A/N – Yes, I do update this quickly don't I? LOL! All reviews are much appreciated, as always. One of the people who reviewed my story – sorry, I didn't get a chance to look up your name mentioned that Jesse was alive. I know you didn't read the book, but …
SPOILER
Jesse does come alive in the last book, for those who didn't know.
A/N – Sorry for the cheesy chapter title, but oh well. It was the best I could come up with in five seconds.
Disclaimer – As always, I don't own any of Meg Cabot's characters. She does. yawn I know; and I'm sure we all know this by now.
Ch. 2 Ice Cream and Icy Stares
The stereo system of Uncle Jake's decked-out, ancient Camero was crunked up to its highest volume setting. We had rolled up all the windows as the three of us screamed the lyrics at the top of our lungs to the rock song Uncle Brad put in on. All of us except for Uncle Dave; he appeared slightly annoyed as he looked up from the book he was reading. My Uncle Dave was a top scientist over at U.C. San Francisco; how cool is that? You can imagine back in first grade, my show-and-tell stories were pretty interesting when I got to bring in Uncle D.
"Rock history," Uncle Dave said in his booming deep voice – Mom says there was a time when Uncle David's voice was squeaky. Frankly, I find that rather hard to believe. "Originated form the Mid West…"
"We know!" the three of us shouted at the same time as the song slowly came to an end. "Quick Brad, switch over to a something different before David starts analyzing that song, too."
"Very funny Jake," Uncle Dave said humorlessly from the back seat.
"Guys, leave Uncle David alone," I said as I heard my cell phone ring. My ring tone was currently set to Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I glanced at the phone's caller-ID, and my face scrunched into a look of confusion because I didn't know this telephone number.
"Yeah. Hello?" I clicked Answer, while I signaled Uncle Brad to turn down the volume.
"Hello, is Christina there?" A guy's voice was on the other end. And the last time a guy called me was like, um? Never.
"This is her speaking," I swatted Uncle Brad's hand away from the radio, and wagged my finger at him for trying to crank up the volume again. "Who's calling?" I asked.
The person on the other line cleared his throat. "It's me; Ben."
"Oh! Hey Ben!" Maybe I said that too enthusiastically because my very mature uncles started giving out cat-calls, and giving their own renditions of "Oh! Hey Ben!" I shot them an annoyed look. It's funny how they can be around forty-six, but act like they're not a day older than sixteen. Sometimes, anyway. Fortunately they quieted down when I growled a low, "Shut up!" Then again, maybe they just did that because they had decided to spy on my conversation with – possibly for the first time ever – a boy.
"How'd you get my cell-phone number any way?"
"Oh, I called the phone number you gave me. Your mom said you were out of the house and then gave me your cell number. I hope that's all right with you?" He asked the last question nervously.
"Of course it is!" I laughed; that's because I was so happy. He called me, which means he was willing to tutor me!
"You're not busy are you?" He asked, again, nervously. It's like he was too scared he was intruding on everything I did, that or he was scared of frightening me away. Boy did he wave the tables turned and mixed up. So I said, not wanting him to later change his mind, "Listen, I'm going to Blizzard's to get ice cream with my uncles. We're having a picnic – my whole family and everything. Come on. We'll pick you up. Want to join us? We'll talk about the whole tutoring subject over lunch."
"Well…" he seemed unsure. Did I sound too pushy? Was I the one that was scaring him away! Feeling dejected, I brushed it off, "You don't have to come, Ben. I'm sorry. I wasn't considerate enough to think you might have some other plans –"
"-Yes, it's okay." He said in a rush.
"Yes?" I was confused, "as in?"
"As in, yes, I can come."
"Great," I smiled, with a sigh of relieve that he hadn't said no to me. I gave him the directions to the Blizzard's and hung up wit ha smile on my face.
"Does this mean we have to buy another ice cream on top of everything else?" Uncle Jake was the first to speak. I shot him a look. "He's' my guest," I simply said, "Don't worry; I'll pay for his ice cream."
