Cora's look of confusion slowly turned into laughter and she shook her head. She wasn't sure what was going on. These boy's might be trying to murder her or something but at this moment she found them hilarious.
"You guys are nuts! Who put you up to this? Was it my sister? Is there a camera crew around somewhere?" She asked and glanced around a little, finally stopping her laughter. Michael's wide smile slowly dissolved into a frown and he turned to look at Luke who just looked annoyed. "Why is she laughing? I don't get what's funny." Michael said softly. "Why are you laughing?" He asked and looked at her.
"You can't honestly think that I'm going to buy that story. You're my guardian angels? I mean, you have to know how incredibly made up that sounds." Cora said and crossed her arms over her chest. "You'd have to be fucking insane to believe that." She said with a small shrug.
Luke finally cracked a smile at her use of such vulgar language but the frown on Michael's face only deepened. "You shouldn't use that kind of language... And we aren't joking around. This is serious!" He said, his voice slightly raised.
"Look, I don't have time for this and I don't know you guys. Go bug someone else." She said and quickly went inside, locking the door behind her. She slowly walked over and peaked out the window but the two boys were gone. She assumed they'd got the message but when she turned around, she screamed at what she saw.
"You didn't think you were going to get rid of us that easily did you?" Luke asked with a smirk on his face. He and Michael were seated comfortably on the couch, looking up at Cora who was beginning to feel a little faint.
"How did you get in here? The door was locked.." She said and backed up, letting herself fall backwards onto the couch. "I feel like I'm going insane." She said, covering her face with her hands.
"Oh, no, you aren't insane! I'm sorry, we shouldn't have just dropped in on you but you were in danger... Look, I know it sounds crazy but we really are your guardian angels. We can prove it, just wish for something." Michael said and rushed over to crouch down in front of her.
She looked up at him and bit her lip. "O-okay... Uhm, let me think... I wish for a bowl of popcorn." She said and within a second, a bowl full of buttery popcorn was on the table. She stared at the bowl before looking between the two boys. "So.. You really are angels?" She asked and they nodded.
"Yes, we're your guardian angels. Do you really think we would spend this long trying to convince you if we weren't? I'm sure if I was a regular human I'd have better things to do." Luke said followed by a dramatic roll of the eyes. Someone was awful moody.
"I don't know, it's just hard to believe. Good things don't usually happen to me and I just figured you were friends with my sister and this was all some big joke. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. Although you could have tried to ease me into the idea and not just drop a bomb on me." She said with a small laugh. "Anyway, how does this all work? And why did you guys pick me?" She asked.
"We didn't pick you we just got stuck here." Luke said. Cora frowned slightly and turned away from Luke. Some guardian angel, all he did was manage to make her feel even worse.
"Luke! Stop it." Michael hissed at him before turning back to the girl. "We didn't pick you. There's this guy Ashton and he's basically our boss. He's kind of like santa claus, only real, and he knows what goes on in every kid's life. He picks out the ones that need guardian angels and then assigns us to one of them. Most people only get one guardian angel but Luke and I are a package deal, we have been for ages. Anyway, he showed us your file and how awful your sister is to you, and how sad you are sometimes. We were assigned to this little boy named Evan but he got really sick and he passed away recently without.."
"MICHAEL!" Luke shouted, his jaw clenched. He shook his head and got up, walking off to another area of the house.
"Sorry... it was only a couple weeks ago and I think it got to him more than he's like to admit. He's really a nice guy, we both are, but he's just having a hard time lately. He'll warm up to you eventually." Michael said, smiling.
"It's alright, I'm used to guys acting like douche bags... no offense, I know he's your friend and all. But I'm seventeen, I've learned to deal with the pile of crap that is my life, why send me a guardian angel now? I'm sure there are kids that you need you a lot more than I do." She said with a small shrug. Truly she was kind of excited that something good was finally happening to her but somehow it just didn't feel real.
"Hey, I don't make the decisions. I just show up and try to make you happy. Anyway, it's more fun for us to have someone our own age. Playing with barbies isn't exactly my favourite activity." He said with a small laugh.
"Aww man! I was just about to invite you up to my room to play barbies." Cora said sarcastically but Michael's expression soon turned to one of horror. "Relax, I'm kidding."She said and they both laughed a little.
"Maybe we should go find Luke and see if he's alright." Cora suggested after a few moments in silence. They both got up and walked around until they found Luke sitting on Cora's bed, staring down at his hands which were folded in his lap.
"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, slowly walking over and sitting down on the bed next to him.
"I'm fine, I just don't want to be here. This is stupid, we were supposed to go with him, not get stuck with a new assignment.. Again." He said and shook his head. Cora looked up at him and was suddenly feeling very aggravated.
"You don't want to be here? Then go, please. I didn't ask for this and since you've shown up, all you've managed to do is make me feel even worse than I did before. What kind of guardian angels are you?" She said and frowned before returning to the living room.
"Luke... come on. I know it's hard, it's hard for me too but you can't act like this. You can't push everyone away and be a jerk to everyone around you." Michael said, sitting where Cora had been moments before.
"I know but what's the point. In a couple months we'll get switched again anyway. It never works out for us, we never get to stay anywhere. Something will go wrong and when it does, I'd rather have no attachment and not have to live with even more guilt." Luke said and ran a hand through his messy hair.
"What if it does work though? What if this is where we spend the rest of our lives? And anyway, you can't make her feel crappy just because it might not work out. She needs us Luke, you read her file just like I did." Michael reasoned with him and smiled when he saw his friend begin to nod.
"Alright, I'll try to get along with her a little better." He sighed. The two boys made their way down to the living room where Cora was curled up on the couch, pretending to be really busy on her phone. She looked up at them when they approached.
"Come here...please." He added when Michael shot him a look.
"Why?" Cora said but got up anyway and walked over to stand in front of Luke, shooting nervous glances at Michael.
"I'm really sorry." Luke said he pulled her in for a hug. She was quite shocked but it only took a moment for her to hug him back. "I was really harsh and I don't feel that way. It's just going to take some time for me to get used to being with someone else." He mumbled. She pulled away a little so she could look up at him.
"It's okay, you're forgiven."
