Alright, this chapter will have to be in 2 parts because i'm just too impatient at the moment. I've had some stuff going on that kept me from updating till now, but i'm doing my best.
Please excuse typos, I only did one once over when I normally do like, ten.
this half a chapter is dedicated to:
grapejuice101 for being a great follower/idea giver
Latara Hanu for reveiwing and making me have happy spasms
empressofthedead although i still have no clue what your review meant :)
KKLSBones even though you haven't pm'd me back...
TheFemaleBen10 for being an amazing reveiwer/follower and having an awesome name~
star(guest) for reveiwing even though you're a guest
and
shaddowridder221 for posing the question, when will Linzy's secret get out? all i can say is- mwa ha ha! wait and see!
In other news, did you guys see that commercial for ultimate spiderman that had the cast of Jessie in it? I was like, "what? how does that make sense?" and then I remembered that even though U.S is great, it's still a Disney show; and Disney loves crossovers.
At least, that's the best excuse I could think of.
Anyway, you've all waited long enough.
On with the story!
Chapter 16
"Hey look, it's Pete!" Harry exclaimed, rushing over to open the window for him; they'd already locked the doors of the school since he was late.
"It's about time, I was wondering if he'd ever get here." I mumbled, crossing my arms and following harry to the window. "How on earth are you later than me? I left after you!" I asked with a shake of my head.
"Eh, I had a couple errands to run for Aunt May." Peter replied with a sheepish smile as Harry and I pulled him up through the window.
"Uh huh, sure." I nodded, not opting to pursue the issue further. Sometimes, even though I know what's actually going on, Peter gets on my nerves with all his excuses; I honestly don't know how everyone else handles it.
"Remind me to buy you a watch." Harry said, then thought better of it, "…maybe a watch company- Hurry up! We'll miss homeroom."
As Peter and Harry continued down the hallway I offered a quick good bye and ducked into my homeroom class. I already knew about "movie night" in Harry's pent house, he'd actually invited Peter, MJ and I yesterday. I was kinda upset it'd turn into some wild party… that's not really my forte. I prefer quiet libraries or a few rambunctious friends.
Later at lunch….
"Hey guys, what's up?" When I walked up to the lunch table, everyone was laughing at something sam had on his phone.
"Oh, nothing Linzy."
Oh, sure. As if I didn't already know.
"You guys are looking at that viral spidey shot, aren't you? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Yeah! You should be ashamed of yourselves." Peter agreed; a less than amused frown aimed at his team.
I smiled and set down my tray, then set off in search for Harry. "Hey, we're sitting over here today." I said as I came up alongside him.
"Cool. Looks like everyone's already here, too."
He noticed bitterly, referring to Sam, Ava, Danny, and Luke.
"Harry, come on. They're pretty nice people." I chastened as we approached the table together.
"-you don't need to kiss up to moneybags anymore for cash." Sam was saying. Suddenly I felt the urge to slap him. Harry must've felt similarly, for he slammed his tray down on the table and swiveled smartly on his heel. Peter gave Sam a dirty look and hurried after his friend.
I settled for flicking him on the ear.
"Ouch, what was that for?!" he cried, and I crossed my arms.
"Don't be such a jerk, Sam. If you want people to respect you, this isn't the way to go about it."
I said sagely before I also turned and hurried after the boys.
"-you don't need to explain anything. You have your "detention friends" to save your but now."
"They are definitely not my friends." Peter said, taking large strides to catch up with Harry.
"Oh yeah? Then what are they?"
"Its…complicated." Peter said slowly as he came to a stop.
"Didn't used to be." Harry replied in a lower voice but kept walking. I stayed silent and followed at a brisk pace behind him, shooting a worried look back at Peter who was standing forlornly in the center of the hall. MJ'd take care of him, even if she was a little misguided.
"Harry, wait up!" I cried when I noticed he was getting too far from me. Trotting after him up we continued down the hall.
"Harry..." I frowned and placed my hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him from walking any further. "I'm sorry Sam's such a jerk. I gave him a stern talking to, if that makes you feel any better." I said.
"…It's not just that." He sighed, turning to face me. "Pete and I have been friends for a long time, longer than you've been around at least. He's never just up and abandoned me like this."
