Malik's Daughter
Chapter 18 - It Wasn't Me
"We're here. Now may I know what the rush was?" Mum asked, parking the car in front of Uncle Louis' house.
Ignoring her, I got out of the car and sprinted to the front door. The familiar ring of the doorbell echoed annoyingly and without waiting for someone to get the door I pushed it open myself.
"Ellie! Come in! Where's your mum?" Aunt Eleanor exclaimed, halfway to the door.
"She's... uh... is Zayn here?" I asked, impatiently.
"Zayn? Yeah. I think he's in the living room. Why do you -"
I cut her off, "Not now, Aunt El. Sorry. Mum's coming," I waved her off, walking into the living room.
I entered to find the TV silently running while Zayn, Uncle Louis, Uncle Niall, Uncle Harry, Uncle Liam, Aunt Jade, Aunt Leigh-Anne, Aunt Jesy... well... you get the point. Everyone was there. I have no time to look around and record every detail at the moment. You'll catch on...
"Zayn! Where were you yesterday?" I asked him, abruptly, startling everyone.
He looked confused.
"Forget it. Where were you this morning? Why was Natasha at your house yesterday? What was she doing with mum's purse? What is she trying to do?" I asked.
"Ellie, sweetie, calm down a bit. You're scaring us," Uncle Harry said, reaching over to touch my arm.
"I have no idea... wait... did you say she was at my house yesterday? I came over here yesterday night after you and your mum left and spent the night at Lou's," Zayn said.
Great. He had no idea what was going on. Now I've reached a dead end. No way in finding out what Natasha's got against me. I sighed, falling into the beanbag next to Allie on the floor.
"Are you ok, Ellie?" Allie asked.
I frowned at her, "Yeah, I'm totally fine! Why?" I asked.
"Um... no reason... just that you seemed a bit... jumpy a second ago," she said.
"Jumpy? Weird... I don't think so," I said.
Allie shook her head, giving up.
"Hey! Ellie! Where's my nail polish?" Aunt Jade perked up from beside Uncle Louis on the couch.
"What nail polish?" I asked her, puzzled by her sudden interjection.
"The yellow one, of course! Remember? Your text? It's in your mum's purse, isn't it?" she said, trying to jog up my memory.
I was still as confused as ever.
"What in the world are you talking about, Aunt Jade?" I asked her.
"Oh, come on! Stop playing with me! I've still got the text to prove it! C'mon! Let's go get your mum's purse!" She said.
Just as she was about to rise from the couch to get my mum's purse, my mum showed up with confused look on her face, followed by Auntie Eleanor. Wow. So much confusion lately.
"Jade, you wanted my purse?" she asked.
"Yes! Give it here, please," she said, holding out her hands for the purse.
My mum, suspicious of the situation hesitated before giving in and chucking her purse at Aunt Jade. Aunt Jade caught it and unzipped it, revealing the inside of an overcrowded handbag.
"Where is it?" she asked, shuffling through the bag.
"Where's what?" mum asked.
"The brand new nail polish Ellie bought me! I'm so excited!" she said.
"I didn't buy anything!" I complained.
"Ellie, sweet heart, if you wanted to buy Aunt Jade a present, why didn't you tell me?" mum asked, sympathetically.
I frowned at my mother. I just told her I didn't buy anything and she still thinks I did. How hard is it to listen, for once?
"Aha! Here it is, Sunshine Yellow." Aunt Jade squealed, pulling out a small bottle of bright yellow nail polish, "You hid it well, Ellie!"
" I didn't put that in there! It wasn't me! I swear!" I protested.
"Of course you didn't," Aunt Jade said, winking at me.
I glared at her. This wasn't right. Something seriously smelled fishy. Oh wait... that wasn't a fishy smell... it was just the nail polish. Aunt Jade twisted the cap open releasing a horrible stench into the air. Everyone, who'd been deep in conversation with each other suddenly froze and stared at Aunt Jade.
