"Hamlet was a narcissist with mommy issues." Roger yelled sitting in Mark's bedroom with Brianna and Mark.
"Oh yeah, you would say that. Anyone who doesn't rebel with every ounce of his being to you has to have mommy issues, right?" she yelled back pacing the room.
"Well think about it, he was just pissed at Claudius because he married his mother before he could." Roger said putting his feet up onto Mark's bed.
"You are disturbed." she said looking at him as Roger leaned on the back legs of the chair.
"Yeah well... Oh shit." he started before falling backwards.
"Oh my God, Roger are you OK?" Brianna asked rushing to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel like a retard, that's all." he said starting to laugh.
"Did you hit your head or something?" she asked helping him up.
"No." he said smiling at her.
"Too bad. Maybe it would have knocked some sense into you." she said as they all started laughing.
"Yeah well, sorry to disappoint you. Next time I'll try to have better aim." he said picking the chair up.
"Um, I gotta go. My little sister's gonna be home from the babysitter in a little while and I have to start dinner." she said looking down before putting her books in her book bag.
"Yeah, I should go too. Thanks Mark. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked looking at Mark.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow." he said looking up from his book.
"Can I walk you home? I gotta go that way anyway." Roger asked looking down at her.
"Sure, I'd like that." she said propping her book bag up higher on her shoulder.
"Sorry about fighting with you all the time. I just like to piss people off." Roger said shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked to Brianna's house.
"Apparently you're good at it." she said laughing as her pony tail swung back and forth as they walked.
"Ha ha. So what music do you listen to?" he asked taking Mark's advice.
"Classic rock. You know Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who, Queen, The Doors, stuff like that." she said looking up at him.
"No way. I love classic rock." he said smiling down at her.
"Really? I always pegged you as a total metal head." she said smiling up at him.
"Yeah, I mean I like heavy metal, but I was raised on classic rock. My dad loves it." he said starting to laugh.
"Well, well, well Roger Davis has something in common with Brianna McGowan. Stop the presses." she said laughing.
"There might be hope for you after all." Roger said as they approached Brianna's house.
"Now who's trying to be funny? I gotta go. I'll see you at school tomorrow." she said smiling up at him as a station wagon pulled up to the house and a 4 year old got out. She ran up to Brianna and Brianna picked her up and brought her in the house.
"Brianna, who is that boy you were with?" Bethany asked as Brianna put the lights on in the house.
"That's Roger. I'm doing a report with him at Mark's house." Brianna said putting her down.
"Do you like him?" Bethany asked looking up at her.
"We're just doing a report in school together munchkin. That's it." she said smiling at her as she went into the kitchen.
"He likes you." Bethany said hopping up onto the chair at the table.
"How do you know?" Brianna asked going over to her.
"Because he was looking at you all googley and stuff." Bethany said laughing as Brianna picked her up again.
"Oh yeah?" she said tickling her.
"Roger is Brianna's boyfriend." Bethany sung teasingly as Brianna hugged her.
"Come on munchkin, I have to start dinner before mom gets home." Brianna said putting Bethany down and going to the stove.
"What time is mommy coming home tonight?" Bethany asked sitting on the chair.
"I don't know. She said she would call if she had to pull a double again." Brianna said taking the chicken cutlet out of the fridge.
"How come mommy has to work so much?" Bethany asked looking up at her.
"Because dad left and now mom has to take care of us by herself. That's why you have to help me, OK? Go make sure your room is clean and all of your toys are out of the living room. Thank you." Brianna said starting to make dinner.
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"Hey Brianna, do you wanna walk to school together?" Roger asked the next morning.
"Roger, what are you doing here?" Brianna asked looking up at her moms bedroom window.
"I just thought we could walk to school together. You know, talk about music or something." he said looking down at her.
"Where's Mark?" she asked looking up at him.
"He's sick. His mom thinks it's the flu or something, so we have to find someplace else to do our project today." he said as they started to walk to school.
"Well we can do it at my house. My mom's gotta work late and my little sister's not gonna be home until 5, so we can get a lot done." she said smiling up at him.
"OK, that sounds cool. My sister always has her friends over and she can be a pain." he said smiling down at her.
"It's settled then." she said as they continued to walk to school. They talked about classic rock and their report.
"Either you like The Who or Led Zepplin, you can't like both." Roger argued looking down at her.
"Well I like both. Is there a law against it or something?" she asked looking up at him.
"Um, yeah. You either like Plant and Page or Daltrey and Townsend." he said as she started laughing at him.
"You get really worked up over music, don't you?" she asked as he started laughing at himself.
"I guess you can say that." he said as they approached the school.
"OK so I'll see you later." she said smiling up at him.
"Yeah, I'll see you later." he said smiling as she walked away.
"You walked to school with Roger Davis?" Sam asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, he came to my house this morning and asked if I wanted to walk with him." she said entering the school.
"And?" Sam asked looking up at her.
"And nothing. We're friends. We were talking about music. We like the same kind of music." Brianna said as they walked to first period.
"He likes classic rock? I would have thought for sure he'd like heavy metal." she said smiling at her.
"He likes both but his dad raised him listening to classic rock." she said smiling at her.
"That's cool." Sam said as the teacher came into the class room. "Where's Mark?" she asked looking around.
"He has the flu." Brianna said taking her books out.
"So where are you gonna do your project?" Sam whispered leaning over to her.
"My house. Since mom's at work and Bethany comes home at 5, we can work in peace and quiet." she whispered back before directing her attention to the teacher.
"What happened yesterday?" Sam asked smiling at Brianna as class started.
"Nothing. We just came to an understanding." Brianna whispered.
"Oh really?" Sam said raising her eyebrows. "You like Roger Davis, don't you?"
"Just because we can now tolerate each other doesn't mean I like him like that." Brianna whispered.
"Yeah ok. Keep telling yourself that." Sam said laughing.
I want to thank BohemianGirl06 for all of her help. You have not only been a friend but a partner in writing this. Thank you so much.