Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Living with Terra ❯ Meeting Terra ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“Could you slide my dad and I a plate of that wonderful meaty meal you cooked up, lunch aid lady?” Dallas tapped his fingers along the side of the counter, waiting for service from Gladys, who was scowling at him distastefully.

He was always ignoring the name tag that was displayed in plain view across her chest. It was a mandatory accessory to her uniform here at the shelter, so the least he could do was use it. Or stop being so oblivious to his surroundings and actually memorize her name, since they saw one another every day.

“Oh and could you add an extra chocolate milk for me? You know I love me some cocoa moo.” He gave her a wink and she held back the rotten feelings swishing around in her gut while turning to grab the trays of food behind her.

What could she do? The creep was still less fortunate than her, even if she did hate her job. She could always go back home when her shift was over and leave this entire place behind; he was stuck here. At home, a comfortable bed with a fuzzy pillow awaited to take the aches and pains of her life away with their combined, majestic softness. Him and his father had nothing like that, so it was in her best interest to keep her mouth shut.

“Hurry it up too, I think I saw a major cutie enter the market on the other side, she looks even more delicious than those sausages you made.” The boy licked his lips and gave a wolfish grin thinking about the apple bottom jeans he'd followed into the market across the street from the market.

Ignoring the ignorant youth behind her, Gladys pondered why she hated him so much. The common indifference or rare friendly attitude she adopted towards the rest of the residence in the small building, including his father, never quite seemed to apply to the teen in front of her.

“You wouldn't have any daughters would you? You're not that old I don't think. I can't really tell... I look at you every day, we chat it up for a bit and yet I don't know anything about you. But anyway lunch aid lady, if you have like a younger sister, or any female around my age in your family you can send her my way. I'd show her a good time, be respectful and all that.”

Something about him pissed her off inside; deep down she wanted the obnoxious fool to suffer some sort of ill fate. Fall down some stairs and hurt himself bad. Anything to wipe away the dirt-smeared, smug smirk that appeared permanently plastered on the pompous punks face. Those amber eyes of his always seemed to gleam in a taunting light whenever they glanced over towards her, and it boiled her blood every time he came to her for service.

But what could she do? She was in the wrong here wishing more misfortune on the poor boy. When he really started to tick her off a few months ago, she asked around for his story.

It turned out that one night a fire sparked up in their kitchen and only ones to make it out was his father who dragged the unconscious boy out by his legs. No remains of his mother or his three younger siblings were discovered amongst the scorched ruins of the house. That of course was enough to make anyone, especially a timid fifteen year old, turn bitter towards the world.

“I'm not just saying that just because we're like buds or anything.” She turned to face him, amazed he wasn't aware of the hatred that bled from her gaze. “It's more because, besides all those hairy places on you, and the lack of exercise that gives all that fat on you time to grow, or you being so freakishly short, or whatever that thing is that's spreading on your arm... you should totally get that checked out by the way.” He coughed in his arm during the pause to keep the moment going.

“Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. Ignoring all of that stuff, plus some other things that don't need to be mentioned, since they're so obvious, like you being too old for me...you're really cute.” He winked when he said it, but it didn't seem to have an effect on her. “So like, an even younger you with good skin would be super hot!”

Deep down, she really did feel sorry for him. It was a terrible shame, a crime by fates hand that he experienced. But that alone was not enough to grant him immunity to the rules of society.

“I honestly can't stand hearing your voice anymore Dallas. Would you mind taking your trays and stepping the hell away from me?” The young boy narrowed his eyes at her before reaching his hand out to accept the two meals. Before his fingers were wrapped securely around the trays, she let them go, spilling the food over the counter.

Stunned at how cruel she was being to him, he formulated the only plan of revenge he could think of then and there, knocking the tray to the floor and hurling the meat at the disturbed woman.

“Why the hell did you do that you damned bitch! What am I supposed to eat now? That was the last of the freaking meat you just wasted!” His rant would have continued if he hadn't been focused on dodging the stubby fist that almost collided with his jaw.

“What the... ?” He looked up to see the fury in the woman's eyes, the mental barrier of sanity had snapped, and she was only seeing red when she leapt over the counter and chased the boy around the shelter, shouting obscenities at the top of her lungs at him.

Knowing he could never escape the rampant lunatic behind him by running circuits in the tiny shelter building, Dallas decided to lead his pursuer outside. Cutting through to men eating on a bench, he made his way to the exit, and she followed with rage fueled enthusiasm.

