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The Bolling House
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Kathryn
(last edited Jun 14, 2012 05:15PM)
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Jun 08, 2012 01:43PM
Josh and Kia's house, they just moved here, and their parents fix up old houses. So this one is on the outskirts of town, and is the jackpot their parents were looking for. They got paid by the owners and real estate company to fix the house up and sell it for the properties worth. Its a huge gamble, but really anything can do for it would be better than what its already like:
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Josh and Kia turned into the driveway, and both cringed at the sight of the house. "I'll never get used to that." Josh said. "Why did they have to get this one?" He wondered."I have no idea." Kia said, walking up to the door. She cautiously opened it, and there was a loud CRACK!!! as the hinges ripped off the wood and fell off in her hand. She cringed, and Josh helped her move it to the side. "Mom!" She yelled into the house. "Add the door to the To Do list!"
Lou quickly covered her mouth to hold back laughter. She loved this house! Everything about it pleased her! She looked down to the glass shard still sticking out of her hand, and wrinkled her nose. Ugh, she may have to go home to get a linen cloth for a bandaid after all. She'd better go quickly, so she spun on her heel to turn around, accidentally doing so on a plastic bag. Dang it, why couldn't she be silent?! Was the bag going to injure her too?!
Josh wrinkled his nose as he stepped inside the house. Their parents were already tearing the place apart, and nothing worked in the house. "Oh, hey you two!" His mother called. "Supper's almost ready. The sink upstairs doesn't work, just so you know, so your going to have to use the downstairs bathroom.Kia looked at Josh, and they both resisted the urge to hurl. The downstiars bathroom was the worst in the house. It was dark, stinky, and covered in who-knows-what. I'm going to die, Kia mouthed at her brother, and he nodded.
Louisa was nauseous looking at the inside of the house. How could they tear up something as beautiful as that? She bet they were going to bring in new appliances too! Ugh, the very thought disgusted her! Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "No no." she said, emerging from her hiding place. She strode up to the house, calling, "Stop!"
Kia and Josh spun around. "Lou?" Josh asked, seeing her run up. What was she doing here?
Louisa ignored Josh, poking her head past the doorframe. "What's going on, there's nothing wrong with the house!" she demanded, her eyes switching from person to person, "Why tear it up if there's nothing wrong with it? Why not just leave it alone, it's fine as it is!"
"Um..who are you?" Josh's mother asked, coming out to the kitchen."Mom, this is Lou." Josh said quickly before turning to her. "What's wrong with the house? Have you seen this place? Its falling apart!"
"So?" Lou asked, looking at Josh again with wide, unblinking eyes.
"The roof leaks, even when there's no rain, the door just came off the hinges, the floor and walls are rotting and collapsing in on itsself, the stairs are about to give, and the lists goes on and on. Its not fine, its a mess." Kia said, irritated. Who would want to leave this place as it is? That is, unless you were going to run away as fast as you could.
"Then don't live here!" Louisa exclaimed angrily. "Why come live some place beautiful if you're just going to wreck it! There are plenty of other houses in this town!" Why come to a place so amazing if you were only going to change everything about it? Was this how everyone out north operated?
"Jim and I are fix up places like this." Josh and Kia's mother explained. "We're being paid by the owners, and the real estate company to fix this house up, and then sell it for its value. We're going to try and keep most of the original house, but its going to be a struggle." Her voice was calm, and Josh and Kia just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It was just another old house that they had to live in, try not to get attached to, and then leave for another one.
"It's fine as it is, leave it be! Forget the d*** real estate, this place should be left alone!" Lou was almost yelling now, waving her hands everywhere as she spoke. "Let it live its life, don't gut it like a fish!"
"Are you crazy? This place is a saftey hazard for everyone. We're endangering our lives right now by standing here." Kia said, and just as she said it, one of the overhead lights, which was hanging by a string, broke off and fell, almost landing on Josh's head. He jumped back just in time for it to miss his head and smash on the ground. Josh sighed. "I'll get the broom."
"I've been in a mental ward before, so somebody might agree with you that I'm a little crazy." Lou said, her face completely serious, even as she wiggled her brows. "And that's not the point, the point is that you can't just move here and begin 'fixing' everything! Things here don't get fixed, they live, they die!"
"Well, if you can get in touch with our employers, you can talk to them about what we're doing. Until then, I"m going to have to ask you to leave." Their mother said, ushering her out of the door. "We don't ask to many questions, we just do the job."
"Bull****! Ugh, get your hands off of me!" Lou yelled, jerking away. She folded her arms, glaring at Josh. "I thought you were different, you know?" she said curtly, before stomping down the walkway. "I guess not! They do the same s*** up in Pennsylvania..."
"And you know, I thought you were different too." Josh replied evenly. " I thought you just made up those stereotypes for an image, but I guess those are wrong too."
Louisa stopped in her tracks, spinning around to face Josh. "What did you say?" she hissed, taking a few steps forward and putting her hand by her ear. "I, I didn't quite catch that fully. It sounded like you just called me a stereotype."
Josh folded his arms, narrowing his eyes at her as Kia and his mother retreated to the saftey of the next room."You just fufilled your own stereotype that you told me earlier."
"Oh?" Lou replied, narrowing her eyes. "And what would that be, exactly?"
