Chapter 4: Summer Sun, Something's Begun
by Star


Taz's POV

"You're the one that I want! Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!"

Maya and I sing along with the radio at the top of our lungs. It's the Less Than Jake version, so it's doubly annoying for my Dad. He sighs deeply and glares at me. I know I'm getting on his nerves, and I love it. I've done my best to annoy him since I got back. Nobody beats me up.

Summer break has been running approximately one and a half days, and already I'm driving him mad. Good. I painted a demon on our living room wall, knowing full-well that one of his business associates is coming over for dinner tonight.

Maya and I have played loud music and danced around the house, we're eating him out of house and home, and I'm only getting warmed up.

Oh, and I constantly refer to Maya as 'lover', 'Minx' or 'girlfriend'. Part of me thinks I'm daring him to hit me, god knows why. I don't enjoy being covered in bruises, and the pain's not something I like. Maya thinks I'm testing my limits with him, it's possible. She's smart, and she knows me better than anyone, so I'll take her word for it.

I haven't really talked to my Dad since Thanksgiving. I just called him a few weeks ago and told him that if he laid a finger on me again I was calling Social Services, and not only that, I was bringing Maya home with me to protect me. He's become positively meek since then. Then again, that might have been something to do with my parting shot, "Gee, Dad. When Mum looks down from heaven, she must be so proud of you."

"Do you want picking up, or can you get a bus?" Dad asks as he pulls up.

Maya answers before I can. "No thanks, Mr McDonald, we'll get a bus."

Ok, bus it is, but I like having my own chauffeur. Oh well, money would be good. "Daddy…"

He gets his wallet out instantly.

*~*~*~*


I get the feeling Maya wants to say something about the way I'm behaving around my Dad, but she knows what I'm doing and why… all the same, it's probably not right.

"So what are the plans for today?" I ask as we walk towards the fountain where we're meeting Adam.

Maya sighs. "Adam's stuck babysitting his neighbour, so we're stuck with Adam."

I snort. Maya's sick of Adam! That's very amusing. "Maybe his neighbour is a hottie and we can pair them off… then again, that won't work because I think he and Charlie should get back together."

Minx nods. "Let's go be friendly." She says, spotting Adam standing by a guy a little shorter than him with bright fire-engine red hair.

"Ooh, this isn't going to work." I say.

"Why?"

"His hair clashes with mine."

Maya firmly takes my hand and leads me over, muttering curses under her breath.

"Hey guys," Adam greets us cheerfully. He's got an odd look on his face, like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "This is Damien Calvert. Damien, this is Taz and Maya."

"Howdy." We reply in unison, he gives us a nervous smile.

Dead silence.

I hate meeting new people, this always happens, and I'm not a big fan of silence.

"So what are we doing today?" Maya asks.

Adam shrugs. "Movie maybe?"

"Hey guys!" A cheery voice greets us.

I turn and see it's none other than Connie 'Beelzebub' Moreau. Joy.

Strangely, Adam looks happy to see her. "Hey, Cons. Wanna hang out with us?"

Maya and I exchange a look. Have we stumbled into some bizarre alternate universe? Since when was Connie invited to hang out with us?

"Sure, I'd love to!"

And since when did she want to? Don't we hate her? Didn't I glue her to a chair for her bitchy ways? And didn't Adam laugh so hard that he almost asphyxiated when I did? This is going to be a very peculiar day.

"Hey, do you guys mind if we go to Barnes and Noble? It's my niece, Karen's birthday tomorrow and I have to get her something Harry Potter-like." Connie asks.

"The fixation runs in the family then?" Adam asks.

"Definitely, I borrowed Karen so I could go and see the movie again." Connie giggles.

"You're tragically obsessed." Adam tells her.

Maya and I glance at each other again as we start trekking across the mall. Connie is not a part of our group. Why is she here?

"Since we're going, you might as well buy a Harry Potter book." Maya says.

I've never read them, they just don't appeal. Then again, dear old Daddy's money is burning a hole in my pocket, so I might.

Maya, being the type of person she is, feels obligated to be nice to the new boy. "Are you a Harry Potter fan?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, pretty much obsessed too."

They quickly start discussing their favourite bits of the books and the film, and Adam and Connie join in. Maya does her best to ignore everything Connie says. Adam and Damien seem to agree on everything about Harry Potter.

