by Lilly Purdon
“There's your answer, Prince Boner.”
“Don't call me that.”
“Well get used to it, I'm calling you that whenever you're being a pervert from now on.”
“Comes naturally though, I can’t help it.”
“Well then it sucks to be you.”
~*~
---Dustin's P.O.V---
‘A tear slid down Summer's cheek as she stared into Damien's eyes lovingly.
“I love you Damien, I love you so much it hurts me every time I think about you not being with me.”
Damien stood still, his eyes holding hers captive. “I love you too, my sweet Summer,” he confessed, in barely a whisper. A single tear slid down his cheek as he rushed to her and held her in his arms. “I will never leave you again, I swear to be with you no matter what, I'll never give up on the love we have!” he promised her with his soul.’
I stopped reading the stupid romance novel and closed the book. I stared at the cover for a while. It was of a girl and a guy holding each other lovingly while staring into each other's eyes. The book was pure bullshit.
Things like that never happened in real life.
I decided to pick the book randomly out of my mom's shelf because I was waiting for Justin to get home. The guy just never knew when to come home.
I was always the best out of the both of us. I always behaved when my parents told me to, I did all my chores, I acted appropriately at family gatherings, but with him, he never did anything they told him to.
Yet, he still got more girls than I did.
He got the girl I wanted most. I meant to throw the book onto the ground, but I ended up tossing it instead because I was weak. I knew deep down inside, one of the reasons I wanted her was because I knew he had his sights on her for a while. I wanted to win a girl over him for once.
“Uncle Justin, is something wrong?” my niece asked me.
“It's Dustin June, it's Dustin,” I snapped at her. I was starting to lose my cool.
“Sorry, I forgot,” she apologized quickly while clutching onto her teddy bear. I looked at my niece, before feeling horrible. She was only five years old. She was missing her two front teeth and was wearing a little tiara on her head.
“No, I'm sorry Julia. Uncle Dustin is being a meanie.” I tried smiling at her. She smiled back, showing her two missing front teeth.
“You’re nicer than Uncle Justin because uncle Justin never says sorry,” she stated. “Uncle Dustin is my favorite uncle!” she grinned.
I laughed while patting her little head.
Well, guess one girl was better than nothing.
~*~
---Rose's P.O.V---
I stood in front of a mirror and just stared at myself. I was wearing a long blue dress and clung on to all my curves. Axel had wanted to take me out dress shopping for the dinner, but I didn't feel like going out, so I decided to see what Cleo had in store. Thankfully we were about the same size.
My stepmother wasn’t in the house either. Somehow I had managed to avoid her the entire time. Thankfully with Axel’s sources, he knew exactly where she was in town so we had enough time to leave. He had connections I didn’t know about.
She had some dresses she had convinced my dad to buy that she hadn't even worn yet! And one just happened to fit me like a glove. “You look hot in that,” Axel complimented, grinning ear to ear. “You look hot in anything, but you look best in nothing.”
Instead of smacking his arm, I decided to accept the compliment. “Which one’s the best though?”
He shrugged, “they’re all hot in my opinion.”
“How am I supposed to choose?”
“Just go with this one. The blue really brings out your eyes.”
“You’re starting to sound like a girl,” I giggled.
“Well, that's what happens when all your sweetness rubs off on me.”
I scoffed at him. “Whatever, Mr. Bad Boy.”
“So are you ready for me to do your makeup?” he raised his eyebrows at me with an evil grin on his face.
I started backing away from him. “You?! Doing my makeup? Is this a nightmare?!”
He threw both his hands up in the air. “Just kidding, Layla hit me up and volunteered to do it for you.”
I held up my index finger. “Wait! I think my ears are playing tricks on me. Did you just say Layla?”
“Yup,” he replied, popping the 'p'. “Layla, as in the psycho bitch who ruined your high school experience, yes, her.”
“She called you and volunteered?” I furrowed my eyebrows together, not understanding why she would want to do such a thing.
“Shocked? You’re not alone.”
“Why?”
