CHAPTER 8

AT THE O'SHEA'S

Ian may have been athletic, but he seemed to be quite a lazy student. When it came to studying, he avoided the prime requisite that would allow him to pass.

"You're supposed to read the book, Ian," Wanda reproached. "That's like the first thing you do."

"It's written so badly though."

"Ian, if you wanna pass you read the book." Wanda almost pushed it into him.

"But but but-"

"No buts. You want my help, you do what I say," she only discovered this dominating side of hers as she said those words.

When Ian was bored he was also quite easily distracted.

"Hey, Wanda?" he said, staring deeply into her eyes. Wanda sat with her hand on her cheek. "Do you ever watch the sky until it matches the colour of you mood?"

She wanted to say, Yes, I do exactly that, but instead settled for "Keep reading."

It was only at the end of the day that she figured out how you had to teach Ian O'Shea. She quizzed him on what he'd read, and most of the answers he knew, but sometimes required help. When she asked him a second time, though, he never forgot.

"Hitler's death anniversary?" he looked up at her, disappointment shining through his blue eyes.

She touched his arms, trying to motivate him. He took notice of the touch. "You know this, Ian." I looked right into his eyes.

He exhaled loudly. "A little hint?" she shook her head. "Nineteen Forty… Something."

"Yes, you're close."

"Five?"

"Yes!" Wanda exclaimed, touching his hand now. "You can do this, Ian."

"I can?"

"Yes, you can!" she squeezed his hand. "Just remember to read the book. You can't be lazy about this. Just read it."

He nodded to himself, looking at it.

At that moment, Wanda's pencil case buzzed, and she searched for her phone. It was a text from Mel.

Melanie: At Jared's. Not coming home.

She replied back instantly.

Wanda: K. I'll be out then.

Melanie: Where are you?

Wanda: Out.

Melanie didn't need to know everything about her.

"Time to go home?" Ian guessed.

"Well," Wanda creased her nose. "Sort of. Drop me off at a diner?"

He seemed rather interested in this. "Meeting someone?"

"Um, no. Melanie's gonna be out, so I might as well have dinner outside."

Ian looked at her like she was kidding. "You're planning on eating alone? You're joking, right?"

Wanda shook her head. "Why, what's wrong with that?"

"Why would I let you eat alone, when you could have dinner with us?"

"Who's us?"

"Me, my brother, and Jodi."

"Are you…" She trailed off, searching for words. "Inviting me to dinner? With your family?"

"Why not? If you're gonna eat out, you might as well eat something good." Ian was searching for his phone now, in his school bag. He started typing a text. "Jodi likes dinner at 7. We'll have to wait for an hour."

"Wait, we're going over to Jodi's?"

"She loves meeting new people."

This is going to be beyond awkward.

"I can't just barge in on them, like that."

"Trust me, you're not. I just told her I'm bringing a friend."

"But, Ian…" she protested.

She protested to it throughout the Vespa ride too. She protested while they made their way up to the fourth floor, to Jodi's. She even protested right before Jodi opened the door. But the warm smell of lasagne made her stomach growl. She could no longer protest, and she hated her stomach for doing this to her.

Jodi had a lovely home, nice and cosy, with wooden floors. It was much bigger than Kyle's place, and much more plush and expensive. Picacho Peak didn't have very many posh places, but this had to be one of them, because the apartment was undoubtedly fancy, with intricate moulding all around the ceiling, and even a minibar near the balcony.

"You must be Wanda!" Jodi exclaimed, far too enthusiastic. She was a hugger too, and pulled her into a tight one. Ian entered, going inside one of the rooms. "Ian's told me a bit about you."

"I'm sure he has," Wanda tried to smile as Jodi led her into the dining room. Yes, she had a separate room for eating. Jodi motioned for her to sit, and she complied, launching nearly a million questions about the incident with Burns, leaving Wanda with no chance to answer them because moments later Ian walked in with Kyle.

