A secret lever activated, and all his shelves tipped to the side so the CD's could come raining down. I shrieked, and jumped back, wondering why Mrs Marigold and Vanessa looked so resigned, when they should have reacted much the same.

It wasn't normal for a boy to booby-trap his room.

In fact, it was downright weird.

As I continued panting heavily and staring around, Vanessa knelt down and picked up a piece of string. She wiggled it around a little bit, and said it was the tripwire Christian used, to let him know if anyone had been in the room.

"Why?" was all I could ask. What did he want to hide from the rest of the family?

Vanessa shrugged. "He doesn't like people going through his things."

Now that she said that, I was itching to search his room from top to bottom to discover exactly what he was hiding. But Mrs Marigold was looking at me with disapproval from the outside of her son's room, and I realised too late, I was meant to be making an impression here, of being a reliable, straightforward person and not a sly nosyparker.

"Let me tidy this," I said, wanting to get into her good books.

"He'd still know."

I shot Vanessa an annoyed look.

"Thanks, Vanessa."

"Vanessa's right. Christian's very particular about his things, and I'm sure he'd notice straightaway. The best you can do, is go down to your room and wait for your mother. I'm sure she'll be back soon." Mrs Marigold attempted to give me a reassuring smile, but I could tell she was worried by the way her mouth tilted down at the sides. I was beginning to feel like a Grade A asshole, because I was potentially going to upset Christian, and thereby his mother too.

But then, she didn't want me to clean it, so what more could I do?

I heard the front door slamming, so I peaked over the bannister to see if it was anyone I knew. A familiar crown of hair greeted me, and I almost sobbed in relief as I ran down the stairs and flung myself into my mother's arms. It felt good to hug her again, so I continued cuddling into her, breathing her scent.

"Steady on there, Vi. You're choking me."

"It's so so good to see you again."

"Didn't sound like it on the phone."

I stepped away, and playfully punched her shoulder to tell her that joke wasn't appreciated. My mom pretended to rub her joint, before flinging her good hand over my collarbone and guiding me towards a place where we could have more of a chit-chat.

"You were right, mom. Vanessa's lovely. A bit of a smartass though."

"Ah? So she's introduced herself to you? It took three weeks to even get her to utter hello to me."

"Really?"

"Yes really," my mom stopped outside of a polished door, and proceeded to open it with relish. Immediately I knew my mom was proud of her space, and couldn't wait to show off all the ornaments she had inside. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. It felt like I was stepping from a Victorian dollhouse, into an explosion of fluffy cushions and throw-rugs.

My mom had draped fabric everywhere. High, low, you name it.

"It seems like you have the smooth touch," my mom continued, switching on the kettle. "Maybe you can extend your friendship to her brother, and teach him a thing or two about respecting your elders."

"I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, mom," I said, watching her move around her tiny workspace. "I just had a grand tour of the house, and it started and ended with his room."

"Aw, poor you."

I rolled my eyes.

Story of my life.

…..

The next morning, I woke to sun streaming through the half opened curtains and onto our ransacked bed. Mom was still asleep beside me, her mouth gaping open and a familar trickle of drool coating her chin. I shook my head in affection and stretched, noticing my phone was lit up.

I scrolled through my messages, and grinned when I realised I got one from Alex.

Vi. I need to stop texting in my sleep. Makes me look like a douche.

Finally realized ur mistake? :)

Acknowledging it was too early to receive a reply back, I threw my phone on top of the luggage bag and dug out a pair of denim shorts, and a cute top. The weather was having an affect on my mood, and it was time to show it!

Outside Arev did a double-take.

"Miss Violet?"

"Yes?"

"You look...well."

"Thank you, Arev. Why haven't you changed out of your clothes?"

"Busy."

"Well, that sums up everything perfectly, Arev. Have you seen Mrs Marigold? Might as well check in, for my first day of work."

Arev pointed down the corridor, presumably towards the kitchen. I waved him off, and then followed the direction he pointed in, hoping against hope that I would stumble on someone eventually further down the path. That someone turned out to be Vanessa. She didn't look happy to see me, when I finally burst through the door, and returned back to her cereal with a glum look on her face and a discernible sigh.

She lifted up a spoon, and let the congealed mess plop back into her bowl.

"Nobody cooks around here anymore," she complained. "I'm fed up off living on takeaway pizzas."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Nobody's been feeding you except the delivery guy?"

"Hmm-mm."

"So what does your mom eat?"

"She's not here long enough to eat something," Vanessa huffed. "She only stuck around yesterday because you were coming."

