Chapter 5
Meddling Kids
Val glanced up from her magazine at the clock on the living room wall, already worn out, and bored to tears. It had only been about an hour since she'd arrived from the mall (sadly, sans Tyler- although he did promise rush over right after his dinner) and she'd been alternating between yelling at the three boys to settle down, and halfheartedly paying attention to the girls as they caught up on the latest gossip from the drama filled halls of Kingsport Middle school. The topic of the moment was the much-awaited break up of Jen So-and-so and Bob Someone-or-other.
"- And so Jenna Goldman tells Robbie that they're over in Spanish class, like in front of everyone! All of a sudden she just stands up and goes, 'Rob, honey, I hate to break it to you like this, but we're over- I sorta like someone else now.' Then she sits down and starts writing down irregular verb conjugations like nothing had happened! Can you believe it?" The small cluster of girls that had gathered around the main story teller- at this time is was actually Brooke- gasped and collectively shook their French braided heads, munching on the many bags of junk food as they began to rain down many scathing epithets on Jenna, (a few of the more pleasant ones being "Floozy" and, Val's personal favorite, "Ho-biscuit"), and expressed their mutual pity for poor Robbie.
"Hey Nick, go long!" Geoff suddenly cried from the other end of the entrance hallway. Val sprung out of her seat in worry- football declarations such as "go long" were never good indications when one was in a house- particularly one as small as the Lanier's. Moments later, Nick came rushing backwards into the living room, his hands outstretched in anticipation for the Geoff's upcoming pass, and his eyes on nothing but the foam football that was spiraling towards him. He cheered triumphantly as the ball slid smoothly into his arms, right before tripping over the ottoman and landing right smack in the middle of the girl's tight little gossip group. Val massaged her temples as angry shrieks filled the air- along with Cheetos, popcorn, chips, and any other snack food they decided to throw in his direction.
"Nooooo, stop, don't do that!" Val moaned, already collapsed on the couch in defeat. "Do you know how long it takes to get Cheeto stains off of upholstery?" The 12 year olds actively ignored her, of course, as Geoff and Mark rushed into the room and joined in the fray. Pillows, junk food and stuffed animals flew through the air, amidst shouts of laughter and Val pulled a throw pillow over her head and prayed that Tyler would arrive soon.
* * *
When Tyler pulled into Val's driveway a few minutes later, two things immediately caught his attention. 1) That every single light was on inside the house- from what he could see in the windows, anyway. And 2) the front door was ajar and he could hear screams coming from the inside. Stopping only a second to lock his car door, he sprinted up the front steps into the house- and walked into what looked like a war zone. Junk food, stuffed animals and soda cans lay in a trail leading all the way to the living room, where the chaos was mostly centered. Brooke and her friends stood in the middle of it all- laughing like it was the best joke in the world. Val, meanwhile, scurried around with a giant plastic garbage bag, frantically cleaning up the mess.
"Hey Tyler!" Brooke greeted cheerfully. "These are my friends, Nick, Geoff, Mark, Amanda, Nicole, Sarah, and Amy."
"What happened here?" Tyler questioned, instead of returning her greeting. Val looked up from scooping handfuls of popcorn into the trash bag.
"A good old fashioned food-fight." She answered wearily, moving her arm in a sweeping gesture to show him the wrecked living room. "Boy vs. Girls… and the only loser here seems to be me… but welcome to our humble home anyway." Brooke surveyed the damage that she and her friends had done with guilt.
"Whoops." She murmured sheepishly, noticing that there wasn't an inch of floor or furniture that wasn't covered in junk- though Val did seem to be leaving a clean wake as she bustled about, clearing up. "Let me, um, help you with that Val." Brooke offered, running into the kitchen she returned with nine more trash bags- one for each of them.
"Take a bag each guys." Tyler ordered, ignoring the groans of protest that came from the preteens. Val shot him a grateful smile- one that he readily returned, and the cleaning began.
* * *
"Now what?" Nick asked as they stowed the last trash bag in the garage. Val inspected the clean living room with pride.
"I don't know, what do you guys want to do?" A sly grin crossed Nick's face, and he looked over towards the remaining full bags of food.
"Food fight?" he suggested playfully. His companions, along with Val and Tyler shot him deadly glares, clearly stating that if he so much as touched a bag of food that night, they'd hurt him… badly. "Ok, jeez, only joking you guys."