She stood up, obligingly, and straightened out her dress. "Hello, Wanda," he said to her as if he'd rehearsed this. "You are not Ian's significant other, you are his friend-" Ian smacked his arm, and he chuckled and kept talking. "Okay, sorry, hey Wanda. This guy's my kid brother. Personally I don't see a resemblance. I'm Kyle."

He gave her his hand, and she shook it, well slightly, because she was afraid it would engulf hers. He was really big, and she disagreed with his earlier statement. The resemblance between the brothers was scary. Ian was slightly lankier. Kyle was big and buff and huge. And he was twice her height.

"I heard he punched the shit out of the guy who tried to – will you stop hitting me, faggot? God, okay, I'll fix my language. Sheesh." It seemed as if Ian and Kyle could communicate with only their dazzling blue eyes, silently and wordlessly.

"Ian told me you peed on a red truck," Wanda blabbered, nervously, and instantly clasped her hand over her mouth.

Stupid word vomit.

Kyle chuckled. "I like her already."

Dinner was a lot less awkward than her first meeting with Kyle and Jodi. By the time they'd finished half of Jodi's lasagne, Kyle already knew the nine places Wanda'd lived in before. Four foster homes, and five different countries.

"Man, these Robinsons sound like absolute bitches," Ian cleared his throat. Kyle paid him no mind. "Good on you, Wanda. Although you should have run away from them sooner. Good-for-nothing fuckheads."

"I agree," she mumbled, digging in. Jodi's cooking was a thousand times better than Lucina's diner. Wanda could have sworn she made the eggs rubbery on purpose.

"So, Wanda, have you been thinking about college?" Jodi asked. "Ian's thinking of Cornell."

She widened her eyes at Ian, having no idea he was this ambitious. He shrugged. "Ivy League? Wow, I'd love to, even have the grades for it, but I couldn't afford it. Probably going to a state school."

"Don't be ridiculous, Wanda." Jodi shook her head, getting up with her empty plate in her hand. "My sister, Sunny, knows a great financial aid company. I'm sure we can sort something out."

She was flattered by her offer, she really was. His family was so welcoming. "I guess I still have time."

"So have you decided what you want to be?"

"Well, I like to travel." she chewed some lasagne before continuing. "I'd like to tell stories about that, maybe. Write about it. Or even teach." She looked at Ian now, and they shared knowing looks with one another.

"Wanda here's something of a History expert." Ian told them.

"Hated History," Kyle started. "Whoever gets it is a fucking genius. Wanda you're fucking gold."

"Language, Kyle." Jodi reprimanded, all the way from the kitchen, doing the dishes.

Wanda interjected. "I don't really care,"

Ian shook his head. "It's not because of you, Wanda. Kyle got fired recently, because he called his boss a 'syphilis infested cumwad'."

Kyle snickered. "The actual reason I got fired was because I told him he was so fat, the last time he saw 90210 was on a scale. That and the fact I said he was the afterbirth of a bohemian butt-fuck."

Ian could only roll his eyes at Kyle's gloating. "Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent."

"I've met decomposed bodies that are more offensive than you, Ian."

"I don't exactly hate you Kyle, but you should know that if you were on fire and I had a bucket of water, I'd probably drink it."

"Ouch, that broke my heart into itty-bitty pieces."

"You should do some soul-searching, brother. Maybe you'll find one."

"Ian, if you want a fight, lets do it like men. Without your pokemon and your feelings, you fucking nerd."

"Guys, enough!" Jodi yelled, entering the room. "Ian sit next to your brother. I'm instagramming."

"Jodeee," they moped, simultaneously.

"Wanda, you get in between them, if that's what it'll take." She was slightly surprised by this. Me? A picture? With Ian and his brother? Online? In public? For everyone to see?

She sat next to Kyle, though, nonetheless. She motioned for Ian to sit next to her. He did, and Jodi held her phone in place for a second, and took the picture. They loosened up and let go of the fake smiles.