"What is that smell?" Aunt Leigh-Anne asked, sniffing the air.
I gagged, trying to put a name on it. It wasn't the general nail polish smell. It was something completely different.
"That's familiar..." Zayn said, sniffing it some more, "Jade, can I have it for a second?"
He held out his hand for the nail polish bottle.
"Oh come on! It's just nail polish! I want to try it on!" she said, refusing to give it to Zayn.
She lifted the nail polish brush, getting a huge drop of Sunshine Yellow liquid on the tip, releasing a fresh batch of the horrible stench. She brought the tip to her left index finger and held it half an inch above it.
"Ready?" she asked to no one in particular.
She lowered the brush, slowly bringing it closer to her nail.
"STOP! JADE STOP! Don't touch that nail polish. It's nitric acid! That smell is of nitric acid!" Zayn shrieked.
Gasps rumbled through the room.
"What's nitric acid?" Allie asked.
"Nitric acid is a very strong chemical. It can burn through almost anything, including most metals. A single drop is enough to dissolve your skin," Zayn said.
"How do you know it's nitric acid?" Uncle Louis asked, suspicious.
"Well, that's 'cuz I have a can of nitric acid at my house. I bought it once because I needed to fix the railings on the gate to my garden. I had to shorten the bottom metal bars. And just a month ago the bottle of nitric acid spilled all over my garage floor and I had to replace the tiles. The smell stayed for nearly the whole month. You can still smell a faint stench every time you enter my garage. I don't know how it got into your nail polish, though," he said, looking at me.
"Ellie, where exactly did you get this?" mum asked me.
"I'm telling you! I didn't buy this!" I said.
"Well, in that case, where did you find this?" she asked.
"No! Mum! I had no idea this was in your purse at all! I swear!" I said, trying to make her understand.
"Who else could have done it, then?" she asked.
Natasha! She must have done it! She had the purse and all of Zayn's house to herself yesterday night! She had easy access to the nitric acid. She must have bought this nail polish and added the acid to the bottle and slipped it into mum's purse.
"It's N-" I stopped. Everyone's eyes were on me. I can't bring up Natasha right now. It will lead to yesterday's argument between us. I shouldn't be telling anyone about it. I can't afford anything happening to mum or Zayn or any one of these people. They all love me so much, and I can't do anything to ruin that. I sighed.
"It's n- nobody." I covered, shaking my head.
Aunt Jade, who'd been silent all this time, came back to life. "Ellie! Don't lie! I've got the text for proof!" She said, pulling out her phone. She shuffled through her iPhone for a few seconds and opened a recent text.
She held it out for everyone to read.
Auntie Jade! But I think you should go with yellow. I bought a new yellow nail polish for you! Remind me to give it to you! It’s in mum’s purse! Shh!"I didn't write that!" I protested.
"Who else calls Perrie mum, then?" Jade asked.
"But Aunt Jade! You have to listen to me! I'm telling you, I didn't write that text, I didn't buy your nail polish, I didn't put acid in that, and I've got no idea what' going on here!" I said.
"Don't you call me Aunt Jade. I will no longer be a part of your little mischiefs. If it weren't for Zayn, I would have no nails by now. I should have known better, Ellie. I should have learned my lesson from the time you put the screw in my milkshake!" she yelled.
"That was an accident! I had no idea the blender had a loose screw!" I whined, at the verge of tears.
"Oh yea! And this was also an accident, huh? How many times are you going to try to ruin my life, Ellie? I don't want anything to do with you anymore. I'm sorry, Louis, Eleanor, but I think I should go now," she said, picking up her bag and her phone and marching out the door.
The sound of the front door shutting sounded with a loud thud. The whole house was silent except for the soft snores of Darcy from her cradle in the room across the hall. I felt a small drop rolling down my cheek. One by one, more tears flowed down as I sobbed into my knees. Natasha was already ruining my life.
