Part of me was dreading the thought of spending my Saturday in a house full of posh snobs but part of me was surprisingly looking forward to it. When Hayley said we were going to visit her posh friends house I was far from excited although I did think that it would be interesting seeing a house that's even bigger than Sunset.
When I said house I meant mansion. In fact they should make up a new word for whatever Andrea lives in. It's bigger than any house I've ever seen. It's so grand. It has an endless amount of windows and the front garden is probably bigger than Buckingham itself! Everything looked so expensive. The house must at least be two hundred years old and one thing I will say is that I wouldn't want to be inside on my own at nighttime. It has a kind of scary atmosphere about it which made me automatically fall in love with the place. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a Hollywood movie. An old mansion with an incredible fountain at the front. As we drove up to the front of the house I could hear gravel underneath the cars wheel. There were trees with branches like witches fingers on either side of the building which helped with the whole scary atmosphere. I was absolutely gob smacked with what was in front of me. It was breath-taking. Everyone got out of the car and strolled casualty towards the fairy tale-like front door. We were let in by some dude in a suit. I couldn't help but stare at him as I passed. To be honest I stared at everyone I saw as I walked in. But what I stared at the most was the house itself. It was ten times more unbelievable inside than it was outside. Every wall was painted perfectly and every floor was spotlessly clean. Grand paintings hung on the walls and amazing plants that I never knew existed were placed in corners of rooms and the floors of every hallway. I thought I was dreaming and that I would wake up any second. But I wasn't dreaming. Everything was real. Hayley and Aaron went into the incredible kitchen where most of the adults were and I followed the rest of the kids into what appeared to be a large living room. Although it was upstairs which amazed me further. I had noticed a living room downstairs as well. There were five kids and a young girl probably in her twenties already in the room. Andrea's kids I immediately assumed, and I was right. There were four boys, a girl and a baby. Everyone said hello to each other except for me considering I didn't know anyone. The first person to come up to me was the older girl, Sapphire.
"Hey, my name's Sapphire. This is Martin, Noah, Tristan, Aiden." She pointed at the baby. "And Lucas."
"Hey, I'm Dougie." I said. She looked at me and smiled. It was strange. She smiled as though my name reminded her of something. As I looked around the room I didn't notice a seventh kid.
"I thought Andrea had seven kids?" I asked Zoey a bit later on.
"She does." Zoey paused. "She did..."
"What do you mean?" I was getting quite interested now.
"Well by what Hayley's told me she had another daughter. What was her name now?" Zoey was trying to think. "It's something unusual..." She was really concentrating now. "Ah! Her name was Ruby. According to Hayley when Ruby was twelve years old she ran away from home."
"Really. Why?" I was getting really interested now.
"Ummm... I don't know. Hayley never told me." She answered.
"Wow. Cool. Hang on did you say Ruby?" I said remembering what I'd just heard.
"Ye." Zoey smiled. "I love the name Ruby." She said randomly.
"Really? My mum's name's Ruby." I smiled.
"Wow, you never said." She answered. She was getting interested now.
"You'd think I would have." I laughed. Zoey laughed back. I love Zoey's laugh, it's just so perfect.
"Lunch is ready." A voice said behind me. I turned around to see Andrea. She was different to what I'd expected. She's an incredibly pretty woman. She's quite short but I have to agree with Alex that she is very kind. I'd actually expected her to be really old but she looked quite young. She's in her late fifties I think. As I sat at the dinner table I took a closer look at her. There was something about Andrea. Something similar. It was as if she looked like someone I knew. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't think who. Oh well, it didn't matter. I was sat by Hayley to eat and I was opposite Sapphire. Andrea was sat next to Sapphire but for some reason they both seemed rather awkward. Like they weren't comfortable with each other. When I took a closer look at Sapphire I realised there was something even more similar about her. More similar than Andrea even. Both Sapphire and Andrea are very pretty. What I've noticed about that family is that they are all incredibly good looking and they all have blond hair. It's rather strange. I guess it must be a family thing. The adults had some kind of posh fish dish as the main but most of the kids had chicken and chips except for Jaimie who wanted to be 'mature'. Even though it was just chicken and chips it looked posh. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the chips were exactly the right shape. I got the impression that Andrea wasn't to keen on me because when I was eating she was looking at me strangely. I've noticed the first impression people seem to get on me isn't a good one.
"Dougie!" Hayley whispered beside me.
I turned to her and she pointed at the cutlery which I hadn't been using to eat with. Hayley gets so paranoid when she's around Andrea. She obviously feels that she needs to impress her. I rolled my eyes and picked up my cutlery. Fork in my left hand and knife in my right hand. I went to cut my chicken but it didn't feel right. I swapped hands. That was better. But then I observed the rest of the table and noticed that everyone one else were holding their knifes and forks in the opposite hands to what I was. I swapped hands again. But that felt strange again.
