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Chapter 2
"You seriously have to have the cleanest room in La Push," Andrew said as he sat down on my desk chair and I took his mp3 player from him.
"What?" I asked with a laugh and he smiled as he looked up at me.
"Sadie's been gone for ten months and her room's messier than this since Mom kept her room how she left it. Seriously, Liv, it's not even dusty in here," he said as he teasingly ran his finger along my desk in front of my laptop and I rolled my eyes, still smiling, before I went over to the dock that rested on my bookcase.
"Well, I can't reach the top shelf of this thing," I said as I tapped the built in Dad had put in when I was little.
The shelves that once held my children's books and stuffed animals now held my mp3 dock and various books I had collected over the last four years ranging from literary classics to the current young adult novels. It also now housed framed photos of my friends and my family over the last couple of years; my favorite being one of my brothers and me on a trip to Disneyland we made when I was eight. We were standing with Mickey and Minnie and despite Brandon and Braden being thirteen they were smiling just as stupidly as Alex and I were.
"If you're looking for dust, I'm sure you'll find some up there," I added and Andrew laughed as shook his hair from his eyes and stood from my chair.
"I'll take your word for it," he said and I smiled before I turned my eyes to the dock. I turned it on and slipped his mp3 from its carrying case. I heard him come up behind me as I clicked it into place and I looked over my left shoulder and up at his face. He smiled at me before he reached around me and hit the necessary buttons. I stepped away then and sat down on the side of my bed, resting against the smooth dark wood of my footboard as I watched him. "Okay, honest opinion, Liv," he said as he looked over his right shoulder at me. "Promise?" he asked and I nodded.
"Promise," I said and he looked back at the dock. He hit play and stepped away from the dock before he went back my desk chair and slowly sat down, taking hold of the towel I had draped over the back of the chair and ringing it in his hands as the notes of a guitar, drum, bass, and piano filled the room.
I listened to the music, my eyes focused on the weathered tan carpet on the floor of my room and smiled slightly. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was a ballad with and the piano was strong; and that made sense seeing as Andrew's best instrument was piano, well, his keyboard anyway. His voice soon joined in the music and I couldn't stop my smile from growing as his low tenor voice sang his words. That song was about loss and talking how much he was going to miss someone before he saw them again; and I assumed the song was about his grandfather. Emily's dad had passed away in early January and Andrew and DJ had been close to the older man. They often went on fishing trips with him and Andrew had taken his death pretty hard. The next song was more of what I had been expecting.
It had a classic rock feel with a firm drum beat and quick guitar riffs. It was energetic and more like the Andrew I knew. The lyrics of that song made my smile return and I laughed quietly at the chorus. That song was about letting loose and having fun, and he had even threw in a few references to the old legends that were often told at bonfires by the council elders. I turned my eyes from the floor to Andrew who I was surprised to find watching me. I smiled at him and slowly, he smiled back. The song ended and Andrew stood. He stopped the next song that started to play and turned around to look at me.
"What did you think?" he asked.
"I liked them both," I said as I looked up at him.
"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel good about myself?" he asked with a small grin and I shook my head negatively.
"They were both really good, Drew," I told him honestly. My eyes widened as an idea suddenly popped into my head. "You should sign up for the talent show." He furrowed his brow and laughed.
"What?" he asked and I smiled again.
"At school," I said, gesturing with my hands, which was a habit I had inherited from Mom since she talked with her hands a lot too. "You should sign up for the winter talent show. You'd win, hands down I'm sure." Maybe I was being a bit forward in making the suggestion, but I really thought his songs were good and I meant what I said. He would easily win if he performed at the show.
"I don't think so, Liv," Andrew said as he shook his head, his cheeks tinting slightly at my suggestion.
"I'm serious, Drew," I said as I stood and walked over to him. I put my hand on his right forearm and smiled up at him. He glanced at my hand and when his eyes moved to mine, I lowered it. "Someone needs to show our classmates what good music is." Andrew laughed before he turned so he was facing me as I continued to look up at him. "Think about," I said. "If you don't want to play one of those songs, you've got all summer to come up with something new. Or you could do a cover. The show is not until the first part of December, so, you could do whatever you want."
"I'll think about it," he said with a smile and my smile grew as I nodded my head slightly.
"Good," I said before I laughed and sat back down on my bed, drawing my legs up and sitting cross legged. "So, what else have you got on your mp3?" I asked. "Anything I would like?"
"Yeah," he said, laughing, before he turned around and hit a few buttons before music filled the room once more. He sat back down on my desk chair. We started talking about our favorite bands, however, when I mentioned a band from the 1980s I had a soft spot for thanks to my Uncle Jason. "Wait," Andrew said as he held out his hands and laughed before he leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. "Twisted Sister? You can't be serious," he said and I felt my cheeks tint as I smiled at him and rested my side against my footboard as I looked at him.
