Love Struck

CHAPTER 8

Brandi Kobi scrolls through EFace, stalking Angela Felicia's brand new account. Angela is posting non-stop selfies from whatever she does. Brandi's thumb hovers over the dislike icon of a picture of Angela eating pizza.

"Jealousy much?" Carla grins, sitting next to Brandi on the couch in the living room.

Brandi drops her phone on the couch. "Belle just got into my head."

"Did she though? Or did you realize your feelings for him?" Carla replies, taking off her tie. "It happens. You may not realize it, until someone says something to you."

Brandi shrugs. "It is not going to work out though."

"You never know until you try."

"Why am I taking advice from the slut? No offense."

"Getting kicked out made me realize I need to stop sleeping around and actually do something with my life."

"I hear that." Brandi nods, picking her phone back up.

The thirteen-year-old Brandi Kobi slammed her bedroom door in her mother's face. "Stay out of my life, you worthless hag!"

Her mother gently knocked on the door. "Open up, honey." She calmly said.

"Go away." Brandi called back, lying on her bed.

The two had gotten into a fight earlier over the dishes. Her mother told her to do the dishes, but Brandi refused as none of them were hers. Her mother cannot do anything and expected Brandi to do everything.

Her mother barged in anyway. "I work ten hours a day, and all I ask for is a little help around the house."

"You expected me to clean up someone else's mess. Your mess. I put all my dishes in the dishwasher. It isn't that hard."

"You do nothing but sit on your phone all day."

"What do you expect me to do? There is no school anymore and martial law has been declared for anyone under the age of eighteen. If I leave, I can be killed." Brandi reminds her mother, while she scrolls through her phone.

"So, you have plenty of time to clean while I am out." She sighed on the verge of tears.

"Thinking about dad again?" Brandi asked. She knew that's why she always broke down in tears. "He left us."

"Are you ready for your interview, tomorrow? No stripping, dear god, no stripping."

"I will try not to."

Brandi grabs her by her cheeks. She turns Carla's head. "Promise me."

"Okay." She mumbles.

"Say it."

"I promise." Carla mumbles.

Brandi lets go of her plump cheeks. "Good. The interview should only be about ten minutes."

Carla nods. "I will try." She says, looking at her blazer and tie that are on the carpet. "I am so screwed."

The doorbell rings. "Get dressed. Salazar is here."

"Why? You plan on sleeping with him?" Carla grins, putting her blazer back on.

"Business." Brandi says, getting off the couch.

She continues to grin, "Then pleasure, nice."

"No pleasure." Eve says, microwaving a slice of leftover pizza. Brandi always takes home pizza after closing. Some customers are fickle and change their mind after it is made. It irks her to watch all that pizza go to waste.

"I actually thought about sleeping with Salazar and DM'd him, but he turned me down by mailing me his rejection. Loser." She pouts.

"That's the ultimate form of dating disrespect." Eve laughs from the kitchen.

"It's not funny, sis." Carla groans, putting her tie around her neck.

"It kind of is." Brandi chuckles, answering the door.

Salazar stands outside, sporting his white knee-length lab coat. He is handcuffed to a silver briefcase. He looks over his shoulders. "I have the merchandise."

"You are not performing a drug deal." She says giving him permission to enter her residence. "Get in here."

He enters, giving her house a good look. "Meh."

She furrows her brows. "Not to your liking?" She asks, slamming the door shut.

"Hello, Carla." He scoffs.

"Hello, Salazar." She hisses.

"What are the Rainplex sisters doing here?"

"Don't worry about them." Brandi replies. "They are my new roommates."

"Where can we talk?"

"My room." She says, leading the way.

She opens the door. Salazar places the briefcase on her bed. He undoes the handcuffs. He rolls the dials until the briefcase pops open. Inside, is a refurbished Data Accessor. The screen has been repaired.

"What exactly does this thing do?" Salazar Hex intriguingly asks. He picks it up, but Brandi instantly swipes it from him.

"Do not worry about it. Now you can leave my house." She forcefully says, pushing him out of her room.

"Oh come on. I fixed it."

"No questions asked, remember?" She says placing it on her wrist. The metal band clamps around her wrist. She slams and locks her bedroom door. She holds up her index and middle fingers. "Data Stream Sync!" She shouts, sliding her fingers across the screen. The Sliding Data Accessor glows yellow as she feels the change happen. She wears a yellow protective face mask that covers her entire face, a yellow metal armor chest plate, a yellow leather jacket, yellow leather gloves, and yellow metal armor leggings. She is Datainizer: Yellow. She moves her fingers. "Going to have to get used to this suit again. It's been four long years. They will perish."