"I see." I really did see. The poor kid was suffering in a family of over-acheivers and delinquents. On the one hand was the absentee father and mother, and on the other was the older brother who wouldn't let her (or anyone) come into his room, whenever she felt lonely. No wonder she'd been so excited yesterday. It had kind of been like a special treat for her, to be at home with her mom and go on a "tour."

Feeling sorry for the girl, I pulled open the fridge and tried to see if anything was stacked on the massive shelves.

Nothing.

Such a massive fridge, and there was absolutely nothing in it!

"Mom," I groaned. "Please don't tell me you've been letting these people get takeaways for a month."

Arev came in, and called out for Vanessa to get into the car so he could take her to school. He gave me a fleeting glance as I stood in front of the fridge, my entire chin resting on one of the shelves. He even offered to take me to the supermarket, once he'd finished dropping Vanessa off. I pounced on the oppurtunity at once, knowing I would have to struggle home with bags of shopping otherwise.

Feeling satisfied that at least Vanessa was going to get a home-cooked meal tonight, I wandered out into the hallway and glanced towards the staircase.

A shudder ran through me.

…..

"Bananas."

"Check."

"Apples."

"Double check."

"Milk."

"Semi-skinned, green capped, best before 22nd October?"

Arev looked up from the list, highly confused, and saw the big goofy grin on my face. Realizing I was just messing, he went back to the next item on the list and read it out with sudden clarity, and no embarrassment.

"Tampons?"

"Right give it here. There's no way I would include that in the household shop."

I snatched the list away from Arev's hands and scanned it quickly, to check that indeed I was correct and he was wrong. When I reached the end, and realised he was having a laugh, I looked up just in time to catch a mischeivous look on his face. Feeling I had to win, I looked around the food court and found I was well and truly stumped.

A boy in his school uniform was staring at us.

Skipping my eyes over him, I tried to find something else more suitable, but reckoned I might as well give up and head for the counter. Arev chuckled, and started following me before something obviously caught his eye- and he started running after it.

The boy in his school uniform was no longer there.

I glanced back to see Arev, rounding the corner at high speed and barge into two elderly customers. They verbally abused him until he was out of earshot, and continued talking to each other about the "youth of today." Shaking my head, I continued placing items on the conveyer belt and smiled brightly at the woman behind the till, hoping I didn't look young as I felt.

Outside there was no sign of Arev.

Which pissed me off until I caught a taxi home...

And snuck into Christian's room.

I couldn't help it, okay? Venturing up those stairs was the last thing on my mind, this morning. But seeing that boy in the food court, and Arev chasing after him, got me thinking. All this time I've had people warning me about Christian, and instructing, and lecturing, and I don't even know what he looks like!

I was thinking a male version of Vanessa.

Hey.

Why not?

Wrong.

The first drawer on his beside table, revealed a photo album of Christian from when he was a baby to about a year ago. The bed was unmade, reassuring me no-one had slept in it last night, though the shelves were mysteriously bare. Ignoring the missing CD's, I started flipping through the photobook, watching the progress of a brunette little angel, turn darker haired, and more furious as each photo went by.

The last one, he was positively glowering into the camera.

Black hair. Ice-coloured eyes. Fists clenched discreetly at the side.

Nice.

Downstairs a door slammed, and I instinctively panicked, flipping the album shut and throwing it back into the drawer. I crept towards the door, and placed an ear against it. A girl was giggling.

"Are you sure no-one's home?"

"There's no-one here at this time of day," a deep baritone said, instantly causing me to gasp. I had no idea who the hell just spoke, but I'm pretty sure it would turn out to be someone called Christian Marigold.

"I thought you had a housemaid?" the girl said, airly.

"She doesn't even count as a human being."

My fists clenched involuntarily by my sides.

"Oh?"

"She's been digging her own grave for the past month, without me even doing anything. I'm pretty sure she'll be gone in a week."

"You sound so sexy when you say that, Christian."

"It's a good thing Derek spotted Arev at the mall, and texted me about it. Finally gave me the all clear to come home."

"Don't want to see the family?"

"I think we should stop talking now." Disbelief rose in my throat, as I heard making-out noises really going for it in the downstairs hallway. It also sounded like they were stripping articles of clothing off each other, and by the time they reached his room, both of them would be naked. Suddenly panic punched me in the stomach like a freight train whistling to nowhere. If Christian came up here, and saw a girl he'd never met before in his room, things were going to turn ugly.

There was more giggling.