Ignoring her, I got out of the car and sprinted to the front door. The familiar ring of the doorbell echoed annoyingly and without waiting for someone to get the door I pushed it open myself.
"Ellie! Come in! Where's your mum?" Aunt Eleanor exclaimed, halfway to the door.
"She's... uh... is Zayn here?" I asked, impatiently.
"Zayn? Yeah. I think he's in the living room. Why do you -"
I cut her off, "Not now, Aunt El. Sorry. Mum's coming," I waved her off, walking into the living room.
I entered to find the TV silently running while Zayn, Uncle Louis, Uncle Niall, Uncle Harry, Uncle Liam, Aunt Jade, Aunt Leigh-Anne, Aunt Jesy... well... you get the point. Everyone was there. I have no time to look around and record every detail at the moment. You'll catch on...
"Zayn! Where were you yesterday?" I asked him, abruptly, startling everyone.
He looked confused.
"Forget it. Where were you this morning? Why was Natasha at your house yesterday? What was she doing with mum's purse? What is she trying to do?" I asked.
"Ellie, sweetie, calm down a bit. You're scaring us," Uncle Harry said, reaching over to touch my arm.
"I have no idea... wait... did you say she was at my house yesterday? I came over here yesterday night after you and your mum left and spent the night at Lou's," Zayn said.
Great. He had no idea what was going on. Now I've reached a dead end. No way in finding out what Natasha's got against me. I sighed, falling into the beanbag next to Allie on the floor.
"Are you ok, Ellie?" Allie asked.
I frowned at her, "Yeah, I'm totally fine! Why?" I asked.
"Um... no reason... just that you seemed a bit... jumpy a second ago," she said.
"Jumpy? Weird... I don't think so," I said.
Allie shook her head, giving up.
"Hey! Ellie! Where's my nail polish?" Aunt Jade perked up from beside Uncle Louis on the couch.
"What nail polish?" I asked her, puzzled by her sudden interjection.
"The yellow one, of course! Remember? Your text? It's in your mum's purse, isn't it?" she said, trying to jog up my memory.
I was still as confused as ever.
"What in the world are you talking about, Aunt Jade?" I asked her.
"Oh, come on! Stop playing with me! I've still got the text to prove it! C'mon! Let's go get your mum's purse!" She said.
Just as she was about to rise from the couch to get my mum's purse, my mum showed up with confused look on her face, followed by Auntie Eleanor. Wow. So much confusion lately.
"Jade, you wanted my purse?" she asked.
"Yes! Give it here, please," she said, holding out her hands for the purse.
My mum, suspicious of the situation hesitated before giving in and chucking her purse at Aunt Jade. Aunt Jade caught it and unzipped it, revealing the inside of an overcrowded handbag.
"Where is it?" she asked, shuffling through the bag.
"Where's what?" mum asked.
"The brand new nail polish Ellie bought me! I'm so excited!" she said.
"I didn't buy anything!" I complained.
"Ellie, sweet heart, if you wanted to buy Aunt Jade a present, why didn't you tell me?" mum asked, sympathetically.
I frowned at my mother. I just told her I didn't buy anything and she still thinks I did. How hard is it to listen, for once?
"Aha! Here it is, Sunshine Yellow." Aunt Jade squealed, pulling out a small bottle of bright yellow nail polish, "You hid it well, Ellie!"
" I didn't put that in there! It wasn't me! I swear!" I protested.
"Of course you didn't," Aunt Jade said, winking at me.
I glared at her. This wasn't right. Something seriously smelled fishy. Oh wait... that wasn't a fishy smell... it was just the nail polish. Aunt Jade twisted the cap open releasing a horrible stench into the air. Everyone, who'd been deep in conversation with each other suddenly froze and stared at Aunt Jade.
"What is that smell?" Aunt Leigh-Anne asked, sniffing the air.
I gagged, trying to put a name on it. It wasn't the general nail polish smell. It was something completely different.
