By Jasmine
Chapter Two: One Smile And I'm Yours
*
The school bus screeched to a halt and the door slid open, allowing a trickle of students to sprint down the steps. Phil and Tommy exited the bus, breathing in the thick wafts of engine emissions, and began the trek to the Deville's home. The vivid afternoon sun lit the suburban neighborhood and crested over the roofs of the identical houses, vivid unadulterated blue seeping into the horizon. Somewhere close by a dog barked urgently against his chain and a sprinkler system ticked away.
Tommy brushed a hand through his raven spiked hair and questioned, tugging at the straps of his pack absentmindedly, "So... what's first? Our Chemistry homework or a game of hoops?" His denim pants and dark blue tee shirt hung relaxed on his well-defined body.
The boy beside him, who was an inch shorter and a little sturdier in build, shrugged nonchalantly. "Tough call. We really need to start our homework but being smart is so over-rated. I say I kick your butt at basketball; it won't take that long anyway," Phil boasted teasingly.
Tommy blurted out a dry laugh and trumpeted, as was the usual routine of taunting, "Ha! I'll take you on so I can shut that over-sized mouth of yours!"
The boys came to Phil's house and tossed their backpacks haphazardly on the cool cement. Phil wrestled his basketball from were it was wedged between the adjoining crack of his house and the garage. He set up at the end of his drive and questioned as the game got underway, "So you check out any hot high school babes today?" Phil darted towards the basket only to be halted by Tommy, defending the net. The young boy matched his gaze with Tommy's and his lips turned up in a knowing smirk. "Your cousin was looking awfully fine if I do say so myself."
Tommy's face blanched and he exclaimed in aghast horror, "Ack! No, don't say so! Don't tell me the terrible Angelica beast has struck again? Alas, Phillip, I knew ye well." However the dark haired boy had been thrown off guard and Phil charged foreword. He outstretched his arms and the ball left his grasp, making spinning arcs in the air to finally glide into the net with ease.
The young man narrowed his dark chocolate eyes and scowled, "So sneaky, dude!"
Phil laughed and grinned cheekily. "Ah well, you're just jealous you're not as crafty as mui. Besides we all know Chuckie was practically going into asthmatic shock over Angelica, if he stared any longer he would have needed his inhaler," he said and tossed the ball sharply to Tommy. It ricocheted off the cement and Tommy snatched it into his hands, his frustration at his friend's antics all too apparent.
Tommy set up at the back line and began to dribble down the court. "Yea well..." he said and the tone of his voice was dry and unreadable. He continued, meeting Phil half way down the parking lot, "Your sister was looking pretty hot today too."
The boy came to a screeching halt, his stomach churning. "Dude, that's like my sister you're referring too! And you've known us since we were fetuses so she's technically your sister too," Phil balked, unable to stand the taste of his own medicine apparently. Tommy merely chuckled and swiveled around him, making a dunk into the basket, the ball rolling off his fingertips. He whirled around, a triumphant grin on his handsome face. Phil grimaced and whined in a dead pan voice, "That was low, buddy, really low."
The Pickle's boy shook his head softly and sighed with a smile, "Karma just kicked your butt." Then, as Phil wiped his hands on his baggy khakis to signify he was ready to get down to business and pull out all his punches, a thought struck Tommy and he inquired as innocently as possible, "And how is Lil technically my sister? She's not even close."
Phil took his place and his hazel eyes were slits flecked with determination and a bit of annoyance. "And be thankful of that! She runs around practicing all these stupid cheers and making me lift her into cheering stands. And its 'Lillian' now, she thinks Lil sounds too childish. Why do you care? You better not wanna date her or I'll so have to enforce my big brother duties and kick your butt," Phil snorted and then put the ball in play, throttling down the driveway, driven on by frustration.
Tommy recognized the shifting of Phil's mood, they'd been best friends for so long that they knew every sign, every little flinch, that meant the other was nearing the brink of an argument. For Phil, Tommy knew this meant anything dealing with Lil and her sudden change. The dark haired boy snatched the ball away and dribbled it in place a moment, commenting, "Relax, I was just wondering. Forget I even asked."
