Chapter Three
The next day, Greg offered to give me a ride in Rodrick's van instead of me having to bike all the way to his house. I was grateful because that ride is tiring as hell. However, Rodrick. Hopefully, his attitude improved from yesterday.
I unlocked my bike from the rack and waited with Greg in front of the school.
We waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, thirty long minutes later, a white van with "Löded Diper" messily painted on the side pulled up.
The window rolled down and Rodrick's face looked out from the driver's seat.
"Twerp, get in the back. Girl, you can sit up front," Rodrick directed.
"No offense Keira, but why do you get to sit up front?" Greg looked disgruntled.
"Because she's not a little runt like you," Rodrick replied nastily.
"Because I have a vagina," I answered simultaneously.
"I think I like Keira's answer better," Greg rolled his eyes.
With that, Greg hopped in the back and I in the passenger seat, after passing my bike to Greg, hoping it didn't crush him during the drive. We sped off, even before I buckled myself in. I heard several crashes and bangs from the back of the van.
Worried, I asked Greg if he was okay.
"I'm fine," he replied with a pained grunt.
"If you say so," I skeptically pursed my lips.
A bit later, the van lurched to a stop in front of the Heffley house. I fell out of the van, a little dizzy from Rodrick's driving, as did Greg. Rodrick calmly swung out of the driver's seat, of course.
Greg and I took a couple seconds to steady ourselves while Rodrick, nonchalant as ever, waltzed into the house. We followed him into the living room and set up our homework while Rodrick went to the kitchen, because apparently driving was thirsty work. While I helped Greg with homework, Rodrick dashed up the stairs to his room in the attic. Nothing new, so I concentrated on explaining algebra to my mentee.
About ten minutes later, I heard Rodrick clatter down the stairs. I assumed he and his thirsty ass was going for some more juice. Unexpectedly, Rodrick sauntered into the living room and dropped his annoying buttocks down next to me.
Greg and I looked at each other, then warily at the young man scribbling on a well-worn piece of paper next to me.
"Um, okay," I drew the word out a little.
Rodrick looked up from his frantic scribbling, "What? A guy can't sit in his own living room?"
"No, not when his name is Rodrick," I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Deal with it!" Rodrick replied saucily, raising his eyebrows back.
I huffed out a laugh and rolled my eyes. Rodrick smiled in return, surprisingly enough. A little dazzled, I gave him a half-smile and returned to my homework, already done helping Greg.
After a while, Greg and I both finished our respective assignments. Rodrick had turned on the television by that time and was watching some cartoon.
"So, now what?" Greg asked me.
"Well, if it's not too late we could go to a movie at that theatre down the street. I hear they're playing Rocky Horror Picture Show!" I suggested.
"What's that?" Greg looked genuinely interested.
I gasped, "We definitely need to go, then!"
Greg skittered off to go ask Susan if we could miss dinner.
"So, you like Rocky Horror Picture Show too? It's a great movie," Rodrick grinned. He had an amazing smile, part genuine, part wicked. It was a rather intoxicating combination. Oh lord, I thought, I can't be attracted to this guy! He's a complete ass! But, I guess I was starting to like him, or at least his smile.
I snapped back to reality, "Yeah, it is. You could come along if you wanted."
"Nah, I have to work on songs," Rodrick flashed another smile.
"Oh, is that what that paper is?" I inquired.
"Yeah," Rodrick suddenly became shy and I decided not to push the subject.
We chatted a bit more while Greg convinced his mom to let us miss the familial ritual that is dinner. I learned a lot about Rodrick in those few minutes. Like, he's pretty charming and funny, if not the most intellectual. More importantly, Rodrick was willing to allow me to help him and his band with lyrics, provided that I showed him my poetry beforehand. I agreed and with that, Greg returned and dragged me away from Rodrick towards the movies.
We walked to the theatre, as it was only a brisk twenty minutes away. We bought our tickets and stepped through the doors just as the movie started.
A couple hours later, we bounced through the theatre. We, especially Greg, raved about the movie the entire way home. We parted ways at Greg's front door, where we hugged and I grabbed my bike. Greg went inside and I cycled home.