I shook myself out of my thoughts and listened idly to Dad and Uncle Steve's conversation as we walked back to the dining room. Lilly was already sitting in her favorite spot with a big smile on her chubby face. When she noticed me, she patted the seat next to her, beckoning me toward her with one tiny hand.
“Lizzie!” she screeched excitedly. “Sit next to me!”
A warm smile formed on my face as I took the seat next to her. “Are you hungry, Lilly?”
She shook her head furiously, rocking back and forth in her booster seat that was strapped onto the dining room chair. “I'm going to eat all of my vegetables just like a big girl! Mommy said that after I eat all my food, I can get a frozened yogurt!” Her brown eyes widened and the light from the chandelier that hung above us caused them to sparkle.
“Wow! Frozened yogurt? Really?” I feigned excitement, trying not to laugh as I repeated the word that she had said incorrectly.
She nodded in response to my question before losing interest in our conversation and starting to play with the utensils that were spread out in front of her. When I noticed her small hand reaching for the knife I snatched it up and set it on my plate, cutting the palm of my hand in the process. I really should pay more attention to what I'm doing. With a sigh, I pushed myself up from the table and, making sure to push the knives out of Lilly's reach, speed walked into the kitchen.
When I walked in, my mom was busy placing a pie shaped pan into the oven while Mrs. Richardson began to exit the room. As quickly as possible, I rinsed off the droplets of blood that had formed along the line of the cut and flattened a paper towel against it. By the time I was finished and had returned to the table, everyone was sitting down and waiting for me.
“Nice of you to join us,” Brianna said as I slipped into my seat.
I shot her a look that I only hoped could be described as deathly and listened quietly as Dad blessed the food.
“Amen,” we all chorused just before we began to fill our plates to the brim with the food that was laid out before us.
I made sure to shovel an extra-large helping of mashed potatoes onto my plate, along with a medium sized piece of grilled salmon, and a small spoonful of spinach and broccoli casserole. Next to me, Lilly pointed a finger to what she wanted to eat and I put a small serving of each item onto her plate. Once all of the plates were filled, the parents got into a heated conversation about a movie they had all seen recently while Brianna tried to win over Lilly.
I smiled, feeling proud of my little sister for knowing better than to trust the blonde bimbo who was seated in the chair on her right. Brianna smiled as Lilly shoved a spoonful of spinach and broccoli casserole into her mouth. “You are one adorable little girl,” she cooed.
Lilly turned toward Brianna, looking at her as if she had just said the most heinous and outlandish of things. She leaned toward Brianna, and to my amusement, spat the food from her mouth right into Brianna's face. “I am not a little girl,” she growled, putting emphasis on each syllable by slamming her fist down onto the edge of the table as she spoke. “I am a big girl! You are a baby! Don't call me a little girl!” By the time she had finished, she was screaming and had the attention of everyone in the room.
Everyone had a shocked expression on their face, with an exception to me. I could feel my face heating up, and not being able to hold it in, my body began to shake with laughter. The look on Brianna's face was priceless and I had to admit that she looked nice in green. The chewed up remains of Lilly's food slowly slid down Brianna's face and dripped from her chin and onto her black dress. Lilly looked from me to Brianna, and then glanced around the table, meeting everyone's eyes for a second before she shrugged and shoved another bite of her food into her mouth. Her nonchalant expression only caused me to laugh more, this time slamming my fist down onto the table with one hand and clutching my stomach with the other.
As the shock began to wear off of Brianna she held her hand up to her face, grimaced, and pushed her chair back so fast that it almost fell over. She stood quickly and stalked out of the room and toward the doorway that led to the staircase.
Someone cleared their throat and I tried to calm myself down by taking deep breaths until the laughter decreased slowly but surely. I looked up into the eyes of four frowning parents. My dad pointed his finger at the doorway Brianna had just fled through and gave me a look that told me that I needed to apologize for laughing at her. I frowned and gripped my fork tightly in my hand, stuffing a piece of salmon into my mouth. He had to be dreaming if he thought that I was going to apologize to her. It's not like I even did anything to her in the first place. Shouldn't Lilly be the one apologizing?
He shook his head at me, giving me a disappointed look that I easily returned. “I didn't do anything so I don't see why I should apologize.”
He flicked his eyes to my mom for a second before returning his gaze to me. “It was very insensitive of you to laugh like that.”
My mom nodded her head in agreement as Mrs. Richardson added on saying, “Brianna may put on a hard front but she really does mean well. It would mean the word to her if you apologized. That's what friends are for right? To lift your spirits when you're feeling down?”
I held back the need to scoff at her words and figured that it would be of no use for me to explain that Brianna and I weren’t and never would be friends. I sighed, and after taking another bite of my food, I followed in the direction that Brianna had run off in.
At the top of the stairs I could hear the sound of sobbing coming from the bathroom. What a drama queen. Rolling my eyes, I walked to the door and lightly rapped my hand against it.
“Go away!” came the response.
“Are you really crying because I laughed at you? Because if you are, then you really are a baby.”
The door was yanked open to reveal a red eyed Brianna staring at me as if I was gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. “It's none of your business. Now I would really appreciate it if you would go away,” she growled.