The brunette haired boy nodded and relinquished a smile, his breath catching ragged in his throat. "Sorry, its just hard having Ms. Pep as a sister. You don't know the half of it, Tommy. Its like someone stole my sister away from me over the summer," he admittedly ruefully and stared at his green and white laced sneakers.
Tommy blinked into the sun and stared for a moment, realizing Phil probably didn't want to talk about it, even saying what was really on his mind helped a lot. So the tall boy swiveled around him, bouncing the ball towards the basket. Phil chased after him and jumped in front of him just as he took a shot, catching the ball in mid air. Then, with his back to Tommy and the hoop, the young man said wistfully, "Its too bad Kimmi couldn't come hang out. It's not the same without having her here to wreck."
The boy covered Phil's back and smiled smugly. "Does someone have a crush on a certain tomboy?" Tommy responded.
Phil exclaimed defensively, "What? I definitely don't! I just missed making fun of her, that's all!" He turned to try and dribble the ball past Tommy but the black haired boy intervened, stealing the ball away again.
Tommy laughed and replied in a drawn out tone, "Uh hu sureee..."
The shorter boy with the chestnut hair and sun-kissed complexion shot his friend a flat gaze. "Shut up and play already," he grumbled.
They continued playing; gaining ground before the other quickly evened the score. The gilded afternoon sun was on their backs and a thin film of perspiration lined their brows. Finally, Tommy was the voice of reason, as his eyes darted to his sports watch. "It's already four. I have to leave at five so we better go start on our homework," he said between shallow, torn breaths.
Phil trumpeted braggingly, "And leave it as a tie? I don't think so! You just wanna quit because you know I'm one second away from scoring the winning point." To prove his point he lined up the basket, squinting his eyes, and took a shot. The ball pelted the backboard and fell back to earth harmlessly, Phil's shoulders slumping with disappointment.
Tommy laughed and teased sarcastically, "Wow, you really figured me out. The whole thing about homework is really just some master ploy to stop you from winning. How'd you know, o wise Dalai Lama of smart-ness?"
Phil, ever the master of dead pan humor, commented, "Hardy har." The two boys began to walk into the Deville's home, striding past the brightly decorated living room and the snoozing large yellow tabby cat. They climbed the stairs and reached Phil's room, the walls all a deep shade of aqua and his wooden floors coated in layers of clothing and discarded soda cans. Phil plopped down on his bed, the blankets creasing in, and dropped his backpack at his feet. He brightened with a proposition and offered, "Hey maybe we should call Chuckie! He's a wiz at all this science stuff."
"Phil, we can't just cheat off Chuckie all year!" Tommy exclaimed, extracting his notebook and Chemistry book from his bag.
Phil's husky voice trailed off comically, "And that would be wrong because..."
Tommy rolled his dark chocolate eyes and sighed, "Because we need to learn this stuff for ourselves and not slack off."
Phil shown with a look of horror and he chortled, "Learn stuff for ourselves? Not slack off? You're talking crazy, man!"
The raven haired boy said, "Come on, this is easy..." His eyes roved over their homework and the numbers blurred together in an unintelligent heap. "You just... Um..." he said weakly, trying to make sense of the formulas.
Abruptly they heard the sounds of the door swinging on its hinges down stairs and feet hitting the floor. The steps heaved under a slight weight and a body moved along the hallway. Lil came into view then, a glass of orange juice clutched in one hand and a deflated gold pom pom in the other. Her pleated white skirt, splotched with a few grass stains, brushed the middle of her thighs and her long slender legs stretched out beyond the hem. Her long light caramel hair tumbled down to mid back and was tucked safely behind her ears, her high cheeks flushed and kissed by the sun. "Hey, annoying loser a.k.a. Phillip," she greeted playfully and then her brown and emerald gaze fell to Tommy. She smiled slightly, a fracture of perfect dazzling teeth, and his heart swam up into his throat. "Hey, Tommy," she said simply and his name danced over her petal lips. He wondered to himself why he was losing his breath all of a sudden, why just the sound of his name over her tongue made him feel dizzy.
