

"I come with a peace offering," she announced, holding the plate out as she walked closer to me.

I managed a lazy smile as I held my hand out towards her with an expectant look. "Oh?" I murmur, raising my eyebrows. "Great. Hand it over."

Jen snorted and handed me the plate, then plopped down next to me. "I knew food would do it."

"Kiss my ass," I retorted, picking the slice up and nibbling on the end of it. Yummy.

Jen snorted and shook her head, seeming amused by my statement. "I'll pass, but thanks anyway," she snickered.

"Mm." I glanced at her and then suddenly remembered the hushed conversation she started with Jordan after I stormed off.

I chew the bit of pizza in my mouth currently and then swallow it, placing the plate in the middle of my lap. I looked at my cousin, who was staring down at her phone while playing with her red hair.

"Jen?" I asked, tilting my head to the side questioningly, making her look up from her phone screen and at me.

"What's up?" she hummed, shutting her phone off and cocking her head at me with a curious smile.

"What were you talking to Jordan about when I left the kitchen?"

Her face changed from lazy and smiley to cautious and shut off in a matter of seconds, her lips parting slightly. "Oh.."

I frowned at her sudden attitude change and leaned my hand forward, putting it on her shoulder. "Jen, I didn't hear any of it if that's what your worried about."

Upon hearing my words, her eyes filled with a sinking relief. That only caused deeper concern and higher curiosity on my end, but I was stuck between minding my own business and snooping around.

The latter of them won me over quite quickly. "Was it .. Something bad?" I asked hesitantly. "Like .. Are you okay..?"

Jen laughed a little breathlessly and she ran her hand through her red hair, shaking her head. "Yes, I'm fine," she told me, nodding. I believed her, strangely enough, based on the look she had on her face.

I nodded at her and wiped my hands on the arm of the couch, not feeling bad for it at all. It was my couch, wasn't it?

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked her curiously, tilting my head to the side.

"Oh, it wasn't really anything important," Jen told me, smiling. "Just asked her about college, when she was going back, that kind of thing."

I twirled a strand of my blonde hair around my finger and studied Jen, nodding slowly. "Right," I murmured, tugging the strand before releasing it and setting my hand in my lap.

I then looked back up at her, studying her carefully again. Nothing she did or said seemed off, but there was something inside me that wasn't completely satisfied with her answer. Instead of prodding at my cousin, however, I looked back down and picked up my pizza and took a bite.

"This is good," I mumbled between bites, smiling at Jen again to lighten the mood. "Seriously. My tastebuds are literally singing right now."

"Your tastebuds sing whenever you eat," Jen pointed out, moving some strands of red hair behind her ears. "Actually, when you were a toddler, you didn't like food. Hated it."

I choked on some of my pizza and jerked my head towards her, eyes widening. "What?"

Jen laughed when she saw the shocked expression on my face, shaking her head with a grin. "I swear to God, I'm not kidding."

"That's blasphemy," I retorted, shaking my head rapidly, still thinking she was fooling with me. "I refuse to believe it. I have never hated food, and I never will. End of story."

She snickered, throwing her arm around me and tugging me close. I leaned into her and put my head on her shoulder. "I'm trying to be mad at you," I mumbled, pouting slightly. "But it's hard when you offer me food and laughter."

"Plus, let's be honest there, who can stay mad at me?" Jen asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

"You're so full of yourself."

"I am not."

"You are. You basically just admitted it to yourself."

"Oh my lord."

We both bursted out laughing, leaning over and wiping at the tears in our eyes from the laughter that we were experiencing.

We wiped at our years until they were completely gone and grinned at each other, smiling.

"Okay, I'm gonna let you finish eating," Jen announced, getting to her feet and patting my shoulder. "Promise to behave yourself?"

"I could tell you I'll behave myself, but I wouldn't be promising anything."

"Fantastic!"

After she left, I finished the pizza and then continued watching my movie. I turned my body so I was laying on the couch, moving one of the pillows to the armrest and tucking my head comfortably on top of it.

Snuggled into my blanket, I watched my movie. Even though I wanted to finish the damn thing, my eyes were forcibly starting to close.

I felt a soft weight appear on my hip, some movement, then the weight settled and grew still where it was.

"Merow!"

My eyes jumped open again at the sudden noise, and a smile pulled my lips at it. The first thing I saw was his eyes. They were a light yellow, piercing and filled with demand, narrowed to judgmental slits as he stared me down. His thick, bushy, silver tail began flicking back and forth when he finally realized he had gotten my attention.