"That's familiar..." Zayn said, sniffing it some more, "Jade, can I have it for a second?"
He held out his hand for the nail polish bottle.
"Oh come on! It's just nail polish! I want to try it on!" she said, refusing to give it to Zayn.
She lifted the nail polish brush, getting a huge drop of Sunshine Yellow liquid on the tip, releasing a fresh batch of the horrible stench. She brought the tip to her left index finger and held it half an inch above it.
"Ready?" she asked to no one in particular.
She lowered the brush, slowly bringing it closer to her nail.
"STOP! JADE STOP! Don't touch that nail polish. It's nitric acid! That smell is of nitric acid!" Zayn shrieked.
Gasps rumbled through the room.
"What's nitric acid?" Allie asked.
"Nitric acid is a very strong chemical. It can burn through almost anything, including most metals. A single drop is enough to dissolve your skin," Zayn said.
"How do you know it's nitric acid?" Uncle Louis asked, suspicious.
"Well, that's 'cuz I have a can of nitric acid at my house. I bought it once because I needed to fix the railings on the gate to my garden. I had to shorten the bottom metal bars. And just a month ago the bottle of nitric acid spilled all over my garage floor and I had to replace the tiles. The smell stayed for nearly the whole month. You can still smell a faint stench every time you enter my garage. I don't know how it got into your nail polish, though," he said, looking at me.
"Ellie, where exactly did you get this?" mum asked me.
"I'm telling you! I didn't buy this!" I said.
"Well, in that case, where did you find this?" she asked.
"No! Mum! I had no idea this was in your purse at all! I swear!" I said, trying to make her understand.
"Who else could have done it, then?" she asked.
Natasha! She must have done it! She had the purse and all of Zayn's house to herself yesterday night! She had easy access to the nitric acid. She must have bought this nail polish and added the acid to the bottle and slipped it into mum's purse.
"It's N-" I stopped. Everyone's eyes were on me. I can't bring up Natasha right now. It will lead to yesterday's argument between us. I shouldn't be telling anyone about it. I can't afford anything happening to mum or Zayn or any one of these people. They all love me so much, and I can't do anything to ruin that. I sighed.
"It's n- nobody." I covered, shaking my head.
Aunt Jade, who'd been silent all this time, came back to life. "Ellie! Don't lie! I've got the text for proof!" She said, pulling out her phone. She shuffled through her iPhone for a few seconds and opened a recent text.
She held it out for everyone to read.
Auntie Jade! But I think you should go with yellow. I bought a new yellow nail polish for you! Remind me to give it to you! It’s in mum’s purse! Shh!"I didn't write that!" I protested.
"Who else calls Perrie mum, then?" Jade asked.
"But Aunt Jade! You have to listen to me! I'm telling you, I didn't write that text, I didn't buy your nail polish, I didn't put acid in that, and I've got no idea what' going on here!" I said.
"Don't you call me Aunt Jade. I will no longer be a part of your little mischiefs. If it weren't for Zayn, I would have no nails by now. I should have known better, Ellie. I should have learned my lesson from the time you put the screw in my milkshake!" she yelled.
"That was an accident! I had no idea the blender had a loose screw!" I whined, at the verge of tears.
"Oh yea! And this was also an accident, huh? How many times are you going to try to ruin my life, Ellie? I don't want anything to do with you anymore. I'm sorry, Louis, Eleanor, but I think I should go now," she said, picking up her bag and her phone and marching out the door.
The sound of the front door shutting sounded with a loud thud. The whole house was silent except for the soft snores of Darcy from her cradle in the room across the hall. I felt a small drop rolling down my cheek. One by one, more tears flowed down as I sobbed into my knees. Natasha was already ruining my life.
Notes
Hey Directioners!Here's Chapter 18 for ya!
What do you think?
Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Anyone wanna make guesses to what's going to happen next?
Here's a hint: Natasha's not done yet!
:)
~ Lily <3
Update
8/12/14