He shrugged, “I think she finally feels bad for everything she’s done, and it’s about god damn time she did. But personally, I think she deserves a few more punches thrown at her caked face-” Before Axel could finish his sentence, we were interrupted by the doorbell. “Well, that must be Satan.”
“I’ll get it,” I got up to open the door.
“I'll be locked up in your bedroom going through your panties, if anything goes wrong, scream,” he said before disappearing out the door.
“That’s helpful,” I mumbled before running downstairs. I opened the front door quickly, and was greeted with a bone crushing hug.
“Look, I know we're not on the best terms right now, but I'm trying…” Layla said, pulling away.
You could say I was left speechless. I didn't know what to do or say.
“I don’t know how apologies work… but please take this as one. Now, let's get you prepped up.”
~*~
Turns out, Layla was a lot gentler when it came to makeovers than Kasay.
Kasay didn't care about my well being, but Layla did. Layla was extra careful, with every little brush or tug of my hair, she'd ask if it hurt. She also gave me a mirror so I could see what she was doing to my face or hair.
“To gain your trust,” she had said when she handed me the mirror. She applied makeup on my face lightly, not overdoing it.
“So, can I help with what you two are planning for tonight?” she asked me as she applied some mascara onto my eyelashes.
“How do you know we’re planning something?”
“Your little friend Justin has a big mouth.”
I had the urge to ask her why she was suddenly acting like the perfect friend, but I held my tongue. She treated me like an old friend she had known for years. It was… odd.
“Did you really like Jaxon?” The question slipped out of my mouth before I could even think.
She tensed up a little, but was still able to keep her cool. “I wouldn't use that word ‘like’. I'd say I was physically attracted to him and I was kind of attracted to his personality.”
“You still like him, don't you?” I pushed further.
I was afraid of her snapping, but thought she wouldn't be able to do anything to me in my own house, especially with Axel upstairs.
“He dumped me just over a week ago, what do you think?” she asked in a stone cold tone.
“That’s all I wanted to know.”
She relaxed a bit. “But if he were to ask for me back, I'd say no.”
“Why?” I asked as she put her mascara away.
“He's made his decision, and his decision is to stick with you.” She replied simply, “plus, there are plenty of fish in the sea… there’s one in particular I have my eye on.”
“Really? Who?” I asked, wanting to know who she had her sights on.
“Someone whose heart is actually dedicated to only one person,” she smiled while getting up. “Well, I guess it's my queue to leave,” she turned around to leave, but my hand reached out to grab her arm.
“Wait!” I said, making her turn around.
“Yes?” she raised both her eyebrows at me.
“Since Cleo is your mom… I’d like to ask you if you’d like to help with tonight's plans.”
An evil grin stretched
across her face. This time it wasn't actually as threatening, because I knew it wasn't directed towards me.
“I’d love to,” she replied.
~*~
“This is a horrible idea,” Axel groaned from the back seat, “should’ve ridden my baby.”
“You have plenty of time for that in the future,” Justin snickered, taking what Axel said sexually.
“Shut up and quit whining,” Layla snapped at him. “We're going to get the twins whether you like it or not.”
“But they annoy the fuck out of me.” He turned to me, “Princess, please do something.”
“No can do, Prince.” I patted his head.
Layla snorted out loud. “Prince? That's a dog's name.”
“At least I don’t act one like you, bitch.”
I rubbed both my temples before throwing my head back.
We were currently in Layla's pink convertible driving to the dinner. Layla and Axel had been arguing nonstop. Their personalities were too alike, they were both hard headed and confident in their way of life. A large weight got lifted off my shoulders when I discovered they couldn't get along if their lives depended on it.
Layla just flirted with him at school to get me jealous and pissed off. I should've known though. Sure she may have liked him at one point, but he’d never go for her.
They were both smart asses, loud, and both wouldn't take shit off one another.
“Quit being an ass! No wonder your name is Axel Storm Spencer, your initials spell 'ass'!” she turned to me. “Tell your boyfriend to quit being an ass.”
“He's not my-”
“I'm not her-”
“There's no point in denying it. You two are obviously in love with each other.” Layla rolled her eyes.
Déjà vu.