"What's your facebook, Wanda?" Jodi asked, tapping her phone. "I can't tell with all the foster homes and the running away."

"Stryder. Wanda Stryder."

Please don't tag me.

"Okay, I've tagged you."

Ugh, this is bad.

"Suggest me as a friend," Kyle chirped. "This girl is entertaining."

Wanda smiled at this. "Lets take one of you and Ian then, Wanda." Jodi suggested. She shrugged, not really keen on the idea. She moved closer to him, while he awkwardly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. When Jodi took the picture, she let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Seconds later, Wanda was yawning and looked at the clock. Ten forty-five. She'd been here almost five hours!

"Ian, you have to take me home," she demanded.

"Aww," Kyle whined. "So soon?"

Wanda nodded, rushing to put on her cardigan. Her bag was still in the Vespa, so she tugged at Ian's shirt so he'd get up.

"I had a great time, Jodi." she started putting on her shoes. "Nice meeting you, Kyle! Dinner was great!" she pushed open the front door. "Kthanksbye!"

She took Ian's arm, hurrying down the stairs, almost tripping. He grabbed a hold of her and took her hand.

Their ride home was silent, because she liked enjoying the wind blow onto her face. It was night, so it was especially cold, so she held onto Ian even tighter. He held her hand while they went up to her apartment this time too, scared she'd lose her balance again.

He walked her all the way to her door, and without a word, she hugged him. She pulled him into a tight embrace, because he deserved it. He'd made her feel more at home in one night, than she had the past seventeen years.

"Thank you thank you thank you" she gushed, and then let him go. Wanda unlocked the door, turned the lights on and rushed inside. "I had fun."

"Me too." He smiled. She watched him walk down the stairs. When he was gone, se shut the door, and opened the window, remembering something. She could see the Vespa, and waited until she saw Ian approaching it.

"And read the book!" Wanda shouted from the top of her voice.

"I will!" he shouted back. "I promise."

She shut the window, and covered it up with the curtains, sighing after the long day.

She could easily say today had been the best day of her entire life, spent with a boy she barely knew, and two complete strangers. Looking around the house, she felt alone, so she decided to check Facebook before going for a shower.

She had five notifications, two friend requests. The first was Jodi tagging her in two of the pictures. Then she accepted the requests from Kyle and Jodi, and noticed Kyle had instantly posted on her wall.

Kyle O'Shea

You BETTER fucking show up again you little slut. ;)

She laughed and liked the post. not didn't commenting because she wasn't sure. She'd love to meet them, but at the same time she felt a little strange. Should I be this close to Ian's family? But Kyle was her friend – it didn't matter he was Ian's older brother. Another notification floated up, and she saw Jodi liked the post as well.

The rest of the notifications showed the people who liked the group picture, which Kyle also happened to comment on. The final notification showed how many people liked the picture of Ian and Wanda.

She clicked on the group picture first. It had gotten five likes. Kyle, two of Jodi's friends, another O'Shea, presumably Ian's mom, and Lily. She went to the second picture, which had come out nicer than Wanda thought it did, and a lot different than she expected. The picture showed her smiling, while Ian looked at her grinning, with his arm around her. She hadn't noticed what he was doing. The caption read, 'The master and his pupil' with several hashtags about 'cuteness' 'friendship' 'family' 'dinner' and 'tutelage' and whatnot. Kyle commented saying 'Caption sounds like a weird porno. Only my horny girlfriend would do this.' The comment got eight likes.

And the picture itself got eighteen.

18 likes? In less than an hour?

I checked the list, and most of them were people from my school. Paige, Violetta, Wes, Andy, Aaron, Brandt, another bunch of Ian's friends, Lily and some girls from Trig, Jamie, Reid, Jared, Lacey.

Lacey.

This was definitely her sending Wanda a message.