Who is ready for another great chapter of It's For the Best. Without further ado...here we go!
Monday morning, BB was woken by his alarm clock. He groaned before turning over and looking at what time it was on the clock: 6:45 am. He groaned again and decided that he wanted another ten minutes of sleep. Ten minutes later, the alarm rang again; BB decides to hit the snooze button again. BB did not get a chance to hit the snooze button the third time because as soon as the alarm went off, the covers were torn away from BB, leaving him lying in his tank top and shorts.
"Katie! What the hell?! What if I was sleeping in my underwear or nothing at all?" BB asked shocked while Kaitlyn rolled her eyes at her cousin being dramatic.
"I know you better than you do some days. You are too much a prude to sleep naked, so I have absolutely nothing to worry about! Come on, Blaine, get your ass up! You don't wanna be late for your first day!" Kaitlyn said trying to shake BB awake.
"Ugh…come on, Katie! Can't I have a few more minutes? School doesn't start until like what 8:30?" BB asks while putting the pillow over his head—which was quickly snatched by Kaitlyn.
"Try 8:15, Blaine. Nobody really wants to get up, but think about it. We are SENIORS! This is our last year of high school and we get to spend it TOGETHER!" Kaitlyn shrieked while shaking the bed. BB shook his head and decided to get out of bed—as much as he really didn't want to.
"Alright. You win, Katie. I'm up." BB remarked stretching.
"About damn time, lazy! Now hurry up and get ready because Seth will be here in like thirty-five minutes." Kaitlyn said as BB gave her a look of disbelief.
"What! Why?" BB asks with a small whine in his voice.
"He wanted to pick me up for the first day, and he kindly offered to take you as well since we ARE going to the same place. NO MORE STALLING! Get ready, Blaine!" Kaitlyn says running back to her room so she can finish getting ready. BB rolls his eyes and grabs some clothes so he can change after a shower.
Twenty minutes later, Kaitlyn is running back to BB's room to bring him some breakfast and to see if he's ready for school.
"Hey! Are you ready for…What the hell are you wearing?" Kaitlyn asks as BB turns around while drying off and brushing his hair.
"What? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" BB asks wondering what was wrong with wearing gym shorts, a shirt, and flip flops to school.
"Blaine, you are aware that we are going to school and NOT the beach right?"
"Like, for sure, dude! What's wrong with wearing far out clothes like these?" BB asks in his best surfer impression. Kaitlyn smirks before walking over to her cousin.
"Come on, Blaine! You have to dress like you care a little bit."
"But I don't really care. It's just school." BB replies scoffing.
"Coming from the Straight-A nerd? I'm shocked!" Kaitlyn says feigning surprise. "But seriously, I'm just wanting to look out for you because I don't want anybody to pick on you because they think you are geeky or something."
BB knows that Kaitlyn was trying to be helpful and look out for him. BB thought that maybe he should take more pride in his appearance and try to make a good first impression at this new school. He knows that if they relentlessly torture him, it will eventually trickle down to her.
"I get what you mean and I appreciate that you are looking out for me. So give me a few minutes and I'll change really quickly." BB said kissing Kaitlyn on the cheek as she left the room. BB smiled as he closed the door and changed his clothes. Five minutes later, Kaitlyn is knocking on the door, hoping her cousin is ready to go.
"Blaine! Hurry your ass up. Seth will be here any second. Get a move on!" Kaitlyn yells before bashing the door open. Luckily for Kaitlyn, BB was dressed and almost ready to go. When Kaitlyn came in, BB was smoothing his hair back and tying it into a ponytail. Kaitlyn took a quick look at her cousin to see if she approved of the new outfit. This time BB was wearing blue jeans with a sleeveless green flannel shirt over a green tank top, but he was still wearing flip flops.
"This is much better than the first one. Now hurry up and grab your stuff. Seth just texted and he's waiting in the driveway." Kaitlyn said the two teens jogged downstairs to meet Seth before they are stopped by Cheryl.
"Aww…look at my two seniors! Their last year of high school. Let me get a picture real quick before you leave." Cheryl said pulling out her camera. Kaitlyn and BB look at each other and shake their heads before turning back to Cheryl and smiling for the camera so Cheryl can get a quick picture. Six pictures later, the teens run out the door to meet up with Seth.