"Dougie! What are you doing?" Hayley again.
"I'm trying to figure this out." I said still swapping hands.
"It's not hard, you cut the food." I felt that she was annoyed by her voice.
"Every one's got their fork in their left hand and knife in their right but if I hold them like that I can't cut the food properly." I was still trying to figure it out. Hayley stared at me for a few seconds.
"Hang on, are you left handed?" She said narrowing her eyes.
"Ye why?" I answered finally putting my cutlery down.
"If you're left handed then you put the knife in you left hand." She smiled.
"Ohhhhh..." I picked my cutlery up, knife in my left hand, and began to eat.
"You really are slow aren't you Dougie." She laughed.
"Always have been." I winked.
After we had finished eating everyone went outside to the back garden of the house. The garden is just as amazing as the house. It's ten times bigger than the garden at Sunset and ten times more unbelievable. All the kids were playing football outside the left of the house. I didn't bother joining i because as I've mentioned many times before, sports isn't exactly my talent. Zoey, Sapphire and I watched while the others played. I noticed Noah kept giving me really dirty looks. It got annoying after a while. Noah's a year younger than me, he's in year nine. After ten minutes of watching them play football Noah's looks were getting worse.
"What's up with Noah?" I asked staring at him as I spoke. Zoey sighed heavily and Sapphire laughed at her reaction before saying. "He has a major crush on Zoey so he's really jealous of you."
"Kids!" I joked.
"He's only a year younger than you!" Zoey laughed.
"Key word there. Younger." I smiled.
"You're a strange boy." Sapphire chuckled.
"You'll get used to it after a while." Zoey told her.
I turned back to Noah who was looking at me even dirtier, probably because he'd noticed the three of us laughing. I turned back to Zoey and Sapphire and they told me the story behind Zoey and Noah. They said that ever since Zoey came to Sunset Noah has fancied her. I don't blame the boy for fancying her, I understand why, and that he'd asked her out many times before. She'd turned him down every time. It's not because he's ugly or anything it's simply because Zoey likes him as a friend, or so they said. I have to admit, I had noticed Noah flirting with Zoey earlier. After half an hour of playing football everyone went inside to get a drink except for Sapphire, Noah and me. Once they'd all gone inside Noah began walking towards me, still with an angry look on his face.
"Stay away from Zoey. Okay." He was angry.
"Calm down mate." I was dying to laugh.
"She doesn't deserve to be with someone as simple-minded as you." He snapped.
"Do I seriously come across that thick?" I turned to Sapphire. Before she could say anything Noah said,
"Yes you do. Just stay away. Okay?" He was glaring at me now.
I couldn't help but burst out laughing. It's just that Noah seemed so serious and determined to make me feel threatened. It just made me laugh. Noah stomped away and picked up the football they had been playing with a few minutes ago. He looked at me and smiled sinisterly. He suddenly held the ball out in front of him and kicked with all his power and sent it flying through one of the gigantic windows of the house. Millions of pieces of shattered glass began to fall onto the floor like a million perfect raindrops.
"Noah!" Sapphire shouted. "What in the world are you doing!"
Before he could answer, Andrea, Harry and Hayley came running towards us. Andrea's mouth dropped.
"What happened?" I could tell she was angry.
"Mummy, I was playing football and he kicked the ball and it hit the window." Noah answered in an innocent, childish voice and pointed at me.
"What!?" I exclaimed irritated and surprised by what he just said.
I looked at Andrea who was glaring at me and gritting her teeth. I looked at Hayley who was stood beside her and she was giving me 'the look'. She looked majorly embarrassed.
"I never done that!" I said truthfully.
"Are you calling my son a liar?" Andrea answered quickly. "And speak properly."
"Yes, I am!" I said really annoyed now.
"Who did it then?" She said sarcastically.
"Him!" I replied pointing at Noah who was now smiling innocently.
"First you lie to me, then you accuse my son of something he did not do!" She was angry now.
"I ain't lying!" I answered quicker than I thought was possible.
"Can you not speak correct English?" She began gritting her teeth again.
"What the hell do you mean?" I was raising my voice now.
"The word 'ain't' is not part of the English language!" Andrea began raising her voice now.
"Trust you posh sods to complain about something like that!" I was almost shouting.
"Dougie!" Hayley Finlay interrupted. She looked at me her eyes wide. Hayley's interruption managed to cool me down a bit. "Look, it wasn't me okay." I said quieter this time.
"He's telling the truth." said Sapphire.