Phil feigned a smile and retorted in fake warmth, "O great, it's my darling sister back from cheering practice. Did they finally happen to drop you on your head yet?"
The tall petite girl propped a spindly arm on her hip and questioned, sweeping her long eyelashes with mock sugary sweetness, "No. Have you finally hit puberty yet?"
The brown haired boy glanced out the window just as a crimson jeep rollicked over a bump and turned sharply out of the driveway, thumping with an intense base. "Whose red jeep was that that pulled out of our driveway?" Phil probed nosily.
Lil took a long sip of her juice and responded casually over the lip of her cup, her wide eyes sliding up to meet ours, "Bret Johnson's. His parents got it for him for his first car; I told him he was officially a spoiled rich kid now."
Phil's eyebrows knitted in disgust and he plummeted deeper into his bed, resting an elbow into his spaceship pillow. "Bret? Gah, give me a break, sis! You're not dating that dumb jock are you? I might just have to tell mom ya know," he wallowed.
The lithe beauty narrowed her lustrous hazel eyes dangerously and snapped humorously, "You do, you die, little bro. I don't want to hear that 'birds and the bees' speech ever again."
Tommy found his voice then, it was shaking and a little unsure but still there. "Yea well it's better then the 'flower and water hose' lecture I got. I can safely say I'll never be able to look at a watering hose the same way again," he added and shivered jokingly. He could feel Lil's gaze on him, the way their eyes would meet for the matter of an instant and shift quickly, as if in embarrassment.
Phil smirked and questioned, "Maybe I should go to your next practice, huh little sis? I can teach them some cheers." Then he poorly imitated a girl's high pitched voice and chorused pitifully, a beaming smile on his face, "Rah rah! Our teams gonna win, our teams the best. We're peppy and we have small chests! Gooo team!"
Lil rolled her eyes and leaned against the doorframe, hovering just within his room, one long sinewy leg bent behind the other. "God, Phillip, I bet you stayed up all night thinking of that one too. How can you hang around such a loser, Tommy?" she sighed in exasperation.
The dark haired boy shrugged and forced down his anxieties and secret bliss at being in her presence. Tommy responded jokingly, as if Phil wasn't even in the room and sitting beside him, shooting him dirty glances, "I don't know, he sort of grows on you after awhile and I feel bad for the poor guy."
Lil laughed a little, bubbled laughter spilling faintly from her mouth, and suddenly the phone bleated a few course rings downstairs. They heard as the Deville's mother heaved her footsteps along the kitchen tiles to answer the whining phone. Then their mom's voice drifted up to them as she barked loudly, "Phil, its that little girl, Kimmi, on the phone!"
The boy leaped from the mattress with unhindered joy, a smile flying to his lips before he had a chance to bridle it. "Be right there!" he called in his deep, raspy voice, tinged with excitement.
His sister's face remained in collected place as she questioned mock innocently, "Kimmi? Wasn't that the name you were saying this morning in your sleep when I found you making out with your pillow and slobbering all over it?"
Phil's cheeks burned with a flush and he quipped, "Yea because that really happened too." Then, turning to stare at Tommy, the light brown haired boy joked to conceal his humility, "Be right back, Tommy. If you don't look directly into her eyes I think you'll be OK." Then he walked towards the door, his gate quicker then usual. As he passed by, Lil playfully punched him in the arm and he merely chuckled.
Lil watched him go and then with a sly smile, she tilted her head behind the doorframe and called after him, "Better run, you don't wanna keep your lover-girl waiting!"
Tommy watched and saw her turn to him then, finally allowing herself to reveal the interest she had been harboring for him all along anyway. She was hanging around her brother's bedroom door and it certainly wasn't to trade insults with Phil. The girl fingered the rough hem of her cheerleading uniform and walked across the treacherous mounds of clothing, the toes of her sneakers clinking against aluminum drink cans. Lil smiled absentmindedly and slid down beside Tommy, the boy sucked in his breath reflexively at the feel of her warmth against his side. The beautiful girl reached up and stroked a strand of long light chestnut hair behind her ear. She was peering over his book now that rested on his lap and turrets of her breath were on his neck. "So what's this?" she asked in her sweet rich voice.
