CHAPTER 20: Okay, fine!
"Rodrick, are you listening?" I asked.
It was barely thirty or forty minutes since I sat down and started talking to him about what we can do for the presentation when I noticed that he was looking at something on his left hand, which was hidden from my view.
"What?" He suddenly sat straight and tucked something in his left pocket. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Characters, right?" He looked at me, then moved closer and focused on the laptop. His right arm was still hanging on the backrest behind me.
"I said, how do we present all this in a, you know, creative way?" I picked up the laptop on my table and opened Microsoft PowerPoint. "Do you think we should present the characters first? Or the overview of the–"
The phone rang.
Rodrick immediately got up to answer it. "Hello? Oh hey, mom… What? You're on your way home?" he replied loudly, looking at me once in a while with big eyes to make sure I was listening. "With visitors? Okay… Yeah, yeah whatever..." He turned around and walked towards the couch. He placed the phone on the table and then sat down next to me.
"That's your mom?" I put the laptop back on the table.
"Yeah. She said she's on her way back with some visitors." He sighed heavily and then looked at me.
"Oh. Maybe we should get this over with–"
"They're gonna be here in fifteen minutes," he interrupted.
"Yeah, okay. So the plot or the–"
"Fourteen minutes." He looked at an imaginary watch on his left wrist. "Clock's tickin'."
"Right..." I eyed him suspiciously. "So, as I was saying—"
Rodrick groaned. "We haven't even finished reading the book."
I allowed him to continue talking. But he just kept quiet, apparently waiting for my response. "So, you're saying?"
He carefully took the laptop from the table and shut it down. "I'm saying that we should chill out..." He gave me back my laptop, which was now turned off. "…And finish reading the book before we start anything," he said calmly while gathering my other things on the table and putting them inside my bag. His tone was somewhat another version of the one he used to convince Greg and Rowley to take the five-dollar bill a while ago. Something fishy was going on.
He had a point though. Gosh, why didn't I think of that? Maybe I was too excited to work with him on the presentation?
"Wait," I said, taking a deep breath. "Are you even halfway through the book?"
"Pssh." He stood up and waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly. "I am a quarter away from finishing that book." He took my bag and pulled me up so I was also standing, carrying my laptop with me. He took my left hand and pulled me towards the door. "Come on, I need to, uh, clean the house. Susan's gonna be back soon."
Rodrick clean the house? That's impossible. He couldn't even clean up his own room! I didn't bring it up, though. I decided not to argue with him first.
He let go of me when we reached the doorway. "Rodrick, I can have my bag now," I said.
He didn't respond.
"Seriously, I can walk from here. I'm not a little girl anymore."
He snickered as we started crossing the street. "Remember that time when you crossed the street and you almost got hit by–"
"Ugh stop reminding me that! I know what happened, okay?!"
"Oh really?" he said, with that annoying tone again.
I hit his shoulder as we got to the other side. He just smirked.
"Okay Heffley, I can handle it from here," I said, tugging the strap of my bag which was over his shoulder.
He ignored me and kept walking fast. I sighed. "Okay then," I said to myself. I had no choice but to just follow him to my house.
"Alright. Here we are, princess," he said as he took off my bag and handed it to me. It took us less than 5 minutes to get to my front doorstep.
I rolled my eyes at the word princess. "Don't call me that," I said.
"Presco-"
"Okay stop." I raised my hand in front of him, and then lowered it to get the key in my bag. "Thanks anyway. But let me just say that I could have walked from your house to mine. It's literally just 3 minutes away–"
"Yeah, yeah, yadda, yadda, yadda—whatever," he interrupted, again. "I... was being a gentleman." Then he snatched the key from my hand started opening the door for me while saying, "Now stay, home, relax, and finish that book, okay?"
I was about to say "okay" when he pushed me inside and closed the door. A key went through the space below the door. "Bye!" he said from outside.
Talk about being a gentleman.
I took the key and then peeked through the window. Rodrick had already left.
So I went upstairs to my room to drop all my stuff. I looked through the window, and, from my point of view, saw Rodrick enter his house. A minute after, he went outside again and walked towards the other direction.
Something's not right.
I went downstairs and grabbed the telephone. I dialed the Heffleys' phone number and waited for someone to answer.
Greg did. "Heffley residence. Hello?"
"Greg! Did Rodrick just leave your house?" I asked.
"What? Who's this?" he replied. I was probably talking too fast.
"Greg," I started, slower this time. "It's April. Did Rodrick just leave your house?"
"Huh? I thought you guys were downstairs." Greg must have been using the phone in his room.
"I just got home, because he said you're mom's going back already, with visitors."
"Wait—you left already?" he asked. I said yes. "And no. Mom and Manny are visiting grandpa and she said she won't be home 'til dinner time... Rodrick's not downstairs."
Aagghh, I knew it! "Thanks, Greg. Stay at home and don't talk to strangers."
"Yeeaah," he said. Just before I hung up I heard him telling Rowley that they can play the video game in the living room.
I went back to my room and threw myself on the bed, annoyed at everything.
