Accused (Hunted book 2)

Chapter 6

I walked home faster on Thursday because I didn't want to get ambushed again. I had a lot of homework, so I sat down at the dining table and decided to get some of it done.

I had only been doing homework for a few minutes when the doorbell rang and I went to answer it.

The girl from yesterday was standing in front of me, smiling shyly. "Hi."

I went to slam the door in her face. I knew it was rude, but I had just about had it with the whole you-have-a-long-lost-brother thing.

She caught the door. "Please can I talk to you?"

"I don't think I'm supposed to let strangers in the house."

"But I'm not a stranger; I'm a friend of your brother's." She looked up at me innocently.

I caved. "Fine." I opened the door wider and she slipped into the house.

"I'm Flora." She held out her hand for me to shake, so I did.

I gestured for her to sit at the dining table. "Do you want anything? We've got water, or tea, or soft drink..."

Flora's eyes went wide. "Soft drink?"

I nodded. I got the feeling she wanted some soft drink. 

When I got back from the kitchen, Flora was flipping through one of my text books. She took the glass of coca cola and drank greedily until it was half empty.

"What did you want to talk about?" I sat down across from Flora.

She closed the textbook and pushed it back towards me. "Derek. I know you don't like him very much, and sometimes I don't either, but he's a really good guy. He's been looking for his sister for ages, and if you're not her, at least tell him. Having a brother might not sound all that great, and sometimes it's not, but overall I really like my brother."

"What are you trying to say?"

Flora took a sip of her drink. "Please talk to him. If you had a brother, you'd want to know, right? And if you don't, then you can help some random guy find his sister. He's not going to look if he thinks he's already found her."

I smiled thoughtfully. "I'll think about it."

Flora beamed. "Yay!" She finished her drink, then came around to my side of the table and gave me a big hug.

I looked at my textbook and then back at her. "How old are you, Flora?"

"I'm 15. Only just. Why? How old are you?" She looked younger than she was.

"I'm 16. I have been for a while."

Flora nodded. "Cool." She made her way to the door and pushed it open. "I'm gonna go now. I'll see you at school."

It looked like I was going to have to talk to Derek. Oh, goodie.

~

I decided to wait until after school the next day to talk to Derek. There was no way I was his sister, but like Flora had said, maybe I could help him find her.

I saw him leaving school grounds with a bunch of his friends and ran to catch up to him. "Derek! Wait up!"

He turned around, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He grinned.

"Um, so I was talking to Flora and I know I'm not your sister, but I'd really like to help you find her. I don't really know why you think she's me, but I can assure you, she's not."