"Let's make over Val!" Brooke offered excitedly. At the word "makeover" the rest of the girl's heads immediately began bobbing in agreement like a cluster of bobble headed dashboard figurines, nodding their assent and sealing her fate at the same time. She blanched.
"M-makeover?" she stammered feebly, beginning to back out of the room. "I-I don't think I need a makeover…" she looked at Tyler, begging for his help with her blue eyes.
"But… um, we can't do makeovers, because the guys won't have anything to do?" he said- offering a surprisingly weak excuse. "Besides, I like the way she looks now." He added bashfully. Val ducked away, blushing, and the girls exchanged knowing glances.
"We're not going to mutate her, or turn her into Marilyn Manson or something. In fact, I promise, she'll look ten times cooler. Go play the Playstation or something- we've got football and Mortal Kombat." Brooke ordered dismissively. The boys immediately perked at the thought of playing video games, distracting Tyler enough to allow them to usher Val into the girl's room.
"All right- what are you going to do to me?" she sighed, wincing as the girls threw open her closet door and collected her makeup from her vanity in the bathroom- sheesh it looked like she was getting the whole overhaul.
"Well, it depends on what kind of look we're going for here." Brooke said slyly, "All we know is that before this night is over, you will no longer be the pastel cheerleader." She was examining Val's selection of long retired eyeshadows as she spoke- colors such as midnight black (that was during the 7th grade 'copy Caitie' phase- lasted about a week.) fireball red (she probably was high or something when she bought it- as of yet, it remained unused) and so on. A shudder of fear ran through Val- Brooke and her friends seemed to be most interested in those hideous, luminescent colors- she might as well break out the multicolored wig and call herself Bozo.
"Hey Brooke, let's make her a punk!" Nicole called excitedly from the depths of Val's closet. Suddenly, a pair of black leather pants flew past the white closet doors and landed at Val's feet. Brooke stopped her critical assessment of Val's makeup to give an enthusiastic giggle.
"Yeah- let's make her a rebel for Jamie!" she teased. Val pursed her lips and glared at her sister.
"Shut up!" she yelled, hoping that Brooke's voice hadn't carried into the living room where the boys were busy playing video games.
"Jamie Waite? That Jamie? Val likes him?" Amanda shrieked loudly. "Oh my gosh! I had no idea! I mean, he's hot and all but I had the impression that she liked-" Val clapped her hands over Amanda's mouth, preventing her from speaking further.
"So she does like Jamie!" Amy declared- obviously taking Val's frantic attempts at silencing them the wrong way.
"All right! We will not be taking about Jamie for the rest of the evening! In fact, henceforth, nothing Jamie or Jamie related will be discussed during the entirety of your stay here. I do not like him as anything more than a friend- because that's what he is, my good friend! Did you catch the emphasis on friend?!" she defended hotly. Sure- that was a rather loud scream of protest- but for goodness sakes… Tyler was just outside in the living room!
"Ha! I knew it! That, my friends, is the screech of a girl in denial." Was Amy's oh-so-wise observation.
"She's totally hot for him." Nicole agreed, awed.
"He just admitted in the station today, that he was completely crazy about her too." Brooke admitted conspiratorially.
"They'll make a totally cute couple though- you know, popular jock girl, rebel guy? It's like… Romeo and Juliet!" Amanda sighed dreamily.
"But… I thought that guy Tyler liked her. You know, the one outside, hanging out with the guys?" the previously silent Sarah commented, rifling through Val's tops in search of something that wasn't pastel or a sweater set. The rest of the girls glanced instinctively towards the doorway, almost as if they saw through it into the living room, where Tyler sat, oblivious that he was the topic of discussion at that very moment.
"Yeah… but you have to admit, Jamie's way hotter then Tyler. I mean, just take a look at the two of them in this squad picture!" Brooke responded, tossing them Val' photo book. Val buried her burning face in her hands, wondering how pathetic it was that 12 year olds were actually discussing her love life. She had to put a stop to this- if only for the sake of her sanity.
"Brooke! Shut up! And the rest of you, give me that!" she snapped fiercely, gaping as the girls took no notice of her anger and proceeded to talk about… of all things… the hotness of Jamie Waite!
"So how long have you had a crush on him, Val?" Nicole suddenly asked, "Was it, like, the moment you saw him? Or was it more, you became friends, and then you suddenly realized how great he was?"