"I don't like all their stuff, just some of it," I said with a shrug of my right shoulder.
"Who tainted your mind with that mess?" he asked and I laughed at the expression on his face as he sat back in my chair.
"Uncle Jason," I said and Andrew made a disgusted noise. "Come on, they're not that bad."
"A 1980s hair band, Liv? Really?" he asked and I laughed as I shrugged my shoulder again. "And here I thought you had good taste in music." I scoffed before I turned and grabbed one of my smaller throw pillows on my bed before I tossed it at him. He laughed and caught it with ease before he rested the pillow on his lap and smiled at me.
I smiled in return before I felt my cheeks heating once more and I looked away from him and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind my ears. "So, is Grace at camp?" he asked me and I looked back at him.
"Yeah, until the end of July," I said and he nodded. "Are you happy Sadie's home?"
"Honestly, it was kind of nice to have the house to myself; but I did miss her," Andrew said with a smile and I laughed. "I don't know how you do it."
"Do what?" I asked curiously.
"Survive four siblings," he said with fake shiver of his body and shake of his head. "Two is bad enough." I laughed again as I sat up a straight and smiled at him.
"It's easy when it's all you know," I said and he chuckled. "Plus, they're not always annoying. The good times outnumber the bad." Andrew smiled at me before he opened his mouth to say something else, but Mom's voice cut him off.
"Drew! Olivia! Dinner's ready!" she called.
"We better get downstairs," I said as I stood quickly, paused his mp3, and reached for his hand. He raised his eyebrows as he put aside my throw pillow and stood before he allowed me to drag him towards the door.
"What's the rush?" he asked with a soft laugh and I smiled as we paused at my bedroom door.
"You've seen my brothers eat, haven't you?" I asked and he looked like he thought a minute before he laughed and gently pushed on my waist with his free right hand.
"Yeah, we better get downstairs," he said with a smirk and I laughed before the two of us quickly made our way downstairs. Lucas was at the door leading into the kitchen and I saw his eyes go to our still joined hands before he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I blushed lightly and slowly let go f Andrew's hand before the two of us went into the kitchen with a chuckling Lucas following behind.
"Hey," Lucas said as he credits for the moving we had been watching started to roll. It was a little past midnight and Brandon had yet to come home from his date and Braden was still out, which wasn't anything new. Mom, Dad, and Alex had gone to bed a while ago, but Lucas and I had stayed up to watch a movie together.
"Hmm?" I asked as I turned my head to look at him and where he sat in Dad's well worn arm chair. He turned off the TV and the smirk he gave me was all I needed to see to know what he was going to say. "Don't even go there, Lucas," I said as I stood from the sofa and walked over to the entertainment center. I took out the DVD, put it in its case, and turned off the player before I righted myself and looked at Lucas who was full on smiling now. "What?" I asked, my hands finding my hips and Lucas laughed as he stood from his chair.
"You and Drew seemed cozy this afternoon and at dinner," he said as he walked over to me. I sighed and lowered my hands from my hips.
"We were talking about music," I said, "and we're friends. We were not being 'cozy.'"
"You giggled all throughout dinner, Liv," Lucas said and I felt my cheeks heat in a deep blush.
"I did not!" I nearly shouted and Lucas shushed me as he laughed and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Relax, Liv, I'm just teasing," Lucas said and huffed before he took his hands off my shoulders. Lucas knew of my crush on Andrew thanks to Grace's big mouth. My best friend since elementary school failed to notice Lucas standing at my bedroom door as she lectured me that I needed to come clean with Andrew and tell him that I like him at our last barbeque. Despite Lucas being my favorite brother, I had to do his share of the chores for two weeks in order for him to keep what he heard on the down low. Now, he just took pleasure in teasing me about it whenever he had a chance.
"It's not funny, Lucas," I said dryly and he smiled at me.
"Sorry," he said and I sighed as I ran my hand over the top of my head. "You know, you should just tell him you like him."
"Yeah, well, you should just mind you own business," I said my hands finding my hips again and he laughed as he shook his head.
"God, you got the whole Mom with her hands on her hips thing down. It's kind of freaky actually," Lucas said and I blushed again as I quickly lowered my hands. Lucas laughed quietly before he gently shoved my shoulder as I glared at him. "Come on, let's get to bed." I nodded and after turning off the light the two of us went to our respected bedrooms.
I stopped in the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and washed my face before I trotted over to my bedroom and closed my door after turning on the light. After changing into my pajamas that consisted of a pair of shorts, a sports bra, and a black tank top; and taking the clip out of my hair before I tied it back with a ponytail holder, I put my glasses down on my nightstand when a folded piece of paper with my name on it on my nightstand caught my eye. I put my glasses back on and grabbed the piece of paper. I opened it and smiled when I realized it was from Andrew and his cell phone number was on the top of the note.
