Since Otto was totally bailed on at Mad Town he blindly walked around town just thinking about his sudden need to bag on his sister recently... Because she was making it so easy! Why was she acting this way in the first place? He made a mental note to go eavesdropping on her this week so he could get to the bottom of this. Why did Twister all of a sudden leave him in Mad town alone? He never does that. Unless he is mad... Then why is he mad? He has no need to be angry at him! He knew for a fact Twister lied to him with the whole helping his dad crap... He never helps his dad at all even when he is asked... He would rather be around Otto and the crew.
When Otto eventually came back home after visiting the shore shack and the amusement park on the pier, He found his so called 'best bro' next to his sister and the Squid offering ideas for an article. How long has he been here?
"Hey Twist..." Otto said loudly so his presence was known. "How's your dad? Get everything sorted out?"
"Yeaah.. Everything's fine, O-Man." Twister said going with the flow Otto had casted out. "How was your afternoon?"
"Oh I didn't do much... since I was totally dumped like a sack of week old fish tacos!"
"Well You kept bagging on Reg, Dude." Twister said right out, standing up in front of both Reggie and Sammy. "That was not cool. She's your sister, Have some sympathy!"
"Would I tell you to 'Have some sympathy' for Lars?" Otto countered.
"Not the same thing, Man." Twister said crossing his arms out in front of him. "Reggie doesn't try to make your life hell just for fun, Okay? So stop using that old excuse every time I confront you about something!" Reggie and Sammy glanced at each other at the sudden outburst. Otto was fuming at this point. "You probably don't even know what's going on with her."
"Do you?" Otto asked right out. "Do you know what's going on with her? She is a girl! It's probably hormones or some crap like that."
"Hey!" Reggie started to protest but Twister held out a hand in front of her to stop her from saying anything.
"Maybe she would tell us if she wasn't afraid of getting made fun of." Twister said smoothly. "Duh."
"Why are you fighting me all of a sudden, dude?" Otto asked glaring at him before a sneaky glint emerged in his eye, making Twister second guess everything he was doing because it just made Otto look angrier. "You have the hots for her, don't you?" Twister suddenly felt the room grow warmer in temperature, Otto just frowned deeply at him in disdain when he didn't answer right away. Reggie just looked at Twister as his face grew a light red making her feel her own blush creep up her neck to her face at the question her brother just asked.
"NO. It's because she's my friend too!" Twister said throwing his hands up in the air. "S-She actually really hurt herself today, didn't you know?"
"She'll be fine, Twist." Otto said waving a hand at his sister dismissively. "She always is, You know that."
"What if she wasn't?" Sammy asked quickly getting himself involved. "What would you have done then?"
This shut Otto up real quickly. What would he have done? Would he have felt bad if his sister wouldn't be able to skate for months on end? Possibly. He was never presented with that kind of dilemma before.
"I dunno. Maybe I wouldn't come down on her as bad as I have been.. but she did do it to herself!" Otto muttered angrily. Why had they all ganged up against him. "What's your deal?"
"It's not fair the way your treating your sister, Otto." Sammy pointed out. "It needs to stop, Even Raymundo says so."
Otto looked over at the entryway to the kitchen and surely enough, there was his father just watching the entire thing go down in his living room.
"Let the truth be told, Rocket boy." Raymundo said crossing his arms. "It isn't fair how your treating your sister.. Take a look at her bruise and tell me that she wasn't hurt bad enough."
"Dad.." Reggie said in a hushed, slightly embarrassed tone. "I am not going to flash the room, Your nuts!"
"It was only a figure of speech, sweetheart. Her bruise actually starts at the bottom of the spine and ends half way down her glutes, to put it into perspective. She almost broke her tailbone... She won't be doing anything rough for a good few days until the bruising and swelling goes down. So I expect your cooperation, Otto. You need to help your sister for the next few days. Maybe then you will learn to appreciate her a little more."
Otto had his arms crossed and his gaze directed a the back of the couch. He had walked blindly into an intervention. How was he supposed to know she actually hurt herself that badly when she is too stubborn to show it? "Fine. Whatever." He muttered as he turned around and stomped up the stairs going straight to his room. He need to think about the situation. No one has made Otto feel this guilty before... Maybe it is time to stop...