The boy tried to gulp down his nervousness and responded, "Chem and its kicking my butt. I guess my plans to become a mad scientist one day will have to go on hold." She laughed at this and he did too, only his was a little taut and preoccupied with other thoughts.
Lil looked over at him and said, not boasting but instead mechanically and automatic, like a statement, "I can help you. I was in it last year as an advanced placement and got straight A's."
Tommy couldn't hide the shock in his face, his eyebrows rising into twin peaks. "Straight A's! You're a geek in hiding aren't you?" he inquired, his anxiety overcome by his astonishment.
The young woman smiled, her lips turning up and causing her warm green eyes to crease with flecks of laughter. "You found me out! I'm a member of the Chess Club and everything," she joked and then continued, "It's really not that hard. Here, let me see it." Her long tan arms reached out to pull the textbook into her lap and she stared down at the pages, falling strands of hair collapsing across her torso. Tommy tried to concentrate on the jumbling of words but his eyes wavered upwards, to her soft flush lips as they silently read, to her tapered fingers as they pushed back silken locks behind her ears, a reflexive habit she had. He noticed the graceful sloping of her earlobe and then the line of earrings all along her ear, small silver hoops and tiny studs. There must have been four in each ear, including one at the top of her ear, a silver cuff earring. It was a little aflame and red, freshly pierced.
"Is that a new piercing?" he asked finally, forgetting he was supposed to be focusing on Chemistry problems.
Lil looked up suddenly, her feathered eyelashes brushing over the crests of her cheeks as she blinked. "O..." she said as if she just became aware of the slight throbbing at the peak of her earlobe. "Ya. Yes it is. I got it last weekend; I haven't even shown my mom yet," she went on guiltily.
Tommy was a little surprised Lil would do anything without telling her parents first; she seemed like Ms All-American. First he found out she was a genius and now a slight rebel. Maybe she wasn't as cookie cutter as he had thought... "How'd you get it then without your parent's consent?" he asked.
She lifted a hand and lightly fingered the small etched clasp. "Me and Jill know this under the table parlor. They'll do tattoos and everything, they really don't care. It's a little dirty though and the guy that does it taught himself. Angelica thinks I'll get some infection and it'll travel to my brain. But hey, me and Jill figure you have to die sometime right?" Lil reasoned with a grin.
The boy laughed and watched the tip of her finger trace the edges of the cuff. He admitted, "Well I like it. I've been thinking about a tattoo but I know my mom would dismantle me. I don't know what I'd get though."
Lil's face lit into a wide smile, showing the caps of her perfect teeth, and she chortled, "Shut up! So have I!" Her body was close to his; she made him feel comfortable, like he was talking to a friend. "I wanna get a little outline of a star on my foot, near my pinky toe," she continued, her foot swaying back and forth, bumping haphazardly into his.
He nodded softly, realizing how close his limp hand was to hers on the mattress. "Cool. We'll have to go together sometime so we don't chicken out," he responded.
The girl met his dark gaze and said faintly, "Ya, ok..." She could feel the space between them shrink and grow paper-thin. Lil shifted her stare self-consciously back to the book on her lap and stated, "Well let's get back to this homework here. I won't give up until you understand it."
Tommy allowed his attention to once again be pulled to Chemistry. He commented grimly, "If you really make any sense of this stuff to an idiot like me then I'll be in official awe of your brilliance."
Lil smiled, her auburn and jade eyes roving over the paper, and said in agreement, "Ok, be prepared to be awed. Now, all you have to do is carry this over and then take this and square it." Her pencil moved in a flurry as she scribbled down formulas and numbers, her thoughts almost visible as they churned.
Try as he must, Tommy's gaze slowly drew back to her face, to the pink purse of her mouth as she fell deep in thought, to the end of her pencil littered with teeth marks. "Uh hu," he mumbled under his breath.
She kept writing as she questioned with knowing, "Are you watching what I'm doing?"
He wasn't, he couldn't. Her skin looked too soft and peach to wonder about Chemistry equations, it was humanly impossible. He murmured, trailing off, "Uh hu..."