"Alright, next person in line, please. What is your name?" The secretary asked when BB got to the front of the line for his new student schedule.
"Blaine Bonin." BB said looking up at the clock in the cafeteria. According to the clock, his first class started in fifteen minutes—which BB thought was fifteen minutes too long.
"Alright, here is your schedule, Mr. Bonin. You should have already received a map of the school when you attended orientation. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. Have a great year!" The secretary said as BB smiled and left the office. BB stuffed the schedule in his pocket and went to find Kaitlyn in her line. Kaitlyn was just receiving her schedule when he walked up to talk to her.
"Did you get your schedule?" Kaitlyn asked as BB nodded his head. "Come on! Let me see it!"
BB rolled his eyes and pulled his schedule out of his pocket and handed it to Kaitlyn.
"Hmm…that sucks. It looks like you have biology with Miss Varon first class of day. Dang that sucks for you." Kaitlyn remarked reading over BB's schedule.
"So? What's wrong with having Biology first?" BB asks.
"Nothing. It's just that Miss Varon is rumored to be a little…crazy." Kaitlyn replies. "She's not a bad teacher, but I've heard she has had moments of having multiple personalities."
"After the last few months, I bet I can handle her supposed 'craziness'." BB replied. "So what does the rest of my schedule look like?"
"Let me see…second period is English with Miss Moretti. Good luck with that because she talks A LOT! Third period is math…blah. We do have history together fourth period with Mr. Ross. He is awesome! Very knowledgeable about historical facts and figures and stuff like that." Kaitlyn remarks before continuing. "After lunch, you are an aide. Really? An aide?"
"What? I tested out of French freshman year and that meant I didn't have to take a foreign language; I was a couple of credits ahead when I left Tulsa. They filled my schedule with a couple of BS classes." BB answered shrugging. Kaitlyn rolls her eyes before finishing BB's schedule.
"You suck by the way! Sixth class is your free class and last is of course Athletics. Any idea of what teams you were wanting to try out for?" Kaitlyn asks.
"Probably track because I don't think that Houston has a men's gymnastics team. Who knows? I might not join a team this year just to try to get myself back on focus." BB replied. Kaitlyn looks at him sympathetically and pats him on the shoulder.
"Don't let your past hold you back from your future. You've always been a hard worker, so don't let an asshole of a man ruin your chances of getting scholarships and going to college and getting a good job and future." Kaitlyn replies as BB quickly hugs his cousin before the bell rings.
"Alright. Don't get sappy, Blaine. Now get to class. Try to stay out of trouble until history class, OK?" Kaitlyn asks laughing as BB rolls his eyes and the cousins go their separate ways. Trying to make headway with the map, BB was trying to make it to his first class on time and not look like an idiot. After a few minutes of looking (and getting lost), BB made it to his science class before the bell rang. BB let out a sigh of relief and took the first seat he could find. He started flipping through the pages of the textbook on the desk before he was brought out of his thoughts by a random voice.
"Mind if I take this seat, Tommy?" The voice asked startling BB. BB turned to him and saw that it was the guy he played air hockey with months ago—Johnny Gargano.
"Sure you can sit there. Did you call me Tommy because my name is…?" BB tried to say before being cut off by Johnny putting his phone in front of BB.
"I know who you are BB, but did you notice that you dressed and kind of look like Tommy from the Power Rangers?" Johnny asks as BB looks at the picture than down at himself and realizing that he did look like the Green Power Ranger.
"The only thing I'm missing is the awesome martial arts abilities that Tommy has." BB replies laughing. Seconds later, the bell rang and the rest of the class scrambled to claim a seat before the teacher walked into the classroom. Miss Varon did the usual formalities of introducing herself and explaining the class setup as well as her policies about homework and stuff like that. Afterwards, she noted that there were three new students in her class joining the school; she them all introduce themselves. BB was lucky that he ended up being the third one to go.
"Alright. If you could please stand up and introduce yourself to the class, we would love to get to know a little about you." Miss Varon said with a smile. BB nodded and slow rose out of his seat.
"God I hate talking in front of people." BB thought as he turned to the majority of the class and began speaking.
"Hello. My name is Blaine Bonin, but a lot of people call me BB. I'm originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I just moved to Houston about a month ago to live with my aunt and uncle and to finish my senior year. I'm really excited to be here and see what this place brings." BB said with a shy smile. Miss Varon smiled back and motioned that BB could sit back down.
