Disclaimer: I.D.N.O.T.
Chapter 16
"Seth! Let's go!" I shouted up the stairs.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" He clamored down the stairs, ran to the kitchen.
"Seth! We do not have time for this! You are gonna be late!"
"Um shoming, um shoming!" He mumbled loudly as he came out of the kitchen with a piece of toast in his mouth." He grabbed his bag from by the front door and nodded at me. I followed him out the door and closed it behind me. I jumped in the drivers seat of Dad's old beat up truck and turned the key in the ignition. It roared to life before I slammed it into reverse and pulled out of the drive.
"Seriously, Seth. It's only the second week of school. Couldn't you at least try to be on time? And I have patrol this morning! I don't wanna be late just because mom is having me drop you off on mornings she's at work!"
I heard Seth loudly munching on his toast. I looked over at him to see him staring out the window.
"Seth!" I smacked his arm and he jumped, startled.
"What? What is it?"
"Are you even listening to me?!" I asked, frustrated.
"What for? You're getting as bad as mom!" He whined.
"Shut up!" I snarled, smacking him on the arm again. "Besides, I wouldn't have to nag you if you didn't take longer to get ready than a girl!" I teased.
"I don't!" He shot back, clearly annoyed by my comment.
"I was ready before you! And I don't even have to go to school!"
"Yes, but let's face it, Leah…you're not exactly a normal girl now are you?"
I stared open-mouthed at my idiotic little brother, before slamming on the brakes.
"Shit!" He yelled as he was forced to brace himself against the dash of the truck. "Drive much?"
"Brake check!" I teased. "Maybe you should buckle up." I smiled evilly and fluttered my eyelashes innocently before bursting into laughter.
We pulled up to the school just minutes later and Seth hopped out of the truck. He waved and slammed the passenger door. I shut off the truck, and hopped down.
"Seth!" I called out after him. He turned around to look at me. "Think fast!" I shouted and tossed him the keys. He raised an eyebrow at me as he deftly caught the keys in his left hand. "Drive yourself home. I've got stuff to do. Besides, you need the practice!" He beamed at me before waving again and getting swept into the crowd heading in. I saw Colin and Brady walk over and clap him on the back. He was beaming as he dangled the keys in the air. I knew he would love that. Mom hardly ever let him drive anywhere, despite the fact that he'd had his license for quite some time now. Sometimes she could be way too protective of her "sweet baby boy".
I smiled to myself as I set off towards Sam and Emily's. There was a buzz in my pocket. I pulled my phone out eagerly and opened the message.
"Hey. What r u up to?"
"Not much. Just dropped Seth off at school. U?" I replied quickly.
"Math. Bo-ring." I giggled.
"Yeah…texting won't help tho. LOL. Not if teach catches you!"
"True. Then I'll be grounded for a week! LOL ttyl :)" I smiled and slid my phone back into my pocket. I chuckled to myself imagining growing up with my mom not only as mom but as my teacher too. I mentally shuddered at the thought of that, especially considering we hadn't always gotten along well. But Megan and her mom seemed to get along great. And that was to say nothing of how well her mom and mine got along…
I sat with Megan in the living room after dinner, while the sounds of our mothers' laughter echoed from the kitchen.
"Oh. My. God!" Megan laughed. "They sound like a couple of ridiculous teenagers!"
"Aren't we supposed to the ones giggling like mad?" I scoffed.
"Definitely. I suppose it's been too long since my mom spent any time with her friends…" She suddenly looked downcast. I resisted the urge to reach out and grab her hand. Why did I want to do that anyway? Good Lord…
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I mean, I know you are both new to town and all…"
"Yeah. But we traveled around quite a bit growing up. Most of her friends are pretty far away right now. A phone call only goes so far." She smiled weakly. "I feel kinda sorry for her really…" I sat with her in silence for a moment, listening to our moms' hushed voices and another bout of laughter.
"Well, it sounds to me like she has a new friend," I smiled brightly at her, and joyously watched a smile spread across her face as well.
"Thank goodness! Maybe now I'll get off a little easier. Hopefully less homework." She laughed. She roared with fresh laughter when she looked at me and found my head cocked to one side.
"What? What are you laughing at?" I asked, incredulous.
"You!" She managed. "Your face! You just looked…it was adorable!"
"Adorable? Not what I would have gone for…" More laughter. Man, was her laugh incredible. "Are you gonna explain or just keep making fun of me?"
"Sorry." She coughed, finally free of the laughter. "I'm homeschooled."
"Oh. How does that work?"