Lil's wide eyes turned upwards at him, the lashes sweeping outwards, and a soft upturned smile glided along her face. She cried out, "You're not, you liar! How are you going to learn if you won't pay attention?" Even in her frustration, giggles spilled from the corners of her mouth and she pushed him teasingly.
Tommy's deep eyes clashed against hers and he grinned faintly but it was lost in thought. He wanted to tell her he couldn't concentrate with a beautiful teacher like her, but he couldn't say that. Instead he laughed a little and noticed a smudge of gold along the high rise of her cheekbone. "You have something... on your face, right here," he said barely above a whisper and touched his own face to show her the location.
She blushed softly and reached up instantly. "Oh, it must be some of that gold face paint. Right here?" she questioned and her slender fingers moved across her skin, below where the gilded splotch was.
The boy let his hand move out, almost cautiously at first as if he didn't have a right touching her. "No..." he began and his strong fingers found her face, the gentle slope of her cheek. He brushed the paint away and it came off easily onto the tips of his fingers, coating them. Tommy could have pulled back but right then he didn't want to, he wanted to feel her warmth like this and be caught in amber thickness. Her cinnamon scent filled his nostrils and her eyes searched his, curious and vulnerable. He knew the distance was disappearing, any moment it could happen, they might end up kissing. "Right here," he finished in a hushed tone. Her eyelashes swept lazily over her skin, slowly until they weren't moving upwards anymore, they had stopped and her eyes were pressed closed. Their faces moved closer, he watched her bottom lip.
A voice called boisterously, "No worries, the great P man is..." Phil swung into the open doorway, smiling broadly, and his face abruptly faltered. He cocked an eyebrow and he continued in surprise, "Back. Woah, what went on in here?"
Lil and Tommy instantly retracted back to their original positions; Lil pulled the book back into her lap and thumbed through the pages, Tommy clasped his hands together across his knees. The rouge across their cheeks spoke of their guilt however. Lil responded sharply, "Nothing! Nothing, I was just helping him with his homework."
Phil grinned knowingly and insinuated, catching the burn in their faces, "So that's what they call it these days."
His sister flashed him a disgruntled glare and snorted, desperately pushing the attention away from her and Tommy, "Shut up! What did your girlfriend want, butt hole?"
The young man came to plop down beside Tommy on the bed, the mattress springs sighing under his weight. "She's not my girlfriend! Kimmi told me there's going to be a Boxcar Racer concert at the arena next month," he exclaimed with eagerness.
Lil's face brightened and she squealed in jubilation, "You're kidding! I definitely wanna go!"
Phil's face went blank with shock and anger; Tommy however ignored him and turned to Lil. "You like Racer?" he questioned, his eyes showing cautious relief. He couldn't believe how wrong he'd been about her.
The young woman smiled and commented nonchalantly, "Ya, doesn't everyone. You like them too?" She brushed back a strand of pale ash hair and her foot careened against his.
He nodded his head of dismantled dark hair and spoke, "For sure. We should all go then."
Phil interjected then; interrupting them, "Hold up just a minute. We - as in, Kimmi, me, you, and my sister? Aren't there like laws against that or something?"
Two faces turned to him like harvest moons and regarded him with exasperation. Tommy quipped, "Come on, Phil, stop being a jerk."
Lil added with a sigh, "Impossible."
The boy went on in his logic, giving his friend a pleading stare. "If we all like the band why don't we all go together? It would be stupid not to," he said.
Phil rolled his forest eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, fine. Since it's two against one I guess I have no choice, but I'm not going to pretend to be happy about this. Let it be known that I will sulk!" he pouted.
Tommy brimmed with an electric smile and spouted joyously, "Fine, its known." Then his eyes darted to his wristwatch and he chortled in surprise, "O great it's ten past five! My moms gonna kill me; she nearly bit my head off the last time I was late for dinner. Alright, I guess we'll have to finish our homework on our own. Thanks for your help, Lillian." The young man stood to his feet and collected up his book bag and books. He glanced at Phil and then Lil, hoping he'd see a fleck in her eyes that read she wanted him to stay as much as he wanted to.