"It's nice to meet you and we are happy to have you in the class. You said your last name was Bonin, correct?" Miss Varon asks as BB nods, "I think I've had your cousin Kaitlyn a couple semesters ago. She was a sweetheart and I can tell that you have the same attitude as her."
BB smiled and quietly sat back down as Miss Varon went over a few more things before saying that classwork will begin tomorrow and to be ready to learn as the bell rang. After getting out of class, he sees that Johnny has caught up to him.
"Where are you heading next, BB?" Johnny asks as BB looks at his schedule again.
"Umm…English with Miss Moretti." BB said trying to fold his schedule up before Johnny takes it and looks at the rest of it.
"Do you know what is pretty awesome? That we have every class together except for when you have a free period." Johnny said handing BB back his schedule.
"That actually is pretty cool. It'll be great to at least know somebody in all my classes." BB said as he and Johnny walked into their English class.
English went by pretty quickly because all she did was talk all class period…which Kaitlyn said would happen. Math went by a little slower because his teacher…he couldn't remember his name…immediately started lecturing over the first assignment. BB and Johnny were talking when they ran into Kaitlyn and Seth in front of their history class.
"Hey, Blaine." Kaitlyn said as BB waved. Seconds later, Kaitlyn saw Johnny next to BB. "Hey, Johnny! How's it going?"
"Pretty good. Are you and Seth in Mr. Ross' class, too?" Johnny asks.
"Yep. Looks like it's gonna be one big happy family in this class." Kaitlyn replies as Seth wraps an arm around her and BB rolls his eyes.
"Which means they will probably be flirting all class time and we're all gonna vomit." BB remarks as him and Johnny laugh.
"Shut up, Blaine. We should get inside before the bell rings." Kaitlyn says as the four teens walk into the classroom and pick their seats with Johnny and BB sitting in the third row with Kaitlyn and Seth sitting in the row behind them. After everybody takes their seats, in comes a man wearing a black cowboy hat and he stands at the head of the class.
"Good morning, class. I am Mr. Ross, but you can call me 'Good Ole JR.'" Mr. Ross said as he introduced himself. "I was born and raised in the great state of Oklahoma. Let me tell you that I am tougher than a two dollar steak and if try to be disruptive or be a pain in my class, business will pick up and there's gonna be a slobberknocker. If you come to class ready to learn, then we will be good friends." BB smirked at the guy because he loved that he was from Oklahoma as well and that he used sayings like 'slobberknocker' like his grandpa did. BB sat back and listened to Mr. Ross, knowing that he was going to enjoy this class for sure. After his introduction to the class, Mr. Ross was cool enough to let the class talk amongst themselves for the last few minutes of class. BB was fiddling with his schedule when Johnny snatched it before BB fully noticed.
"What is with everybody taking that from me today? Should it be public knowledge what classes everyone has in a semester?" BB asks.
"In high school…yes! Come on, I'm just curious on if we have anymore classes than this together. Let's see…looks like we only have athletics together. That sucks." Johnny replies handing BB back his schedule as the bell rings. The teens get up and leave the class and stand right next to the class door.
"We're heading to the cafeteria for lunch. You guys wanna join us?" Kaitlyn asks.
"Sure, but I need to find my locker to put my stuff up. I'll meet you there?" BB asks in reply. Kaitlyn nods as Seth and Kaitlyn go to the cafeteria while BB goes to find his locker while Johnny follows.
"Maybe I can help you. What is your locker number?" Johnny asks as BB skims his schedule for his locker.
"Hmm…it looks like it's Locker 117." BB answers as Johnny slaps him on the back.
"Lucky for you, Blainey-boy! I can show you exactly where that is because my locker is 118. Follow me." Johnny replies as they walk upstairs to their lockers.
"Thanks for your help, Johnny, I really appreciate it." BB said messing with the dial to open his locker.
"Don't think much of it, BB. I was where you are now last year. See, I was the new kid when my parents decided to move down to Houston. I felt very awkward around this school until I met my partner-in-crime, Tomosso. We became quick friends and been an inseparable team ever since." Johnny said smiling. BB was about to say something before his locker door is quickly slammed. BB and Johnny turn around to find two guys in trucker hats staring them down.
"Hey, Johnny Cake. Where's your buddy Ciampa?" The guy with sunglasses on asks. BB looks at Johnny confused.