My mind turns to mush since I've never read the books or seen the film - however, if this is going to be the topic of conversation for the next few months, I'm buying the damn books, reading and enjoying them if it kills me.

I see something that perks up my spirits no end. Casey, and as she turns I realise Charlie's with her! "Charles!" I bellow at the top of my lungs and take off in a mad sprint across the mall to them.

Ok, so it's only been a day and a half since I've seen him, but that he's my best friend. Mid-run it occurs to me that people are sick of me jumping on Charlie. Adam especially. So I divert and hug Casey instead. She looks surprised. "Nice to see you too, Taz."

"Hey Mum!" I say brightly. "Mind if I borrow your demon spawn? We're shopping and talking Harry Potter - neither interest me."

She exchanges a look with Charlie. "So he's demon spawn now? Not a pig-headed nonce?"

I nod vigorously. "So, can I steal him or not?"

"Go! Take him! He was driving me mad anyway!"

Charlie sighs. "You people are supposed to love me. See you later, Mom."

"Bye Mum!" I call over my shoulder.

"Gurrier." He mutters.

"Phog mo thon." I reply easily. You don't want to know what he just called me. Replying 'kiss my arse' is totally reasonable.

"You didn't tell me that Adam was here." He says as we approach the group.

"You didn't ask. Why don't you get your head out of your arse and go talk to him?" I reply. "I'll even make sure I stay at least ten feet away from you for the entire day."

He gives me a look. "It wasn't entirely about you."

"However, I do hog your company. Go talk! Now!" I bound over to Maya. "Come and show me the wonder of Harry Potter!" I say cheerfully.

She looks at me, looks at Charlie, back at me. She frowns slightly, then smiles. "Ok. Let's go!"

We all wander over to Barnes and Noble, once through the doors Minx and I exchange a look, and forcefully grab Damien and Connie and frog-march them away from Adam and Charlie.

I force myself to smile at Beelzebub. "Tell me about Harry Potter, which book do I read first? How many are there? Which order do they go in? Why are they so good?"

Maya kicks me lightly to let me know I'm over-doing the niceness, however, Connie doesn't notice and excitedly finds the books for me.

In the end I buy the whole series because it seemed silly not to. If I like them I'll only have to come back and get them and if I don't… well, at least I'll have all of them around in case I change my mind.

Half an hour later Adam locates us, despite mine and Maya's attempts to avoid him, Charlie follows him with a hopeless look on his face. "Conas a ta tu, A?" I ask him how it's going with Adam using Irish.

"Ni maith agam." He sighs.

Not great. Honestly, he's just not trying. "Well put some effort into it, moron!" I say. When I notice everyone's shocked faces I realise that I said that in English, not Irish.

I blink then grin big. I'm Taz, lunacy is standard issue. "Look, Charles, I know you're not stoned, but you could always fake it."

Charlie blushes bright red and gives me a hateful look I haven't seen since the dance, Adam looks somewhere between amusement and abject terror.

"Just take the bull by the horns and ask him…" I'm stopped when Charlie claps a hand over my mouth and threatens to kill me. I wink at Maya.

"Adam, what are you doing tonight?" She continues where I left off.

Charlie kicks her in the shins. "Shut up!"

"Ow!" She boots him back. "I'm helping you."

"So Adam, what are you doing tonight?" Connie asks.

Maya and I glance at each other. Connie's helping? Are we in an alternate universe?

"Um, nothing." He says shyly, blushing so much he could glow in the dark.

I bite Charlie and he curses and removes his hand. "So you'll see Charlie later?"

"Where though?" Maya asks.

The boys don't know who to glare at first… except for Damien who's watching the proceedings with amusement.

"Should be somewhere neutral." I say.

"How about the pond where we used to practice when we played pee-wees?" Connie suggests.

I raise my eyebrows at Maya, she nods. "Sounds good to me."

"Adam, Charlie will see you there at around, um, six?"

Connie and Maya nod their agreement. "Sounds good." Connie says.

"Charlie, don't be late." Maya warns him, taking my hand and leading me away from them. Somehow my feet tangle in something and I fall over face first taking Maya with me. She grabs Connie for balance and all three of us hit the floor face first.

I look up and see Charlie looking smug and Adam looking amused.

I guess tripping someone over is gay male speak for 'thanks'.