Lil smiled at him smoothly, her hands sliding over the blankets and pressing down the folds, feeling for his lingering warmth. Her long shins made slow arcs in the air and she responded simply, "No problem, Tommy."
He stood there for a moment too long, staring and grinning no doubt like an idiot. Then he nodded again and said, "Ok bye." He turned and left Phil's room.
*
Students mulled about the hallways, groggily preparing for the day ahead and yawning as they slouched against their lockers. Phil and Kimmi strolled into the freshman corridor together as usual; Mr. Finster drove the car pool and brought Phil, Kimmi, and Chuckie to school each morning in his minivan.
Phil shoved his hands into his sagging jean pockets and joked, blinking his hooded eyes against the bright ultraviolet lights shivering overhead, "Wow, so a six A.M. really exists? I heard about it but I thought it was a myth." He wore a tan shirt over his sinewy form and new suede shoes, his light brown hair neatly combed.
Kimmi grinned good-naturedly and commented, "Yup, believe it or not there's this thing called 'breakfast' too. It's usually before lunch." Her medium length jet black hair brushed against the rises of her shoulders, flat and pin straight. She wore red corduroy pants that hung off her slender hips and a white graphic tee with scarlet lettering. Her red flip-flops padded softly against the linoleum flooring.
The young man gasped comically and exclaimed audibly, "You don't say! I'll have to write this stuff down!"
They came to Kimmi's locker and halted, as was the usual schedule. The petite Asian girl fidgeted with her lock until it clicked open in release and then she struggled to shove notepads and books into the top compartment of her locker, inclining on her tipy-toes. She attempted to shove a heavy binder up there and it slid from her grasp, plummeting to the ground. Kimmi balled her fists in annoyance and snapped between gritted jaws, "Grrr! I hate having a top locker! I think top lockers were invented just to frustrate short people."
Phil knelt down and swept up her binder into his arms. "It's not my fault you're freakishly short. Maybe you should buy stilts and extra long pants. Then everyone at school can call you 'Stilt Girl', that would be awesome," he said, trying to lighten her mood. He handed the small girl her binder and smiled down at her.
She laughed and nodded her head, strands of dark hair falling into her deep onyx eyes. "Good plan. Or I could just sit on your shoulders all day," she offered in agreement.
The boy reached a hand out without thought and grasped her tiny, petal soft palm, pulling her foreword. "Come on, midget, you can have my locker. It's better for the vertically challenged," he told her and led her along farther down the hallway where his locker was located.
Kimmi glanced at the locker and cooed happily, "Awww thanks." Then she turned to Phil again and narrowed her eyes. Her hands flew to her hips and she questioned suspiciously, "Hey, what's going on here? You're... being all decent and stuff... like a normal person. Is it my birthday or something?"
Phil reacted with mock indignant and gasped, "Can't I do a nice thing for a friend?"
The young woman smiled up at his loaming form, her heart shaped ivory face aglow with a creasing of her peach lips. "No," she responded curtly and with a lacing of laughter.
He smirked and suddenly neared closer to her, making Kimmi take a step back and her spine was pressed against the cold metal of the lockers. "Alright what I really wanna do is you. Right here, right now, against these lockers," he joked in a seductive voice, placing an arm by her shoulder and peering down at her.
Kimmi took a moment to regain herself and raised a slender dark eyebrow. She finally retorted, "See, much better. That I believe; that's the chauvinist Phil I know and love."
They stood there for a moment, staring and unable to move. The smiles grew fuzzy and faint, falling slightly from their lips just as a voice cried out to them, giving them a reason to look away, "Hey guys! What's up?"
Phil reeled back on his heels and snorted in response, "Hey, look who it is! The guy who practically made out with my sister in front of me and on my bed might I add!"
Tommy reached them then and stopped before the pair, tucking his thumbs behind the straps of his bag. He was adorned in faded jeans and a black tee shirt, his hair standing on ends and perfectly disarrayed. "No way, she was just helping me with my homework!" he objected although the goofy grin on his handsome face told otherwise.