"Is that your friend you were talking about?" BB asks as Johnny nods.
"They knowwhere Tomosso is. Since they were the ones who did that to him. Don't you, Dawson?" Johnny replies glaring at the guy with the glasses. The two other guys start laughing.
"That's right. That mouthy sum' bitch got what he had coming to him. Didn't he, Dash?" Dawson remarks.
"Yep, but look, Dawson. Little Lonely Gargano found himself a new loser to hang out with." Dash says looking right at BB. "This must be the guy I heard Rollins talking about during football practice. Her little cousin. The Hillbilly Okie. He doesn't look like anything special. Then again that whore Rollins is dating isn't much to look at either."
"You watch your mouth, you ass…." BB tries to say defending Kaitlyn, but him and Johnny are quickly grabbed by their shirt collars and shoved against the lockers.
"You're lucky you don't know who we are or you would have already been punched in the mouth. Allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Scott Dawson and the guy strangling Johnny Cake is Dash Wilder. We live by the ideal of no flips, just fists." Dawson says bringing his fist into BB's face. "Now because of your mouth, you four-eyes and Johnny Cake are gonna get a welcome to school present." Dawson says winding up. BB was waiting for the punch to happen, but it never came.
"Try it and see what happens." A guy says grabbing Dawson's fist. BB didn't know who it was, but he did notice the number ten on the jersey he was wearing.
"This isn't your fight, Dillinger, so piss off." Dash says. BB looks at Johnny, wondering who this random savior was. Johnny mouths out the name "Tye Dillinger" as Dash and Dawson turn their attention to Tye, but still not letting go of BB or Johnny.
"Oh, I would highly recommend letting them go. I mean how would it look if two of Coach Bradshaw's football players took out a couple of people on the volleyball team. You would guys would never get to play again, so unless you wanna see your football scholarships get flushed down the toilet, I recommend setting them down…now!" Tye said getting in Dawson's face. After a moment of deciding, Dash and Dawson shake their heads and let the two younger teens go.
"Little shits aren't even worth it." Dash says as him and Dawson walk away. BB straightens out his shirt as Tye comes to check out him and Johnny.
"You guys alright?" Tye asks. BB and Johnny both nod.
"I'm good. How about you, Johnny?" BB asks.
"Nothing broken. I'm glad you showed up when you did. Thanks, Tye." Johnny replies.
"No worries. I just hate bullies. Nobody deserves to be intimidated like that if they have done nothing wrong." Tye answers before turning back to BB and shaking his hand. "You're the new kid, aren't you? Nice to meet you. Tye Dillinger."
"I'm Blaine Bonin, but you can call me BB." BB replies shaking Tye's hand. "Me and Johnny were heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Would you like to join us?"
Tye smiles and shakes his head no. "I'm good, but thanks for asking. I'll see you in practice later." Tye says to Johnny before walking away.
"How do you know this Tye Dillinger guy?" BB asks Johnny.
"We play on the volleyball team together." Johnny replies.
"I thought you were on the wrestling team since you were called Johnny WRESTLING?" BB asks again as Johnny laughs.
"Yeah during the spring semester. During the fall I play on the volleyball team with Tye. Now all I know about Tye Dillinger is that his nickname is the Perfect 10 because he is one of the best looking people in school. I do find it weird that even though he is pretty popular, he doesn't hang out with anybody. Seems to like being a loner, I guess. No matter, I think he's pretty cool." Johnny replied shrugging. "Come on, let's get to the lunch line before it gets too long."
After waiting a few minutes in the lunch line, BB and Johnny managed to find the table that Seth and Kaitlyn were sitting at along with Evan, AJ, and Punk.
"What took you guys so long? We were wondering if Blaine got lost." Kaitlyn said which got everyone laughing.
"I wish. BB and me had a run-in with Dash and Dawson." Johnny replied as Seth rolled his eyes.
"Those two are always picking fights with people smaller than them. Bullies like that are so stupid. How did you guys not get to get slaughtered?" Seth asks.
"This Tye Dillinger guy stopped them. I asked him to join us for lunch, but he declined and went on his way. It was a little weird if you ask me." BB answered before taking a bite of his burger.
"From what I've seen, he doesn't talk much with anybody. He's a cool dude, but I guess he prefers solitude or something." Evan said. "I wouldn't take it personally. If you ask me, I think he has his guard up for some reason. Like he doesn't want to trust people."
