Chapter 7

It was just like a movie. Uno, the dashing heroine from the story, was bravely holding on to the chandelier when its cords snapped. I could do nothing but watch as her laughter turned to screaming. Like all movies, however, the protagonist couldn't die. The fans would get mad. The audience would get sad. Such was the faith of Uno as she fell on the oversized cream sofa instead of the floor.

"Owww." She groaned. The chandelier was on top of her. I dashed to her side and assessed the damages. Some of the crystals were broken, but didn't pierce her skin. She was lucky she didn't die. She was lucky that I was used to giving Carter piggy back rides in high school. Don't ask. We were weird that way. But those piggy back rides made me stronger, though I was on the skinny side.

"We need to get this off you," I said. She listened to me whilst pinned underneath. She had no choice. "I'll try to lift while you wiggle your way out. That good?" She nodded. "One, two. Unggh!" Uno rolled off the sofa as I hoisted one side of the chandelier. My muscles screamed due to the heavy weight. I let it drop on the sofa when I was sure that she was safe.

I turned to my companion wearily. "That was absolutely awesome!" she yelled. Really?! That was her reaction to almost dying? She waved her hands in the air, unintentionally dusting the smaller pieces of broken glass from her. The nicks and cuts on her arms called my attention. I couldn't care less if she told me earlier that I should mind my own business. I grabbed her hand without a second thought and dragged her to the kitchen.

"What were you doing?" I said, opening the faucet. Water ran down her arms. She was silent as I squeezed soap from the dispenser and gently lathered her skin with it. "You could have died. If mom was here, she'd seriously get pissed." I washed the soap away. She didn't flinch though it must have stung.

"Thank you Riri."

"So you're back to calling me by my name again, huh?" I took some tissue next to the sink and patted her arm dry. A little harder than I should. "Thought I was Strawberries from now on." I let go of her, crossing my arms in front of my chest to prove a point.

"Was I rude to you?" she asked with a frown.

"You were a jerk."

"I didn't mean to," she murmured. "It wasn't my fault." She planted a quick kiss on my cheek before I could move away. For a split-second, I forgot that I was mad at her.

I couldn't sleep a wink that night. I tossed and turned, only to give up sometime at dawn. Why did Uno act that way? Why would she go from hot to cold, to hot again? I jumped out of the bed. It was still dark outside as I stared out my room's glass wall. There was a sliding door on the side. Probably not a good idea to use at the moment since I wasn't familiar with the grounds yet. I sighed. Something was nagging me more than Uno's hot and cold treatment, keeping me awake. I touched my cheek. Oh boy. What was wrong with me?

By six o'clock the next morning, I was already making my way to the kitchen. Uno said the breakfast had to be served at seven. Sleep deprived as I was, my determination to show her that being my guardian wasn't a mistake took higher priority. Do your best in everything Riri, my mom's voice echoed in my mind. She'd tell me that every chance she got, as if to prove her ancestors right for passing the surname to her.

Well if I was to stay in this house for a while and live with Ms. Lukewarm, a great nickname by the way for being hot and cold, might as well do a good job at it. And so I went to the kitchen with the purpose of whipping up the best breakfast she ever tasted. The pantry, which was accessed via another door inside the kitchen, was bigger than I thought. It was the size of a mini convenience store. Who did all the shopping for her before I got here? Mom maybe.

Uno was on time. At seven on the dot, she sat on the bar stool by the kitchen island. "Here you go," I said with a small smile as I placed a plateful of waffles, bread, bacon, and egg in front of her. Not very original. I saw the nicks and cuts on her arms when she took a fork. She looked strangely refreshed though. Her hair was wet and she was relaxed for someone who slept at midnight. Lucky her. "Coffee or milk?" I asked.

"I never drink milk," she stated.

"You know what's funny?" I poured her a cup of steaming coffee. "The fridge is half-filled with it."

She chewed her waffle, looking uninterested. "With what?"

"With milk." I joined her on the table and pushed the coffee in front of her. "If you don't drink milk then why do you have so much of it?"

Her eyebrows twitched. It was the second time I've seen her do that. She was getting irritated again. "None of your business. If you don't pay for it, you have no right to question it," she said. Oh ho-ho. So now we were back to the cold treatment. She really was Ms. Lukewarm.

