Copper & Gold [hiatus]

Chapter 3

Saturday Night

I watched the clock tick by, sitting at the kitchen table, I watched the minute hand inching closer and closer to the 12.

I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't turn around. I continued to drum my fingers on the oak table top. A warm hand covered my eyes, blocking out my vision. The familiar smell of Colton's deodarant, filled the air around me.

Instinctively, my hand left the table and hit Colton square in the chest. I heard the air leave his lungs in one quick exhale. His hand left my face, my hand replaced itself on the table top, and my eyes to the clock. My fingers continued to drum as the minute hand scraped past the 10.

Colton took the seat across from me, "What are you doing Tessa? Stop being so nervous, they're gonna be here in 10 minutes. Calm down. Just go help mum in the kitchen."

I rolled my eyes at him, however stood from my seat anyway, and made my way to the kitchen. I looked around for my mother, she was standing by the stove, pouring some sort of brew into a pot.

"Mum, Colton said you needed some help?"

She looked up, met my eyes, then continued with her previous job. "Yes. Could you please dress and toss the salad? Also, tell me dear, does that chicken in the oven look big enough?"

I squatted by the oven and peered inside. The chicken was huge, if I hadn't known better I probably would've mistaken it for a small child.

"Mum the thing is huge. I'm not even sure if that thing is going to get finished."

"Oh honey, if it doesn't we can always eat it tomorrow, or you could throw its between some bread, call it a sandwich and bring it to school for lunch on Monday."

Smiling to myself, I shook my head and turned to the fridge to retrieve the vegetables and dressing. The cool air brushed my face and I shivered a tiny bit.

"Mum where are they salad forks?" I called to my mother from over my shoulder.

"They're in the drawer by the bench." I shuffled through the drawer and upon finding the salad forks, I moved back to the vegetables, drizzled some dressing on top and started tossing away.

//

"So what school are you going to enrol at Carter?" Colton asked, as we dug into our food. The Golds had been in our house for a whole 8 minutes and I was still unsure of, if I should go to my room and grab a jumper, as someone had left the window open and a cool breeze was picking up.

"Umm, I'm not sure. I was thinking I'd just enrol in the local high school. Do you have any reccomendations?" Carter replied, slightly nervous. His eyes flickered to mine for half a second, and I dropped my eyes to the plate sitting in front of me.

I moved my fork over the vegetables and stabbed a carrot, a piece of lettuce, a cucumber, and shoved the fork into my mouth. "No. The local high school is fine. That's where Tessa here goes, and I myself went thre before university. You'll love it there. Do you play any sports?"

My parents and Carter's parents were seated at the other half of the table, having their own conversations. "Yeah." Carter replied, "Vollyball, soccer, basketball and I liked to swim" I blinked, and looked at him in disbelief.

I then spoke for the first time since the Golds walked nto the house. "Wow. That's alot of sports. Our school has teams for all of those, but I don't think you can do all of them, since training overlaps." He nodded at me, and returned to his salad, as did I.

Colton nudged me under the table and somthing buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and saw the text from my brother.

This is going well, isn't it?

I quickly typed back. Swell, how do you suppose we make this less awkward?

I hit send and looked to the gigantic chicken that was now being served by my mother. "Colton, please put your phone away." She requested as she set the chicken down and took her seat.

"Yes mum." he replied, before hitting send and placing it between his chair and thigh. My phone buzzed again and I quickly read it. Ask about his music taste, or movie taste. Anything that could strike up a less awkward conversation.

So that's exactly what I did. "So Carter, what kind of music do you like?" He looked up from his salad. "Mostly stuff like Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, that sort of thing." Colton nugded me again, motioning me to continue the conversation. "Oh me too, what's your favourite by Nirvana?" "Pennyroyal tea." He replied easily.

I blinked in disbelief, yet again. "Really? That's my favourite too. How about album? Which one did you like best?" He thought about it for a minute, I snuck a glance at Colton. He smilled and pointed at the chicken. I rolled my eyes and passed him the plate.

"Probably Bleach." I nodded, "I personally liked Nevermind better." Colton passed me back the chicken, and I took a slice before offering some to Carter. He shook his head. "No thanks, I'm vegetarian." Colton's eyes widened in shock.

"As in like, no meat? Ever?" Carter shook his head amused. "Nope, I haven't eaten a cheeseburger in 3 years." Colton quickly did the math. So you've been a vegetarian since you were 15?" Carter nodded again in amusment.

I smacked Colton lightly on the arm. "Shut up Colton, it's not that fascinating. A lot of people are vegetarian." Another cold breeze came from the window beind me, goosebumps raised on my arms and I shivered slightly.

I pushed my chair back, excusing myself, and quickly moved to the stairs. I took them two at a time. Sifting through my closet quickly I located my superman hoodie. A light knock came from the door, I twisted to see Colton. "Are you okay sis? Mum wanted me to check on you."

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just felt really cold." I stated, holding up my hoodie. He slowly moved into the room, shutting the door behind me. Colton took a seat at the edge of my bed, leaning forward, elbows resting on knees.

"So, what do you think of Carter? I see you two like the same band." I rolled my eyes, slipped into my hoodie and sat on my desk chair, facing Colton. "He's okay. why do you ask?" He rolled his eyes at me. 'Whatever. Come on let's get back downstairs before they get worried."

I followed him out of the room, thinking about what Colton had asked. I mean sure Carter was cute, he had nice eyes, he seemed nice enough and he had a damn good music taste, but I really didn't like him that way.

"Are you okay Tessa?" My mum asked worriedly, waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I smiled at her concern, "Fine mum, I just got really cold." Her features relaxed and she led us back to the table.

When I arrived back at my seat, I was greeted by a very confused looking Carter. "A sweater? You took the stairs two at a time for a sweater?" A disapproving sneer painted his face.

I internally rolled my eyes at him, and replied simply with, "I don't want to catch a cold."

The rest of dinner past uneventfully. Once the Golds had left I washed the dishes and went directly to my room without a word. I peeked through my curtains to see if Carter's light was on.

Sure enough, it was and his curtains were wide open. He looked up and held up a sign reading, "I can see you." I dropped the curtain, rather embarrassed and peeled out of my clothes, replacing them with warm, fluffy, pyjamas.

I looked at the time and then at the calendar. 8:30pm, Saturday. I suddenly felt tired, and for the first time in a long time, I went to sleep early, and dreamlessly.

//

So sorry for the filler chapter
*unedited*