Axel was quiet for the rest of the ride to the twin's house. Layla and I were the only ones making small talk. She gossiped about half of the school population. Turns out, Ricky was caught French kissing a sophomore football player at the Halloween party.
“Those two were so wasted, you would think they were both thinking they were kissing women!” she laughed.
I glanced at Axel through the corner of my eye, but I noticed he was already staring at me with an unreadable expression. His emerald green eyes pierced through my soul, like they were searching for something.
“I told that junior skank she'd never be team captain even when I graduate!” Layla finished her other story. “Hey, are you listening?” she tapped my shoulder, making me turn around.
“Y-Yeah,” I replied, turning away from Axel's intense gaze.
“We're here!” Layla announced, obnoxiously honking the car horn.
The two twins rushed out of the house all dressed up for the dinner. They were wearing matching blue ties and combed their hair to the same side so they looked identical.
“This is bullshit,” Axel grumbled. “Now I have to sit in the back seat with two Dr. Seuss characters.”
Both twins slipped into the seats next to Axel, so Axel was sitting in the middle. Both Justin and Dustin looked undeniably handsome.
“Jesus Christ! You have no idea how long we had to wait till you guys got here! Do you know how much torture it is having your grandmother question you about your sex life?!” one of the twins said.
No doubt it was Justin.
“You didn't have it as bad as me man; she gave me a whole lecture about how to get laid.” Dustin shot back.
“Well, you do need to get laid though,” Justin shrugged.
Axel spent the rest of the ride with his fingers plugged in his ears as the two twins bickered back and forth about what their grandmother put them through. Turns out, they had a niece named Julia who was only five. They had a sister in her early twenties who supposedly got knocked in high school.
“It was hilarious when she announced she was pregnant, mom fainted, grandma gave her a high five, and dad loaded his gun to go kill the poor guy!” Justin laughed.
“It was actually pretty scary,” Dustin shivered. “Scary as fu-”
“Dustin, if you try swearing again I will personally shove a handful of tampons in your mouth. Swearing doesn't suit you!” Layla shook her head.
Since when did we all become all buddy-buddy?
“Since Layla decided to pull that old stick out of her ass.”
I didn't notice I said the question out loud until Justin decided to give me an answer.
Axel of course didn't acknowledge anything that was going on because of his plugged ears. He just sat there like a brick, not trying to get along with anyone. He was silently screaming ‘I HATE LIFE’.
“Quit being a party pooper!” Justin ruffled Axel's hair, making Axel elbow him in the ribs.
“Don't. Ever. Touch. My. Hair.” Axel growled, threatening him.
“Take a chill pill dude!” Justin threw both his hands in the air.
“I've got some Midol Teen in my purse if he needs any,” Layla announced, throwing Justin her purse.
He caught it swiftly and started going through it. “Hmm... let me find it.” That earned him another elbow in the ribs. “Quit being so violent! Jesus!”
“Maybe if you quit being an ass, he'd quit being so violent with you!” Dustin said.
“You know what Dustin? You're a dick, and you are what you eat.” Justin insulted Dustin, making Dustin attempt to throw a punch at Justin, but Justin blocked it swiftly. “Nice try, little brother.”
“Don’t call me that! You’re approximately 68 seconds older than me, that’s nothing!”
“That’s over a full minute, little brother!”
The two tried tackling each other with Axel sitting in the middle.
“Both of you stop it!” Layla scolded while driving.
Dustin tried throwing another punch at Justin, but Axel grabbed Dustin's fist before it could pass him. “Let me do it,” Axel offered, throwing a punch at Justin's arm. Justin groaned out in pain.
“Rosie, seriously, calm your boyfriend down.”
“I’m not her-”
“He's not my-” I cut myself off before I could finish the sentence. “You know what, I think I will.” And I did something I never thought I'd do in a million years. I unbuckled my seatbelt, climbed onto the back seat, and pressed my lips against Axel's lips.
“Get a room!” Justin yelled.
“Keep it PG!” Dustin said.
“Not in my car!”
Never in a million years would I ever imagine making out with Axel Storm Spencer in Layla Cleo Star's pink convertible, with both Justin and Dustin on either side of us.