"As if I'm going to believe you." Andrea sniffed. That woman is seriously a cow.
I waited inside the living room. The downstairs one this time while the adults discussed outside. It was rather similar to the one upstairs. There were two long sofa's on each side of the room, both black leather. There were pictures of the family. There was a picture of each one of the kids. There was a large window at the end of the room and an enormous television on the wall above one of the sofa's. There was a glass cabinet next to the window full of glass figures. There were all kinds of animals from birds to rabbits but they all sparkled in the same breath-taking way. I was so tempted to walk over to the cabinet and run my hand down the back of each glass figure. What made the figures appear even more amazing was the sunlight. The light was reflecting off the figures making them shine even brighter than they should have been. It was all so incredible. I couldn't believe what Noah had done. It was so unbelievable how Andrea believed every word he said. What's even more unbelievable is that the only reason he smashed the window and blamed me was because he was jealous of me and Zoey. That's what I call spoilt. The boy was so used to getting his own way that whenever he didn't he would go that far just to get me into trouble. It was incredible. As I was thinking about this Sapphire came into the room.
"Your mum clearly likes me." I said sarcastically.
"Don't take it personally, she hates everyone who's independent." She sighed.
"You don't get along with each other do you?" I said.
"Who can blame me." She looked as though she was thinking about something.
"Why?" I asked interested.
"It's something that happened a long time ago." I knew she was thinking about something now.
"I've got plenty of time." I smiled.
"Do you know about my sister?" She looked at me.
"Ye. She ran away from home when she was twelve." I felt proud that I knew that. Sapphire laughed.
"What my mum tells everyone isn't true." She paused. "Ruby didn't run away. My mum kicked her out." Sapphire turned away from me now and walked towards the window. She was deep in thought.
"What?" I wasn't expecting what she had just said. "Why did your mum kick her out?"
"Because..." It was clear that she didn't know whether to tell me or not. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked suddenly spinning around to face me. I let out a chuckle. It's a kind of inside joke. Trust me, I'm good with secrets.
"Ye." I nodded confidently. Sapphire stopped and looked at me for a while before speaking again.
"My mum kicked her out because... because she was pregnant." She said slowly.
"Your mum kicked her pregnant twelve year old daughter out of her house." It sounded so terrible. Sapphire nodded.
"She told Ruby that she had to get an abortion, but Ruby refused so my mum gave her a choice. Either keep the baby and leave the house or get rid of the baby and stay in the house. Ruby had left the house within the next three days."
"Why was your mum so determined for her to get an abortion?" I was into the story now. Sapphire looked down.
"Because she was embarrassed." She laughed but not in a happy way. "My mum was embarrassed at what her friends would think of her if they knew that her daughter had gotten pregnant at the age of twelve. That's how selfish my mum is." She paused once again. "And that's why I hate her."
"How old were you at the time?" I desperately wanted to know more.
"I was fifteen when it all happened. Ruby and I were so close, we did everything together." Sapphire looked like she could cry at any moment. "I was the one who told her to keep the baby." Her voice got quieter as she spoke."It's my fault that she's gone." She almost was crying now. I realized how hard it must be for her.
"Don't think like that. You told her to do what you know was right. You should be proud of that. And trust me, I would know, parents can say and do stupid things sometimes. It's best not to rely on them. They just let you down."
I knew exactly what I was talking about. I looked in Sapphire's direction and noticed that what I had just said seemed as though it had comforted her. The room was silent for a minute or so.
"What about the dad?" I broke the silence. Sapphire smiled.
"The dad was someone Ruby had met in the winter. His name was Dewi."
"What did he think about the baby situation?" I asked.
"He didn't know about it." She said slowly.
"Why not?" There more I heard about this story, the more I wanted to know.
"He'd actually come to England on holiday from South Wales." She was smiling again.
"Cool. What was he like then?" I asked.
"Dewi was an amazing boy. He was extremely funny. Like you" She was still smiling. Probably remembering something.
"Did he ever find out about the baby?" Was my next question. Sapphire stopped smiling.
"No unfortunately not." She sighed.
The room was silent for the second time. Sapphire broke the silence this time.
"I think I know how you can get away from the smashed window thing." She said nodding slowly.
"How?" I wanted her to tell me more.
"Are you a good actor?" She said.
"Ye." I answered
"Are you a good liar?" She asked.
"Oh ye!" I nodded. And that wasn't a lie.
The adults all came into the room. Hayley looked nervous but I felt fine. I knew what I was going to say.
"Explain to me what happened." Andrea insisted.