The young brunette boy nodded and commented with a sky wink in his throat, "Sure, sure. All I know is the Angelica-bot doesn't hang around my room unless you're there."
Tommy merely laughed and shook his head in reply. "Whatever, dude."
Kimmi spoke up just then at Phil's side, commenting in reluctant support, "Hmmm so our good buddy Tommy has it in for Lillian? Hey if little pom pom twirling snobs are your thing, man, then I'm happy for you."
The boy instantly came to Lil's defense, saying, "Lillian's not a snob! Just because you don't like cheerleaders, don't take it out on her..." Then he added, his tone less believable then he meant it, "And how many times do I have to tell you guys I do not have any sort of thing for her."
The small-framed girl shrugged and responded with a knowing smile, "Alright, we believe you."
Phil began to grumble, "Speak for yourself..." However Kimmi's pointed elbow colliding with his rib cage changed his mind and he countered with a wince, "I mean, yea sure we do." He continued to rub his torso and glare at Kimmi. "You didn't have to do it so hard," he whined under his breath.
Kimmi rolled her eyes and sighed, "Don't be a big baby."
Tommy began to drift over to his locker and was followed by his friends. "So when are we getting tickets for the Boxcar Racer concert?" he called over his shoulder.
The Asian girl's face lit up and she exclaimed, clutching her notepads against her slender chest, "That's what I wanted to tell you! I heard on the radio the tickets are going on sale on Sunday. Since, pathetically, I have no life and have no plans on Sunday, I'll get you guys tickets if you give me some cash." Strands of black hair slipped into her eyes and she let it stay there, she didn't care.
The boy continued shoving books into his locker. "Alright, thanks, Kimmi! This is gonna be awesome, I heard it's a great show," he informed joyously.
Phil raised his backpack higher on his shoulders; he always carried it around with him since he heard once that all the muscular big football players at their school did it to build up their strength. He ran a hand through his pale brown hair and said nonchalantly, "I'll go with you on Sun, Kimmi. I don't have plans but its only because I had too many dates to choose from and decided to cancel them all so I wouldn't hurt those poor girls' feelings by picking just one."
Kimmi snorted and retorted, "I'm sure they're grateful."
Tommy finished jamming things into his locker and slammed it shut, turning around. His eyes went from his friends, their begrudging scowls and secretive glances at each other, the way they reflected in each other's eyes. He knew the way they felt, it was obvious. Why couldn't they admit it to themselves already? Then the boy's eyes scanned over to where Lillian had just strolled into the hallway. She wore white form fitting pants that fell low on her hips and a pale green tank top with a white butterfly pattern. Her long light brown hair was pulled half up and she was chatting with some friends and the dreaded Angelica, leaning against a locker. She laughed a little, fake and hollow, and nodded her head at appropriate intervals, feigned interest. Her hazel eyes slid past her friends, to where Tommy was standing, meeting his dark eyes for a fleeting moment before returning back to the girls as they talked incessantly about clothes and boys.
The boy blinked and then started past Kimmi and Phil. "There's Lil. I'm going to go tell her about the concert," he stated and even he was overwhelmed by his braveness. He didn't know why, but suddenly standing here and not taking a chance was worse then staying safe. He needed to put himself out there; he was Tommy Pickles after all.
Kimmi snapped in alarm, her oval eyes swelled wide and brimming with doubts, "No! Tommy, don't."
Tommy halted and gave his friends a lopsided smile, trying to calm their panic. "Wow, I didn't know this was so life threatening. I'm just going to ask her if she wants us to pick a ticket up for her..." he responded calmly.
The short girl chewed the inside of her cheek apprehensively. "Are you sure? I mean, Tommy, like we said, Lil's changed," she inquired, not wanting to see her friend devastated.
He couldn't disguise the frustration in his tone as he shouted in exasperation at their dramatics, "No she hasn't! I'm starting to wonder what's the matter with you guys!"
Phil's moss green eyes narrowed dangerously and he turned to Kimmi. His voice was cold and annoyed as he instructed flatly, "Just let him. He'll find out on his own." Tommy gave them a curious look and then began to walk over to where the giggling cheerleaders stood, Phil's gaze burning behind him.
