SUNGLASSES

Chapter Six

A/N
I finally updated!! Yay!!!! So sorry I haven't in a while--I started high school this year and my goodness...I have a LOT of homework lol. Thanks for sticking with it though!!! Love you guys!!!

Later that day, when Daniel was taking a shower, I snuck out of the house and went back to my own. Not because I didn't like it there, but because I longed for some time in silence. The moment I walked in, however, I regretted it. Being in Daniel's house made me realize how awful my house smelled: it was of alcohol and a forty-year-old man that never washed himself. I ducked into my room and sprayed some kind of air freshener I found under my bed before collapsing onto it, the cuts and bruises still aching. It was then that I decided to dedicate the rest of the weekend to cleaning the house. I knew it would make me somewhat sad to see the lack of stuff in it, but I also knew that if anyone came to the door, I'd have to be ready to act like I wasn't alone.

I took a quick shower, letting the water run over my wounds; the stinging felt good for some reason. After that, I re-bandaged some of the worst ones, put my clothes back on (the rest of my clothes were gone), and began to clean. I washed the floors and walls with the little bit of soap I found under the kitchen sink, and then grabbed the vacuum from the garage to clean the carpets. By the time I was done with the overall house clean, it was 9:30 p.m.

I gladly went to bed, but was shivering the entire night due to no sheets. I wondered then what it would be like if Daniel were there, if he would come and stay in bed with me, to keep me warm...

"Shut up, Cadence," I whispered to myself, hugging my knees closer to my chest, "He'll never want some washed up weak girl..."

The next day, I woke up easily. I yawned, stretched a bit, and then began to work. My stomach was used to never eating breakfast, so it wouldn't give me any problems for another couple of hours--which meant I was able to start on the one job I was dreading: my uncle's room. I knew there would probably be little of nothing in it, but I had never ventured inside since I had moved in.

When I opened the door, I almost threw up. The smell was ten times worse than the rest of the house, and it looked like whoever robbed us noticed it, too--everything was still in its place. Every shirt, every can of soda, every pizza box, every dead bug...I shivered. The only thing missing was his flat screen TV, which doubled as his most prized possession.

This was definitely going to be harder than I thought.

I used the rest of the Febreze on that room, but it made no difference. Nevertheless, I got on my hands and knees and Cinderella'd that place: cleaned the floors, made the bed, washed the walls, organized the dresser, and did his laundry, which was the worst part. It wasn't just the stench that was awful, it was the stains. Beer stains, food stains, God-knows-what stains. But, eventually, I had cleaned all of his clothes and had them neatly put away. I sighed in relief as I looked at my wonderful work. At least now I could say that he was out on a business trip and there would be no argument.

As I was about to head over to Emma's, a quick realization overcame me: my uncle was not dead. He was merely unconscious, or now conscious but confused. He would be back sometime soon, and he would be so angry that I probably wouldn't make it out of his grasp alive. It was a miracle he wasn't back already. I quickly ran back inside and locked the door, sitting against the wall with my face in my hands.

"What am I going to do?" I asked aloud, knowing I wouldn't be getting any answer from the newly cleaned walls. I was just going to have to sit there and think of a way out of it. I mean, there's no way I could go to Emma's now. Joe could come and mess everything up again, although there wasn't much to mess up anymore.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and I almost jumped out of my skin. He was always one to be on time. "Hello?" I asked nervously, standing up and walking cautiously over to the door. There was no answer. I carefully unlocked the door and opened it slightly, my face peeking out to reveal the front step and the person standing on it.

"Hey, sweetie! Where ya been?"

My uncle's fake loopy grin welcomed me, and I flinched at just the sight of him. His blood was all dried up on his face and on his arms, and he looked like a serial killer.

I forced a small smile. "Joe. Hi."

"Well what are you waiting for?! Let me in, ya old whore!" He laughed heartily, and, despite the fact that I thought him insane, I let him in. He gawked at all of the newly cleaned spaces.

"Woooooow, Cady, you really cleaned this place up. Trying to sell it or something?" He laughed again, running a hand through his hair. I laughed nervously, shutting the door and staying as far away as possible. I tried staying a good distance away from the walls as well, just in case he might surprise attack me and pin me up against one. He walked up the stairs, and I could hear him loudly oohing and aahing at all the new cleanliness. He reached his room, and there was nothing but silence.

"Cady?" He asked suddenly. I looked up the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"...Did you organize my room?"

I stood stiffly against the banister, trying not to give off any sense of fear. "Yes."

More silence. I heard him shuffle around a bit, before going into the bathroom and starting a shower.

God, was that terrifying. I had never seen him so giddy before--it made me worry for when he broke out of it. I decided it was better for me to head over to Emma's now instead of later, and so I grabbed up my things and headed out.

Emma's house was two blocks away, and so I got there in only a few minutes. I rang the bell to her huge house, and a perfect-looking woman appeared.

"Well, hello, Cadence! Are you here to see Emma?"

I nodded swiftly, and the woman brought me inside. The house was filled with all white furniture and all white walls, and I thought about how many stains there would have been had this been my house for a day.

"You know where to find her." Mrs. Willit gave me a warm smile, and I started through the house and up a flight of stairs before I reached a huge white door with a gold E engraved on it.

I knocked lightly on the door. "Emma? It's Cadence."

There was no answer. I opened the door, and saw the most disturbing scene.

"EMMA!" I yelped, shutting the door as quickly as I had opened it. I stared at the ground for a moment, the image still seared into my brain, before turning around and heading down the stairs. Her door opened, and I heard her call after me, but I kept walking.

"Is everything alright, Cadence?" Her mother asked me. She and Mr. Willit were sitting at the kitchen table looking quite concerned.

"Yeah, everything's...peachy."

I stormed through her door and back down the street, trying to process what had happened. It took me a moment, but I finally got it together in one piece:

Daniel Weiss had his d*** in my best friend.