Back down stairs, The room had grown quiet. Reggie was flabbergasted at how Twister handled the argument. Raymundo had went back to cooking dinner. Sammy had digressed back to typing out the article he had abandoned. Twister's thoughts were flooding his head at a million miles per second.. 'You have the hots for her, don't you?'. Did he? Twister never really had a crush before so he couldn't tell.. He always admired Rocket girl.. But had he actually accumulated feelings for his best bro's sister? "Imma go turn in for the night..." Twister mumbled, breaking the silence that had lasted for over thirty minutes. He had to think about some stuff alone.
"Okay, Twist.. See you tomorrow?" Reggie asked with a slightly hopeful tone.
"..Yeah, Just like we planned." Twister said as he grabbed his board and camera. "Later."
"Later.." Reggie and Sammy repeated in unison before Twister left the residence. He walked back home sporting a pounding headache. Maybe a good meal and some sleep will put these odd thoughts to rest for a little while. He walked into the front door only to be greeted by a powerful force pushing him to the staircase. He instantly knew who had pushed him since this was a normal thing now.
"Sup, Dork King?" Lars asked in a clearly teasing tone. He had Twister's hat in his clenched fist after it had flew off Twister's head seconds ago. Twister just picked himself up and glared at his older brother.
"Very funny." Twister growled angrily before swiping his hat back from Lars's clutches. He pulled his hat back on before seating himself at the dinner table as his mom was taking the meal out of the oven. "How about you go jump off a cliff or something?" He added as he noticed Lars following him to the table.
"Whoa, Step back. Wittle Maurice is having anger issues." Lars teased before putting him in a headlock and smashing his fist against Twister's scalp.
"Lars! What did I tell you about rough housing at the dinner table?!" Their mom, Sandy, yelled almost instantly after noticing their presence. "Baje su hermanito! Dinner is being served."
Lars instantly released Twisters head, smirking at him before sitting down at the table as well. Maybe Twister should have rethought about coming home so early. His father, Raoul, emerged from the back door with a weary smile before washing his hands in the sink as his mother served dinner. Roasted chicken with Mashed potatoes and asparagus.
"Looks absolutely delicious, Mi amor." Raoul said in appreciation once at the table. Sandy smiled sweetly and sat down as well. Soon everyone at the table started to load their plates and eat. In Lars's and Twister's case, They scarfed their first and second plate easily. Their father just chuckled at his sons while their mother looked on at them in slight horror at the sight before reminding herself that her boys are growing.
"Dinner was great, Mom." Twister said as he put his pate in the sink. "I think it's Lars's turn to help clean the table."
"That is correct, Mi Hijo. Your week ended last night." Sandy said happily. "Lars, It is the start of your week on dish duty."
Lars shot Twister a glare before letting out an irritated sigh, "Yes mom..." Twister stuck his tongue out at his brother before heading upstairs for the night. Closing his door behind him, He turned on his camcorder and laid on his bed for a few moments. Should he look at the playback of the shots he has of Reggie? Maybe studying her will give him a definite answer.. He popped open the viewing screen and scrolled through his clips. He found the one of Otto doing his combo move. He fast forwarded through Otto's moves and stopped when he turned around. He watched Reggie help the squid back up on his feet. It looks like she was laughing at something Sammy said. When she smiled and laughed, Twister felt that same weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. The same one from this morning when she was skating around the roundabout in front of their houses. He can't be hungry, He just ate half of his weight in dinner. He rewound the tape and watched her laugh again. He unknowingly smiled to himself. When he caught it he frowned to himself and clapped the viewing screen closed, turning the camera off.
"What is going on with me..." Twister mumbled to himself as he put his camera on his nightstand. Otto was right.. He liked Reggie.. How did he know before he knew himself? How is that possible? Otto is probably not that thrilled with the idea, He might even be angry about it.
'That's my sister, dude!' He imagined Otto yelling at him. 'You are my best bro and she is my sister! You are suppose to be like a second brother to her not a fling or whatever!'
