Chapter 2
We were almost at school and Duffy, the school fatty and bully, stood up from his seat. He has a big camouflage jacket over a black shirt, sweat seeping through the jacket's armpits, and his long blonde hair flops to his face as the bus moved.
"Hey, where'd you get your shoes? Losers 'R' Us?" He jokes, I roll my eyes as Greg sends daggers to Duffy. He's very protective of us- me, Becky, Donna and Charlie.
"I made them." Donna replies, proudly. I just now noticed her lighting shoes. It was covered in every girl-ish material there is on the planet.
"You made them? In a toilet?" He laughs at his own joke.
"Get loss, Duffy." Charlie huffs.
"Yeah, leave her alone." Keith pipes. Duffy turns to him with narrowed eyes.
"What'd you say, Hollywood? you got something to say to me?" Duffy fists a handful of Keith's shirt.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing!" Keith's voice frantic and scared.
"Attention, K-mart shoppers, let's find a seat please? Yes, you in the camouflage jacket and Mariah Carey hairdo. yeah, just pop a squat, thank you." Lenny's voice filled the bus. I chuckle with the other students while looking at Duffy.
Pinching Keith's cheeks, he said, "You're lucky your dad's here, but he won't be here all day."
"Leave me alone." Keithie swats Duffy's large hands.
"Bean bag with arms and legs. Seriously, take a seat, or seats, before someone gets hurt." Lenny's voice came on again and the whole bus erupts in laughter.
"You're dead, man." Duffy says, backing off.
"Oh, just sit down, Duffy!" I explodes. I narrow my eyes at him, giving him my don't-mess-with-me look and he stumbles backward. I don't know why, but whenever I use my bitch face, they all get scared...
Keithie was quiet the rest of the ride, thinking about Duffy's threat. Before we got out of the bus, I stop him, and said that he shouldn't worry about Duffy.
"He's just bluffing." I assure him. He gave me a tight-lipped smile and hurries off.
"Hey, kiddo." Lenny stops me.
"Yeah?"
"Well, your uncle just called... He has some... surprising news..." He hesitates.
"What is it?" My curiosity peeked.
"Uh, you have, uhm, a cousin." He mumbles.
"A what?" I say in shock.
"A cousin. Braden." Braden?
"H-how old is he?" I breath. So my uncle finally knocked up some poor girl.
"He's sixteen."
"Sixteen?" I squeaked. He's been MIA for sixteen years? "Where is he now?"
"I don't know. Marcus said something about getting protection or something."
"Is that like a condom emergency because he's quite late for that, now that he has a kid."
Lenny laughs. "Go to school, kid. Don't worry. Your uncle will be fine."
"Yeah. Bye." Much to Lenny's surprise, I kiss his cheek. He's been a father figure to me too this past year.
"Hey, babe. Where have you been?" Greg asked as I sat down beside him, the class buzzing with excitement for the last day of school.
"Oh, just had a talk with your dad."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "About what?"
"About-" The teacher strides in as the school bell rings, stopping my sentence, because he was followed by a muscular boy with tattoos all over his arms. His hair was blonde and shoulder length, he has a moustache too and a goatee... He looks so much like my uncle... "Him." I continued my sentence to Greg, whose jaws were slacked and eyes wide.
"Alright, little birds, find your nest, man. Here we go. Alright, guys, normally we don't have exciting news this late into the term, but we have a new student joining us today, Braden Higgins. There's an empty seat over there, man, why don't you go cop a squat?"
Pointing to the left side of the room, but Braden had other plans. He started to stalk towards our row and he stops just behind me. All eyes strained on him as he moves.
"Or go that way, man, take your own path."
He stops beside me, looking at Edwin, a redhead kid who likes to sniff my hair through class, and Edwin offered up his wallet. I snicker lightly at Edwin's frightened expression.
"No. I sit here." Braden's voice is deep. Edwin nods, frantically, and scurries off to the open seat.
I turn from my seat to look at him. Closely. Hazel brown eyes. Just like my uncle.
