My Guardian Angels (Chapter Nine)

"Joe! Maddie!" I woke up. Joe just rolled over.

"Don't be a lazy bum, Gran is calling," I nudged him with my knee, smiling for the first time in a long time - REALLY smiling.

"I'm not a lazy bum, Butt Munch." He mumbled, shoving away my knee but keeping his hand on it. I got up brushing his hand off, glaring, but still smiling.

"I am NOT a Butt Munch, sir." I said, kicking him over to where he rolled to face me. He just slung his arm over his face, laughing a little "Joseph!" I whined, Gran probably hearing us. I got on my knees and started poking his barely exposed cheek "Joe! Joe!" I kept yelling, poking his cheek.

The sun started coming up and I laughed at how, finally, I had gotten to sleep in until the sun at least started rising. "Maddie! Joe! There you are! We were worried sick!" Gran said, bustling through the corn.

"You shouldn't have. We were just tired and stressed. We're good now." I said, continuing to irritatingly poke Joe. He groaned and started poking my knee. "Get up!" I yelled at him.
"Joe, get you lazy teenage butt up!" Gran yelled. He pushed himself onto his knees next to me, crossing his arms and pouting. I nudged him with my shoulder and laughed a little and his puppy dog face.

Gran gasps seeing my hair "Wha-what happened to your hair? And your contacts?"
"I don't know about the hair, but I cried out the contacts." I explain, grabbing a lock of my hair and inspecting it. She just nods and (obviously) seems to have a priority list that this is at the bottom of.

"I think we should go inside, do you guys agree, because there is an extremely powerful Ancient Vampire in my house? I would like you guys in there to help protect us all from being eaten." She walked through, knowing we were about to be on her heals. I stood up, expecting Joseph to follow suit.

"Joe?" I asked when he hadn't gotten up for about fifteen seconds. "Joseph?"
He looked up at me "Maddie..." He whispered, I barely even heard him.
"Yes?" I replied.

"We can't just sit here while the Males and Buanoas from killing out all the Cattiverias. We have too. They killed your WHOLE family, and they tried to kill mine. They took away my parents, my unborn twin siblings. I can't just sit back and hide. God, Maddie. I CAN'T!" He explained. I felt myself slump down to the ground again, and wrap my arms around Joe.

"It's ok." I kept repeating it, like it would make it true, because it wasn't. It wasn't at all. I wanted-I wanted nothing more than for it to be perfect, but it never would. Never could. "It's not." I breathed and fell on my back again. "It won't be until the Males are defeated. Then the Buanoas scatter. All the Cattiverias will be able to take care of themselves after that."

Joe blankly stared into space "Do you think are families have met? Do you think they're watching us?" He asked me, or maybe the corn. I nodded "Yes to both?" I nodded again "Do you-do you think..."
"Do I think what Joe?" I asked rolling over onto my stomach and looking up at him, nudging him with my arm, urging him to continue.

"Never mind. Gran wants us in there."
"Don't be an ass. Talk to me." I told him.
"I said never mind. Ok? Drop it." He thundered, jumping abruptly to his feet.

"Don't get all bipolar on me, even though it's kind of expected now, you know, because you act extremely bipolar all the time anyway." I say, growing irritated and curious about what he was going to say "Look, just-"

"No! Gran wants us in, we go in." He interrupts. He bit his lip and looked down. I push him out of the way and head to the house, hearing his light footsteps crunch fallen husks and cobs as we walk through the corn.

He grabbed my shoulder, but I just shook it off. "Maddie." I hear a voice say, then Joe grabbing my arm and pulling me back out of the way of a flying tomato.

"What the fu-"
"HEY, I'm the only one that says fuck, ok?" Says Daiyu.
"Did-did you just throw a TOMATO at me?!" I yell at her.

"Yes, you hobo, I did." She says crossing her arms. Joseph gently grabs my arms and pushes me toward the house, mumbling about how irritating Daiyu can get if you piss her off. I let him push me, slipping a death glare out at Daiyu right before we were encased in corn and she was out of view.

"Joe...?" I said as I cooked some eggs for breakfast and he made toast.
"Yes...?" He replied.

"What were you going to tell me in the corn field?" I asked, picking at the plastic spatula, and scooping out the scrambled eggs, cracking more in for some to be over easy.

"Nothing. Just... I don't even remember..." He mumbled, I looked over at me, and he stared intently at the toast like it was the most important thing in the world.

"You lie!" I say jokingly pointing my spatula at him. He smiles despite the fact that I'm serious.

We ate breakfast in a debate over whether I could go to school like this or not, whether I should get a job. Abelia was all for my life being hell in school or in hiding, so she said, and I quote "I don't give a shit". She even said it with a mouth full of pancake which I had made.

I was. I wanted to. So I was. I was getting to finally live-sort of.