AN: Dedicated to Anna who Formspring'd me and asked me amazing questions(: Thank you for reading this! (: Oh, I changed something about this story. Let's see if any of you find out what that is;) Oh, and if you see any mistakes, please excuse them—meaning the POV, if I accidentally use I or my or things like that. It's because I'm writing two stories with a first person POV and sometimes I'd get mixed up. :P
Disclaimed because this isn't mine. Take a guess who it belongs to(: No, not Ryan Seacrest; it's Lisi Harrison XD
Massie woke up the next morning with her phone flooded with text messages. She sighed and rolled her eyes, reading the messages.
Claire: Need 2 talk abt d8. It didn't go so good. I'm scared :'(
Derrick: M, need 2 talk, pls. listen to me?
Kristen: Hey, I'm sorry for my attitude, k?
Antoinette: Hey, hey, how's my fave damsel in distress? How's life? ;)
Antoinette: "Smile bcuz U never know who's falling in luff w/ it".
Antoinette: Or something along the lines of that… (:
Massie laughed. Antoinette was the only person there that Massie had actually wanted to talk to and whose message hadn't annoyed her. She replied back,
Massie: Ahaha, u crazy girl. Life is… bitchy XP. Hope everything's good w/ u(:
She sent that and scratched her head. Her phone vibrated, and she thought, Wow, she texted back fast. She checked the name and discovered that it wasn't Antoinette, but Connor.
Connor: Babe, wanna hang out 2day? I have an idea 4 a date.
Massie winced the sleep out of her eyes. She groaned and closed her eyes again, feeling her phone vibrate. She rolled her eyes. "Will there be a day where everyone would just leave me alone?" she questioned.
She brought her phone to her face and read the message.
Antoinette: Darling, I'm here 4 u, 'member that, k? & life is treating me well, but I need 2 help u.
Massie sighed and rolled over in her bed. She went back to Connor's message and replied.
Massie: Sure(: What r we doing? Do I need 2 bring anything over?
She sat up in bed and stretched. She sat there, dazed, looking around the room as if she didn't remember where she was. Again, her phone vibrated.
Connor: Just u & xtra clothes;) Come over at 11:30, if u can.
Massie sighed and checked the time—10:47. She groaned again in irritation and fell back on her bed. Connor would have to wait for her.
-:-
Massie hopped out of her blue convertible and slammed her door shut. She ran a hand through her curls and fixed her t-shirt and capris that wrinkled on the drive to Connor's neighborhood.
Connor was sitting on his front porch's steps, twiddling his thumbs. He looked up and beamed. "Hey, Massie," he greeted, standing up and hugging her.
She smiled and hugged him back. "Sorry if I'm late. I was just so lazy to get out of bed, you know?"
Connor nodded, although he didn't. In fact, he was more of a morning person. "It's 'kay." He smiled and led Massie towards his silver Rolls-Royce. Next to it was two buckets of soapy water, a hose, and other things that Massie had no idea how to use.
"Uh," Massie uttered, "what is this?"
Connor looked at Massie, surprise on his face. "Uh, what do you mean 'what is this'?" He bent down to pick up the green snake-like hose and straightened up. "We're gonna clean my car." He beamed, as if the idea was perfect.
Massie's eyes widened. "Huh?" she asked, sounding stupid.
Connor's eyebrows went together and he repeated, "We're gonna clean my car."
"As a date?"
Connor chuckled. "Are you okay, Mass? You seem slow today." He turned away and kicked his sandals to the side.
"You can't even begin to imagine…" Massie muttered under her breath as she grabbed a heavy red bucket and pulled out a big pink sponge.
Connor soaked the car, Massie thinking that he would spray her, as well. To her disappointment, he didn't. Massie's eyebrow twitched as she asked, "Connor, you do know that a washing a car will possibly get you wet, right?"
He went around his car and continued spraying all the dry spots. "Yeah, but I don't want to get you wet. You could get sick. Now we don't want that, do we?" He looked up at her, winked and clucked his tongue.