"I-we- no! I'm not answering that!" Val spluttered crossly, her cheeks flushed a deep pink.
"They were friends first." Brooke replied, swiping a gunmetal grey shadow over Val's eyelids. "Nicole, put that blush away- looks like we're not going to be needing it." She remarked, noticing that her sister was turning a still deeper shade of red.
"Fine! You know what? I'm not going to bother yelling at you anymore. You just keep talking. At least I know that it's not true."
"Put the leather pants and that black tank top on Val- I've got a phone call to make." Brooke instructed, slipping out of the room with her cell phone.
"Brooke, wait… who are you-"
"Pizza!" Brooke called back through the door. The remaining four girls crowded her into the closet so that she could change.
* * *
Nothing was on TV tonight- but Jamie expected as much from summer night programming. He leaned back on his couch and closed his eyes, suddenly wondering what Caitie was doing up in New York at the moment. Probably not staring at reruns of The Real World, like he was. She'd called earlier that evening and excitedly told him of her plans to watch a Broadway showing of "The Lion King", explore Greenwich, and finally end the evening by hitting the local club scene. His lips tugged upward at the thought of all the fun that she was going to have over the next few weeks. Well, he may be bored, but at least one of them got to enjoy their summer.
*RING*
What was that? He sat up from the couch with a start, listening closely for the sound again. *RING RING* the sound of the phone ringing again reverberated through the empty house. Jamie shook him self for being such a moron. Right… he knew it was the phone. "A widdle jumpy there Waite?" he scoffed out loud, padding into the kitchen to pick up the telephone. "`Lo?" he greeted tiredly.
"Jamie?" A small voice questioned on the other end of the line.
"Brooke? `S that you? Whatcha doing calling me at 9 PM? Wait… what are you doing calling me at all?" he asked suspiciously. "Faxing over some paperwork for me to do- you know, just to brighten up my evening?"
"No, Jamie, I need a favor."
"Would this favor have anything to do with wielding a pen? Because you know what my answer is going to be…"
"No. Nothing station related. Promise." Brooke vowed. "I'd pinky promise, but, you know… kinda pointless over the phone. Anyway, back to the favor."
"Yes… let's get back to that, because I'll have you know that I, um I have many important plans for the evening…" he stated. Of course, his "plans" basically consisted of watching the remaining Real World episodes, and lounging around the house like a slob- but Brooke didn't know that, so it didn't matter.
"Oh, the producers are going to ask Lara to move out of the group house because of her drug use… and Anya and Mike are going to hook up."
"Hey! How did you-"
"Saw that episode of Real World last week. Now… onto the topic-"
"Why do you presume that I'm sitting at home watching Real World reruns? I have better things to do with my-"
"Yes, sure you do. Anyway, I need you to meet Val. She's going to walk to the video store, and then to Angelo's to pick us up a pizza, and you live close by, so I figured that you could, you know, go with her. Make sure she gets there safe and everything."
"What happened to boy wonder? Can't he make a quick run over there for her? Why do I have to go out and play bodyguard?" Jamie whined.
"Because I presumed that you had nothing to do tonight- and I was going to be nice and find a roundabout way of inviting you to hang out." Jamie was silent, pondering his options. It was either sit here and vegetate on the couch… or spend the evening with 8 preteens and Mr. And Mrs. Perfect… normally and easy choice- couch all the way. He focused his attention back on the TV, not caring that Brooke was still holding for his answer on the line.
"Next, on Real World… 'Lara, I'm sorry, but we'll have to ask you to leave…'"
"Oh for the love of… tell her I'll meet her on the corner of Pike and Cedar." Jamie snapped, slamming down the phone and heading to his room to pull on his jacket.
