All Because Of A Car

Chapter Eleven: Knock

There's something extremely irritating about an alarm clock.

As much as you want to hate the device and smash it to pieces, a small part of you knows that you can't blame the machine because you're the one that told it to annoy you in the first place.

And that paradox of hatred is exactly why Cinder glares at the wall for an entire two and a half minutes before she sighs and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, reluctantly attempting to wake herself up as quickly as possible.

Of course, she spares a minute for holding her grudge against Garan for leaving with no warning and making her miss her date in the first place, but no more than a minute because something tells her there must have been a reason, there had to have been a reason, there's no way there wasn't a perfectly reasonable explanation.

She's awake and alert by the time she's showered and twisted her hair into a ponytail, not bothering to change outfit because it's comfortable and there's no point in wearing a new outfit only for it to get covered in paint or dust or whatever else Adri's chores entail.

But first, food.

Thankfully, she's had enough practice at being quick to assemble a breakfast before Adri and Pearl come downstairs and demand one. Peony never seems to mind but Cinder knows Adri will complain on behalf of her for the sake of making them both feel guilty.

She's also quickly eaten her own breakfast – a breakfast bar, an apple, and all that's left over from the cinnamon roll Kai had sent her, which admittedly isn't very much at all.

"Oh, well, would you look at that. You've finally managed to do something right," Adri says, the statement acting as a rather strange compliment.

Cinder just shrugs, stifling a laugh when Peony pulls a face from behind her sister and subtly finishes swallowing the cinnamon roll in her mouth.

"Spider!" Pearl yells, jumping up onto the table.

Cinder can't stop her eyes from rolling in exasperation. Why do people assume that yelling and stepping onto furniture will solve their problems? It's not like spiders can't climb at all, they have eight legs and webs at their disposal, for stars' sake.

Nevertheless, she carefully picks the spider up in a tissue and chucks it outside, pretending to be totally okay with a shrieking girl so early in the morning.

"Thanks, Cinder!" Peony chirps happily, a grateful smile blessing her expression.

Adri coughs as if she's had enough of being nice for one day even though she wasn't the one being nice, and loudly chews her piece of toast.

"I thought you said bread in the morning was unhealthy?" Pearl asks.

"For a growing girl like you, it is."

"Common sense, Pearl!" Peony adds, giggling.

Cinder can't help being amused herself but makes sure her laughter is silent as she waits for the three of them to finish eating.

When they do, she washes up as Adri sticks a 'new and improved' list of chores on the fridge door and practically orders the girls to get ready for their dance classes – one thing Cinder's glad she's not allowed to do because the very thought of having to pointlessly move her limbs in such a ridiculous pattern makes her shudder and she can't imagine actually having to do such a thing, especially when there are costumes involved.

"Make sure these are done by the time we get back."

"When are you getting back?" Cinder asks.

"Half seven."

"Half seven?" Cinder echoes, glancing at the clock, which reads 9 am.

Adri just sighs and points to the list before walking out. Peony pokes her head back into the room as soon as her mother has gone and whispers. "We have rehearsals, our classes, a different show each, and then the after-party, which ends up in us going to another party at someone's house."

"Oh... Thanks." Cinder frowns to herself, wondering how someone can tolerate such hassle once every season.

"I'm just hoping he's there..." Peony admits dreamily.

"Who?" Cinder asks.

"I don't know his name, but we all know he's the sweetest, dreamiest dancer ever."

"You have a crush?" Cinder asks, smiling.

"No!" A pause. "Maybe..."

Cinder laughs. "Don't worry, I won't tell if you don't tell."

Peony giggles to herself, then nods solemnly. "Deal."

The two of them salute each other before Cinder rolls her sleeves up and Peony skips up the stairs to get changed for her day of dance-related activities.

"Wash the freezer?" Cinder asks the list as if the paper could somehow be sentient, and goes to inspect said machine, groaning when she sees the layers of ice and what looks like paint at the bottom, "Why would you put paint in a freezer?"

She's just about aware of the others leaving but she pays no attention to it, more focused on trying not to get freezer ice all over her skin. She hears Peony whisper a faint 'good luck' before the door locks and she allows herself to groan, but not for long.

After all, she doesn't want to be stuck in this miserable place for any longer than the weekend and she needs to figure out where Adri's hidden her computer so she knows where to look in the future when such a situation occurs again – something that's sadly very possible.

Cinder finds herself humming, not to the tune of a song or a rhyme or anything like that, but to the sound of what she imagines would make a good testament to her annoyance.

Surprisingly, the freezer takes next to no time, and she's done with it before her hands get too cold to be warmed up by a little bit of hot tap water. It's a good thing Adri had forgotten to turn the boiler off like she does every day, something that annoys Cinder to no end but it's the one thing she can tolerate because she knows old habits die hard.

More than half the list is finished by the time she takes a break for lunch, which logically leaves her with plenty of time to search for her confiscated laptop. Only because she doesn't want to waste time walking to a café for coffee, she makes one with the old, barely used machine they have lying around and makes herself a couple of sandwiches with the pieces of bread that Adri dislikes and doesn't care about her eating.

She's about to start finishing the second half of the list when there's a knock at the door.

Cinder ignores it, figuring that it's a neighbour or something; pretentious neighbours are the last people she wants to deal with – aside from Adri and Pearl, of course. The person knocks twice more, apparently determined to be answered, before there's silence once again.

Shaking her head with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, Cinder starts heading up the stairs, aiming to find the stuff needed from the attic before taking another break to find her laptop.

Her plan works for a bit and she's already started humming the tune to a song that's yet to exist when there's another knock.

This time, it's at the window.

Hope y'all liked it! See you next time... well, you'll read  my fic next time, but same difference <3