I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning against the wall opposite of the bathroom doorway. “Cut the crap, Brianna. Just tell me why you're crying and stop acting like a brat.”
“I'm the brat?” she scoffed and took a few steps toward me, the wet trails on her cheeks glistening in the light. “You don't know one thing about me.”
“I don't? I guess I don't know that you're middle name is Nicole. I also don't know that you got your period at your twelfth birthday pool party and spent half of the day crying in the bathroom. I definitely don't know that you're a natural brunette either. I’m also completely oblivious to the fact that you’re a conceited, arrogant slut, right?” My words were dripping with sarcasm and only caused Brianna's glare to deepen.
“You don't know what I've been through,” she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “Blake understands me. I can tell that he knows how to keep a secret because he obviously hasn't told you anything, has he?”
I had the urge to slap the stupid smirk off her clown paint covered face, but I refrained myself. “What are you talking about?”
She shrugged, but her eyes stayed on mine. “Remember that day he was at my house?”
I nodded, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't, I said, “Yeah, what about it?”
Brianna shook her head, “I'm not telling. Blake's your boyfriend so why don't you just ask him?”
“I already did. He said that nothing happened.”
“That's what he may have said, but that doesn't mean that it's the truth.”
I frowned, getting immensely annoyed with her for implying that Blake was lying to me. I know Blake, and although he had lied once before, I knew that he wouldn't lie to me again. “Blake is my boyfriend, he wouldn't lie to me.”
She smiled. “Not for much longer. You can be so naive sometimes, Violet.”
Chapter 10
The wind whipped at my hair, sending chills through my body as my eyes adjusted to the blinding sunlight. For the first t
ime in years I was actually proud to have a mother who worried about me nonstop. If she had not forced me into wearing a jacket I probably would have spent half of the day complaining about how cold it was. It wasn't cold enough for me to be freezing, but it most definitely was not hot outside. Just one look at the ground would inform you that it had been raining cats and dogs last night. The lawn was still wet in some places so I made a mental note to avoid the grass at all costs. The house door behind me slammed shut, bringing me out of my silent reverie.
“Don't hog the sidewalk, Violet,” Brianna growled moodily as she shoved past me, causing me to lose my footing and slip right off of the sidewalk and into the muddy grass that surrounded it. My feet sank into the ground and I could immediately feel the murky water, cold against my toes as it permeated my shoes and socks. A single glance at my shoes was enough to tell me that they were not only ruined, but also coated in a fine layer of mud. With a deep scowl lining my features, I narrowed my eyes as my head slowly tilted up to look at Brianna's retreating figure.
My feet came free from the mud with two soft suctioning sounds. Just as I was about to turn around to grab another pair of shoes—preferably a pair of mud free ones—the bus turned the corner at the end of my street. For a moment I debated whether mud covered shoes would be a good enough reason to miss the bus before I made my decision and sprinted toward the house, leaving muddy footprints behind me. My feet slapped against the concrete until I hopped up the few steps to the porch and yanked my feet free of the muddy shoes in one fluid motion.
I was mere seconds from stepping into the house when I froze mid-step. My mom would literally kill me if I tracked mud through the house, no matter what the reason was. Glancing over my shoulder, I made eye contact with the bus driver who was stopped at the bus at the corner of my house. As the last kid boarded the bus, she sent me a self-satisfied smirk just before the doors closed and the bus pulled away from the curb.
A loud witch-like cackle came from my left, immediately gaining my attention. Brianna sat in the driver seat of her car with the window rolled all the way the down so that I was able to see her evil face more clearly. Her elbows were propped up on the window's edge and the gentle breeze blew at the wispy strands of hair that framed her face. I hated the fact that she was prettier than I was but I would never admit that to her. When we were in our prepubescent years, I was stick-thin and lanky whilst Brianna's only flaw pertained to the fact that she wore glasses. As soon as she ditched the glasses for contacts my self-esteem had plummeted to the ground.
I had never thought that I was ugly per se, but I had never seen myself as pretty either. I don't really seem to fit into either category. I'm just an average teenager, and I'm perfectly content in staying that way. In some ways it's a gift that I was born with normal looks. People like Brianna have to stress over potentially harmful hair chemicals, make-up that will definitely cause wrinkles in the future, and clothes and shoes that can break your neck or ensure that you will get hypothermia from the lack of warmth.
With a smile to myself, I focused my eyes back on Brianna who was giving me a strange look. For a moment I was surprised because this was not the usual, I-stepped-in-gum-look that she always gives me. This look seemed as if she was trying to figure me out. Before I could come up with a witty reply about her staring at me, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Thanks,” she mumbled under her breath, looking away from me.
I stared at her with a look of confusion, waiting for her to turn back and meet my eyes but she never did. What was she thanking me for?
“Get in loser,” she sighed; hooking a thumb over her shoulder to point at the seat behind her.
I glanced from her to the back seat with a dazed look on my face; slightly confused from her abrupt change in attitude. “I'm not a loser. Besides, I don't even have any shoes to wear.”