Twister shook his head at the thought feeling a little bit afraid of that out come. Maybe he'll be cool with it? Yeah right... He would never ever be cool with Twister liking Reggie... Not in a million years! It would be best to just push his feelings away. They're just hormones any way so it doesn't matter. If he goes out with Reggie, Everything will be so messed up their friendship won't recover if something bad happens. He doesn't want that. He just wants everything to be the way it has been.
As it got dark out, Twister yawned loudly. It is very unusual for him to go to bed this early, but he couldn't help it. He doesn't normally think this hard either. Twister easily dozed off after he mentally told himself to shut up for at least three seconds...
That morning, Twister woke up easily at around quarter after eight. He was no longer pondering about Reggie because every time he started he tossed the thought out of his mind. As promised, He went to the grocery store for some favorite snacks and he had his camera with him as he went over to the Rocket residence. Everyone was awake, Reggie was actually moving now but not as easily as you would hope. She was taking a few advil tablets when Twister walked into the kitchen. Raymundo and Noelani was at the shack and Otto was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal.
"Twist! Ready to do some editing?" Reggie asked as she slowly walked to the table, sitting across from Otto.
"Totally!" Twist said as he placed the bags on the kitchen counter, unloading them and placing the items in their respectable places. "You wanna join us, O-man? I brought plenty of snacks to go around."
"Nah.." Otto said after finishing his breakfast. "You two go ahead.. Im hitting the waves with Tito this morning. I'll be back later since I have to practically babysit my older sister here."
"Hey." Reggie protested. "You don't have to do anything. Im alright by myself."
"..And I'll be here anyway." Twister added meekly.
"It's not my choice. Raymundo says I have to help Reggie as much as I can. So I have to weather I want to or not."
"Okay, Rocket Boy... You are more then welcome to join us though." Twister replied as he threw away the empty plastic bags.
"Yeah thanks... Later!" Otto said dismissively before leaving the house with his surfboard in hand.
"..Much.." Reggie muttered under her breath. "So are we going to wait for Sammy or should we start now?"
"Entirely up to you, Rocket Girl. We have a ton of snacks... Almost endless kettle popcorn... a whole box of freezie-freezes... different types of potato chips... about three bottles of cherry coke... Chocolate covered almonds, Your favorite... I even brought over some of my finished projects and some horror flicks for after we are done."
"Wow, Twist." Reggie muttered with a small laugh before she got up from the table. "You really out done yourself. How about I go call Sammy and you set up in the living room?"
"You're the boss, Reg!" Twister said with a salute as she walked out of the kitchen and to the living room where the phone was. Twister brought his camera and all his unedited vhs tapes to the living room tv. He brought in three empty glasses and a bottle of cold coke, setting them up on the surf board coffee table with coasters under them. He tried hard not to stare at the older teen in front of him as he set up the vhs player. She was talking quietly on the phone with a small smile on her face. For a slight second, Twister thought about the possibility of Reggie having a thing for the Squidman. The way she smiled as she talked with him... The way she curled the phone wire around her delicate index finger as she giggled, Did she do that when he was on the phone with her?... He shook the thought from his head as the microwave dinged in the kitchen, noting that the popcorn was done. Twister quietly walked out of the living room and to the kitchen with a frown planted on his face. He grabbed the large popcorn bowl out of the usual spot in the cabinet and poured the entire bag into it, almost overflowing the bowl. He mindlessly sprinkled sugar over the top because that's the way he has been doing it for years, That's the way Reggie likes it. She hung up the phone just as Twister walked back in, popcorn in hand.
"Sammy will be here in about five minutes. He can't stay long though. He has a summer physical to do for school in about two hours." Reggie briefed as she grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl as he passed her.
"Bummer." Twister said uncomfortably while passing her the entire bowl before sitting himself in front of the tv, popping in a vhs tape.
"At least we have each other." Reggie said happily as the static sound died down showing footage from the beginning of last year. The whole gang was partaking in a party wave with Otto leading like usual. Reggie zoomed by excitedly, followed closely by the Squid. Twister smiled at the memory in front of him. Things were so simple last year, like it always has been. Just having fun with the company of his best friends. He mindlessly wrote down the time scale on a notepad when he saw footage he could cut, like in between waves. He almost forgot about the sick footage of the Squid nailing one of his first flips on a monster wave. Sammy had definitely grown into surfing. He was almost good enough to go into surfing competitions. Maybe that's why he was going for a physical since the school surf team had tryouts on the first week of school. He defiantly didn't need a physical done to join the Mathlete club or The Science and Technology group like he always joins right away when school begins. Twister glanced over at Reggie who had a bright grin on her face as she watched the tape.
