Stole My Heart

Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning and Cheryl was nowhere in sight. Running my hands through my hair, I sat up in the bed. I could hear Cheryl talking to someone downstairs, and I smiled from just hearing her voice. I loved her accent. I crawled out of the bed and grabbed some clothes from my suitcase and headed to the bathroom to get changed. 

“Hey Kimberley!” I walked out of the bathroom to see Gary standing outside his bedroom door. 

“Hey Gary.” I smiled as I walked past him and into Cheryl's room, he followed me like a lost puppy. Gary seemed like a nice kid, but because I knew he had a crush on me, it made things awkward for me. “Do you know where your sister is?” I asked as I ran a brush quickly through my hair. 

“She's downstairs helping mam with breakfast.” He was just standing there, watching me. It was weird and I wished Cheryl was here to tell him to go away. I would do it myself, but I knew Cheryl was very protective of him and I didn't want to upset anyone. 

“Oh, okay.” I threw my brush back into my suitcase and zipped it up. “Are you coming back downstairs then?” I asked as I moved towards the door, stopping at the entrance and turning to face him.

“Yeah, I'm starving.” I walked out the room with him following closely behind me. As soon as we got downstairs and into the kitchen, I ran over to Cheryl, throwing myself at her. 

“I know I'm irresistible Kimba, but I only left you half an hour ago!” She joked as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her. 

“Sorry, I just missed you.” I replied lamely. I didn't think it would be the right time to tell her that her brother had been stalking me upstairs. She pulled out of the hug and took my hand, leading me to the dining table. She sat next to me and Gary sat across from us. 

A few minutes later, Joan placed our breakfast in front of us before sitting down next to Gary with her own. I watched as Cheryl and her mum chatted about school and what was going on in her life, only commenting when Cheryl looked at me, expecting me to say something. 

“For f*ck sake, Gary!” Cheryl suddenly snapped. “Will you please stop staring at Kimba?” I was aware that Gary had been staring at me, but I had done my best to ignore it, hoping that no one picked up on it. Obviously, Cheryl had. 

“Chezza...” I hissed as I hit her arm. I didn't want to be the one that caused arguments or made anyone feel uncomfortable. After all, it was their house, not mine. “It's fine, I didn't even notice it.”

“It's not fine! It's annoying me. I mean, he's two years younger than you. He doesn't stand a chance, and I really don't want him to be perving on my best friend!”

Gary got up from the table and stormed out of the room, back upstairs. I sighed and rolled my eyes at Cheryl. I didn't want things to be like this, and I didn't understand why she was being like this. There was an awkward silence, but Joan finally broke it. 

“Cheryl, go and talk to your brother... now.” She demanded. Cheryl sighed loudly before dragging herself off the chair and storming out of the room.

Joan looked at me as I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Was I meant to follow Cheryl or stay here? I decided to stay, I didn't want to interrupt them. 

“You know, she must really like you.” 

“Hmm?” I lifted my eyes up to look at Joan. 

“I said, she must really like you. Cheryl never fights with Gary.”

“Oh, I'm sorry for causing them to argue.”

“It's not your fault pet, don't worry about it. She's just seems really protective over you.”