"My mom orders my books and teaches me all my classes. I take official tests made up by different states and the government and get credit like I would in any public school."
"Ugh! That sounds awful! Your mom and your teacher? I'd never leave my room!" We laughed together.
"It's not ALL bad," she joked, "I get to go to class in pajamas!"
Our laughter died down and we turned our attention back to the television. "2 Fast, 2 Furious" was on.
"OH MY GOD!" I spluttered suddenly.
"What?!" Megan nearly jumped out of her skin. "What's wrong?"
"I totally forgot about his HORRIBLE afro!" I cackled. Megan blinked at me in sheer confusion before bursting into more side-splitting laughter. We were both crying by the time we could stop ourselves. It was then that Mom stuck her head around the corner from the kitchen and offered some of her "famous" fudge brownies. We got a couple squares each and returned to the couch, devouring our chocolate and watching the intense car races and antics on screen.
"It's not my favorite though," she remarked casually.
"Huh?" I asked.
"This isn't my favorite Furious movie."
"Oh. Yeah? Me neither. 5's my favorite," I replied before finishing my last gulp of milk.
"No kidding! Me too! I love Rio," she said with a smile. "Anything else on?" I flipped through the channels and found nothing. I was back to 2 Fast, 2 Furious before too long.
"Nope. Nothing but this is worth anything," I concluded.
"Well, there's always that." She nodded toward the old Gamecube just barely visible in the mostly shut cabinet of the entertainment center.
"Really?" I asked.
"Depends on what games you got!" she joked, as she moved to open the cabinet and began rifling through the games. "Aha! Yes!" She turned around and held up MarioKart, before raising an eyebrow at me.
"Only if you're ready to be beat!" I laughed at her.
We set the Gamecube up easily enough and turned on the game. I grabbed my controller and sat back on the couch, Megan stayed on the floor, her back against the couch. Her hair was coming loose from her clip, flowing down over her shoulder. I wanted to reach over and brush it away from her face. She beat me to it, and I hastily pulled my hand back, hoping she didn't notice. She looked over and smiled at me.
"Pick your poison," she offered, grinning, an almost evil glint in her eye.
"Alright. You asked for it," I answered, moving closer to her face, answering her challenge.
We played round after round after round. She was fiercely competitive. Before long she was shouting and trash-talking. It was hilariously cute. I won the first couple races pretty easily, but after that I started to let up, giving her an edge. She won race after race after that. And began rubbing it in my face too. But I couldn't care less about that. She was happy, laughing, and smiling. I couldn't help but catch her mood.
All too soon, our moms came out into the living room. Our time was up.
"Megan, honey. Come on. It's about time we headed home," Her mom called.
" Alright, mom. Just let me help Leah clean this up," she called back.
"No, no it's fine. I got this. Heck, Seth may want to try and beat me when he gets back from his friend's," I offered.
"He'll definitely beat you if you keep playing like that!" She laughed. I walked with her to the door, where my mom was talking with Mrs. Masterson about trying to garden with the near-constant rain up here. Evidently Mrs. Masterson loved tomatoes, but had unsurprisingly not been able to grow any here. Mom was laughing with her about all of her own failed gardening attempts when we made it to the entryway.
"There you are, sweetie," her mom practically cooed, before sweeping Megan's hair out of her face, "Did you have a nice time?"
"Yeah. It was great. And dinner was wonderful. And those brownies! Thanks again, Mrs. Clearwater," Megan added, very politely.
"Please. Ms. Sue is fine." Mom was practically blushing. "Thanks for coming over Elizabeth."
"Our pleasure!" Megan's mom smiled. "We'll have to do this again some time!" She hugged mom and turned to walk out the door.
"Yeah. Definitely! Nice to meet you Ms. Sue." Megan said sweetly, shaking my mom's hand. "Talk to you soon!" She called to me. "Maybe next time you won't let me win!" She winked before turning and laughing on her way to join her mom in the car. My mouth was hanging open a foot as I stood there while mom waved as they pulled away.
I chuckled again at the thought of how I must looked standing in the doorway that night as I pulled open the screen door to Sam and Emily's, where a firing squad was unknowingly waiting. For me.
A/N: Ok. Well there you are. A bit longer wait than I anticipated for this one, but it was a bit longer chapter than I expected too! I hope you all liked it. I really wanted to further Megan and Leah's relationship. Now things are gonna start heating up! I hope to get the next chapter up by Friday. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks to everyone who reviews, follows and favorites - your support means a lot! Till next time! ~Kate