"Don't blame him. A lot of people here are either two-faced or assholes." Punk replied.
For the rest of lunch, everybody talked about their classes and other different subjects. After his class as being a counselor's aide—which was just him sitting because the counselor was out for the day—BB spent his study hall class wondering where Tye went because he wanted to personally thank him for his help earlier, but BB couldn't find him in the halls between classes. In athletics, BB was in the locker room putting his contacts in when Johnny came up from behind.
"What plans do you have for class today?" Johnny asks.
"Trying to avoid doing anything athletic for as long as possible today." BB answers laughing. "What about you?"
"I wish I could say that, but I have volleyball practice. We have a game coming up. I know! You could come out to the volleyball court and watch practice. Make it look like you're doing something." Johnny suggests as BB shrugs and thought "Why not?" as he follows Johnny to the volleyball court. BB goes to sit on the bleachers, but is stopped by some blond guy with a selfie stick in his hands.
"Who in the world are you, uggo? What are you even doing here? You're not even on the volleyball team." The blond guy asks. Johnny sees that there is some conflict brewing and decides to walk over before a fight starts.
"This is BB. He just moved here and I invited him to watch practice." Johnny said motioning to BB. "BB, this is Tyler Breeze. He is the volleyball team's resident selfie king and likes to refer to himself as 'Prince Pretty'."
"Watch it! So…BB…are you thinking about joining the team? I mean I know there's a spot open because Ciampa is out with an injury." Tyler asked condescendingly while looking at Johnny as Johnny glares at him.
"I'm thinking about it. I haven't fully decided." BB replied which got Tyler to start laughing. "What is so funny?"
"Sorry, I just don't see you as a volleyball player much less an athlete. What exactly can you do, uggo?" Tyler asks. BB smirks as he looks around.
"Watch me!" BB quickly says before he quickly does a round off into a back handspring. BB keeps doing backflips until he reaches the other side of the court. A few people caught BB doing his stunt—including Tye—and gave him a nice applause which got BB to blush a little bit. BB does a small bow and walks back over to Johnny and Tyler.
"Was that athletic enough for you?" BB asks as Johnny starts laughing.
"Whatever." Tyler quickly says before walking away looking annoyed.
"Guess you showed him." Johnny says still laughing. BB smiles and quickly shrugs before they both hear a whistle. They look over to the side and see the volleyball coach walking towards them.
"Alright, Gargano. Get on the court. Gotta get SOME practice in today." The coach says he catches BB trying to sneak away. "You! Come back here."
BB slowly turns around and walks back to the coach.
"What's your name kid?" The coach asks.
"Blaine Bonin, sir." BB replies.
"Bonin, huh. What exactly are you doing here? You're not on the team."
"You see, this is my first day here and I didn't have another place to go for athletics so Johnny invited me to watch the volleyball team practice." BB answers as the coach starts to study him. BB looks at him awkwardly.
"I normally do not do this, but I am kind of in a jam. I actually need one more player for a game coming up next week since we lost a player due to injury. Would you want to practice with the team today? If you're decent enough, I might actually make you a permanent member of the team. What do you say?" The coach asks. BB really didn't want to do much of anything today, but the coach was asking him if he wanted to help out for the day.
"Volleyball, huh? Who knows? Maybe I might be decent at it. At least this way I'm actually doing something to earn my athletics credit instead of hiding away for an hour." BB thought before answering the coach.
"Sure. I'll practice with you guys." BB said as the coach pats him on the back.
"That's what I like to hear. I would say get warmed up before getting on the court, but I saw your little acrobatics routine earlier." The coach said as BB started to turn red. "Now get on the court and let's see what you can do."
After practice, BB and Johnny just left the school building and were walking towards the parking lot.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I was horrible out there. I made an embarrassment out of myself." BB said.
"You did pretty well. I think the coach is happy to have you on the team." Johnny replied.
"How do you even know if I'm even on the team? I can't serve and I crashed into you three times. I highly doubt that." BB answered laughing.
"We've had worse believe me." Johnny says.
"I'm surprised that your coach is even taking new players at this point in the season."
"Ever since Tomosso got injured, we've needed a player that can halfway decently play. You have been the first player to have any sort of skill even though you've never really played before." Johnny said which got BB to remember what he wanted to ask Johnny earlier.