Massie resisted splashing her bucketful of water on him. "What sort of a car wash is this if you can't get wet?" she asked, slapping her soaking wet sponge on the front of the car.
"A dry one," Connor replied, chuckling at his own joke.
Massie forced a smile and ran the sponge up and down the car. She gritted her teeth together, wishing that Connor hadn't called her at all.
Where_It_All_Begins
"Hey, Derrick," Dana said, plopping down on the couch next to him. She let a can of cherry Coke fall onto his lap.
He sighed. They were hiding in the basement. It was the same as it was since they left; carpeted walls and floor and the u-shaped couch. The only thing added was the 32 inch plasma screen TV and the Xbox set.
Derrick paused the game of Call of Duty he was playing and looked at the Coke in his lap. He tossed the controller to the side and opened the can, the loud crackling sound ringing in his ears. "Hello." He took a short gulp of the fizzy drink. "So, you forgive me, eh?"
She rolled her eyes and took a swig of her Sprite. "Nope," she replied, popping the p.
Derrick sighed and rolled his head, knowing that she wasn't going to back down that easily. She was as stubborn as Massie was, something that Derrick found weird. "Okay, so why are you here, then?"
Dana slurped her soda loudly and smacked her lips. "Nothing. It's just that Claire called and she was wondering if she could come over today."
Derrick nodded, not having the thought process in his head yet. Until he saw Dana's blank face. His eyes widened and he said, "What did she say? What did you say? When is she coming? What are we going to do? What should I wear?"
Dana rolled her eyes. "What color is an orange? What's the difference between stalagmite and stalactite? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"
Derrick didn't pay attention to Dana's snappy attitude. He continued to ask his questions. "So what did she say? Come on, Dana, tell me."
She drank her Sprite again and leaned back, crossing her Capri-clad legs. "Hmm… Well…" She shrugged. "I told her not to come over until 2:15. Said you needed some alone time after watching Titanic." She smirked at him and jumped up, trotting up the stairs.
Derrick's mouth was agape as he stared at his annoying Massie-esque sister. It was scary as he came to the conclusion that both Massie and Dana were alike. The only real difference about them was their eye and hair color—but if those features were similar, then they'd be as true as sisters.
He closed his mouth when he heard his sister's fading voice, "You don't want flies to attract attention to you." He rolled his eyes and checked his phone—1:30. He still had enough time to take a shower and clean up around the house; they had only moved here and his mother had yet to find good maids.
After taking a lengthy shower and doing his best to clean up around his enormous house, he waited for Claire to arrive, taking a seat in his living room. He felt like he was waiting to be called to the doctor's office instead of waiting for Claire. His hands were folded and on his lap and he was sitting up straight with his eyes set straight ahead. He lifted his eyebrows at himself and collapsed on his couch. But just as his back touched the spongy couch, the door bell rang. He groaned and lifted himself off the couch.
He pulled the door open and there was Claire, smiling widely, rocking back and forth on her toes and heels. He half-smiled and said, "Hey. Come in." He pulled the door wider and she stepped in, the strong scent of her Herbal Essences shampoo breaking his senses. He shut the door behind him and led Claire to the basement.
On the walk down the steps, she was touching the brick red-carpeted walls. Even Derrick had found them unattractive for a while, until he learned to ignore them.
"So what are we going to do today?" Claire asked.
Derrick looked over his shoulder and spotted the look of disapproval on her face. Probably because of this room.
"Oh, you know, we could watch a movie or something, I don't know," Claire suggested. Her eyes were glancing around her, taking in the unsightly room. It was a place that only Massie would find adorable, and a place that Kristen would go yammering on about how odd it was to have something like a dog on the walls. But it was definitely not Claire's place.
"A movie?" Dana's girly voice echoed. She sauntered into the room, a faux-smile plastered to her face. "Why, Claire Lyons! How it's nice to see you after all this time!" Derrick could hear the fakeness in her voice, and he wondered whether Claire could hear it, too.
To his surprise, she didn't.
"Dana!" Claire yelled, embracing her.
