The Teddy Swap

1. Teddy Gets Poked

Holly

1. Teddy Gets Poked

Have you ever felt irritated to the point that you want to tear your body parts off?

Well, if you haven't, then you must be the happiest person on earth.

"Holly," sang an annoying voice.

"Go away," I groaned and dug myself deeper in the sheets. I hope this shows that I wasn't a morning person. Why would you want to wake up a non-morning person unless you wanted a death wish?

"Holly, wakey, wakey," he hummed loudly. To make it even worse, he started jumping on the bed and pulling on the sheets. The cool morning air hit my warm body and I screeched like a banshee, my hands flying about to protect myself. My warmth. I held on to my teddy bear, Mrs. Cuddly, tightly.

"Chase, give me back the covers now," I hissed, my sticky eyes narrowed like a cat on the prowl.

His lips pulled into a cheeky grin, "Nope, you have school and all the foetuses like you have to go there."

I think I heard my teeth snap.

Shakily standing up, I gave him my worst death glare whilst making my way to the bathroom not leaving my eyes off of him.

"Be careful of the-"

Smack.

"-door."

My head slammed against the bathroom door and my hands shot to my nose. Chase's annoying laughs filled the room and it bounced off the walls into echos. I closed my eyes to contain my anger and took in deep breaths.

"You will pay for this!" I growled.

"I warned you," he cackled.

"Whatever," I muttered and slammed the door in his face. This is officially a bad morning. When were mornings ever good anyways?

I couldn't help the small smile that pulled at my lips though. Chase was the worst person to hang out with in the morning. How did I end up living with him again?

Right, his mother adopted me. It's been two years since I've moved and so far, it's been the longest one. Usually, I would be moved to another family in days, weeks or even months. This was my seventh family.

Yes, seriously. I went through families like a clean freak went through tissues. It's surprising how I haven't gone crazy yet. In my drawer were seven photos- each of them containing a picture of the family that had adopted me from the age of seven when I left the orphanage. 

They all came and they all disappeared.

This time, it was different.

My smile widened as I thought of Mrs. Benson and her son, Chase. Except for Grandma Lilly, the person who had adopted me before them, they were the most amazing family I could ever ask for. At first, I thought that it was too good to be true and that I would find myself back in the orphanage like all the other times but after a year went by, I realised that the family I now had was a keeper.

It's unfair how the best people on earth end up. Four months after I was welcomed home by the kindest woman ever, she passed away from cancer. I wasn't close to her like Chase but the day I met her, she carved a place into my heart. Chase had been completely devastated and it was one of the rare moments in my life where I wanted to cry for him and his deceased mother.

So, when he got admitted to Stanford University two hours away from home, I called him on Skype every night and bit by bit, he healed. And along with him, I healed too. Healed from the fear that everyone would leave me, that I would always end up alone, that I wasn't worth it. Because it was true. Anyone who heard about my past could neatly conclude that if six families had left me, there must have been a very obvious reason: I. Wasn't. Enough. It took me time to get to terms with it, with the fact that I would never satisfy a family- let alone bring them happiness since I'm the epitome of bad-luck. I've accepted it, now. Chase only saved me from sinking deeper.

We helped each other and in the span of two years, we became closer than ever. He was the closest person in my life and I had never felt so grateful.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Ripping away from depressing thoughts, I groaned as I got out of the shower. Not again, please.

Every single day, whether it was six in the morning or at midnight, my neighbor would put on hard metal rock. Some people just wish to die. From my hands. Others have no notion of the existence of a small device: earphones. I don't know what his problem was and why people won't report him to the police for noise complaint but when I called to report- yes I the good samaritan- the policeman barked that he didn't have time for 'petty things like that.'

Needless to say, I didn't bother to call again.

I got dressed and slammed the door open. Wincing in pain, the music hit me twice as loud. Is he deaf? I could definitely purchase a hearing aid for this music demon even if it meant using two months' worth of pocket money. 

My mind froze when I took in the horrifying scene.

Chase. Was. Poking. Mrs. Cuddly.

"Chase!" I bellowed and he jumped so high that he tripped over air and ended on the floor. If I wasn't so angry, I would have laughed.

His panic-stricken blue eyes shot to me. I snatched the crowbar next to my bed and lifted it up menacingly. Don't ask me why there's a crowbar next to my bed.

"Why were you touching Mrs. Cuddly?" I hissed, advancing on him.

"I- I-" his eyes flickered to my murderous face and before I could reach him, he scrambled up and tumbled out of my room while screaming his head off.

Rolling my eyes, I placed back the crowbar where it belonged while smiling. He always took my facial expressions seriously. I mean, why would I kill him with a crowbar? That's definitely not original. When I made a move to turn back to my dresser, I caught sight of my neighbor's face.

Not creepy at all.

His face was contorted into a smirk and his coffee brown eyes twinkling in amusement. My eyes widened when I realised that he wasn't wearing any shirt. Where did the definition of decency ever go? 

I slapped a hand over my eyes, "Go get dressed!"

"Hello there, pretty face," his words rolled out in a velvety, husky voice and I felt myself turn pink.

"Shut up and turn that music down!" I hissed before pulling my curtains closed and officially shutting him out.

His merry laugh resounded behind the curtains and I felt my face veer to red. He's so annoying.

It wasn't the first time that we exchanged words like that and every single time, my cheeks warmed. All of this because of his goddamn gifted out-of-the-world features. This was so unfair- he didn't deserve those looks. Why couldn't he just refrain himself from spying on others? 

"Holly, breakfast's ready!" Chase called out.

Grumbling to myself, I got dressed and placed a kiss on the furry forehead of Mrs. Cuddly.

"See you tonight!" I called out to her before disappearing downstairs.

Dear Earthlings,

Hello once again! It's incredible that feeling I got when I started writing again. I'm glad I'm back in this community once again and this time with max power. Welcome back to my dreamy world. Be prepared to turn the page :)

~Till next time.