"Merow," he said again, flicking an ear at me. I shuffled around and sat my back up against the armrest, opening my arms.

Tyrone's a fluffy silver tabby tom-cat we found abandoned on the side of the road. He's a purebred Himalayan with thick, smooth, neat fur that he constantly keeps clean. He has a collar somewhere under all the fur, I'm sure of it because I put it on him.

He stood up, purred with approval and kneaded the blanket with his paws as he took his merry time making his way towards me. Jerk.

My arms began hurting, so I was thankful when he eventually got close enough that I could wrap my arms around the large cat and pull him to me. He didn't protest, instead his purring grew louder. I felt the vibrations of the sound and chuckled softly, scratching the back of his ears. "Where've you been?"

"Meow," he replied, rubbing his cheek against my jawline and cheek, just continuing to purr like the happy bastard he was.

"Some answer," I mutter, stroking his long tail and rolling my eyes. He flicked his tail out of my hand and instead moved around in my arms until he managed to get into a position on his back. He lifted his paws and swatted at some loose strands of my blonde hair, meowing again.

"Stop being cute," I commanded, but he didn't listen. He stared at me with those yellow eyes and stretched out lazily in my arms, his front paws resting against the back of the couch. "Why don't you listen to me?"

"Merow."

"Don't merow me, mister. Answer the question."

"Merow."

"Asshole."

--

At some point, Tyrone had snuggled against my neck like a scarf and I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, I felt a little out of it but at the same time I felt highly energized.

I moved up into a sitting position with a yawn, disturbing the ever comfortable Tyrone. He yowled with surprise as he stumbled from my neck into my lap, his eyes piercing me with a glare.

"Sorry, buddy," I murmured, reaching out to give him an apologetic scratch behind the ears. Instead of letting me do so, he gave me a contemptuous meow and leaped off my lap. I watched as he stalked into my bedroom with his bushy tail held in the air as if he were better than me.

"Well then." I ran my fingers through my silky hair and threw the blanket off of my body. I got to my feet and placed my hands on my lower back, bending backwards a few inches in a much needed stretch.

I yawned again and shook my head of all grogginess, walking towards the stairs and then making my way upstairs.

I padded to the kitchen, often seeing the sunset out of some of the windows. I stopped for a brief moment by one of them and furrowed my eyebrows, secretly wondering how long I had slept.

I arrived in the kitchen a few moments later, greeted by Jordan and Jen instantly. Jen was sitting atop a stool by the island, legs crossed over one another. She turned the stool so she was facing me and leaned her back against the island. A magazine was in her lap, only opened to the first page to show that she hadn't yet gotten to reading much of it.

"Look who's finally awake," Jen said, smiling cheerfully at me when I walked in. "We went to check on you two hours ago, but you were out like a light," she explained as she patted the stool next to her.

I join her by the island as I watch Jordan stir something greenish in a glass with her back to me. "Yeah," she said without turning around, but she sounded cheeky and playful, "it seemed the master of sleep got you under his spell."

"Tyrone's an ass," I replied bluntly. Jordan snickered and turned around with the glass. "I do suppose he does bring me good sleep, though, so I'll give him that. What's that?" I demanded with disgust, pointing to the green liquid in the glass.

Jordan smirked and set the glass down, sliding it in front of me. "Your dinner."

"Um, excuse me?" I cringed away from it when the scent of it hit my nose. I wanted to gag when I smelt it. It was horrid, so horrid I could not describe how it smelt. "I think not," I added as I covered my nose while eyeing the liquid with distaste. "Sorry, sis, I love you but your cooking is horrid."

"It can't possibly be that bad," Jordan insisted, frowning at me and nudging the glass closer. "I was reading an article about how to make the immune system strong, and it had a recipe for a healthy fruit and veggie smoothie. I did every step and every instruction carefully." She beamed at me.

"Absolutely not." I shook my head and breathed through my mouth, pushing the dark green glass of terror toward her and away from me. "Not happening. No way."

"Jennifer." Jordan pouted at me and took the glass back with a pleading glance at Jen, who was purposely turned away from the island on her stool, reading a magazine. "Help me out, here," she whined.

"I don't think so," she hummed distractedly, licking her thumb and index finger and slowly turning one of the pages in her magazine. "Because Faye has a point. Your cooking is the worst."

Jordan looked exasperated as she turned away from us and turned the glass over the sink. I watched with a twisting knot in my stomach as the dark green sludge slowly slid out, falling into the silver colored metal sink with an ugly sounding splat. Jennifer wrinkled her nose and scrunched her face up next to me, having been paying attention to us enough to have definitely heard the noise.