"Harry, he hasn't abandoned you. Peter's just, well, you know how he is; he probably just feels responsible for the new kids. They kinda rely on him for stuff, if you haven't noticed."
"Whatever."
"Hey, to make you feel better why don't we hang out before Peter and MJ come over? Frances has been asking to meet you guys anyway." Yes, I'd talked to Frances about my other friends, and vice versa. Peter thought it was great that I was making friends outside of his circle, though he was more willing to share them with me than with his new team. Go figure.
"Yeah, sure."
"Cool! I think it'll be good for her; she's not very social."
"Uh huh."
"…you're not even listening to me, are you?"
"Hm."
"…I'll meet you outside after school lets out. I'll call Frances to tell her we'll pick her up, ok?"
"Huh? Oh, sure."
I rolled my eyes and patted him on the back before starting back towards the cafeteria.
"Thanks Linzy."
"Anytime, Harry."
"Polka dot. Pooollllkkkaaaa dooootttttt…I'm bored…"
"Linzy, please stop."
"But Harry, I'm booorrrreeeeddddddd…" I chanted, putting my arms behind my head. "ugh- oh. Is that her?" he asked suddenly, sitting forward. I glanced out of the tinted window and saw Frances staring at the limo with a mix of confusion, longing, and oddly enough, hatred. I rolled down the window and popped my head outside. "Hey sour puss, what's with that face?"
Her jaw dropped and the hatred dispelled.
"Linzy?! What- what are you doing in a limo?!"
"I said we were going to pick you up, didn't I? Climb on in, I want to introduce you!"
I flung the door open, and Frances tentatively climbed inside.
"uhh…."
I smiled happily at them both, choosing to ignore the awkward atmosphere. If there was anything I was good at, it was annoying my friends till they found common ground. That is to say, I made them able to talk to each other.
…It's a gift.
"Guys, guess what? I finished writing my English paper last night! I really think this one turned out a lot better."
"Oh please, Linzy; As if you'd do anything but amazing on an English paper." Harry scoffed with a smirk. He'd gotten to know me better over the course of the past few months, but we still weren't the best of friends. He still had the illusion of the "perfect bookworm". Hello! I actually have to work for my grades! I'm not that smart.
Frances stayed silent, and I elbowed her in the side.
"Geez girl, stop sitting so tensely. This is going to be fun, so you can afford to relax a little!"
I'd gotten to know Frances better over the past few days as well. It's still slow going, but I feel as if I've known her for much longer than I actually have.
She offered me a meek "ok" and a little smile. I shrugged, then grinned and bumped her arm the whole rest of the ride. By the time we got to Harry's, she was finally starting to calm down and Harry was making an effort to soothe her as well.
"And so then I said, toothless? More like spineless!" And we fell over ourselves as we entered the house, and toppled onto the couch laughing. Frances was visibly fighting back a spasm of giggles and I wasn't even bothering to hold in my chuckles.
"Well it seems like you all are having a good time." Mr. Osborne said and I whipped my head around. I never managed to hear him coming, and it kinda bugged me. And…creeped me out. A lot.
"Hello, Linzy. It's been a while. How are you?"
"Good, Mr. Osborne. This is my friend Frances; I convinced Harry to let her join us tonight." His eyes narrowed at her appearance, glanced to me, then he allowed his expression to soften. My eyebrow arched. That's pretty clear body language; apparently he values my opinion. How…unexpected.
"Hm, nice to meet you, young lady. I do hope you'll be a good influence on my son." I couldn't resist the need to roll my eyes. Seriously, does he micromanage every aspect of Harry's life? Well…at least he tries to be a good dad.
"Erm… uh-ye-yes s-sir…" she mumbled, timidly shaking his hand.
If that didn't shatter his preconceived "delinquent" notion he no doubt had formed, I don't know what will.
"Excuse us for a moment." I said, grabbing Frances' arm and pulling her into the adjoining hallway.
"what-?"
"Sorry, Fi, it just looked like Harry wanted to talk to his dad. I think it'd be better if we sat it out, ok?"
"…Fi..?"
