When Life Gives You Lemons

18. All Bets Are Off

It had only been four days, but those fours days had gone by pretty damn fast. I could get used to this, it was comfortable, warm and welcoming – nothing like the hostile environment of the Paramount residence.

Sarah warmed up to me quickly, taking advantage of me as her own doll to dress up. I didn't mind it; I had no siblings, and my parents only babied me until I was a toddler because of the car accident that claimed both their lives.

It was nice to have an actual family again. Will was a huge part of that, too. We slept together, but didn't try anything because the walls weren't exactly sound proof. But it was enough, just to have a warm body to sleep next to, who would pull me in and cuddle me all night.

I was sure Burnum would rather we didn't share a bed, but this place was cramped enough. The twins took the spare bedroom, which had two beds, for when they slept over; Jack and Sarah shared the bedroom across the hall from us, and Burn and Miah had the bedroom beside ours.

I sat on the couch, with books all around me, trying desperately to understand my Applied math homework. Grade nine math was supposed to be easy, but I hadn't taken grade eight, so I knew none of this stuff. I shouldn't even have been in high school.

I listened tentatively to the door being unlocked, curious about who was coming home. After my exiling from Paramount, I was taking no chances because they knew that I knew valuable information that could save our pack and the other packs from getting skinned alive. Ergo: the doors and windows stayed locked.

“Lily, you wouldn't know who Mark Chandler is, would you?” Sarah asked as she walked in, closing the door behind her.

I had to think for a second. “Umm... the name sounds familiar, but I don't know who it is. Why?”

She dropped her heavy bag on the floor. “Because who ever he is, sent me a belated birthday cheque.”

“For how much?”

“Uh, five hundred dollars...” her eyes widened as she began to realize just how much money that was.

“Holy shit, Sarah! That's a lot of money!”

“No shit, it's a lot of money!”

“What if it got sent to the wrong person, and it's not really yours?” I wondered.

She gave me the look like I was an undeniable idiot. “Lily, I highly doubt that there's someone else with my address in Sault Ste Marie, who also has the name Sarah-Jane Maria Smith.”

Wow. I did deserve the look. “Wait, you have two first names?”

“Yah... you didn't know that?”

“Nope.”

She smirked and nodded, tucking the cheque into her pocket. “I'm not sure if I should cash it or not, but whoever sent it, probably meant for me to make good use of it.”

I nodded in agreement. Sarah disappeared down the hall to her room. Shortly after, Jack walked through the door. Surprisingly, the twins weren't around today. They were coming over more and more often.

“Hey, Jack,” I said, staring at a question I didn't understand.

“What's shaking, minor-niner?” he laughed.

“Be nice, Jack.” Sarah snapped as she walked back in.

Like a nervous puppy, he backed off. It was nice to know that Sarah was his weakness. He sauntered over to her and gingerly placed his hands on her hips and kissed her. She draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed him back.