A/N- Well, the pleasant surprise I've had at the positive response to my little fic has blown me away! Thank you so much, guys, I really appreciate the favourites and follows, and extra thanks to Jelly Boobs (best pen-name EVER, by the way XD) , lily1994, Anon123, Cloudcity'sBookworm, Nandarin, mymy15, BloodyAvenger21, LaceyLeanne1997, Skylar97 and Audrey for being my first reviewers!
Chapter Two- Well, Shit
I've been called a lot of things over the course of my life; snappish, rude, arrogant, aggressive. And yeah, while I am pretty much all of those things, the one thing I can never be accused of being is lazy.
To give Mac some time to just chill with his wife and daughter, I headed into the kitchen to cook us all dinner. In the weird mood I was in, I needed to do something practical to stop me driving back to campus, hunting down the Delta Psi house and strangling Pete with his own tie.
I took some eggs, ham and cheese out of the fridge for omlettes, plugged my Beats into my phone and selected a song that fir just perfectly with my current situation: My Plague by Slipknot. I especially liked the lyrics, "Your impossible ego fuck / Is like a megalomaniacal tab on my tongue / You fuckin' touch me I will rip you apart / I'll reach in and take a bite out of that shit you call a heart." Cannot imagine why.
So there I was, flitting around the kitchen in the sweats I'd changed into earlier, whisking eggs and mouthing along to the music. I probably looked like a really happy-go-lucky kinda gal to the untrained eye.
My music suddenly cut off abruptly when my phone started vibrating with a call. I pulled the headphones out of the jack and looked at the caller ID. It was AJ.
"Hey A," I said, accepting the call. "What's up?"
"What's up with me?!" she pretty much shrieked down the phone. "What's up with you?! Why the fuck did you take off at the end of class like that?"
"I know, I'm sorry, but-" I tried to reply, but AJ was in full flow.
"We were supposed to go to Starbucks! I had to go with Dana!" she fumed. "I already had to talk to her all day and you know I only moderately tolerate her in class! She never fucking shut up about this new Persian kitten she's got!"
"I'm sorry, I just-" I tried again, and again I was cut off.
"You could have at least said bye, bitch!"
"Amira-Jane, shut the fuck up and let me speak!" I snapped, and AJ went quiet. "Jesus, woman! I'm sorry, for the third time! I just had to get out of there, okay? Pete was driving me crazy! I honestly believe if I'd stayed any longer, I'd've fucking decapitated him!"
"Oh man," AJ said sympathetically. "It was that bad, huh?"
"You don't know the half of it," I said grimly, supporting the phone between my ear and shoulder as I tipped some whisked eggs into a frying pan. "Every other sentence out of the boy's mouth was a dig at me, the bastard."
"Sometimes I really do fail to believe that you two were ever even friends, let alone as close as you said you used to be," AJ said.
"I'd think that too if I wasn't the one who'd lived it."
"Korbie, are you...are you sure there wasn't unfinished business when you guys stopped being friends?"
I narrowed my eyes, even though AJ couldn't see me. "What do you mean?"
"Look, don't bitch out, but..." AJ paused. "Was there anything, like, romantic left open?"
Now I was the one who paused. "...are you fucking serious?" I snorted. "Me and Pete? Romantic? Oh my God, you are too funny, AJ. No, never. Not at...well, there was one time, but we were sixteen and...you don't need to know about that. The point is, we friendzoned hard, and now we hate each other. Case closed."
"So you're sure?" she said doubtfully. "You don't sound like you're even convincing yourself. Like, at all."
"Yeah, we're changing the topic now," I said quickly. "I gotta go."
"Oh come on, Korbie, I didn't mean to piss you off!" AJ said anxiously.
"No, it isn't you," I promised. "I'm making dinner for me, Mac and Kelly, and it's finished. I swear, I'm not pissed."
"Okay, if you say so. What are you doing tomorrow? It's your free day, right?"
"Yeah, I'll probably be doing some of this waste management bullshit. I can guarantee Pete won't do jack shit just to irritate me."
"Okey dokey, then. Catch you later, bae."
"See ya, baby g."
I didn't kill anyone with my slightly burned omlettes, so that was my achievement of the evening. As the night drew in, I curled up on the sofa with my sketchpad, a pencil set and the Architecture brief, setting to drawing out a rough outline of the interior toilet system. Mac and Kelly, meanwhile, were lying with Stella under her baby gym, occasionally whacking at the stuffed animals above them.
"This is delightful," Mac said contently. "This is awesome, this thing. We should get one of these above our bed."
