I'm back! (Once again) I've been busy with schoolwork, of course, but I've actually been working on some projects :D attempting to re-write 'Before I Forget' which I'm lovin'!
Anyways, this can be looked at as another 'Jealousy' sketch, coming from my other one. Same pairing, different concept. A bit AU, but I had fun and I hope you like it (:
For what felt like the hundredth time that night, my best friend shot me an annoyed look as he dropped my hand, wiping his own on his dark blue jeans.
"Bloss" He growled, his face playful. "You gotta stop sweating so much."
I flushed a dark crimson and swallowed, clasping my damp hands together nervously. My stomach was tumbling with nerves, cramping and tightening. I'd heard about butterflies, but it felt much more like there were tarantulas in my stomach, crawling up my chest and into my throat. I couldn't stop shaking, much less sweating.
"I can't help it." I growled back, my head low as I clasped my hands over my skirt. "I'm so nervous."
He chuckled, and I looked up at him in amazement. How could he be so calm and cool about this? We were about to pull off a prank, a hideous joke, setting someone up, and he was laughing at me for being nervous? I glared at him and he smirked back. He looked so innocent, yet so eager to lie. It was amazing, much like how it was so amazing that we became friends in the first place.
"Boomer" I muttered, swallowing. I stared straight ahead, at the car in front of us. "I don't think I can do this."
His blue eyes widened at me, even though I wasn't looking his way I could feel his incredulous stare on me. "Blossom!" He suddenly growled in warning and I looked at him. Sure enough, his sapphire eyes were narrowed at me. "You know how long we've been planning this. You can't chicken out on me now."
"Yeah, but-" I choked up, swallowing nervously. The traffic light switched to green and he accelerated forward, closer to our destination. Just the thought of it made my palms break out into a sweat again. "But he's your brother and he hates me and he has a girlfriend and-"
"Blossom" Boomer's strong tone talked over mine as he made the turn into the street. "How long have we been planning this?"
"That's not the point Boomer, it's strange enough that we're friends in school, imagine what everyone will think when they find out-"
"Blossom, how long?"
I sighed, looking up and blowing my red hair out of my eye makeup. "2 months" I mumbled, just loud enough so Boomer could hear me over the hum of the car engine. "But I-"
"Exactly!" Boomer interjected, grinning in triumph. His blue eyes found my face again as he stared at me in the passenger seat. "Bloss, are you going to let that go to waste?"
I sighed, running a hand across my forehead so I brushed the hair out of my face. I couldn't believe the situation I put myself in, driving along in Boomer's blue pickup truck to his house for dinner. I'd made my best attempt at putting on makeup- a little blush, eyeliner and mascara, even a little bit of lipstick. Here I was in a black dressy pencil skirt and a white dressy blouse, completely dolled up to impress a guy who hates my guts. True, Boomer and I had been working on this so-called 'brilliant' plan for 2 months, and I was ready to throw myself out of the moving vehicle just to get myself out of it.
"The famous pink puff…" Boomer began to tease, cackling. "The famous 18 year old girl who saves the fair city of Townsville on a daily basis from monsters and creatures of the unknown…scared of my big bully of a brother?"
"I'm not-" I started in strongly, but then swallowed at the look of triumph he gave me. "-Scared." I hissed. "I'm…cautious."
"Ri-i-i-i-ght" Boomer teased back, pulling into their driveway. I felt my heart pound against my ribcage and I gripped the seat tightly. He smirked at me. "So you're not about to pee your pants right now?"
I ignored this remark and instead scanned the Rowdyruffs house for any sign of him. I turned to Boomer, smiling confidently. "Well, his car isn't here! I guess he's not here, wow what a shame huh? I guess we can't go through with the plan anyway! Can't do it if he's not here! Well, it's been fun but I think I better go and-"
Boomer pulled me back, giving me such a serious look that I closed my mouth and ended my rant mid-sentence.
"Bloss" He sighed, giving me a knowing look. "You know as soon as you get home you're gonna regret not going through with this."