"You brought up Tomosso earlier when we were getting picked on by Dash and Dawson. And people have been harassing you all day about him. If you don't mind my asking, what happened to Tomosso?" BB asked as Johnny's smile disappeared.
"I'll be honest with you. I'm not exactly great when it comes to making new friends...I feel awkward in groups. But when I met Tomosso, it was a weird connection. Anyways, what happened to him was a glorified mugging. Me and Tomosso were leaving practice late when Dash, Dawson, and a few others blindsided us. Knocked me out, but Tomosso got much worse." Johnny answered sadly.
"How much worse?" BB asked.
"Grade 2 Concussion and a broken leg among other bumps and bruises he suffered. You see Tomosso could sometimes be hard to get along with and didn't come off as one of the nicest people. For some reason, Dash and Dawson hated him. Those two always tried to pick fights with him and with me because I was friends with him. The fight didn't happen on school grounds, there wasn't much the teachers could do to help." Johnny replied.
BB looked at Johnny with sympathy because it wasn't fair he couldn't get redemption for himself and his friend that was brutally attacked. It wasn't right. BB figured that the best thing he could do for Johnny is to be his friend.
"I'm very sorry to hear that happened to Tomosso. I hope he has a speedy recovery." BB says patting Johnny on the back.
"Man...Johnny reminds me of myself so much. Shy and quiet especially in group situations. I wonder if there was a way that I can help...or we help each other. I GOT AN IDEA!" BB thought as he came up with a great idea.
"I was gonna ask you earlier, but Kaitlyn is bringing a few of her friends over next weekend for some sleepover thing. I wanted to see if you wanted to stay over next Friday night too…I don't want to be overrun by girls." BB says laughing. Johnny looked a little nervous at the invitation, but seconds later he was able to crack a smile.
"Yeah. It sounds like fun." Johnny replied.
"Excellent! You can ride with us after school on Friday." BB says. "Speaking of rides, do you need a ride home today Johnny?"
"I'm good. I can wal…." Johnny tries to decline, starting to look nervous again as BB cuts him off.
"What kind of friend would I be if I let you walk home by yourself after hearing that story? I don't trust those assholes. I don't think Seth will have an issue giving you a ride home." BB says as Johnny tries to decline again. "Just give me the peace in mind and let us give you a ride, please. Besides...what are friends for?"
"Since you put it that way…sure." Johnny replied as BB smiled.
"Who knew that the two most awkward teens in school would start to become good friends?" BB remarked as the two laughed as they heard a faint whistle coming from the football field.
"It sounds like football practice is over. Let's go find Seth's car and pester him to take you home." BB said as they walked through the parking lot to find Seth's car.
Luckily for BB, it didn't take too much harassment for Seth to give Johnny a ride home. After dropping Johnny off at his house, Seth took BB and Kaitlyn home. BB entered the house and saw Mike coming out of his office.
"Hey, Blaine. Where's Kaitlyn?" Mike asks. BB rolls his eyes and smirks.
"Outside telling Seth goodbye…over and over again." BB replied smiling as Mike looks at the window and rolls his eyes.
"Teenagers…anyways how was the first day?" Mike asks again.
"It wasn't that bad. Besides the fact of being the new kid and looking lost everywhere I went, it was pretty fun. I was asked by the volleyball coach to join the volleyball team, so that was pretty cool." BB said as Mike quickly scooped him into a hug. It caught BB off guard, but he didn't mind.
"Way to go, Blaine. I'm proud of you. I'm happy to see that your first day went really well. Anyways, dinner will be ready in a couple of hours." Mike says walking into the kitchen. BB smiles as he walks upstairs to his bedroom.
Minutes later, BB is in his bedroom changing out of the flannel shirt leaving him in his tank top. He is pulling the elastic band out of his hair as Kaitlyn enters his bedroom after a quick knock. He turns around and rolls his eyes.
"I see that you stopped saying goodbye to Seth. Did he give you back your gum?" BB asked sarcastically.
"Haha. Very funny, smart ass." Kaitlyn replies slapping BB on the shoulder. "Word around the athletics circle is that you are on the volleyball team."
"Well I wouldn't call it joined. I would say it's more of a trial basis…wait! Who told you?" BB asked confused.