* * *
The night air was still chilly; and despite the fact that this was the middle of July- there was a palpable coolness in the air. Val shivered and hugged her bare arms as she stomped purposely down the sidewalk of her neighborhood- cursing Brooke and her friends and their sudden craving for pizza. Why in God's name was she walking? She or Tyler could just as easily have driven over and picked up the pizza and the list of movies and been back in less then five to ten minutes. But nooooooo. Brooke and the girls had insisted that one of them had to walk- and since Tyler had been in the middle of playing Madden 2001, that left her. She furiously shook her blonde head, muttering bitterly about video games, little sisters, useless guys, pizza, and anything else she could think of to blame her predicament on. Including her outfit. She looked down and observed the tiny black tank top and leather pants with distaste- it was highly likely that she would be picked up for street walking even before she reached Cedar Avenue! Tyler was certainly reluctant to let her out of the house looking like she did. In fact… he didn't really seem to like her makeover at all. Not that Val had liked it herself- but Tyler had particularly found a reason to dislike it…
"Val!" she looked up from the rock she was kicking along the sidewalk with the toe of her black sandal. Had someone said her name? She looked side to side, and finally behind her- nope, same dark, empty streets. Just in case, she sped up her pace, walking a little faster towards the street lamp at Cedar and Pine…
"Val!" Ok… there it was again. Maybe she should run. Yeah, running sounded great at the moment. She broke into a quick jog, ignoring the pain of her sandals slapping at her heels. Behind her, she could hear the *clomp* of fast-falling footsteps- obviously male.
"Yeah, time to run faster…" she thought, speeding up in a panic-fueled burst of speed. However… one does not run in heels. A lesson Val learned painfully as she stumbled on air and went sprawling to her knees.
* * *
"Val!" Jamie yelled once again, quickening his pace down Pike street. Wow- that girl could run. Which wasn't exactly to his benefit, since he was the chaser. "I should just walk away, right now…" he muttered, never the less sprinting off on her tail. "Val!" Jamie winced as he watched her trip on her own sandals and tumble to the sidewalk. "That definitely damaged something." He commented offhandedly, jogging up to where she lay on the ground.
"Whoever you are, just leave me alone!" she screamed fiercely as she struggled to pull herself to her feet. A dark shadow loomed over her in the lamplight, and even in her terror, she bravely kicked out at her attacker.
"Whoa, whoa, we'll have none of that!" Jamie said sternly, jumping back out of rang of her leather-clad leg.
"Jamie?" he extended his hand and pulled her to her feet.
"No, Jack the Ripper. I time traveled 202 years from 19th century London specifically to chop you into little bits." Was his drippingly sarcastic reply.
"You scared me, idiot! What, did you take a specific stalker course in school or something?"
"Yes- because we all know that stalkers yell 'VAL!' as loudly as they possibly can while trailing their victim." Val rolled her eyes and proceeded to brush the dust off of her pants- which were thankfully un-torn from the ordeal.
"What are you doing out here anyway?" she mumbled as she examined the large red mark that was forming on her forearm. "Shoot, this is soo going to turn black and blue!" she wailed.
"Are you gonna be ok?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulder and supporting her as they continued their stroll down the street. She nodded stiffly and relaxed, letting him lead her down the dark street. "Brooke sent me after you- said that you could use some help." He informed her.
"That girl's up to something. Her and her friends spent the past half hour talking about how hot you are, and what a great couple we'd make, and all that nonsense." Jamie was in hysterics.
"Really? They said THAT? Those words?" Val nodded, scowling.
"I don't know what's so funny about it."
"Tell me that this conversation occurred in front of Wonder Boy, please."
"Well, um, he was in the other room." Jamie sighed in disappointment. "But I mean, they were yelling so loud that he probably did hear it!"
"This is too great." He replied, suddenly happy that Brooke had invited him to join them. And the best part about it was…. Tyler had no idea that he was going to show up… with Val, no less!
"Well, you weren't there, in the thick of it. With all the yelling and the makeovers and the comparisons to sappy Shakespearean characters." She grumbled. "And then…. Then, after all I had to do tonight, they send me out to get a pizza! I have to WALK to get a pizza! I don't know what they're trying to-" her eyes widened in realization, and she smacked her head angrily. "- Trying to set us up!" She cried. "That's what all this is about! Brooke and her little friends are trying to set you up with me!" Her revelation caused Jamie to jump away in shock, a move that sent Val's knees greeting sidewalk once again.
"Jamie!" She whined, picking herself up from off of the ground.
"Huh? Wha? Oh, sorry." He said apologetically, offering her his arm again. "What did you say Brooke and her friends were trying to do?" Val shook her head.
"They're trying to set us up- meddling kids." She said with a light laugh. "I mean, isn't their little scheme obvious? Dress me up as some floozy rebel chick-"
"For the record… I think you look good." Jamie remarked.
