~ Breathe ~

{Chapter 9}

Christella looked up at Nora. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No one has ever gotten me a gift before. Thank you so much." Christella smiled brightly at the blue haired woman.

"The phones are already set up, and you won't have to worry about recharging your credit, I've got it all under control. My number is in each of your phones so you can contact me if you need to."

"Thank you so much."

Christella used her sleeve to wipe her tears and she laughed at herself.

"Well go on, turn it on!" Nora smiled. Both Heath and Christella turned their phones on and unlocked it.

Christella laughed. Her home screen had a picture of Nora pulling a funny face.

"This is the best present ever!"

"So, where are we going now?" Heath asked Nora.

"Well, I didn't think you really wanted to go back to your Aunt and Uncle's house did you?"

"What about our things?" Christella asked.

"It's all taken care of, don't worry."

So Nora drove the children down a long twisty road with lots of cars and many traffic lights. Gianna showed Christella how to work the phone and added her phone number into it.

Christella had zoned out most of the car trip, making her oblivious to where they were going. When they arrived, Christella could see it was the only house for ages, and it was quite uniquely shaped.

"Where are we?" Christella asked.

"My house!" Gianna squealed excitedly. "Come on!" Gianna grabbed Christella by the arm and dragged her to the front door. She went to open the door only to find that it was locked, and very sticky.

"Flynn! Gabe! Ugh!" Gianna wiped her hand on her leg. "Flynn and Gabe are twins, and are always causing trouble. Mum? Dad? Can someone just open the door?" Gianna knocked violently. "Hey Heath, my brother, Rob, you might get along with him, he's the same age as you I'm pretty sure."

"Cool. You seem to have a huge family." Heath commented.

"You don't even know the struggles. Now, could someone open this door before I kick it down?"

After finally being let into the house, the children all went upstairs. Christella and Heath introduced themselves to the Wilone family and the Wilone's definitely made the two feel welcome.

"Pryce you say? Were your parent's names Jay and Linnea?" Andrew, Gianna's father asked Christella. She nodded.

"Ah, yes. I remember being assigned your parents case when it happened. It was horrible what happened, but I also knew your parents briefly. My eldest sons needed a babysitter one time and Linnea volunteered. Jay ended up tagging along."

Andrew and Heath continued the conversation and Gianna pulled Christella away and toward her room. "Help me get rid of these two!" She yelled, dragging Christella down to the ground.

"What did they do?"

"They put glad wrap behind my door so now, I can't get into my room."

"Come on Gia, it was pretty funny watching you walk into it." A red headed tall twin came from around the corner, his other half right beside him.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Crystal, this is Flynn and Gabe, the daft and brainless." Gianna sighed.

One of the twins bent down low to Christella and offered a hand to get up. "Gabe," he started. 'You can tell us apart by looking closely. I'm the better looking twin." Christella giggled. "Christella." She shook hands with the boy. Flynn still seemed to be teasing Gianna over something, as Christella saw Gianna try to trip her older brother.

"How old are you?" Gabe asked. It surprised Christella at how sudden the question seemed to be.

"You're straightforward with questions aren't you?" Christella chuckled. "Anyway I'm thirteen."

"Thirteen? I would've thought you were older!"

Christella immediately detected the sarcasm that Gabe had implied. "Make fun of my height then, that's fine." Christella laughed. "I'm used to it."

"You don't — actually — get teased about your height do you?" Gianna had heard the conversation and intervened.

"Yeah, I do."

"I'm going to kill Heath."

"No. It's not Heath."

"I'm just going to kill the entirety of Evergreen College then."

"What made you so violent?"

"No one teases or hurts my best friend apart from me."