by D. K Lake
"Where else is he going to keep it?"
"Does Willa know?"
"You've met Willa?"
"Yes, the other day. Does she know about the drugs?" I whisper.
"They're a close family."
"So that's a yes?"
"Surprised?"
"I don't know."
"It pays the bills and I know JT is helping towards Mitchel's college fees, that is if he goes."
"So what's going on with Amber and JT, are they together now?"
"Don't tell me you've got a thing for JT as well?"
"No. I just wondered what was going on. I just got the idea he didn't like her and now he can't stay away from her. They were all over each other in the corridor."
"He asked her to be his girl."
"His girl? Is that slang for something?"
"You know, his girl, unofficial girlfriend, fuck buddy, whatever, but they're not together."
"Right. And eww. Let's hope he doesn't knock her up."
"He's not that stupid. Anyway, he's not in it for the long haul. As soon as he gets what he wants from her, he'll get rid of her."
"And what does he want?"
Boston stops what he's doing and looks at me like he's just said something he shouldn't.
I wonder what JT wants from Amber but then I realize I don't care. He can use her to his heart's desire because I hate her. As long as he's using someone other than Nessie then I'm ok with it.
"Whatever it is, I don't care. I hate Amber." I whisper so Mia doesn't hear me from where she is sitting. Amber and Phoebe didn't show up either for last period which is unlike them, probably with JT and Mitchel.
I'm still waiting for Boston to reply but he looks like a deer caught in headlights.
"Boston?"
"Uh...I just remembered I need to pee."
"What?" I say, watching as Boston gathers up his belongings and bolts out the door before the teacher can stop him or even notice that he's gone. Nessie turns around and I just shrug. Boys are so weird sometimes.
After class, Nessie insists on buying me ice cream even though I protest. I so need a job.
After we've gorged on ice cream she drops me off at home and I help my sister make dinner. Mom stays on at work and works overtime and doesn't get in until after seven but by then I've already eaten and locked myself in my room.
The rest of the week passes without any of us killing one another. Amber and her sidekicks strut around the school like they own the place, and now she has JT attached to her hip she thinks she's untouchable.
Mitchel and Phoebe are always together, whenever the group is together, Mitchel and Phoebe always end up sitting next to each other, and she's always giggling...hahaha.
Not that I care.
He can sit next to who he wants. And I'll die of a broken heart surrounded by twenty cats, and my whole house will stink of piss...but then again, I needed a job before I could buy a house. I really need to get on that. And I need to get out more.
27
The thing I don't understand is, Mitchel still won't leave me alone. I thought after a week he'd get bored of being ignored and leave me alone, but no such luck. He's not making it easy for me. Every night he rings me. I don't pick up. He leaves messages. I delete them. And he tries to corner me in the corridor nearly every morning. He even figured out I'm using Nessie's locker and he knows where to find me in the morning, so now I can't even use Nessie's locker because I don't want to run into him.
I don't understand why he's so persistent. If he's got Phoebe what does he need me for?
Friday night rolls around and Mom won't even let Nessie come over and watch a movie with me. I finish all my homework and sit twiddling my thumbs by nine o'clock. I take a shower and paint my nails while Mom and Paige have a girlie night downstairs, watching Bridesmaids and eating popcorn.
They are so alike, no wonder they get on so well. I still wonder if I was adopted. I feel like an alien in this family. The black sheep as Mom called me on Sunday night. I tiptoe around the hallway, waiting for the pair of them to go to bed so I can sneak downstairs and eat the rest of the popcorn, that is if they haven't scoffed the whole lot.
The movie finishes just after eleven and I hear them both coming up the stairs, laughing, and they say goodnight. Paige even gives Mom a kiss goodnight. I wait in my room for another twenty minutes until I can hear Mom snoring and Paige always sleeps with her earbuds in her ears. I creep downstairs. I don't think it's right, creeping around in my own home. I tiptoe into the living room to find the popcorn all gone. Meh. I decide on a hot chocolate instead.