"That is proof enough as to why I, or anybody else, will not drink it," I pointed out to my older sister, tapping my hands against the counter.

She stopped dumping and turned the glass back up. Whatever green liquid was left inside of it slid down to the bottom of the once clear surface. "Oh please. It can't be that terrible."

"Have you tasted it yourself?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow at her and smiling. "Because if you do, and it tastes good, I promise I'll drink whatever's left."

Jordan stared at me, her eyes squinting. She hesitated, then brought the glass towards her. "Alright," she relented, though she seemed to dislike the idea of drinking it herself.

Jordan looked away from her magazine and turned back to the island, tossing it on the countertop with a grin. "Why do you seem so unsure, Jordan? You insist very often that you cook quite well," she said, leaning forward with her elbows on the counter and her hands on both cheeks. "If this is true, then you must not be afraid to prove it."

God was Jennifer amazing. She had immediately stopped what she was doing and decided to mess with Jordan, which was our favorite past time. In our family, we loved to mess with one another for the fun of it, but we never crossed the invisible lines that all of us had, and we took each other seriously when it required. Such as these last few hours, and the situation at school.

Jordan glared at her. "I'm not afraid to do anything," she stated, bringing the glass up to her face. I watched her, deciding not to try and lay my amusement on the low. She then physically shuddered when she brought it close to her nose, trying her best to cover it by moving closer to us. Jen and I exchanged a glance, both of us amused.

She dipped her head back and nudged the glass, encouraging the liquid to slid down the side towards her awaiting mouth.

I watched the smoothie dribble into her mouth. She was about to pull the class back but I reached over the counter and pushed the glass more towards her, causing more of the dark green sludge to escape into her mouth. "That's right. One little dribble isn't going to give much taste, get just enough."

Her body heaved and she jerked back from the glass, violently turning to the sink and spitting all of it up. She turned the water on and placed her mouth under the cold water. She gurgled water three different times before she managed to get the taste out of her mouth.

"How'd it taste?" Jennifer chirped when Jordan switched the water off and snatched a paper towel off the rack, her voice cheerful.

"Okay, so it was disgusting," Jordan admitted, throwing the paper towel in the trash bin and then placing the glass in the sink. "But that doesn't prove that my cooking is completely horrible."

Jennifer stood up from her stool and walked over to the counter where my sister's iPad was resting next to the blender. She turned it on and looked at the recipe. "Jordan, the smoothie is supposed to be orange-colored, which says a lot about your cooking."

Jordan huffed, smacking her lips distastefully as though she could still taste the smoothie that had gone wrong at her hands. "Okay, I get it." She pouts.

I walked around the counter and patted my sister on her shoulder. "It's okay. We still love you."

She swiped my hand away, rolling her eyes, but she didn't look to bothered by the fact that she was a terrible cook.

"Are you hungry for real food?" Jen asked, smiling at me and tapping her nails against the edge of the sink.

I shook my head. "No, I'm good for now, but thank you," I replied, smiling in slight thanks. "Listen, I'm tired and I think I'm ready to go back to bed."

"Already?" She asked, as Jordan tilted her head in question. They shared a slightly concerned glance, if that's what is appropriate to call it, and then rested their eyes on me again.

"Yeah." I started toward the way I had come. "I've been catching up on lost sleep I guess. School is perfect at taking it from me."

"Wait until you go to college," Jordan said, but she had a sympathetic smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Sleep well, kid."

I nodded and made my way back downstairs, freshly drowsy. I awoke with a bit of energy and just like that it had vanished again, which made me super glad and grateful that my cousin and sister both decided it was best for me to take a couple of days off. I was hoping that by the time I returned to school, I would be feeling refreshed and better.

I shuffled through the basement and into my bedroom, where my large bed beckoned me the second I laid eyes on it. Tyrone was crouched at the head of my pillows, his eyes watching my movement with undeniable judgement. I glared at him as I stood next to my bed and then pulled the covers back, wriggling under them.

I closed my eyes, and seconds later I felt whiskers brush my cheeks along with a soft nose. I opened my eyes again and looked up to see the fluffy cat blink down at me, meowing. "What?" I asked.

Tyrone's loud purring began, comforting me and creating a sweet lullaby. His body brushed under my arm, forcing it up onto his back silvery back as he lay next to me and purred me into a dreamless sleep.

--

A/N: Lucy above.

Apologies for the late update of this; it's been on my list to continue, but I sort of forgot about it in between the chaos that is my life. Hope you enjoyed xx