"Yo, if that's the case then we're making it a family thing. Mom never got me one," I chipped in as Kelly's iPod sounding off with a FaceTime request, which she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey! Oh my God! You guys have to come out with me! I haven't seen you in forever!" Paula's, a close family, voice filtered out, and I immediately dropped what I was doing and moved off the sofa into the frame behind Kelly.
I loved Paula; she was thirty-three years old but had the mindset of someone my age. Being honest, I didn't think she planned on growing up any time soon. She partied harder than anyone I knew.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Mac asked her.
"Okay, my friend is spinning at the Royalton tonight," she replied. "There's a rumor that Prince might perform!"
I snorted. "Yeah, sure. Prince, here, in this deadbeat city. Makes perfect sense."
"I really need to get out of the house," Kelly said contemplatively, looking between Mac and I.
I softened. "Yeah, after the day I've had, a night out would be pretty good..."
"I have not been out since Jimmy and I got divorced," added Paula, putting on her pitiful voice. "And I really need you there. Please?" Jimmy Blevins was Mac's best friend, co-worker and Paula's now-ex-husband. He was the only man I knew who was simpler in the head than my brother.
"How do we do this?" Mac mused. He turned to me. "Korbyn, pretty please can you babys-"
"No," I interrupted. "I am not being left alone to stew in my own thoughts while you two rave it up. Ain't happening. I'm coming too."
"Fuck. Fine. Why are you so awkward? What should I do? Do I call the babysitter bunch?" he asked Kelly.
"I don't know about that," she said with a frown. "Let's just... It's too late. We'll..."
"Why don't you drop it at the fire station?" suggested Paula.
"We can't- what are you talking about?" Mac said incredulously. "That's not how it works!"
"The baby drop?" Paula elaborated.
"Okay, no," Kelly said firmly.
"I'm kidding," Paula backtracked. "What, like, having a baby, you like, lost your sense of humor? Korbyn, you got the joke, right?"
"Yeah, don't worry, I got it," I said with a smile. "Mac used to ask Mom and Dad to do that with me until I turned four."
"What are you doing?!" said Mac, looking at the iPod screen. I only now realized that Paula wasn't actually paying attention to any of us; she was applying eyeliner using the iPod camera.
"I'm using the little box in the FaceTime to put make-up on," she replied.
"You're not even looking at us, are you?"
"No," she said simply. "Who looks at the other people when they FaceTime?"
"I'd say ninety-three percent of people with an Apple product?" I offered.
"Shut up, Korbie! Why are you guys not coming out?" she demanded. "Is fucking Jimmy there? Jimmy!"
"No, Jimmy's not here," Mac said tiredly.
"Korbyn doesn't want to stay home and we don't have a babysitter, so..." Kelly let her sentence trail off.
"Hey, don't be blaming me for this!" I exclaimed.
"Hellooo? Fucking bring her," Paula said like it was obvious.
Mac let out a scoff, looking at Kelly. "No...?" he drew out, looking at her for confirmation. "...Yes? ...No? Yes? What are you doing? What are you thinking?"
"I say, we fucking do it." I stood up and stretched, fluffing my hair out with my hands.
"Let's just do it!" Kelly agreed, sounding somewhat impulsive.
"This could be a doorway to, like, a whole new life!" Mac said excitedly. "Where we have it all! We have fun and a baby!"
"That's fantastic!" Kelly cheered.
"This is the moment!" Mac hissed so the iPod wouldn't pick it up.
"This is it!"
"Let's do it!"
"I need to go out!"
"We've got this!" I put in.
"Okay!" Mac said louder, addressing Paula.
"Let's go!" we all said.
"I'm down," said Kelly, bending to pick up Stella. "Little chicken! Come on!"
"Baby's first rave!" I cried out, throwing my arms in the air.
"Baby's first rave!" repeated Mac.
"Baby's first rave!" echoed Kelly.
"Baby's first rave!" Mac said again, adding in some dubstep beats. Within seconds, all four of us had joined in, repeating 'baby's first rave' and adding beats until...
"BABY'S FIRST RAVE!"
Kelly and I ran upstairs to change. I threw on a pair of black jeans and some heeled boots and seized a handbag, barelling back down the stairs to help Mac gather up stuff for Stella. It looked like we were already to go. Then:
"Wait! Shit! Diaper bag! It needs to be restocked!"
"She needs an extra onesie in case she craps herself!"
"I think I better pump!"
"You gotta pump?"
"I think I need to pump!"
"She wants your necklace! Give me your necklace! Now go pump!"
"Everyone hold up, I need to take a dump!"
"Korbyn, there's not time for you to take a shit!"