I leave the lights off and flick the kettle on and open the fridge door and close it and stand still for a moment, thinking I heard the side gate bang shut but I figure it must have been the fridge door.
I make myself a hot chocolate and take it back up to my room. I slip inside and quietly close the door and when I turn around I notice a dark figure sitting on my bed.
I scream and spill hot chocolate all down my pajamas.
"Shit...that's hot!" I squeak, holding my pajama bottoms away from my leg so I don't burn.
"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" I whisper-shout before locking my bedroom door.
"I had to see you." Mitchel replies, standing up from the bed.
I shake my head and put the mug down on the dresser.
"I'm sorry, but you won't talk to me at school, you're ignoring my calls-"
"Yes, 'cause I don't want to talk to you!"
"You don't mean that." he says, moving closer and I back away and end up against the door.
"Yes, I do! And now you're breaking into my house like some kind of stalker."
"Well, maybe if you read your messages then you would know I was coming over." he says a little too loudly, getting angry.
"Shhh!" I go over to him and push him further away from the door.
"You have to be quiet, my mom is in the next room. She may actually kill me if she finds you in here." We stand so close I can smell him, and he smells like smoke and mint, but I can smell alcohol on his breath.
"You've been drinking?"
No wonder he's being so loud.
"Did you drive here?" I worry.
"No. Boston is outside."
"You need to leave. You can't be in my bedroom."
"I'm not going until you talk to me."
He walks back over to my bed and sits down and I stay where I am. A safe distance away from him. He runs a hand through his hair and I notice he's still wearing the bracelet I made for him.
"Ok, so what do you want to talk about?" I ask, trying to move this along. I need him to leave. If Mom finds him in here she'll probably never let me out of the house again and she'll most likely have me homeschooled.
"You won't talk to me." he simply says.
"Yes, we already covered that. It's 'cause I found out you were messaging Phoebe and now you're hanging out with her every day."
"I already told you that wasn't me!" he yells and I hurry over to him and press my hand to his mouth before he can yell anymore.
"It wasn't me." he insists, his voice softening as he pulls my hand away, but he holds onto it and pulls me forward and grabs my waist and lifts me onto his lap so I'm straddling him.
This is exactly why I should have stayed on the other side of the room.
"It wasn't me." he whispers again.
I let out a breath. I'm fed up with having this conversation. I know half the messages he sent to me all week said the same thing.
"Ok, I believe you. But you need to tell me why JT did it?"
"'Cause he's an idiot and he likes to interfere with my shit."
"That's not an answer."
"JT has this thing, he wants to get to know Amber and he thinks I should get to know Phoebe but I don't like her like that. He was just screwing around when he sent those messages, you can even ask him yourself."
"Ok, I will when I next see him."
"Ok." He smiles and I get the feeli
ng he's telling the truth.
Huh? JT really is an idiot if he did that behind Mitchel's back.
"So now we've cleared that up...I've missed you." he breathes.
I laugh quietly. "You hardly know me. You can't miss someone you hardly know."
"Did you know Romeo and Juliet got married less than twenty-four hours after they met."
"Yes, I know, I was paying attention in English class as well."
"You didn't look as though you were. You were staring out the window for most of the week."
"You should have been facing the front and not watching me. Anyway, Romeo and Juliet is the worst love story, it's horrible. Ends in tears. Why are you even bringing them up?"
"Yes but my point is we've spent more time together than Romeo and Juliet so you can't say you hardly know me. Those two didn't really know each other but they still knew they wanted to get married, like how I know how I feel about you and how I want to spend time with you. I don't need weeks and weeks to figure out that I like you Kelse."
He's kinda sweet when he's tipsy.
"You do realize those two are fictional characters, right?"
"You're ruining this." he says, pulling on my messy braid.
"You're really weird when you're drunk." I tell him.
"Not that weird."