"Becky told me. It's a very small circle, Blaine. Becky is really good friends with the Irish exchange student, Finn Balor. Finn and Becky were talking when somebody passed by talking about how the new kid was doing a gymnastics routine during volleyball practice." Kaitlyn answered.
"How did Becky know it was me? They didn't say any names." BB asked curious on how Becky figured it out.
"Not going to lie, but she said that they said that thought I was going to join the volleyball team because you looked so much like me from a distance." Kaitlyn answered as BB rolled his eyes.
"Well I guess that we still look like twins even as teenagers." BB answered laughing which got Kaitlyn also laughing.
"Guess so. I thought you were wanting to stay 'under the radar' and try to stay unnoticed this school year?"
BB smirks and nods. "Well yeah that was my plan. Because you know how shy I am when it comes to new things. Especially meeting new people."
"Yeah I get ya. But I have to say that your 'under the radar' plan is off to a shitty start." Kaitlyn remarks before she remembered what she has wanting to ask BB for a few days. "I've been wanting to ask what plans you had next Friday night since AJ, Renee, and a few others will be hanging out here? I highly doubt that you want to be the only guy with a bunch of teenage girls."
"Don't give me too much of a thought next weekend, Katie. I was going to match up your teenage girl count with a teenage boy count. I asked Johnny Gargano if he wanted to come over and I bet Evan would have no problem either." BB replied.
"What's with you and becoming so buddy-buddy with Johnny Gargano?" Kaitlyn asks with pure curiosity.
"Is there something wrong with Johnny?" BB asks narrowing his eyes at Kaitlyn as she puts her hands up in surrender.
"Of course not! Don't be so defensive. It's just that before talking with you, Johnny Gargano didn't talk to very many people because he has had tendencies of being socially awkward, quiet, and shy." Kaitlyn answers.
"Really? Doesn't that remind you of somebody?" BB asks as Kaitlyn thinks for a moment. As soon as she figures it out, Kaitlyn taps her forehead after her "duh" moment.
"Exactly. Just like me. I don't know, Katie, but after talking with Johnny, I feel like we're going to have a really good friendship. We have a bunch of stuff in common besides the antisocial tendencies. Besides, I think that Johnny would fit in perfectly with your friends." BB replies as Kaitlyn punches his shoulder.
"Look, shithead. They are not MY group of friends. They are OUR group of friends. You have gotta learn to not have such a pity party personality." Kaitlyn says as BB slowly frowns and sits on the bed. Kaitlyn sighs and sits next to her cousin and wraps her arm around his shoulder. "I do think it's really sweet that you are trying to include Johnny in our group. You're the first person he's actually hung around with other than Tomosso."
"It's horrible about what happened to Tomosso. I hope he gets better soon. Actually, Katie, I think that people like me and Johnny just need to feel accepted by people. I saw the look on Johnny's face when I invited him to our house next weekend. It was the same look I had whenever I went with you to that up all night party at Evan's." BB replies.
"I get what you mean. Hopefully by graduation you will be much more confident in yourself. I want you to see what me and parents have seen for years and that is that you are much more than you give yourself credit for. You are smart, sweet, and intelligent. I honestly think that hanging out with you will have the same effect on Johnny's self-esteem. You guys together can build each other up." Kaitlyn says as she gets off BB's bed. "Come on, let's go see if dad needs help with dinner."
BB starts to follow Kaitlyn, but as the exit BB's bedroom, BB grabs Kaitlyn in a tight hug which Kaitlyn easily reciprocates.
"Thanks for always being there for me and just simply being my rock." BB says smiling. Kaitlyn gives a small smile as she gives him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Anytime, Blaine. I'll always be there for you." Kaitlyn answers as she heads downstairs to the kitchen as BB stands there smiling thinking how lucky it he is that he has his cousin in his life.
The first day of school is OVER! Seems like a regular day in the life of a teenager: books, classes, new friends, and the unfortunate bully. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thanks to everybody who has been bearing with my inconsistent updates for both stories!
I just wanted to let everybody know that I do have a poll available on my profile for my other story "Learning the Ropes and Proving You Belong." If interested, jump over to my profile and vote.
NOTE: I made the announcement about the poll at the end of the most recent chapter of "Learning the Ropes", but I forgot to make it available on my profile until two days later (FAIL haha).
As always, thank you very much for reading the chapter and stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!