"Is your dad Marcus Higgins?" Greg whispered.
"Yeah. Known him since I was a baby. He's the funniest." Andre says.
"Yeah, great, great man." Greg added. I rolled my eyes at them. Yeah 'cause you haven't lived with him yet.
"I wanna smash his face." Braden mumbles, lowly.
"Yeah, me too." Andre's smile faded.
"Yeah. Hate that guy." Greg adds.
"Screw him." They both turn to face the front.
"Hi.." I asks warily.
"Sup?" He cocks an eyebrow at me.
I smirk. "You have your dad's... uhm.. well, face."
"I don't think so."
"I'm Mia. Mia Evans. Your cousin." I smile a little at him.
He was shocked. Which I knew he would be, but then he smiled cheekily at me. He stood up suddenly, picks me as I squeal and gave me a bone-crushing hug. Woah, this dude is strong!
He sets me down gently and sat down again. The whole class looking at us weirdly. I shrug and sits down too.
Half of the day went by fast and soon everybody was itching to get off their seats. I stood up, giving Greg a brief smile, before going to Nancy's seat.
"Hey." I bump my hips to her arms. She looks up and smiles brightly at me. I roll my eyes at her mega-watt smile and knew the reason. Andre.
"Thank you." She gushes.
"I know, I know. I'm the best." I smirk.
"Is that your cousin? He looks... bad ass."
"I know. I met him today. It's weird. He looks so much like my uncle. It seems that my uncle is the mini-me, not Braden."
We laugh. "So, wanna hang out after school?"
"Sure. I've missed our gossips." I giggle.
The intercom turned on and the voice of Principal Tardio spreads throughout the school. Ah, the annual end of school year speech, meaning the end is near. I smile wistfully.
"And so, we've reached the end of another school year - froot loop? - Ten months of learning, growth, and yes, hopefully, a little bit of fun, but the journey we began together in September does not end today..." Principle Tardio's voice fades into the background as I caught Greg's hooded stare. Oh my...
The school bell rang, snapping me out of my reverie, and the students bursts into cheers. I even half expected everyone to sing and dance 'It's Summer Time' by High School Musical.
Someone scooped me up and twirled me around. I looked down and sees Greg's smiling face staring back at me. His smile was contagious and I can't help but giggle at him.
"Summer, baby!" He whoops as he puts me down.
I laugh and placed my forehead against his. He leaned down, pressing his lips against mine, pulling back and smiling more wider than before.
"C'mon!" Rolling my eyes yet again at his goofy grin. Hooking my arms around his waist and we headed outside.
We saw Braden waiting at the parking lot, looking around.
"Hey. Your dad picking you up?" I ask.
"I don't know. I told him it'd be cool if he stayed late at the soup kitchen, so it's all me.." Soup kitchen? My uncle hates volunteering. Ah, he's trying to get away from his son. I roll my eyes at that thought. Braden's actually really sweet, but his looks are deceiving.
"Oh, uhm, Braden, this is my boyfriend, Greg." I introduce. "And our friend, Andre."
"Well, Greg, I'm actually going to Nancy's place for a while, so you don't mind hanging out with Braden and Andre, right?" I unleashed my puppy dog eyes at him and he sighed.
Nancy's mom honks the horn, and I said a rushed goodbye to the boys, kissing Greg's lips briefly.
"Hello, Mia." Mrs. Arbuckle smiles at me the minute I got in the back seat.
"Hi, Mrs. Arbuckle." I smile in return.
"Who was that big kid over there with Greg?" She said as she drives away.
"Uh, my cousin, Braden." I said quickly, gauging her reaction.
"Ah. Marcus?" She asks, looking at the rearview mirror to me and I nod.
I know she and my uncle had a fling back when things were rocky between her and her husband. It was none of my business and so, I never brought it up and it seems that she's happier now with her husband.
"So, what did you feel when that last bell rang?" Nancy asks.
"Relief, excitement, sadness... I don't know. It's all jumbled up now." I laugh.
"Yeah, but I've been ready for school to end since it started." We laugh at how silly it sounded.