"Liv, call me tomorrow so we can meet up. I need to help cure you of this love you have for Twisted Sister. It may take weeks, but I'm determined. ~ Drew." I laughed and shook my head as I put the note back down on the nightstand and took off my glasses. I turned off the light and crawled into bed, laughing quietly. However, as I laid there in the dark and thought over his note; it really wasn't that big of a deal, but I couldn't stop smiling as I thought about hanging out with Andrew again tomorrow. My summer was starting out better than I ever imagined.
After breakfast with my family and helping Mom clean up the kitchen, I called Andrew. Given the rain that had moved in that morning, I agreed to go over to his house to hang out. That was why after showering and dressing in a pair of loose dark jeans, fitted dark red t-shirt, black zip up hoodie, and black hiking boots; I made my way downstairs to ask Dad about borrowing his truck. I was probably going to have to bring out the pout, but I was determined not to use it.
Like every Sunday, Mom and Dad were settled on the sofa in the living room. Dad was watching some sports program while Mom laid on the sofa, her head on his lap while she read her latest book. I walked over to the sofa and sat down on the arm of the sofa and Dad looked up at me. I smiled brightly at him and Dad laughed.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi," he said slowly.
"Could I borrow the truck to drive over to the Uley's?" I asked and Dad raised his eyebrows.
"Why?" he asked as Mom lowered her book and looked at me from where she laid on Dad's lap.
"Well, I want to go and say 'hi' to Sadie, and Drew and I are going to hang out," I said, adding the second half of my sentence rather quickly. Dad's eyebrows rose and Mom smiled.
"Oh?" she asked as she sat up and I blushed at the smile that was on Mom's lips. Dad glanced at Mom and frowned before he returned his eyes to me.
"Why are you hanging out with Drew today?" Dad asked; his voice tight.
"Relax, Dad," I said with a laugh as I stood and tucked my hair, which I had left down after drying it, behind my ears as I looked at him. "Drew and I are just friends."
"What are you guys going to do?" he asked.
"Probably the same thing we did yesterday," I said with a shrug. "Listen to music and talk. We might go down to First Beach if the weather clears up, but we're more than likely just going to hang out at his place."
"Paul," Mom said and Dad turned his frowning face to her. "Let her borrow the truck." Dad opened his mouth, but Mom gave him a look that silenced whatever it was he had been about to say.
"Fine," he said before he looked at me. "You know where the spare key is."
"Thanks Dad," I said happily before I kissed his cheek. He sighed heavily and nodded his head. I smiled at Mom and she winked at me, making me blush before I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Be home by six for dinner," she said.
"I will," I said. I went into the kitchen and grabbed the spare key from its designated spot in the miscellaneous drawer.
"Where you off to?" Brandon's voice asked and his sudden appearance made me jump and drop the key back into the drawer. I looked up at him as he strode in from the patio door, wet from the rain outside and dressed only in a pair of basketball shorts and tennis shoes.
"You went for a run in that mess?" I asked gesturing outside and the steady rain that was falling. Brandon looked behind him as he closed the glass door and shrugged.
"It's not too bad," he said and I laughed as I shook my head and grabbed the key again before I closed the drawer.
"Braden didn't go with you?" I asked, still trying to avoid his question because Brandon and Braden were just as protective as Dad.
"Nah," he said with a shake of his head before he ran his hand through his wet hair. "So, where are you going?" he asked as he walked over to the kitchen island where I stood.
"The Uley's," I said evenly before I turned around to leave, but Brandon caught my arm.
"Why?" he asked with a frown.
"To hang out with Drew," I said and Brandon kept his hold on my arm.
"Why?" he asked again and I rolled my eyes.
"Seriously, Brandon, we're friends," I said. "I'm allowed to hang out with my friends aren't I?"
"You've never hung out with him before," he said.
"Because he never asked me to before," I said and his eyebrows rose.
"Are you going on a date?" he asked and I choked on the spit I had been swallowing.
"W-what? No!" I said. "We're just going to listen to music."
"Do I need to talk to him?" Brandon asked and I rolled my eyes again before I pulled my arm from his grasp and playfully pushed at his chest.
"No," I said. "It's not a date, so, relax."
"Fine, but if he tries anything -," Brandon started but I interrupted.
"Is Drew the type of guy to try anything like that, Brandon?" I asked pointedly and Brandon sighed, his strong and broad shoulders slumping slightly in defeat. "I'll be home for dinner and if you want you can interrogate me then." Brandon smiled then and I smiled in return.
"Deal," he said and I laughed.
"Bye," I said and he nodded his head before he moved on to the pantry. I went out into the foyer, said goodbye to my parents, and left the house with a skip in my step as I pulled up my hood and raced for Dad's truck, smiling as I went. Despite the rain, it was a great day and nothing was going to get me down.