The signs were right in front of me. I should have realized what was really going on earlier. He sounded really polite when his mom called the second time, which was the exact opposite of how he was during the first phone call. Greeting his mother with words such as, "Hey mom"? He wouldn't do that. Plus, he kept looking at me during the call, with bigger eyes, and interrupting me every time I was about to say something—both of these implying that he wanted me to get out of the house already. And no, he's not the kind of guy who's responsible enough to clean his house... It's already obvious but I'll say it anyway: Rodrick Heffley tricked me.
And I fell for it.
I tried to push these thoughts away as I forced myself to get my Les Mis book and start reading. From time to time, I couldn't help but peek through the window, and it made me even more irritated.
About an hour later, when the feeling of irritation within me started to die down already, I looked outside again and saw Rodrick walking back to his house. From what I observed, he stopped in front of his van, and opened the back door with his key. And then he went inside his house.
I dropped the book, took my cardigan, my phone, and some money. Then I rushed downstairs, got my key, and then left the house with the door locked. I hid behind a tree across the Heffley Residence as Rodrick, now wearing earphones, walked outside again, carrying an electric guitar and a bass. He stacked it at the back of his van and headed to the front seat.
What am I doing again? Why am I even doing this?
These thoughts swirled in my head as I crossed the street and ran towards Rodrick's Loded Diper van. Loud music began to play as the engine started. I quickly opened the back door, got inside, and was able to shut the door just in time. As expected, he didn't even notice it, probably because of the deafening noise playing in the van, and the fact that he was still wearing earphones.
Sitting at the back, where there were actually no seats, was way worse than sitting in front. I was tumbled over and over, and the guitar almost would have hit my head if I wasn't able to dodge it. Seriously, I advise you to avoid riding with Rodrick at all costs... Yeah, I just did the opposite of that, and I regret it.
A few moments later, the van screeched to a stop. It took us around ten minutes or less to arrive in front of another house a few blocks down the street thanks to Rodrick's fast, reckless, maniac driving.
The engine was turned off and the music stopped. That's when I realized that I had to hide somewhere. I looked around and saw a huge black cloth that looked like a blanket. I didn't know why Rodrick had something like that in here... but then again, there was a stinky boot, a basketball, a pizza slice with one bite, and even a wrecked hairdryer in this van.
I took the blanket, moved away from the door, laid down, and covered myself with it. Gosh, it smelled like rotten fish.
The door opened and I heard some voices.
"You sure that guitar's workin' well?" one asked.
"Of course." That was obviously Rodrick.
"Not like the one I brought earlier?"
"No. Trust me, bro."
"Hey, you ready to rock the house?" another asked.
"Hell yeah!" the first voice said.
"Seriously? You don't need to ask that question when we're talking about Loded Diper," said Rodrick. "Let's get this party started."
When they closed the door, I waited for a few seconds and then took the blanket off of me. Woah, thank goodness. Now I just had to find a way out.
It wasn't that hard. I tried to open the back door, but it was jammed. So I just climbed to the front seats and unlocked the door from there.
Once I got out, the first thing I noticed was a group of people entering the house. I didn't follow them yet. Instead, I walked towards the nearest window of the house and peeked through it; and what I saw was a decorated house. By that, I meant decorated for a party—complete with lights, confetti all over the floor and furniture, tissue rolls, drinks, and all that stuff. There were only a few people inside, but there'll most likely be more as the night goes on.
I casually leaned on the wall, waiting for more people to enter the house before I do. It was getting darker; and soon enough, the house was filled with teenagers.
I pushed myself from the wall and started heading for the door. Technically, I was a gate crasher because I was about to join a party I wasn't even invited to. I began to think twice if I should go inside. Then I thought, Well, when's the next time I'm going to be able to go to a party? I bet a lot of people here aren't invited too. So I shrugged off those thoughts and joined the group of teenagers who were currently entering the house.
The moment I went inside, I heard this guy yell, "Are you ready to rock the house?!" I followed where the sound came from and saw Ben, Rodrick, and two other dudes in the living room. Löded Diper was about to play a song.
A portion of the crowd in the same area responded with Yeah's and fist pumps. Others ignored them and continued to drink from their cups.
They began playing really loud with screams and yells and lyrics that I couldn't understand. Though it was my second time watching them play, it was my first time hearing one of their original songs. The house was shaking, filled with their so-called music. I really couldn't appreciate it at the moment so I decided to walk around the house.
Aside from Rodrick's band, I haven't seen anyone familiar yet... These kids were probably from another school or something. A few minutes later, I couldn't hear Löded Diper anymore. They played around 2 or 3 songs, I guess.
At one point, near the kitchen, someone stopped me and offered a cup containing some kind of alcoholic drink. I refused, mainly because I had no intention to drink tonight, but he insisted and wouldn't step out of my way. So I took it and forced a tiny smile. He tapped my shoulder and walked past me. I leaned on the kitchen counter and took a sip.
"Ugh-ack!" I made a sound and stuck my tongue out. Nope, I never really liked alcohol that much (even though I've already drank a few times ago) and this particular drink tasted really weird. I left it on the kitchen counter and tried to find my way to the door.
