CHAPTER EIGHT
As soon as I pushed open the front door to my house I could practically feel my sarcastic self clawing it's way up my throat. I was always bursting at the seems by the time I got home after being the shy Valentina for a few hours.
"I'm home, mom!" "In the kitchen!" I followed her distant voice after kicking my shoes off into the hallway and dropping my bag somewhere along the way. Swiping up an apple as I reached thekitchen doorway, I leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek as she was leaning over the stove.
"What are you cooking?" A small grin lit up her face while her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration at the pot in front of her. "Chili." I sniffed the air dramatically and made a little moaning sound. "My favorite." Mom smiled and turned to peek at me. "I'm surprised you haven't stripped out of that thing, yet." She eyed my uniform up and down skeptically. She was right. I was normally out of this before I even stepped out of the hallway towards the stairs. I rolled my eyes. "I'm working on it." I was already unbuttoning my blazer and loosening my tie as we spoke. I didn't miss the small glint in her eye as she turned back to her cooking. "We have a Visitor."
I let my eyes rake in his features. I hadn't seen him since his last break, about two months ago. He had a subtle shadow around his chin and his green eyes looked bright and happy. He had cut his hair since the last time I saw him, the brown locks now halfway up his forehead instead of in his eyes all of the time. Before Hunter had to leave for college, we were inseparable. Where one went, the other automatically followed. Hunter was a bit more of an outgoing person than I am around others, but that never bothered our relationship.
After the accident, he was my rock, and I was his. We stuck together to get through the whole ordeal, which only brought us closer than ever before. I rarely get to see him now, since college took up most of his time. So I spent as much time with him as I could when he was off. I grinned up at him and was basically bouncing on my toes. "How long are you here for?" Mom piped in behind us, tearing my eyes away from Hunter and back to her. "He's actually here for a reason. I have a business trip that is going to take me out of state for a week, and he was wanting to come home anyway. So, we planned it all out for this week so that he can watch over you guys while I'm away." My eyes narrowed slightly at that. "I'm seventeen, I can take care of myself."
Hunter laughed from behind me, causing me to turn my scowl on him. "Yeah, but Evan is our biggest worry. Cindy informed me that she wasn't exactly wanting to come back home to a house with Evan buried in the backyard while you're eating chips on the couch."
I couldn't help but scowl slightly at Hunter. He knew I hated it when he called mom Cindy. He just can't seem to wrap his head around the fact that she is our mom now. It's been almost three years, and she has done everything in her power to give us the best she could. She took all three of us in on such short notice and never complained once about it, even when she was dealing with a clueless child and two emotionally worn-down teenagers. She may not have given birth to any of us, but that doesn't change the fact that she had been a mother figure for us since we lost ours. I know he loves her; but he doesn't see her as a mom. More as a guardian. I also know that it secretly kills her every time he said it. She would give anything to just hear him call her mom one time. After everything she's done for not just him, but for all of us, she deserves it. I call her mom because she's worthy of the title; Evan calls her mom because he never had the chance to know our original one. I shook off the thought and glared playfully at Hunter and mom.
"Why do you insist on ruining all of my fun?" My phone ringing interrupted our conversation and I pulled it from my skirt pocket while jumping up onto the counter. I slid the screen without really glancing at the caller ID, already knowing who it would be. "Lyric, you won't believe what just happened!"