We arrived at their house. It was a modern sized family house with three bedrooms, a master bedroom, only three bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room and a basement. It was simple. Very Arbuckle-ish.
We head straight to Nancy's room. Having one older brother and two younger ones, she has her own bathroom as to not share it with the boys. This is practically my... my fourth home? Well, first is my home with my parents. Second is at the Feder's. Third is my uncle's place. And then, here.
This is where all those secret crushes were told, truth or dares that never leaves this four-sided room, and all those tubs of ice cream eaten whenever one of us was broken-hearted (mostly Nancy) and stupid fights in relationships (mostly about Greg). It's all held in here.
"So, how are you and Greg?" Nancy plops down her queen-sized bed.
"Well.." I hesitate.
"Spill." Was all she said when she heard the tone of my voice. That's Nancy for you. She knows right away when there's a big story about a certain something. That's why she'll become a great journalist someday.
And so, I began to tell her all about my morning. From the note, to the deer, to Greg's naked body...
"Wait! Hold up! He was naked?" She asks me, bewildered.
"Butt naked." I frankly said.
"Wow. Was he... you know.. on the large size?"
I swat her shoulder as she laughs. "I'm just kidding!" She pauses. "Was he?" She nudges shoulder with hers.
I roll my eyes, but my blush gave me away. I turned around, facing the ceiling this time, groaning in frustration.
"He's so hot. I know because he's been working out a lot lately. And he's been such a.. such a... such a tease!" I drape my arm over my eyes to hide my frustration.
She giggles beside me.
"This is not funny, Nancy." I moan. Greg has been nothing but sweet to me. "Whenever we make out, he makes this cute little whimper and then he stops me. Like really? I'm sexually frustrated and I haven't even had sex with him for crying out loud!"
That did it. Nancy is now fully laughing at my pain and her laugh is so contagious and so I began to giggle myself. Grrr, curse Nancy and her adorable laugh!
She finally calmed down to talk. "Oh, honey, maybe he's a little shy around you. Especially in that department. You both are virgins and well, he's not comfortable with you yet. I suggest you do make him comfortable. You know, show him how to do stuff with you."
"With me?" I squeak. I shook my head. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm ready to do it, yet.."
"Practice makes perfect, remember?" She winks. My phone rings in that exact moment. Oh, thank God, saved by the bell!
"Mia! You cannot believe what I just saw today!" Greg's voice is frantic and loud.
"Greg? Babe, slow down... What is it?"
"Babe, I just saw my dad's dick!" Gross! Talk about TMI..
"What? How did that happen? And where, exactly?" Suddenly, Nancy is flashing her phone in front of me.
'Party the Feders. '80s theme. See you there. ;) -Andre' I gave her a thumbs up and went back to Greg.
He takes in a huge gulp of air. "At the quarry. A bunch of college kids were there and your cousin kinda, uh, persuaded me and Andre to stay... "
"Uh huh. Were there any college girls there?" I cock an eyebrow as Nancy mouths 'what's wrong' to me. I held out my hand to tell her to wait.
"Uhm.. There were a couple of girls there..." He mumbles.
"Whatever, Greg." I hang up.
I groan loudly, slamming my head on Nancy's pillow.
"I hate him!" I said, but it was muffled by the pillows. I sat up and looked at Nancy. "He's so frustrating! He goes and does something completely amazing like that breakfast this morning, but then he does this stupid thing again where he parties with college girls! I give up!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.
"Oh, sweetie, sooner or later, you two will be making out on their sofa again. He's a guy. There's nothing more you can do." She pauses. "Well, you could always take revenge, you know." She smirks that I-got-the-perfect-plan-if-only-you-agree-to-it evil smirk.
"Tell me." I sniff and she smiled wickedly at me.
She leaned on my ear to tell me her plan and as I hear it further, my smile grows wider and wider, like the Cheshire cat.
A/N: Heyo. So here you go. I know. I hate leaving you cliffhangers. But then you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what that plan is.
I love how people were actually waiting for this story. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
xoxo,
Violet.