I sighed, knowing he was right. I closed the car door and slumped in my seat, preying I wouldn't cry. It wouldn't be the first time Boomer saw me cry, after all he was one of the only friends I had. Everyone saw me as a stuck up 'chemical x' snob at school, and did their best to ignore me. My sisters and the Rowdyruffs, however, had no trouble making friends.
"I know" I mumbled, folding my arms tightly across my chest. "I just…I don't think it's gonna work."
"Bloss" Boomer said knowingly, smiling. "You're always right."
"Maybe not this time…" I mumbled, feeling the tears well up. Boomer noticed and bit his lip, waving his hands at my face.
"Don't cry Bloss!" He whined, fanning at me. "You'll ruin your makeup! That's like a chick's apocalypse, ain't it?"
I gave in and broke with laughter at my friend's jokes. They always managed to cheer me up, no matter how corny or bad they were. With a weak sniff I raised my head high and ran a finger delicately along each eye, the tiniest bit of moisture only just staining my faint eye makeup.
"Phew!" Boomer smirked, winking. "That was a close one! If you go in there looking the faintest bit upset Moms will never let you out of her sight!"
I managed to smile, swallowing and preparing myself. 'Moms' wasn't the boys' real Mom, a good Samaritan who had taken them in when they were only small, when they had been cast out by Him and renounced themselves to the good side, in exchange for schooling and a good home…not to mention they were also attracted to the fact she made good cookies. She was a kindly woman in her thirties, curly red hair and deep brown eyes. She loved the boys a lot, even I could see that, and the boys loved her back, though they'd never admit it. She kind of reminded me of my own Mom- from what I could remember. Yep...It was Ms. Bellum.
I sighed, giving in and facing Boomer as though we were about to step into battle.
"How do I look?" I muttered, holding out my arms.
Boomer grinned widely, winking. "You look great, Dollface."
We both scrambled from his car and he locked it behind him. I couldn't stop shaking as I made my way up the footpath to the porch. The sun was just setting on the horizon, so we must have been early for dinner. As I made my way, trembling slightly with my high heeled shoes, Boomer's arm snaked around my shoulders and I drew in a sharp gasp.
"Boomer!" I hissed, glaring at him. "Do not do that!"
"Bloss, if we're gonna convince the guys, and Mom, that we're going out, we have to be convincing!" He rolled his eyes at me. "You're not doing a very good job."
"Well..." I fidgeted uncomfortably. I knew we had to pull this off, and I knew what it had to entail, I just couldn't help it. Boomer was my best guy friend, and I could help but feel like it was wrong, especially when he didn't even like me that way. "Still…"
"And if you can't hold my hand without sweating like crazy…" Boomer went on, folding his arms across his chest. I finally sighed moodily, giving him a fierce look and pouting as I held out my hand.
"Fine, but no more pet names. I draw the line there."
"Aw" He pouted at me, smirking. I gave him a swift kick as we approached the front door. I swallowed nervously, clamping my free hand on my skirt to stop me from sweating.
"Mom!" Boomer chirped happily, dragging me over the threshold. "I'm home!"
"I'm happy for you!" Butch's voice shouted back from the other end of the house. Boomer ignored this and filed upstairs to his room. I still gripped onto his hand as if it was a life preserver. Already I was regretting going through with this stupid plan. It's never going to work. Boomer pushed open his bedroom door and closed it behind him. I sat on his navy bedspread, my heart thumping.
"Aiight" He said, grinning eagerly. "So you all cool with the plan?"
"Pretend we're going out." I shrugged, attempting to steady my voice. "Sounds simple enough."
Boomer rolled his eyes at me, his hands on his hips. It was amazing how dumb he made me feel. Times have changed around here….
"Bloss" He snickered. "It isn't that simple if you're going to act so suspicious. If you want my brother's attention we gotta make this convincing, we gotta get him jealous!"
"Jealous?" I scoffed at him, raising my eyebrows. "As if he'd get jealous of me, Boomer."