"Snotty, rude, self-important, aggressive, rough, and blunt." He said, recalling everything she'd told him earlier. "Remember? That's exactly what you told me, then said it was just an image. But I guess that was a lie too."
Lou's eyes watered, but she quickly blinked it away, clenching her fists at her sides. Lou opened her mouth to spit back the meanest, nastiest, most hurtful words she could muster, but she bit her tongue. Her eyes yanked themselves away from Josh. "I hope you enjoy your new house, Josh." she said with a nod, wiping her bloodied hand on her jacket. "Welcome to Anderson." She turned back around, and began walking down the driveway again.
Josh watched her go, resisting the urge to hit something. As he watched her go, his anger turned to dread. What would she do now? She probably had the power, as did anyone else in the town, to spread bad gossip about them now. They lived in a run-down house, they were mean, they were freaks from up north. "Brilliant, Josh. Just brilliant." He said, leaning his head back. "You just asked for your own funeral."
(( She's at her house, so, yeah. ))
((Okay...so now what do we do? It'll be a really awkward next conversation , if they're both mad at eachother.))
(( Should they run into each other somewhere? ))
((Hm...maybe...that'd be awkward...*evil smile*))
(( Cool then, where to? ))
((South Creek? Its out of town, so the could be walking, and bump into each other.))
(( Cool! Cool cool cool, let's do it! ))
"Mhmmm..." Louisa replied sluggishly, her head hanging back. Alright, time to face the gauntlet. She'd faced worse things though, it was pretty hard to embarrass Lou because she had hardly any shame.
Josh carried Lou up to the porch, and gently set her on the old porch ben ch they had there. He glanced up at the porch ceiling, double checking to make sure it wouldn't fall on her, and ran inside to get a towel. He ran it under the leaky faucet, and grabbed the first aid kit that had been promenatly displayed the whole time they'd been there. He hurried back out to where she was, and replaced his shirt with the wet towel against her head.
"Oh!" Freaking cold!" she mumbled in surprise at the change up. She laughed a little, and then fell silent once again, blinking around. How much time had passed? It seemed like each minute went by painstakingly slow.
Josh held it to her head, keeping it there despite her recoil. "It'll help." He said, silently hoping it actually would. She didn't need to stay here any longer than necissary.
"Pain... pain meds, would be nice..." Lou said, stumbling over her words. She pressed her hand against her forehead, her fingers fumbling for the wound. "Ouch..."
"Here, hold the towel." Josh said, moving her hand to hold the towel. "Don't move it, or it'll hurt. I"ll be right back." He said, going back into the house. He went to the med kit, which had been getting a lot of use lately, and pulled out two ibueprofens. He poured Lou a small glass of water, and took the pills and water out to her. "Do you think you can swallow these?" He asked her.
Lou murmured a few sounds that were meant to sound like a "yes" answer, reaching out with a shaky hand. She swallowed the pills, cringing as they went down. "I know you don't want me hear, I can walk home, I'll be fine." she said, looking off with her blinking eyes.
Josh stood over her, watching her as she swallowed the pills "Uh huh." He said, unconvinced. She could barely form a coherant sentence. There was no way she could walk home by herself. At least not in one piece.
Louisa got onto her feet quickly, before squeezing her eyes shut and falling right back again. "Oh... oh... sorry, head rush." she mumbled, shaking her head slowly.
"Drink this." Josh said, handing her the glass of water. "It'll help clear your head. Then you can try standing up." He watched her drink it, trying to determine if she would be okay.
Lou did as she was told for once, drinking down the water. It felt good against her dry throat, and she took a deep breath afterwards. "Thanks," she murmured, sitting upright with a woozy sway.
"If you want to go home, I can walk you there." Josh offered. The water seemed to clear her head, and the color was starting to come back to her face. But she still looked a little out of it.
(( I might have to go soon! ))
((Aww...then I guess I'll see you whenever you get back!))
(( Back for a bit! ))Lou leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She was trying to take deep breaths, trying to stop the world from spinning. "Yeah, just gimme a second..." she said, closing her eyes.
((I think I fell asleep after that...))Josh waited, letting her get situated. "You did lose a lot of blood." He pointed out. "It may be a good idea just to take it easy for a few days."
(( Haha, it's aright! ))She looked up at him with an unappreciative, sarcastic kind of "Wow, really?" look, before it softened a little. She shouldn't be snappy at him, he may have... well, who knows, he may have saved her life. "Yeah, probably." she murmured back finally, before slowly getting back onto her feet. She swayed a little, her dizzy head threatening to knock her out. No, it was very hard to embarrass Lou, but one thing that did embarrass her was when she couldn't handle things on her own.
Josh nodded, and stood, watching her get adjusted. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked. She still looked a little woozy, but Josh wasn't sure he should help her anymore, in case she snapped at him.
"I'll be fine." she said, though she really shouldn't have been moving around. It was a long walk for a girl with a possible concussion, and Lou wasn't sure how far she could get without vomiting. Hopefully out of sight from Josh... Suddenly each step seemed impossible, and her head was still throbbing.Another thing, she looked down and was still wearing Josh's jacket. Out of automatic reaction she handed it to him, but quickly realized once again that she was, after all, in soaking wet undergarments. Uh oh...