He rammed through the door and out into the night air with the crazed woman barreling closer. Together they tore across the empty streets and raced between the cars in the crowded market’s parking lot. Tonight seemed to be having a clearance sale and customers in the residence were rushing in and out frequently trying to save money.

The two of them rushed through the store, barely avoiding the stationary shoppers. Hoping to lose his deranged pursuer, he thought up a devious idea and led her to an aisle selling sweets. After a while of passing up packages, boxes and bags of doughnuts cookie and candy, Dallas found hit pounding footsteps lost their trailing echo.

Looking behind him, he found the grumpy Gladys had given up the chase, and instead began to pick up a few bags of candy from the racks. He gave her a victorious grin before crashing into something extraordinarily solid. He slid away across the floor on impact, scratching his back along the cement.

His eyes wandered up in surprise, searching for whatever statue was placed in the middle of the aisle. He was shocked to find the same apple bottom jeans he'd followed inside earlier. The owner was a young girl, no older than him, with short auburn hair with silver ends wrapped over one eye in a curl. Golden earrings dangled over her shoulders as she turned back to scowl down at him, and he instinctively backed away before the sense that she was adorably cute kicked him onto his feet with an extended hand.

“I'm sorry about that, I'm such a klutz!” He jogged over closer to her, with his trademark flirting grin taking up the majority of his handsome, but muddy face. “My name's Dallas and I come here often, I've never seen you before though, did you move here recently or are you with someone?”

This wasn't one of those mega markets most of the city went to, it was a small establishment, meant to be a convenience for the small suburban area who didn't want to make a city visit just to shop, so seeing new faces was rare in here.

The girl glanced down at his stretched out arm and her gaze softened. She sighed and turned her back on his greeting and instead walked down the rest of the aisle, leaving Dallas disappointed and confused.

“Terra,” she mumbled over her shoulder, pausing to make sure he heard her speak before continuing, “And I'm here with my family, we were looking for toilet paper and I had a sudden craving for something sweet. Would you happen to know where?”

“Its two aisles down to the left, you want me to walk you over?” It was an awkward question, but he felt eager and confident. Before she could answer with an obvious “No!”, he was walking up to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to lead her to the specified destination.

“So where is your family hiding? Do they live around here? Because I probably know them. I‘m kind of a familiar face to everyone in this part of town.”

She hadn't pushed his arm off of her yet, which was strange to her and a delight for him. Never one to talk much, Terra pointed over to where her family awaited. By chance he saw his father walking along the same path she'd highlighted with her finger. He was chatting up some guy, possibly the young girl's father.

“Well you can grab what you need,” His arm waved over to where the toilet paper was stored. “I'm going to get a better look at your folks and meet you back here so we can finish our little chat.” He gave her a wink and detached himself from her. She made a disgruntled noise when he removed himself from her vicinity, giving them both a boost of confidence for separate, personal reasons.

Dallas pranced away, high on the feeling of his own inflated ego. There was nothing in the world that could stop him from pulling this girl... besides finding out they were related.

Standing there talking to his father was none other than his much older, like his dad's age older, second cousin Nick, along with his whole family. Hoping it was some sort of miscalculation, Dallas checked around the surrounding area, but all of the aisles around were empty and he admitted defeat and accepted the truth.

There was no away around it, something inside him just knew right away that she was calling Nick family. Even if it they were just cousins, Nick would not be happy about him dating Terra, simply because they were in the same bloodline; he was a screwball like that.

The family looked up and waved with huge smiles on their faces and it was far too late to retreat. Begrudgingly he waved back and greeted the rest of his cousins; Nick's wife Monique, their twelve year old son Jamal and his sister Tamara, who was two years older than her brother, and one year under Dallas. What was really strange was seeing Terra, who magically materialized b beside Tamara, waving at him admirably.

“Hey Dallas!” Nick disrupted the locked gaze the two teens had on each other with his baritone voice. “I see you met my new daughter Terra.” Dallas looked up at him confused and he went on to explain, “We adopted her a few months ago, she's the best thing that ever happened to us too. Terra is just too precious, she fits right into the family.”

A little red blush appeared on the young girl’s face, and Dallas gave an interesting, animalistic grin. She returned his look with a vulnerable looking simper that made his insides crawl in anticipation.

“Your dad was telling us about what happened to your mother!” Monique chimed in at her husband’s side. “Such a dreadful thing, we hadn't even known about it. We were too wrapped up in the adorable bundle of joy here.”