"Not that weird? You're spouting Romeo and Juliet."
"Well, I didn't think Twilight would go down as well."
I laugh and rest my forehead on his shoulder.
"I have missed you." he says softly.
"All right, I confess, I missed you too."
"The only reason you missed me is 'cause you were running the other way all week." he smirks.
I lift my head and give him a look. "And you spent all week cozying up to Phoebe."
"JT has been with Amber all week, so yeah...obviously Phoebe is going to be around as well. And I wasn't cozying up to her, I couldn't get rid of her, and JT always made it so I had to sit next to her."
"How convenient." I try to climb off his lap but he grips my hips and holds me firmly on his lap.
"Kelse...don't. Please. I've only just got you to talk to me, don't get jealous over Phoebe."
"I'm not jealous of her. I can't stand her!"
"I'm here right now, with you. Not her."
"You're only here 'cause you broke in. I bet she has a better security system than us."
"Nah...I just couldn't find any trees outside her window."
My jaw drops dramatically and I playfully smack him.
"I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'." Mitchel laughs, holding his arms up to defend himself.
He quickly grabs my wrists so I can't smack him anymore and pulls me closer. I shake my head.
"No, you have to leave." I argue, trying not to let him kiss me. "Noooo." I say as our lips touch and he chuckles and lets go of my wrists and grabs my face to stop me from pulling away and I have no choice but to kiss him. I slide my hands over his shoulders and rest my elbows on his shoulders.
I love how he tastes of alcohol and mint, but I have to pull away before we both get too carried away.
"Ok, Romeo. I need you to climb back out my window and leave now."
"I don't want to."
"I don't care what you want to do, my mom hasn't been sleeping well and if she hears us in here she'll give us both a lecture on teenage pregnancy."
"What?" Mitchel chuckles.
"No, seriously, she gave it to me the other day. So please just leave so she doesn't murder me."
"But I haven't seen you all week."
"Yes you have, you saw me at school. I don't have a twin, that was definitely me."
"You know what I mean."
"I will message you, ok?"
He shakes his head and pouts.
"Mitchel, please, you have to go, you can't stay here! And Boston is waiting for you."
"I'm not leaving without you. Now change out of these clothes, you're all wet." he says with a silly grin, looking at the spilled hot chocolate that is soaking into his own jeans and hoodie.
I slide off of him and cross my arms.
"You have to go." I tell him, trying to sound as though I mean it.
I don't want him to leave but he can't stay here.
"No. I was being serious, I'm not leaving this room unless you're coming with me." He lifts his legs up and lays down on my pillow and rests his arm behind his head. "Bed's comfy." he grins.
"I can't go with you."
"Why not?"
"Because my mom will go insane if I'm not here when she wakes up. And I am sort of grounded because of last Saturday night."
"Does she wake you up on Saturday?"
"No, she normally just gets dressed for work and leaves." I say and notice the big grin on his face.
"Then she won't know if you're here or not, so get some shoes on and let's go."
I open my mouth to protest but realize he has a point. She never checks in on me.
"I'll bring you back in the morning so you can sneak back in." he says, picking up Mr. Pickles my stuffed monkey. "This is um...adorable."
"Leave Mr. Pickles alone."
I open my drawers and pull out fresh pajama bottoms, but then I remember Boston is in the car and we have to climb a tree. I can't go out in these. I pull them out and stuff them in my school bag. I find a pair of skinny black jeans and a baggy Nirvana T-shirt and twirl my finger for him to turn around.
"I've seen it before." he whines.
"I hope you're talking about me and not girls in general." I joke.
"Ok, let's get one thing straight, when I'm with you I don't imagine, talk about, or want other girls, got it?"
"And when you're not with me?"
"Then I'm thinking about you and your body parts. No one else's."
"Body parts? That's so romantic, Romeo. Anyway, you've seen my legs, not my boobs."