Boomer gave me one of his best, mischievous grins as he pulled his navy sweatshirt over his head. "Not jealous of you Bloss." He snickered, throwing the discarded sweatshirt at me. It landed and splayed across my chest. "Jealous of me."
I gave him a disbelieving look as he rummaged through his drawers for another shirt. I'd been in Boomer's room before, back to our middle school years when I was his tutor for basically every subject. I remembered how nervous I was back then; going to their house with the slightest possibility I might run into him. Oh, how the times have changed…not.
"Oh" I scoffed. "And how are you going to pull that off?"
"It depends" He smirked, crash landing on the bed next to me. He flicked his white shirt at me playfully. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"On what?" I asked, worried he'd give the plan away. We'd been planning this for months, he can't ruin it now.
"On you" He snickered. "You gotta be convincing…" He gave me a thoughtful look, his finger on his bottom lip. "Which may be difficult, 'cuz you haven't had a man before, huh?"
I gave him a powerful punch to the arm as he laughed at me. He winced at the blow, but still gave me a mocking grin. "Shutup" I snapped, growling at him. "You're supposed to be my bestie!"
"I am" He nudged me back playfully. "But you need to loosen up, Bloss. Otherwise Brick will know something's up."
"No pressure, or anything." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
"You gotta make it seem like you're attracted to me." He grinned, giving me a wink that usually sends every other girl in school crazy. "If you can resist falling in love with me."
I rolled my eyes and laughed as he blew a kiss in my direction in his so called "sexy" way. "I'll try, Boomer." I smirked, returning his "sexy" look. "But I can't make any promises."
I heard the door slam and automatically I stiffened, hearing two voices I knew very well coming up the stairs. I heard solid, stomping feet clomp up the carpeted stairs followed by tiny dull thuds of a pair of stilettos, and I found myself cringing as I braced myself. There was a dull thump on the door and a second later the door flew open, bouncing off the wall from the force behind it.
"Boomer, if I see you park in my spot one more time I will fu- …oh."
I opened my eyes, and I saw Brick standing in the doorway, in all of his glory. It made me cringe inside to see myself so utterly devoted and falling for the one guy, but I couldn't help it. Every time I saw Brick it seemed as though there was a halo around him, and he even seemed to slow down when he walked. This had some side effects, as I can't talk to him for fear of drooling or simply being shocked into silence, but I couldn't do anything about it. That chopped, shaggy red hair crushed under his cute baseball cap, his muscular physique, natural tan and lightly freckled face with those intense, passionate blood red eyes and that mischievous grin…it all had me weak in the knees. I was so taken with him for so long that even Taylor Lautner in New Moon had no effect on me…
"Oh…Hey Puff."
I just realised he was talking to me, his red eyes flashing in annoyance. With a dull, sinking feeling in my stomach I mumbled back a reply as his attention already turned to Boomer, his eyes narrowed as Boomer sat beside me casually on his bedspread, still shirtless. He seemed to freeze, stiffening slightly as he eyed Boomer, who grinned back innocently.
"Brick" He scoffed suddenly, his brilliant white teeth glinting in the light. "Are you gonna yell at me, or are you gonna stand in my doorway like the idiot you are?"
Brick growled at him, his eyes darkening dangerously. He put his callosed hands on his studded belt (which was threaded oh-so sexily through his jeans that sat perfectly on his hips) and leaned against the doorframe, looming over Boomer with clear authority. I could tell he was about to open his mouth to probably snarl some furious retort, but before he could a pair of arms- slathered with fake tan and jingling from her Pandora bracelet- slithered around his muscular waist. It made me physically shiver to see those hands, fingers manicured to perfection and her fingers decorated with a variety of real diamonds, around him, nevertheless her.
She appeared, and her sneer was, if possible, even more dangerous than Brick's was. Her crystal blue eyes met mine, and they narrowed darkly. Here was Chantelle Tate- the sole symbol of my misery. I entered high school and immediately was introduced to the dragon lady herself, and immediately she despised me, and I her. Her long, fake blonde hair, fake smile, painted teeth, fake eyelashes, sprayed tan and tot, plastic little body that was usually skipping around while she screamed cheers was enough to drive me insane, what could possibly make her any worse was what occurred 2 months ago- she and Brick got together.