"Speaking of payments." I dig in with my breakfast. "You don't have to worry about my tuition fee for college. Mom arranged the funds a long time ago, so I only have to pay for my food and stay here." I chewed thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll work as a store keeper."

"No," she disagreed. I waited for her to finish sipping her coffee. "You will only work for one person, me. I told you this before."

"Oh yeah?" I said, poking my bacon. "What kind of work are we talking about here?"

"You're going to be my manager."

My eyes widened as her words dawned on me. "Your what? Do you know how old I am?"

"Seventeen. Irrelevant question." She poured maple syrup on her waffle. "You're old enough to think. You can walk and talk. Sounds perfect to me."

"I don't have any experience on that field. Do you want your career to end?" Was she crazy? She couldn't just let me handle her career. I didn't know the first thing about it though mom was her manager. "And college is a few weeks away. Assuming I was really your manager, though that's impossible of course," I said before she had any ideas. "How am I suppose to balance both?"

"Your problem not mine." She pointed her fork to me in a non-threatening way. "School can't be that hard. I took my masters degree when I was around your age."

"With what, how to annoy people?" I said sarcastically. It was unexpected of her though. Insider scoop never revealed that. Guess those magazines and interviews were not as exclusive as they said.

"You don't have to know." She resumed eating her breakfast.

"Why do you do this to me?" I blurted. "Why do you turn from a kindhearted person to the biggest jerk ever? Are you bipolar by some chance?"

People my age would use the term quite loosely. Whenever a girl would get her period and she wasn't in the mood, a friend would say, "You're bipolar." But I knew that it ran more serious than having periods and not being in the mood. Our next-door neighbor was diagnosed with it and she really was having problems controlling her mood. If Uno was suffering from it, at least I'd know and prevent myself from holding anything against her.

She snorted. "If only." A dark look crossed her face. "I'm not crazy, Strawberries."

"Who says you are?"

"You implied it." Her voice got harder.

I shrugged. "Okay, let's pretend I did. It's nothing to be ashamed of. And from the way you were swinging and singing on the chandelier last night, you'd have to at least admit that you're weird."

She lowered her fork slowly. "That never happened." Denial was all over her tone.

"Uhh, yeah it did." I gestured to her arms. "How do you think those cuts appeared? It didn't just get there by magic. Accio arm wounds bitches." I rolled my eyes. We've known each other for days, yet she has managed to unnerve me. I couldn't allow anyone to continue doing that. Not by her. Not by anyone.

She glanced at her cuts like she was noticing it for the first time. Uno covered it with her black long sleeves. Her chair scraped the floor when she stood. "I've cut myself accidentally. You don't have to concern yourself with it," she said.

I left my own seat to follow her as she walked briskly on the hallway. "You haven't finished your breakfast yet, and we have to talk about the whole manager thing," I said.

She entered a room, slamming the door on my face. Great! She blocked me. The more I talked to her, the higher her weirdness factor went. It was like I didn't know her at all. The dinner. The hug. I touched my cheek. It was a side of her that I couldn't understand. And now she wanted me to be her manager. A seventeen year old. Me, Riri Chance. She has officially lost it.

I didn't have much of an appetite after that. Still, I went to the kitchen to clean the mess we've left. Tsk! It was a waste of food. I glanced at her half-filled plate. She has barely eaten. Going back to my room presented a new problem altogether. I've forgotten that I didn't have any clothes with me. There were toiletries in the bathroom but aside from my faded jeans, cuffed boots, and top, I had nothing to use.

I debated whether to ask Uno for permission to go out or not. Remembering about the facial recognition system, I dragged myself in front of the room she entered and knocked hesitantly. "Uno?" I called loudly. "I need to talk to you." My knocking got harder when she didn't open the door. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but this is important." I waited patiently for her. Sigh. She didn't want to talk to me. "Listen, I need to go out for a while and I was wondering what to do with the gate."

The door swung open. I was ready to talk to her but she snapped a picture of me on her phone before I could say anything, and slammed the door again. "Your face is in the system now," came her muffled voice from inside. "Stop harassing me."

"Harassing?!" I said indignantly. I thought better about it and said, “Fine."