"We should get the cooler!"
"Okay, here we go!"
"Wait, if we're bringing the swing, let's just bring the Jumperoo!"
"We have room. I think we have room!"
"Butt Paste!"
"I don't know where the Butt Paste is!"
"Binky! Binky! Binky!"
"I don't know where the Binky is!"
"Guys, why is the Binky in my make-up bag?!"
The next thing I knew was waking up to Stella letting out a laugh. I was draped over Mac with my arms around his neck and my face pressed against his shoulder. We were passed out by the front door, as was Kelly. Muted sunlight was streaming through the glass panel of the door: we'd been there nearly all night.
"We fell asleep!" Mac mumbled, pushing me off him.
"Let's go," yawned Kelly. "Let's go."
"Oh, fuck my life," I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "I can't feel my legs."
Mac's phone beeped with a message. "Wait. Shit, another video."
It was Paula again. "Best. Night. Ever. Look at how much food I just ordered!" She panned the camera around a table filled to the brim with platters of God only knows what. "I'm not even hungry! It's so wasteful!"
"We missed it," Mac muttered as the video ended, causing Kelly to whack him on the thigh. "Shit! Don't hit me!"
"I'm so tired!" Kelly said tearfully.
"Guys. It's four thirty-three in the morning," I said, feeling close to crying myself. Why could I never just have a simple night out. Why. "I think we're done here."
"Let's just go to sleep," suggested Mac.
"You've never had a better idea in your life," I said quietly, staggering to my feet and dragging myself up to my room. I stripped out of my tight, constricting clothing and pulled my sleep shorts/tank top on. Today had just been one lump of shit after another.
As I climbed under my duvet, all I could think was how fucking grateful I was that I didn't have to go to college tomorrow.
The next two days passed so fucking slowly. On Thursday, all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't even bother getting dressed. Instead, I slouched around the house in my PJs all day, eating ice-cream out of the tub and half-heartedly sketching out some more stuff for Architecture.
Sure, I helped Kelly out with Stella too, but mostly I just stuck to my bedroom all day. I was just in the most unsociable mood ever. I played my music loud, kept the door firmly shut and turned off my phone. Maybe I was PMSing. Who knew? Because I sure as shit didn't.
Friday was just a massive pile of fuck-fuckedy-fuck-fuck-fuck. I left the house in good time; one o'clock to make my half two class. But of course, halfway to Braxton I just had to somehow manage to get a flat tire. That took forty minutes out of my travel time because I had to call a fucking mechanic to come change the fucking thing.
Then, just as things were looking up, I got caught in a minor traffic jam just ten minutes away from the college because some fucker decided to have the fucking indecency to crash into a fucking tree. So in the end, I screeched into the student parking lot twenty minutes late, skidding into class five minutes later.
"Oh my God, Professor Bright, I am just...I'm so sorry!" I gasped, flopping down into the seat beside Pete, kicking his bag off said seat and ignoring the affronted look he gave me.
"Korbyn, what time do you call this?" Bright said, looking so unimpressed. "You're nearly half an hour later, where have you been?"
"It's a long story, Professor, I just-"
"It isn't good enough! You're twenty-one years old, you are in college! Petty excuses don't cut it here!"
"It isn't an excuse, I promise, I-"
"Well if it isn't an excuse, then let's hear it! Come on!"
"Sir, honestly, I've had the morning from hell!" I exclaimed, pretty close to tears, I was so stressed. "I got a flat tire, there was a jam because someone crashed into a tree and I ran over a squirrel when I turned into the parking lot! I really didn't intend to be late, I am so, so sorry!"
Apparently my desperate and vaguely hysterical demeanor had had some kind of effect on Bright, because his face softened, and he sighed. "I apologise, Korbyn. Clearly you are telling the truth. I'm sorry it's been such a rough morning, but I can't let a half hour lateness pass. See me at the end of the day, please."
"Yes, sir," I said quietly, lowering my eyes and pulling my sketchpad out of my bag.
"Man, you look like shit, Radner," said Pete, staring at me.
"Shut the fuck up, Pete," I said, not even looking at him. "Do not piss me off today, or I swear to God, I'll put you in a fucking hospital."
"Come on, Korbsy, don't be like that. We're still friends, right?" Pete smirked at me.
"No, we're not," I said, my tone hard. "I hate you. I want to shit on your face."
"Wow. You have such a feminine touch with your way with words," he said, grinning. And that was pretty much how the rest of the hour of class continued, followed by the next hour and a half evening class we had at half past five. By the time seven o'clock rolled around, I had no fight left in me.