Her fingers seemed to tighten on Brick possessively as she saw me, her glossed lips curling into a disgusted sneer.
"Bricky…" She seemed to whine, looking up at him with a pathetic pout. "What's she doing here?"
Brick turned to Boomer questioningly, as if asking him the same question. Boomer stood up stiffly (he hated Chantelle, if possible, more than I did) and gripped my hand, pulling me roughly to my feet.
"Blossom is here…" He snarled at her, his usually cheerful blue eyes darkening with dislike. "At my request, introduce her to the family, and all."
Brick laughed, a short chuckle that caused that familiar blush to creep onto my cheeks again as I gripped Boomer's hand...I was already sweating.
"Boomer" He smirked. "We all know Blossom, idiot. You guys have been friends for ages."
"I know that" Boomer suddenly argued, growling in annoyance. He suddenly smirked, his lips twitching into sly smile. "But I wanted to introduce her in a new light…as my girlfriend."
Boomer pushed past him, me following close behind still gripping his hand tightly. I didn't get a chance to look at Brick, unable to with the hot embarrassing blush on my cheeks, but he was incredibly stiff as Boomer pushed past him, and as we were descending downstairs I heard nothing except Chantelle's disbelieving scoff.
"Is he serious?!"
I groaned, slamming my head against the living room wall dully.
"You did well" Boomer smirked. "Sorry to show you off like that, I just can't stand her!"
I turned to him, the way he was sprawled out so relaxingly on the couch, TV remote in his hand. He was flicking through the channels casually as I sat stiffly beside him, pretty much freaking out.
"I can't do this Boomer!" I groaned at him. "I can't…lie and pull a trick like this! It's useless! Chantelle's here and…" I groaned, looking down at the carpet sadly. "And let's be realistic…he's not going to leave Chantelle just for me…she's here, and-"
"Bloss" Boomer sat up, his eyes looking deeply into mine. He had his 'serious' face on, and the heavy, sick feeling in my stomach seemed to lighten. "Chantelle is nothing compared to you, okay? I know my brother, and I know you. Who wouldn't go for you, Bloss? You're an amazing person. You're just hung up on my brother, and I can tell if anyone would win his heart it's you."
My cheeks quickly heated as a smile crawled onto my face. I relaxed into my pillows, my head landing on Boomer's shoulder casually. "Thanks, Boomer." I managed to murmur.
"What are friends for?" Boomer sniggered, shoving me. I shoved him back and soon we were both laughing, wrestling for the remote for the TV. We barely noticed Butch waltz in, wearing his familiar dark sweatpants (and nothing else, as per usual). He rolled his eyes when he saw us, and soon had snatched the remote out of Boomer's hand.
"Hey, Blossy." He grinned at me, winking. "Is operation 'Get Rid of Whore' in play?"
I smirked, my shoulders rising into a half hearted shrug. "I guess."
"You better not let us down, Bloss" Butch narrowed his eyes, but his playful smirk was still plastered on his smug face. "If I have to hear that stupid fake giggle of hers one more time…"
"Tell me about it" Boomer scowled to himself and threw a muscular arm around my neck, drawing me in closer. I gaped, attempting to wrestle away from the powerful choke hold. "It's why Blossy's here to save us all!"
"Thank God" Butch sneered to himself, looking venomous. Usually Butch approves of anything dressed in a tight skirt and push-up bra, but Chantelle was never on Butch's favourite list at school, and when she started dating Brick, Butch was quick to get involved in kicking her to the curb. He wrinkled his nose. "Her perfume makes me want to puke."
"You think Mom will help?" Boomer suddenly smirked, his tongue between his teeth. Butch sniggered.
"I tried to convince her to poison the soup, but she wasn't as supportive of the idea."
"You guys are awful" I smirked, looking at their mischievous expressions. "I mean…" I wrinkled my nose. "She can't be that bad, right?"