"Yeah, Fi. You know, kinda like a nick name. If you don't like it I can keep trying. How about… Franny? Frank? Fran? Or…"
"Um, Fi is fine. It's just…well… I've never had a nickname before. It's…nice."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you think so." I said, with a sincere smile. "anyway, I-"
"LLLIIIIINNNNNNNZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYY!" I was cut off suddenly as a familiar cry rang through the hall.
"Huh? Kass-ooffh!" and then I was head-butted in the stomach.
"OOWWW! Kass, why the heck did you do that? Scratch that- why the heck are you here!?"
"LINZY! Why are you replacing me?"
"Kass, come back here!" I heard Val cry as she came running up behind us.
"Linzy? What's going on..?" asked a very confused Fi.
"Erm…well, this is-"
"I'm the best friend whose place you're trying to steal! Rawr! Let me at 'er! Im'a teach ya who's boss!" she said, wrapping her arms around my middle and refusing to let go. I hate it when she gets like this… she's only doing it to annoy me…
"Uggh!" I groaned, reaching into TB and grabbing an emergency Kass-cookie. I shoved it in her mouth and she released me, slumped over and ate it like it was the best thing ever. I rolled my eyes and brushed the wrinkles off of my shirt.
"Any way, as I was saying, that's Kass; and that-" I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder, "is Valentina. They're my friends."
"Oh. Uh…why-"
"Because she's Kass."
"Um.."
"Once you get to know her it makes sense."
"…"
I turned to Val as she approached.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples.
"She saw you guys at that coffee place yesterday and started spouting nonsense about how she was going to be replaced. It kinda went south from there…"
With a roll of my eyes I grabbed Kass's shoulder and shook her. "Kass, you know I couldn't replace you if I tried, so stop being stupid."
"Awww! Ok." She replied, her eyes begging me for another cookie.
After that we just sort of stood around, talking, and I slipped away only after enough time had passed.
"Harry? Some more friends of mine showed up, I hope that's ok."
He smiled slyly at me. "Oh, that's fine. In fact, invite as many people as you want. We're having a party."
"Wait, I thought we were just having a movie night?"
"Not anymore! oh look, the guests are already arriving."
And then I was bored.
I hate parties; it's just not my element. I'm the kind of person who'd find the nearest corner, or in this case, library, to read in. Sadly Kass doesn't think this way, so she pulled all three of us (Fi and Val had joined me) and forced us back into the middle of the party. I don't think it's that she likes parties, per se, more so she wants to see what's going on. And with that, another problem arises.
"Linzy, over here!" Harry called, Waving me over. I walked towards him, dodging the hyperkinetic party goers until I arrived.
"Harry, I still think a movie night would've been nicer." I said, noticing Peter and MJ and rolling my eyes as Harry started to walk towards them.
"-half the school party down at Harry's house instead." MJ was saying to my cousin when Harry interjected.
"The whole school actually. Except for the ones who weren't invited." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the team, Sam wolfing down a platter of nachos and the rest looking at him in disgust.
"I invited them, Harry. I thought maybe if everyone got to know each other, things could be cool." His face fell at Harry's unamused expression. "Harry, I'm trying here. Come on!"
"I don't need any more friends. As you can see, I've got plenty." He then grabbed hold of my shoulders and piloted me up onto the piano with him. "You guys are the best!" he shouted into the microphone, and the crowd rejoiced.
"Harry! Harry! Harry!"
I frowned at him as he sent a snide smile in Peter's direction.
"Seriously Harry? I thought you were better than this." I remarked, pushing him away.
"What? Oh, come on Linzy. I'm not doing anything wrong."
I rolled my eyes and jumped down off the piano, squared my shoulders back and made my way back to my friends. "Ok, what's his major malfunction?" I asked point blank, poking Peter in the shoulder. "He dragged me into it so I know he's not ok."
"…Maybe my plan was a little ill advised." MJ sighed when Peter didn't answer me.
"Any ideas?"
Only I noticed when Peter froze up, only I noticed the weird ju ju spidey vibes and matching sound affect.
"A-Yeah. Um, bathroom break."
And that's all folks! Hopefully enough people will pester me into updating soon :)
...That's me hinting at, "REVIEW! REVEIW!" without yelling at you through capital letters.
-R.E