"Thank you… I've always liked these pants… anyway… and then have me go out to get them pizza, where I'll 'happen' to run into you! They're hoping for some, big dramatic thing to happen between us, and then have us come back to the house a brand new couple- singing love songs and strolling hand in hand. It all makes perfect sense now!" she announced with a hearty giggle.
"Well it would make perfect sense, `cept for one tiny little insignificant detail… we don't like each other like that." Jamie commented sagely. Val shrugged.
"Yeah, you try getting that through a rock-hard twelve year old mind. Apparently there's a new version of the English language, in which 'No' clearly means yes, and 'Yes' is obviously… um, well, 'yes' is still yes." A car zoomed past them on the street, sending a cool gust of air in their direction. Val shivered again. "C-can I have your coat?" She asked, running her hands over her exposed arm to generate body heat. Jamie sighed- making a gigantic show of the loss of his beloved jacket- but never the less shrugging it off and handing it to her.
"There's the rental place." Val commented. As they walked towards the well-lit store, she pulled the coat tightly around her figure, hoping to hide her outfit. Her hands trailed over the worn leather, and she noticed that it still held faint smell of guy's cologne. It was the kind of jacket that a guy wore his whole life, only to give it to his first girlfriend and never see it again. The best way to describe it would be to call it a boyfriend coat, and Val already envied the girl who would be it's owner one day. "I'm keeping this." She resolved finally. Jamie stared at her, horrified at the implication that he lose possession of his prized jacket.
"BUZZ. Wrong answer there honey. There's no way you're getting my coat." He answered firmly, fully restraining himself from grabbing the black leather jacket from off of her shoulders and tearing down Main Street like a mad man. Val pouted.
"I bet Tyler would let me keep it if this was his jacket."
"Yes, outfitting you in sentimental men's attire does seem to be something that Connell would do, the schmuck." Jamie snickered. Val rolled her eyes and tried a different approach.
"Oh, but come on, don't you think I look good in it?" she spun around once, modeling the jacket to prove her point. Jamie sighed, and finally gave a disgruntled nod of agreement.
"Yeah, looks good on you." he admitted gruffly. "But you're still not keeping it. You can wear it until the night is over- then it's mine." Val gave a triumphant cheer and hugged him around the neck in gratitude, and Jamie had seemingly no choice but to grin.
"Swimsuit shopping with you, running errands, giving you my jacket… how is it that you have me whipped, and we're not even dating?" he muttered incredulously, still not able to let her win without at least one snarky comment. She threw him a sweet smile.
"Cause you think I'm gorgeous…" she teased quoting one of her favorite movies.
"Yup, that's it." Jamie answered, rolling his eyes nearly to the back of his head. "You're so irresistible, that I've become your mindless slave. It's all for you, oh gorgeous leader." He said in an unenthused monotone. Val giggled as he offered her his arm, in a gentlemanly bow. "My lady, shall we enter?"
"Yup! Let's go!" she replied, taking his outstretched arm and pulling him into the store.
"Hey Waite!" Jamie and Val spun around at the sound of his name and he groaned as he recognized a rather large group of his friends that had been hanging out in the video store, heading right their way. Jamie of course realized what was going to happen it him if he was caught hanging out with Val Lanier on a Friday night- this crowd wasn't as partial to the overachievers as he and Caitie were, and in this situation, things could only turn out bad. He closed is eyes and put his hand to his forehead muttering curses at his luck.
"Well, well, lookie what we've got here. If it isn't Jamie the overachieving traitor and his best gal, the cheerleader." One boy said with a cold sneer. Val clung tightly to Jamie's arm, nearly cutting off the circulation.
"What's going on?" she hissed nervously in his ear. Jamie shook his head and sighed, not answering her.
"Hello Kenny."
* * *
A/N: Yeah, I'm ending this chapter right here- so, as you can see, this story isn't over yet. If you've learned one thing from my writings, it should be never to listen to any of the things that I say in my A/N's. They are little bits off optimism that I add on while the post-chapter high is wearing off, and more often then not… what I say in them is never gonna happen. Cause by the time I get to working on the next chapter, nothing I though of before would work anymore… y'all know how it goes. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm happy about the number of reviews I've gotten for it! Reviews help me write faster *HINT* so… let's try for 60! Can you do sixty? I think you can! Tune in next time for another exciting episode! LOL