"I'm just kidding, Chris. I don't mind paying –"
"– this 'Ben' fellow," cut in Uncle David. "Is he a decent sort of guy? Because, Chris, not all boys that are attractive to the female sex have good intentions."
"Yeah, some of them are like your Uncle Brad," added Uncle Jake.
"Hey!" Uncle Brad was insulted. "Even if I wasn't… well you know… it doesn't mean people don't change. Any way, your Uncle David's right, Chris, you got to be on your guard."
Where did this wave of protective feelings come from? Not that I don't love my uncles, and I'm pretty sure they love me. It's just; this was unexpected. I was touched.
"Thanks, guys," I said, feeling a little choked up. "But you have nothing to worry about. Trust me. Ben is just going to tutor me; that's all."
Uncle Brad snorted. "Tutor. Yeah. Sure. That's what they all say…"
"No, really-"
"I'm not sure I like the sound of this 'Ben' person," said a rather hostile Uncle Jake.
I was suddenly very, very afraid for Ben. "The whole tutoring thing was my idea, I swear," it suddenly became very important for me to defend Ben.
"Huh. I'm sure that's why he'd like you think," was what Uncle Dave said.
I felt as though the car was a ticking time-bomb – courtesy of my three uncles.
Ben was outside of the store; I noticed him glancing at his watch every few seconds. "Ben!" I poked my head out of the car and waved some-what wearily. This was not going to be easy. As soon as Uncle Jake found a parking space and began parking the car, I scrambled to open my door, burst out, and madly dashed to him – not because I was happy to see him, even though I was, I mean, but to try to give Ben a fair warning before my uncles came.
Too late. My uncles were right behind me. All I got to do was say through my smiling teeth was, "Don't make any sudden moves." Ben gave me a puzzled expression as I turned to introduce my uncles to him. For the record, my uncles were big and… fairly capable of doing Ben some decent amount of bodily harm. I'm sorry but it's true. Uncle Brad, the wrestler, bench pressed 225 lbs. when he was in his mid-twenties. Even my Uncle Dave, the scientist, stood a fair 6'5". And even though Ben was very tall himself, let's face it; he didn't stand a chance.
My uncles towered over. Uncle Jake and Brad crossed their arms over their puffed-out chest in an alarmingly intimidating manner. They didn't seem too pleased to meet him. I was afraid that Ben would shrivel up and cower under the icy stare of my uncles, but no. He stood tall, and looked them back in the eyes. Wow. I was impressed. After a few very cold, very silent, and very frightening (for me) seconds, they all just stood outside like that. No one said anything; no one moved. And certainly I didn't breathe.
"This is Ben. Ben, these are my Uncles Jake, Brad, and David," I said nervously. Anxious to get them going, I reminded them, "Every one in the park is waiting for their ice cream; we had better get going, come on, Uncle Jake." I tugged on his arm fruitlessly, and then gave up.
Finally, Uncle Jake, the leader, said a stiff, cold, "Fine." He turned around and headed into the store. After a few seconds, Uncle Dave and Brad followed in his example. As soon as they were inside the store, I let out a sigh of relief.
"I meant to warn you Ben -" I began, in a rush.
"That your uncles have a homicidal look to them?" Ben smiled ironically at me. I had to laugh at that.
"I'm sorry for the way they were acting," I didn't mention that he was the first guy ever to call me, and that was the reason my uncles appeared so murderous. "And, I'll understand if you change your mind about the whole picnic deal," I said all in one breath, "But," I exhaled. "I really hope you didn't change your mind about the whole thing," I looked up at him, twisting my fingers.
"Are you kidding me?" He looked astonished. "My parents look like the want to murder me half the time away." I had to smile at that. "This?" With a wave of his hand, he said proudly, "This is nothing."
So I laughed as he offered the crook of his arm and we walked into Blizzards for some sundaes and ice-cream shakes.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chapter! The actual picnic… gulp.