While Pete and I had actually made a pretty good leeway with our plans, it had been a total of two and half hours of constant digs at each other, however obvious or thinly veiled. Bright then held me back for fifteen minutes to check that I was 'alright' and if 'things at home were okay' and 'did I have anything I wanted to talk about?' I assured him that I was fine, because I was. I was just having a bad couple of days.
Still, I was more than extremely grateful to get home. I crept in the door at just before eight o'clock, trying to be as silent as possible because I knew Kelly would be trying to get Stella to sleep. There was no way I wanted to disturb them.
I kicked my boots off and edged my way into the living room, collapsing face-first on the sofa next to Mac, who was watching Breaking Bad.
"Hey kiddo, how was your day?" he asked, patting my legs, which I had stretched across his lap.
"Shit," I answered monotonously, my voice muffled by the pillow I had my face pressed into. "Please feel free to suffocate me at any point you like."
"Jesus, Korb, what happened?"
"Flat tire, traffic jam, dead squirrel, Pete Carter. Precisely in that order."
"Pete Carter? Fuck, I haven't seen him since you guys were like, seven." When I was in second grade, Mac had stopped coming home for holidays while he was at college. He'd been twenty-one and hadn't seen the point anymore, plus he'd just met Kelly. "How is he?"
"A raging douchebag," I replied, rolling around so I could look at my brother. "Did Mom never tell you? Kelly's never said anything? We had a massive fight the summer before we started Braxton."
"You know Mom never bothers telling me anything like that."
"Well, to be fair, you probably didn't really need to know about all that girly, hormonal shit anyway. But the short and short of it is, we pretty much hate each other now, and we have done for almost four years. But now we've been shoved together to do this shitty project. And I mean literally shitty- it's about waste disposal."
"And he's being an ass about it?"
"Essentially, yeah." I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. "I just hate comparing how we used to be to how we are now." It breaks my heart, is something I certainly did not say out loud.
"Well, fuck that dude," Mac said with his signature grin. "You're fucking awesome, and you know it."
"Hell yeah, I know it!" I exclaimed, grinning back. "I am a strong, independent woman who don't need no man!"
"That's my baby sis," Mac said, pulling me into a tight bear-hug, a hug I was quick to return.
Leave it to my big brother to make me feel so much better on even the shittiest of days.
"I WANNA WATCH YOU BURN! BURN!" I shout-sang as I got dressed on Saturday morning, jamming out to Papa Roach's Burn. "BURN! I WANNA WATCH YOU BUUURN! YOU'RE GONNA GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! YOU NEVER LEARN! YE-AH!"
It was a relatively warm day, and Mac, Kelly and Stella were all outside, having breakfast on the front porch. Well in my book, sun = show off some skin, so I pulled on my official WWE 'One vs. All' Roman Reigns t-shirt and a pair of red shorts, leaving my feet bare. I was in the process of trying my hair up when I heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside and a horn going off, followed by Mac's voice floating through my open window.
"Moving truck! Moving truck!"
I dropped my hairbrush and hurried over to the window, pushing the curtain out of the way. Sure enough, a U-Haul truck was coming to a stop next door. New neighbors! I'd completely forgotten that house was even up for sale.
I grabbed the nearest pair of shoes - some patterned Havaianas - and stuck them on, running down the stairs and out the front door.
"New neighbors!" I exclaimed, skidding to a stop by Mac, who was chanting, "Gay couple?!" a few times.
"I'm kinda offended I was never informed of potential...new...neigh...bors..." My voice trailed off as I took in what Mac had been saying.
Apparently, a gay coyple had been in the running for this house next door.
What had Pete told me about the house Delta Psi had just bought?
Sick house, we beat out this gay couple for it. We're moving in on Saturday.
"Oh God, please, no!" I whispered, just as the passenger door of the truck opened, and Teddy and Pete stepped down.
Oh. Fuck.
A/N- So I think we can all agree shit is going to hit a very large fan in the next chapter. But that will be then. This is now. I really hoped you liked the chapter! The amount of reviews/favourites/follows I got for the first chapter is insane! Like, I honestly can't thank you guys enough! I'm sorry it's taken a while to update too, so thanks for the patience! I hope to update quicker this time! Xx Gee xX
PS- Where my Supernatural fans at? Me and my best friend, are currently in the middle of writing a joint story on her profile called Better The Angel You Know, and it would mean so much if you guys would read it, maybe leave it a little review and a follow? It's linked on my profile under Joint Stories! As is my finally finished trailer for The Girl Next Door and a Korbyn/Pete tribute, plus the TGND Polyvore page! Check 'em out!