Her fingers spread thinly across the auburn haired girls hair in a pathetic attempt at petting her head. The teen wrinkled her face in protest to the intimate encounter. Sensing the angst and revulsion, the woman removed her fingers quickly.

“Yeah man, since she's become part of the family, we've all been affected in a positive way. I've personally gained an experimental desire to stay organized. My son's way more popular with the ladies at school, having pulled a few dates in the short time she's been here. And my girl is finally coming out of her shell. It's as if she became a whole new person over night. With the way she dresses and wears her hair; I find it incredible how much style and grace she's obtained and displays. Now she knows she is beautiful.”

Tamara blushed at her father's rambling compliments and Dallas proceeded to block out everything Nick said afterwards, too busy observing the girl and her looks, which did her father's words justice. She indeed looked stupendous with her previous bangs finally curled away to the side so they didn't hide her gorgeous face anymore.

The dark eyeliner she wore to fit in with the Goths at school was replaced with a complimentary pink color that highlighted the beautiful features she was naturally blessed with. The rosy redness in her cheeks, as she continued to blush, clashed brightly against her peanut butter complexion and gave off an adorably mesmerizing, innocent quality to her skin.

The fierce orange lipstick that puckered off her permanently pouting mouth demanded kissing. Dallas couldn't help but lick his lips in hunger; something that didn't go unnoticed by Nick.

Terra surprisingly picked up on it too, and didn't hesitate to elbow her new sister and whisper something amusing in her ear, judging by the ensuing giggles. Both the brown and hazel pair of eyes lit up at him, and Dallas caught himself staring. Deciding to play it safe, he redirected his attention to the man's rambling just as Nick cleared his throat to grab the young man's eyes.

“So, your dad tells us you've been living in a shelter across the street since your house went up in flames.” Dallas nodded to confirm the news. “That is completely ridiculous! What kind of family would I be if I left you out in the streets, forced to sleep on a cot or some shit like that? Hell no! In your mother's memory, I will open my doors; you are both welcome to stay with us.”

Stunned at what his usually greedy cousin just permitted, Dallas silently speculated some hidden catch had to be part of the offer. Instead of investigating his cousin’s possible secret agenda however, he simply asked, “Are you sure?” Nick laughed a confirmation.

“Of course! There's plenty of room in my house, we could take on five more people, let alone two,” he gloated. “You sound so surprised man.”

“Does that mean Dallas is going to live with us dad?” The son finally let his voice be heard. Excited by the news, he celebrated by bouncing over and putting a hand up for a five. “Oh heck yeah! This is going to be great man. I can put on some tunes and we can chill together every day after school.” The way the younger kid spoke reminded Dallas of a mini Nick, and he fought hard to control his instinctual eye-rolling response.

After giving his younger cousin some respective dap, Dallas once again inspected Jamal's sisters; both the biological and the adopted. There was something else new about the younger girl's appearance that he hadn't noticed until now. She'd gotten rid of her glasses.

That seemed odd to him, since it was fact that contacts irritated her eyes. Her parents were too worrisome to let her get her vision corrected with surgery, which meant Tamara was either blind as a bat right now or her vision miraculously cleared up since the last thanksgiving they'd seen each other and she almost broke her arm falling down the steps because she couldn't see. The thought only lasted an instant though, because once Terra waved at him, he'd forgotten everything else going on.

The girls seemed just as excited as their brother about Dallas living under the same roof. They didn't jump around or anything, but he was able to read the joy in Tamara's shy face. Something that was completely impossible for him to do with her older sister, who wore the same bland expression she'd shown him when they met in the aisle ten minutes prior.

In fact, her face remained stale all the way to the family's van which conveniently sat seven people. The only thing that gave away the new girl's joy, was the glimpse of a hungry grin she'd shot him after they entered the vehicle, but it was gone in the same second he managed to catch it, and her face returned to the stale default. She didn't do it again, but he knew it happened and remained convinced it wasn't just his hopeful imagination.

“When we get home kids, I want you all dressed in pajamas and freshened up.” Monique’s heavy voice traveled from the front to the rear of the van. “Lights out in half an hour, you all have school in the morning.” Dallas wanted to find out if she was including him. It had been awhile since he'd attended classes in school, but he was confident it was something easy to handle if forced back in.

“Jamal honey, I want you to lend your cousin something to wear for bed, and Dallas my dear,” she turned around to meet his eyes with a smile, “try not to stay up too late tonight.”