Brianna turned her head slightly, trailing her eyes from my favorite band T-shirt and all the way down to my mud coated socks. “If you're not a loser then you're a freak. Only freaks talk to themselves.” I bit my lip as I realized that I had been talking aloud. I tried to look nonchalant as her eyes met mine for a split second before she continued. “Get in. I'll just have Ella bring you some shoes out when we pick her up. You look about the same size,” she shrugged nonchalantly.
Although I desperately wanted to sprint away from Brianna's car and run to hide under my bed, I swallowed my insults and pushed my hatred back as I went to open the car door and slide into the seat behind her. After all, I needed a ride and she was offering. I would be an idiot to pass that up. As soon as I pulled the door shut, Brianna backed the car out the driveway and peeled off down the road.
The car was going so fast that everything outside of my window was one big blur. I grappled for my seat belt until my hand made contact with the cold metal and I heard the satisfying click as it came into contact with the holder.
“Slow your roll, speed racer!” I screeched, now fully aware that the only reason she had offered me a ride was so that she could ensure I died an untimely death.
The sound of Brianna's laughter filled my ears, but to my surprise, the car slowed down. “We're here already anyway.”
I looked to my left to see that we had pulled up in front of a house that was on the end of our block. The “For Sale” sign that had been up all summer now had a new sign in its place that said, “Sold!” in black, bolded letters. Standing on the porch steps was a skinnier and younger version of Lena, accompanied by a pretty brunette with her hair in a high ponytail. They jogged over to us with smiles on their faces.
Ella's hair whipped out behind her as she ran toward the car, bumping the other girl on the hip and giggling as she did so. Her pleated uniform skirt was hanging longer than usual and she had on a pair of Hello Kitty knee high socks. She yanked the passenger side door open with a little too much force than necessary.
“Hey,” she greeted, smiling sweetly at Brianna, and not noticing me in the back seat.
The brunette opened the door to the back seat on the passenger side and slid in next to me; a smile lighting up her delicate pixy-like features. Noticing me almost instantly, she waved, and her smile brightened showing off a set of deep dimples in her cheeks. “Hey, I'm Anya! Who are you?”
I forced a smile, now feeling the stares of all three girls. Brianna's was jaded, whilst Ella had a look of pure hatred on her face, and Anya was waiting patiently with her pink lips turned up into a smile. “I'm Violet. It's nice to meet you Anya. I've heard a lot about you,” I lied. In all honesty, I had never heard her name before in my life. Brianna had a new friend every day, and most of their names were simple, and sounded good when said in a cheer-like manner.
Anya smiled, “I've heard a lot about you too! You're all Brianna talks about lately. You're the girl dating Blaze, right? Is he really as hot as I hear he is?” Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she spoke.
I furrowed my brows as I said, “His name is Blake. And no; he is not as hot as everyone says he is.” My eyes snapped to Ella who sat in the front seat with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared back at me. I wonder what I did to piss her off already.
Anya laughed and waved me off with her hand. “I bet he's gorgeous.”
I turned back to Anya and smiled whilst nodding. “I think he is.”
“I think he is too,” commented Brianna from the driver's seat. “I also think we're gonna be late if we sit here talking all day.” She looked at Ella expectantly as she said, “Did you bring the socks and shoes?”
Ella's green eyes gazed at me with pure disgust in them. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.”
I saw Brianna roll her eyes in the rear-view mirror. “If you brought them then I'll let you borrow a pair of mine tomorrow.”
A groan escaped from Ella as she pulled the shoes from her bag and tossed them into the backseat; narrowly missing my body. “Don't ruin them,” she growled.
“I wasn't planning on it.”
Not bothering to
reply to me, Ella buckled up her seat belt and started up a conversation with Brianna and Anya. Anya kept trying to include me into it but I was perfectly content with just relaxing on the ride to school. The only thing I heard was that Lena had missed the bus and had gotten a ride to school from her dad because her mom still wasn't “up to it”.
I zoned out and by the time we reached the school all of the buses had already left. The bell hadn't rung yet so there were plenty of kids still gathered around the courtyard. Most of them swarmed the car as soon as we entered the parking lot. I got a few surprised glances as I shuffled out of the car, but for the most part I was all right. Despite my feelings toward Brianna, I thanked her for the ride. She didn't so much as even spare me a sideways glance in response. All she did was wave me off like a queen would do to one of her more bothersome servants.
With a frown, I walked toward the gym with already aching feet. Apparently Ella and I don't wear the same size shoes after all.
Chapter 11
The steady rhythm of my feet slapping against the spongy pavement of the track was oddly calming. Even with the constant shouting that was coming from where Ms. Botch stood on the field, I was able to focus on the empty track ahead of me. The wind blew at the wispy strands of hair that framed my face and left my nose feeling numb from the chilly morning weather.
Yesterday the weather had been bearable. The usually chilly morning air had been gentle and warm against my skin, and yet today the air was at a new morning temperature: cold. Mother Nature needs a good slap across her face for not being able to make up her mind about the weather. Lucky for her, I’m more of a lover than a fighter. Well, occasionally I am.
Crush: A YA Romance Collection Page 31