"Oh, she can" Butch growled, his emerald eyes rolling to the ceiling. I grinned. "Besides..." Butch gave me a small chuckle. "Why are you defending her? Aren't you the one who's crushing on Brick?"
I blushed again, but still managed to glare at him. "Shutup, Butch."
We heard a familiar stomping from upstairs and the three of us casually feigned believable positions- me and Boomer flicking through the TV channels and Butch nearby, slumped across an armchair and checking his messages on his phone. All three of us listened to the heavy stomps coming from the carpeted stairs- heavier than any normal person- and pretended not to notice when Brick appeared in the doorway, his hands on his hips and his jaw set. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his fierce look rounded on Boomer.
"Boomer" He muttered casually, but his voice seemed deeper than usual. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Boomer gave me a subtle nudge, one I didn't need. I fought hard ot hide my blush as he slowly snaked his arm from my shoulders, giving me a subtle wink as he rose, grinning cockily.
"Sure, older brother…" He simpered, sniggering as he followed Brick out into the hall, some bounce in his step. The two disappeared into the hall, and for a split second both Butch and I were frozen in our positions, and as quick as Chemical X allowed us we were across the room, our ears pressed against the wall.
"Boomer" We heard Brick's faint snarl and I switched ears, alert and stiff. We were positive we'd hear something good. "What the Hell? When did you and Blossom start going out?"
"Today" Boomer replied casually. I could almost see his cocky smirk and his knowing grin. "Or was it yesterday? I dunno man, it just kind of happened you know?"
The two shared an awkward pause, and me and Butch got ready to launch back into our seats. They started up again.
"I thought you guys were just friends." Brick muttered darkly. "I didn't know you guys were…like that. Since when is it okay for a puff to go out with a ruff?"
"It's never been not okay" Boomer slyly retorted. We felt a slight thump within the wall, and I realised Brick had leaned against it, hard.
"What's with you Brick?" Boomer suddenly cooed. I could hear his voice practically drip with fake concern. "Not…jealous, are you?"
I held my breath.
"No!"
The breath came out in a low, deep sigh.
"I…I mean of course not! That's stupid, Boomer! I'm not…like that…I'm just concerned, that's all."
"Concerned?" Boomer repeated innocently. "Of what, dearest brother?"
"For her" Brick snarled smugly. "What drugs did you give her to start liking you, anyway?"
"Ha ha ha" Boomer snarled back sarcastically. Butch nudged me and the two of us flew back into our seats so fast the chairs were almost knocked backwards. The two brothers walked in a few seconds later, completely unaware (well, at least Brick wasn't aware) that we'd heard everything. Brick looked moody, and Boomer was skipping behind him cheerfully, occasionally stepping on the back of his worn black converse high tops.
"Screw you, Boomer" Brick snarled, making a random swipe at his brother. Boomer grinned cockily, flying back to his position next to me. Butch looked up, his own emerald green eyes twinkling mischievously.
"So Brick…" Butch smirked. "Why're you down here with little ol' us, hmm? Shouldn't you be up there with Miss South Carolina?"
Brick's eyes narrowed dangerously at the joke as Boomer twitched with visible sniggers. I cracked a smile as well. "Ha" Brick snarled, clearly not amused. "You guys better be nice, by the way, she's staying for dinner."
"Oh my" Boomer gaped, a hand going over his mouth. "They run out of low fat diet bars and Tab down at the mall?"
"Now, Boomer, don't be like that" Butch lectured seriously. "I'm sure we have enough carrot sticks in the house to keep her physically standing for the night."
"Ha ha!" Brick scowled over their laughter and my stifled snigger. I bit my lip to prevent anymore giggles but Brick was already issuing the three of us with a furious death stare, his arms folded tightly. He opened his mouth to probably give a furious retort, but instead the voice of Ms Bellum echoed through the house, saying dinner was ready.
Boomer smirked, already tugging on my hand and dragging me into the dining room, Butch skipping behind me.
The game was afoot…
…Whether I liked it or not.
Shall I continue? Well...I don't know! You'll have to let me know...oh however will you do it! :P