"I already know you don't have a bra on. When you spilled the drink on yourself your t-shirt went see-through." I look down at my white t-shirt and then back at him to find him giving me a playful smile.
"Just do it." I tell him.
He laughs and drapes Mr. Pickles over his eyes. I pull on my clothes and find my hoodie and Converse.
"I can't believe I'm sneaking out."
"It's 'cause ya love me." he teases, dropping Mr. Pickles onto my pillow as he stands up.
"If she finds out I'm soooo dead. She'll take my phone this time and I won't be able to talk to anyone ever again." I say as Mitchel climbs back out of my window and sits on the ledge, holding his hand out to me.
"Then I'll get you a new one." he replies matter-of-factly.
I let out a here-goes-nothing sigh and hand him my bag which he lifts onto his shoulder. He holds onto the branch that is leaning against the wall outside my window and uses it to lift himself onto another branch. I carefully climb out and follow him down the tree. I'm glad the moon is out tonight otherwise we would be doing this in complete darkness.
Mitchel jumps down and helps me down to the ground, and we quietly leave the garden through the side gate. It isn't until Mitchel starts walking that I realize how drunk he is. I'm amazed he didn't fall out of the tree. Boston is waiting in JT's car at the end of the street, playing on his phone. Mitchel opens the passenger door and lifts the seat forward and I climb in.
"Hi, Boston." I smile awkwardly.
"Hey." he replies, pulling the earbuds out of his ears. "You two make up?" he asks with a cheeky smile.
"Something like that." I reply.
Mitchel passes my bag to me and climbs in next to me, and five minutes into the journey, Mitchel is asleep in my lap.
28
We pull into Mitchel's driveway and park behind his Mom's black Jeep, and Boston climbs out.
"Uh...Boston, a little help here." I say.
"Just push him off." Boston laughs.
"I'm not that mean."
Boston leans back into the car and presses the horn and Mitchel jerks awake.
&nb
sp; "What the...?"
"Wake up!" Boston laughs.
Mitchel sits up and stretches while I climb out with my bag and wait for him. Boston is already at the front door, knocking. I know it must be close to midnight, I hope he doesn't wake their mom up. Mitchel stumbles out of the car and closes the door, then he wraps an arm around my shoulders and walks me to the front door.
"Is your mom awake?" I whisper.
"Probably, she doesn't have work tomorrow and she likes to binge on all the programs she missed during the week.”
I don't know how I feel about seeing Willa this late. Will she mind me coming home with Mitchel at midnight? What must she think of me? But then again, her son did just break into my house and practically force me to come home with him.
JT opens the door in a pair of black boxer shorts, a ThunderCats t-shirt, and a pair of yellow socks. I try not to giggle at how random he looks. He's eating a bowl of cereal and nods his head at us to come in. We all wander inside and Boston drops down into the armchair straight away and tucks into a bowl of popcorn. Popcorn!!
Mitchel closes the door and disappears down the hallway. I hover near the archway to the living room. Willa and JT are sitting on the couch together, and Willa's got a laptop on her lap scrolling through Facebook, and Teen Wolf is on the TV. Their mom is so cool.
"Oh, Kelsey, I didn't know you were here as well." Willa says when she finally notices me.
I smile but stay where I am.
"Boston, move. Let Kelsey sit there." Willa says.
Boston doesn't complain and gets up with the bowl of popcorn and plops down onto the beanbag next to the armchair. I sit down and reach over and grab a handful of popcorn before he munches the whole lot.
"There's another bag of popcorn." Willa tells me as Mitchel walks in through the kitchen archway. He picks up the other bag of popcorn and drops it into my lap and slides over the arm of the chair and sits next to me. He's lucky he's so scrawny otherwise we wouldn't fit in the same chair together.
"So what brings you over here so late? Mitchel said you needed a ride. Is everything ok?"
Did he? I give Mitchel a look and he blanks me with a smirk on his face.
"Not that I mind, of course." Willa adds.
"Everything is fine." I tell her.