They didn't even notice the approaching boy, the little huddle of girls laughing and making rude comments about what others were wearing that morning. Tommy stood a few feet away and questioned, his voice more shifting and unsure then he wanted it to sound, " Uh Lillian?"
Six sets of eyes all turned on him and a blush spread self-consciously into his cheeks. The girls gave him dismissive gazes and hoped he hadn't been speaking in their direction. After all he might have been cute and on the football team but they only dated seniors, a rule set in place by Angelica and never really declared, yet each girl knew it was expected of them.
His cousin scowled at him and glared with venom. She wore a dark denim mini skirt and tan boots that stretched up to mid shin. The slender fashion snob was adorned in a scoop necked deep brown top and dangling feather earrings. Her flaxen hair was set in perfect uniform curls that spun against her shoulder blades and framed her oval face. Angelica inquired in her scornful high-pitched voice, "Did you say something, freakazoid?"
Tommy wanted to spend as little time speaking to her as possible. He shot her back an equally as loathing stare and he said evenly, "Not to you. I need to talk to Lillian for a minute." As he spoke, his gaze switched over to Lillian, she was watching him and there was a slight regret hazing in her eyes.
Angelica's nostrils flared slightly with anger and she flickered her long mascara clumped eyelashes. "Whatever you have to say to Lillian you can say in front of us," she declared.
The boy pushed a hand into his pocket and gave up all hope of speaking alone with Lil. She wasn't making any attempts against Angelica either so he sighed and gave up. Then Tommy questioned hopefully, "Those Boxcar Racer tickets are going on sale on Sunday. Did you want Kimmi to pick one up for you?"
Angelica's voice piped up, her fuchsia painted lips curving upwards with menace, "Boxcar what? That's not one of those whiny punk groups is it? God, you have got to be kidding me! You are just pitiful, asking Lillian on some lame date! Why, it's preciously pathetic!" She shrieked with calloused giggles and soon all the other girls except for Lil were rocking with soft laughter, covering their mouths with their hands.
Tommy's temper rose and his eyes turned to angry slits again. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Angelica? Like under some little kid's bed or in a closet somewhere?" he shot back.
"Tommy, right now's not a good time."
Lil's voice broke through his anger and he looked over at her, his face awash with shock and confusion. She met his gaze and her faint jade eyes reached out to him, begging him to go away, and he wanted to believe it was a lie. "But I... thought you said you wanted to go with me - I mean us," he stammered, causing another rupture of laughter to gurgle from the girls.
The young woman looked saddened and continued softly, "I changed my mind. I'm sorry."
Angelica was grinning her Cheshire cat smile, riffling with glee at his embarrassment. "Don't you get it, loser? She's turning you down softly! Now take the hint and disappear back into your world of geeks!" she snorted.
Tommy couldn't believe it, he couldn't. He looked from Angelica and the sea of smirking girl faces and then to Lil. She clutched her hands together and blinked against the faint sheen threatening to take hold of her. Lil bit her bottom lip softly and then looked down to the floor, hoping she wouldn't have to see the hurt pass across his chocolate eyes. The young man turned and walked away from them, their chorus of peeling laughter ringing behind him.
"Tommy..." Kimmi said softly, her eyes small and compassionate.
The young man didn't say anything; the anger drawn across his face spoke enough. He stalked past his two friends, the betrayal sinking in.
Phil watched him walk over to his homeroom and called after him, not boasting but merely stating, his tone laced with despair, "We told you, man."
*
End Notes: Well that's it for Chapter Two. I know its been ages since I added a new chappie to this series and to tell you the truth I had no plans to continue. Renewed interest and a swift kick in the behind however sparked my creativity and viola! Well next is Chapter Three, so please look for that soon! ^_^ Thanks for reading this, please take one itsy-bitsy minute to review!
O ya and I like Boxcar Racer. Sorry if you don't but please don't flame me if you have different taste then mine. I like all sorts of music but I think their songs will fit well with the fic. If you've never heard of them I suggest you check 'em out!