"Sammy's definitely got game. I almost forgot." Reggie commented before crunching on some more popcorn. Twister rolled his eyes to himself a he wrote down more time scales before the tape was finished. That was mostly the squid surfing so he labeled to tape Surfin' Squid and he set it aside before popping in another tape. Just as the tape started, Sammy walked through the door greeting the two of them with a polite smile.
"How you feeling today?" Sammy asked Reggie.
"Im moving. That's something!" Reggie said as Sammy opened up a bag of BBQ chips and pouring the sodas in the presented glasses. Twister paused the tape before it actually started showing the contents. He was actually thirsty, He didn't notice until he heard the ice clinging against it's glass barriers as the soda was being poured. Twister took a glass and downed half of the coke.
"You missed some awesome surfing footage of you from last year, Squid." Twister mentioned.
"Oh!" Sammy said with a small smile. "Could you show it after the other tapes are done?"
"No Problamo." Twister said with an aloof tone before turning his attention to the paused screen, He pressed play as he grabbed his notepad and pen. This one was of the gang mountain biking on the outskirts of town. This was when Twister had just installed the new camera mount he got for Christmas last year. This tape barely needed to be cut at all. He only spotted maybe three slots full of idle chit-chat during their breaks. The rest was just massive air catching fun starring the one and only, Otto Rocket, of course. He did get some nasty beefs from Sammy though. The three of them laughed. Sammy didn't laugh that much, he did however rub the hurt spots on himself as he remembered the pain he endured that day. Especially when he watched himself almost fly into a tree as he snagged a protruding rock in the road.
"Oh man!" Reggie laughed. "How do I forget these things!?"
"Well, We do have so many good times together, it's almost forgettable when something new arises." Sammy answered.
"True, You are." Twister said as he took out the tape and labeled it Mountain Bike Adventures before putting it with the surf tape. By the time they had watched and organized all the tapes, Twister popped in the surf tape for Sammy and Otto had just walked into the living room. He watched over the back of the couch as he propped his surf board up against the staircase railing. Twister didn't even notice he was there until he laughed at himself beefing it in a wave tunnel he didn't anticipate was going too fast for him. Otto laughing at himself, that was something no one expected.
"Squid, dude. I forget sometimes how good you are." Otto said after the tape had finished.
"Uh. Thanks, Otto." Sammy said as he drained his cup empty. "Alright you guys. I gotta go. See you all tomorrow? Work on and finish the Zine?"
"Of course!" Reggie said happily. "If we finish then you could help me with my SAT practice questions."
"I will see if my parents want me do to any chores but I will definitely be there, Man." Twister said. "Im not sure about the SAT stuff though, Reg."
"Cool, See ya!" Sammy said as he stormed out the front door.
"Where's the squid off to?" Otto asked with interest.
"Physical for school." Reggie stated as she opened a bag of chocolate covered almonds. "We're about to watch some horror movies, Come join us."
"Umm... sure why not... What do we have?" Otto asked as he jumped onto the empty couch where Sammy sat seconds ago.
"We have... Vladimirson Controls... The Axe Massacre of Pine Ave... aaand Arachno Fiend..." Twister announced.
"Oooh I totally vote Arachno Fiend. The special effects are sick." Otto said as he grabbed a handful of chips, munching on them.
"Reggie?" Twister asked giving her a chance to put out a vote.
"I'm with Rocket Boy on this one." She said. "Start it up, I'm going to go grab a hoodie from my room."
"Don't you dare move, Reg." Otto said before she started maneuvering her way to get up from the couch. "I'll grab it. Which one you want?"
"Umm... Okay.. Grab the dark purple one, could you? It's in my closet. And don't go snooping around my other things either, Rocket boy or else I'll whomp you beyond recognition!"