I really shouldn't have come here. Too much people, and I wasn't even in the mood to socialize. Really, April? All for the sake of finding out what Rodrick was up to?!–
"Hey!" I said. Someone bumped into me, almost spilling his drink on my top.
"I'm so sorry, I... Hey, what's up?" He tried to act cool as if flirting with me before he realized... "Wait—Prescott?!"
"Why, hello," I said, annoyed.
"What the heck are you doing here?!" he whispered.
"How about I throw that question back to you?" I retorted.
He scratched his head, clearly pissed off, and then grabbed my arm and led me to a more quiet place, one that's near the bathroom.
"Ow! Careful!"
He let go of it and cautiously looked around to see anyone could hear us. "Why are you here?!"
"Why are you here?" I crossed my arms.
"What? That's none of your business."
"You told me your mom was coming home and—"
"—And you fell for it." He scoffed. I sighed heavily and ground my teeth in frustration. "I called our house's telephone with my cell phone, stupid. Then I made sure you reach your house ASAP, so you wouldn't think about wandering around and following me."
"Ugh, that's not the point, Heffley. You lied to me, and ditched me again, just so you could party all night at some random house!"
"Uh, excuse me? You're not my mother, okay? And I'm not just 'partying'..." He did the quote-unquote sign, and then continued, "...we had a gig! Didn't you hear us play?!"
"I heard the noise," I said, making sure to emphasize the word 'noise'.
"Whatever. You still haven't answered my question. Why the heck are you here?"
"To find out what you were really up to, genius."
"Really, Prescott?" he said with a tone of sarcasm. I looked at him, anger boiling up inside me. He smirked and moved a bit closer. "Are you that obsessed with me?"
"What the hell?!" I pushed him away. His drink almost spilled on him, but he caught it and just chuckled. I continued, "That is stupid, and disgusting, and completely off-topic!"
"Woah, calm down, Prescott! I was just messing with you, hahaha!" He took a sip from his cup.
"My. Name. Is. Not. Prescott!"
"I know! You told me that like a million times already."
"Then why can't you just—uugghh!" I massaged my temples and breathed out to calm myself a bit. "You know what," I said, putting my hands on my waist and looking up at him, "forget it! I'm going to start working on that stupid project with or without you."
"The deadline three months away! You should seriously stop being a little whiny freak nerd panicking about it."
"I'm not panicking about it! Ugh, whatever. I don't care anymore. If you don't want to work on it, then fine."
"Okay, fine!" he shouted, spreading his arms.
"Fine!" I shouted back.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Heeey! What's going on? What's all this fuss about?" a guy wearing a black hoodie and jeans interrupted. We both kept quiet and stared at the teenager who appeared to be already drunk. He turned to Rodrick and recognized him. "Heffley, my man! What's up dude?"
They gave each other a sloppy high-five. "Just chillin', Fred," Rodrick said.
Fred laughed and then turned to me. "And who's this lady? This your girl, Heffley?" he asked Rodrick.
Rodrick and I both showed a disgusted face and said, "No!"
"Well in that case..." Fred moved closer to me, saying. "Hey babe."
"Ew, stop!" I slapped his face hard, and then punched him on the stomach.
The punch wasn't that hard so he was able to stand up straight immediately. He swiftly put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.
"Back off!" I hit him and tried to push him away, but he was just too big and way stronger than me.
A second later, a fist hit his face, causing him to fall on the ground. His drink spilled all over him, and his nose started to bleed. A few more teenagers began to gather around us. I turned and saw Rodrick wince as he shook his hand in the air and stretched his fingers, trying to recover from the impact made by his punch.
Meanwhile, Fred began to stand up, probably to punch Rodrick back. But before he could, I kicked him in the groin as hard as I could. He then laid back there on the ground, closed his eyes in pain, and rocked from side to side like a stupid baby.
"What's going on here?!" Another boy pushed through the crowd. Fred slowly pointed at us as soon as he saw this guy.
We then found ourselves being pushed out of the house by a few teenage boys. And just like that, we were thrown out of the party.
While I wiped off some dust from my shoulders and straightened my top, Rodrick was cursing and shouting at the people who just closed the door. I actually wanted to thank him for punching that douche, but I was still mad at him, and that emotion took over. "Will you please keep quiet?! They won't hear you anyway."
"Damn it!" he said, and then pointed at me. "This is all your fault!"
"Wha—my fault?!"
"Yes." He walked towards me, filled with anger. "If you didn't follow me here, then none of this would have happened!"
"Well, if you only cooperated with me in the first place, we wouldn't be having this problem right now!" I shouted back.
"If you weren't such an 'oh-I-have-to-finish-this-project-three-months-before-deadline' kind of person, then—"
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ARGUE WITH ME?!"
"You're the one arguing with me!"
"Okay, FINE. I get it! Everything's my fault! That's what you're saying right?!" I said, eager to end this pointless argument. He tried to say something but I cut him off. "Thank you, Rodrick! Thank you. Now stop talking to me. I'm done." I raised my hands in front of me as if I was surrendering. Then I turned away from him and started walking back to my house, completely ignoring everything he had to say.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts about this chapter and leave a review! =)