"Okay" I smiled. "Well, you see I had been strolling around the garden admiring the extraordinary scenery when I happened upon the children playing football outside the house. I peacefuly watched them play football amazed by your children's incredible talent." Andrea smiled proudly. "All of a sudden the ball flew towards Noah so my natural response was to kick out of the way. The ball unfortunately happened to move in the direction of the window, unluckily smashing it." Andrea stared at me for a minute. I was innocently sat down on the sofa.
"Well that is no excuse for destroying my window." She snapped. I began feeling my eyes tear up. The plan was going well so far. "Sorry." I whispered. I felt a tear run down my cheek. Then another. Then another.
"Ummm... you should be." Andrea tried to sound angry but her voice was weak.
"I promise I won't eat anything." I was weeping by now.
"What?!" Andrea's voice was full of shock.
"If I did something wrong my dad wouldn't let me eat for three days." I sniffed, rubbing my eyes.
"Okay, okay. Don't worry about it." She said quickly.
I looked at Hayley and Aaron. They were raising their eyebrows and looking at each other.
"Coming Harry!" Andrea shouted although no one had called her. I was still crying.
The second she left the room I burst out laughing. I could hardly breathe it was so funny.
"What in the world was that all about?!" Aaron was angry. "Tell him Hayley!"
"Why did you lie like that?" She was trying to look angry but she was laughing herself.
"It's not funny you know!" Aaron was ashamed of how Hayley had reacted.
"You have to admit, he's a good actor." Hayley laughed.
It took a while for everyone to calm down. Me especially.
"You really shouldn't have lied like that though Dougie." Hayley was serious now.
"Honestly Hayls, he didn't break the window." Sapphire said.
Hayley turned to me and realised that I'd been telling the truth from the start. She sighed.
"I have to admit, you were convincing just then." Hayley said laughing once again.
"Make her feel guilty. It works like a charm." I smiled cheekily.
Hayley laughed and shook her head. Aaron just stood beside her giving me dirty looks. He really needs to get a life. I'd changed my mind about Andrea. I didn't think she was kind. After what Sapphire had just told me she was far from it.
"How did it go?" Zoey asked biting her lip.
"I think Andrea came to understand what had happened." I let out a small giggle.
"Oh good." Zoey sighed a sigh of relief. "Hey, what were you and Sapphire talking about in the living room before the adults came to speak to you. I noticed her walking in."
I didn't need to think about how I was going to answer that.
"Nothing really, she just asked me about school and stuff." I smiled.
I'd promised Sapphire that I wouldn't tell anyone and I keep my promises.
That night was when the nightmares began. I dreamt that I was in Andrea's house but it was empty. I searched through every corner, of every room, of every hallway, of every floor. Nothing. There was nothing to be seen and the only thing to be heard was the deafening sound of silence. The more I searched the more numb I began to feel. I could hardly walk, hardly breathe. It was darker than darkness itself and every corner I turned looked exactly the same. I began to panic, I didn't know where I was. I didn't know if I was on the top floor or if I was on the bottom floor. Everywhere looked the same. It was like a giant maze that had no ending, like a tunnel with no light at the end. I didn't know what I was searching for and whatever I was searching for it was pointless. The breathing got harder, the numbness got stronger. I began to run, but the more I ran the bigger the house got. That's where the strange part happened. I would run past a door and turn back around because inside that door there was life. There was a pale blue sofa on one side of the room and opposite the sofa there stood a desk with a computer placed on top. I slowly began to walk into the room. There was a grand vase with a bouqet of unimaginable flowers placed beside the sofa. The flowers were pink, orange, blue, red and any other colour anyone could possibly think of. There was a pale blue bed at one end of the room, matching the sofa. But none of these things were what caught my attention. The chair at the very end of the room by the bed was the item that caught my attention because sat on that chair there was the girl. I kept walking forward until I reached the chair. The girl was sad. She held her head down looking at the floor. I tried talking to her but I got no response. She just sat there. Sat there and cried. I wanted to put my arm around her, comfort her but no matter how hard I tried there was always something stopping me from doing so. This feeling. This force. The girl suddenly looked up. I knew who she was. It was Sapphire, I was sure of that. And that's when I would wake up. I would wake up gasping for air. Sometimes I woke up and I could swear that someone was watching me. Watching me in the darkness. I could feel the cold sweat running down my forehead. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. I didn't understand what the dream meant, the only thing I was posotive about was that the young girl was Sapphire. I tried to remember the dream. Sapphire looked about thirteen. She was afraid, lonely, confused and there was nothing I could do to help her. The numb feeling began to fade and the fear began to dissapear. These feelings were replaced by wonder and confusion. Nothing made sense. Why would I dream something like that? What did it mean? These questions were like my dream, they got me searching, searching for the awnser to nothing.
Please, please, please visit them and study up! 