"You got it." Otto said as he quickly climbed the staircase. He let himself in her room and opened her closet, There simple as ever her purple hoodie stood out like a sore thumb. He quickly grabbed it but before leaving the room he looked around at the other stuff surrounding him. He spotted her laptop, totally up and free to look through. He knew he shouldn't but he sat down in front of it and he looked at the file that was open. It was titled 'JournalRR/E47'. Now he really knew he shouldn't look at it. But he wants to know whats going though her mind...
"ROCKET BOY! The movie is starting!" Twister yelled from down the staircase.
"I Can't find the hoodie hold on a minute!" He lied as he scrolled to the top of he most recent entry.
'I don't know what I'm doing. This is totally insane! I can barely sleep anymore and the pain in my back isn't helping any. He helped us work on the Zine and I am actually surprised how eager he was to help. Poor Otto though.. He got ganged up by everyone but he has gotten pretty mean lately. He actually hurt my feelings today. I don't know what's gotten into him! I can agree that I am being a total Spazoid lame-o but being called a jinx.. by my own brother.. That was just harsh. I guess all I have to do is to stop thinking about him. That's it! And I shouldn't look at him when Im doing something either. Maybe then, I won't beef it as much as I am..'
Otto instantly felt mega guilty. He never meant to hurt Reggie. He was just teasing her. He got up from the computer chair and ran out and down the staircase. Throwing the hoodie at his sister before sitting in the vacant couch again. "Maybe next time you should tell me where in your closet, That thing was hidden behind everything! You have way too many clothes.."
"I am a girl.. HellLLOOooOo." Reggie said plainly as she pulled the hoodie over her head.
"Alright, Movie time!" Twister said as he pressed play before taking a spot next to Reggie on the couch since Otto was all sprawled out on the other couch.
"Hey Twist?" Reggie asked quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Could you get more popcorn, Please?" Reggie asked kindly. Twister chose the wrong time to look at her. She smiled brightly and her chocolate brown eyes gleamed up at him. He felt his insides instantly melt adoringly. What just happened? Twister smiled back at her and took the bowl from her.
"Of course." He muttered without a thought. As he got up, Otto almost stared him down as he passed him but Twister almost didn't care.
"Sure, you ask him nicely for stuff but me? No way." Otto complained and by the sound of it Reggie reached over and hit him in the shoulder or something because almost right after he said that, he growled in annoyance. Oddly enough, Twister did analyze himself as he waited for the popcorn to get done popping. How can a smile make him feel like he turned to mush? This was so confusing to him. This never happened before.. like ever. He didn't even know that was possible. For a second he actually thought he was coming down with some kind of mysterious flu but he decided against it as he felt himself go back to normal. The movie had gotten passed the introduction portion by now. He felt giddy like a ton of adrenaline had released into his blood stream.. like he drank a pot of coffee in under five minutes. A sudden ding from the microwave pulled him out of his thoughts once more, notifying him that the popcorn was indeed done. He quickly poured and dressed the popcorn with a little sugar and he rushed it into the living room, placing it in the spot directly next to Reggie before taking his place in the middle of the couch.
"Thanks, Twister." She whispered only to be quickly hushed by Otto as he watched the first victim get hunted down slowly. He was obviously caught up in the suspension. Reggie just rolled her eyes and started munching on her snack. Through the movie, Twister was thinking on and off. He couldn't help it. This new thinking thing was confusing him, was it part of growing up? That would be the only explanation as to why he is doing it a lot. He didn't enjoy it. But this whole thing was just residing in his mind.
"Is Twister... Thinking?!" Otto's voice pierced is thoughts as he felt Reggie poke her index finger into his shoulder repeatedly.
"Huh?" Twister asked dumbly. He didn't realize the movie had ended.
"Dude.." Otto said in disbelief. He shook his head. "I am going to grab some dinner from the shack.. This zoning out thing is totally contagious!" Twister felt the room heat up again before quickly shaking himself out of it.
"Actually man, You stay with Reg. I'll grab the grub!" Twister said as he quickly got up, beating Otto to the door. "Everyone want their usual?"
"Yeah." Reggie muttered.
"You got it." Otto said dismissively. "We'll just watch another movie while you're out."
"Yeah, I'll be back in a flash." Twister said as he let himself out of the house, rushing down to pier. Twister didn't think he could be alone with Reggie after what she did to him with her eyes. At least not for the rest of the night. That's just not normal!