Dana's eyes widened as she was swallowed by Claire's softness. She kept her arms stiff to her sides and she forced a grin at Claire.
"Come on, sit," Claire said, leading her to the middle of the u-couch. "How've you been?" she asked.
"Good," Dana replied evenly.
"Okay," Claire said, nodding. She looked at Derrick who shrugged.
"What movie?" he asked.
"Mean Girls," Dana rapidly answered. "Best quotable movie ever."
Claire's eyebrows scrunched together. "Oh," she muttered. "I find that movie quite unrealistic."
Derrick's eyebrows jumped as he straightened himself up. He had already fed the DVD player the movie CD and the 2004 trailers were quickly being shown. He knew for a fact that anyone who dissed Mean Girls, Dana's favorite movie, was possibly never going to be able to walk again.
"What did you say?" Her tone was pinched, tight.
"Uh…" Derrick's eyes were wide and he was ready to pounce on Dana if she was to claw out Claire's beautiful blue eyes.
"I said that Mean Girls is a stupid, unlikely movie. I mean what's the chance of all of that really happening? It's a parody of a real teenager's life. And the influences it has on a person." She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Including Lindsay Lohan's horrid acting. Amanda Seyfried, as a background character, even shined brighter than she did." Claire shrugged.
Dana's eyes were wider than soccer balls. Derrick sighed wearily and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but you have to admit that it's funny. And it's smart because, okay, fine, I agree that the whole zoo-animal thing is so not realistic, but you have to admit that the whole plot of the story is close to what a real teen has to go through. I mean, sure, The Clique sort of comes as unrealistic, but that's just to make the whole storyline juicier." She ran a hand through her hair and subtly moved over, so that she wasn't so close to Claire.
She smiled politely and crossed her ankles, something Claire did if she was nervous. She knew that Dana was closer to Massie and that she preferred her over her any day.
But today, she has to put up with me, and I have to put up with her.
Derrick sat in between Dana and Claire while watching the movie. Throughout the whole thing, Dana recited lines that she memorized by heart, and even stood up to do a few of the actions. Claire even chuckled along to a few of it.
After the movie, Dana jumped up, straightened her shirt and looked down at me and Claire. "I'm going to talk to Massie. She appreciates good art." She pointedly glanced at Claire and walked away and up the stairs.
Derrick awkwardly caught a glimpse of Claire. She was biting her lip and had her arms across her stomach. "She doesn't like me, does she?" she murmured.
He held his breath and stayed still in the hope that she wouldn't remember he was there. But alas, she wasn't a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and she repeated her question. "She doesn't like me, does she?"
He let go of his breath and tightly replied, "I'm not sure."
"Don't lie to me, Derrick," she whispered, her voice quivering. "She doesn't like me, but she likes Massie, right? She likes her way more than she likes me?"
Derrick gritted his teeth together. There were times when Derrick felt the need to strangle Dana and lock her in a room full of lions. And this, this was one of those times. "Uh, well, you know, I mean, I guess that with Massie, she feels more comfortable and everything. I mean, Massie is Dana's favorite person in the world, you know? They've always been close. They're so alike in so many ways." Like how sometimes I wanna strangle them. "And just together, I understand them."
Claire took in a ragged breath and faced Derrick, her eyes justly moist. "What about you?"
He looked at her, too. His brown orbs met sincere, baby blue ones. He smiled and studied her face. "Me? Well, in all honesty, I'm sort of developing a little adoration towards you." He hadn't finished his sentence when he felt Claire's lips on his. They were soft and small and lips that Derrick had never touched. Their teeth bumped a lot, but Claire wasn't discouraged. She was even courageous enough to meet the tip of his tongue, but pull her tongue back in.
When they pulled apart, Claire looked into brown, saucer-wide eyes.
"Wow," they both said under their breaths.
Where_It_All_Begins
Kristen checked her phone—3:45. She had just finished her run and was turning the corner of Columbus Market, a local store there in Westchester. As usual, she had beaten her own personal record—eight miles in only 24 minutes. She didn't know how she did it, but she did. And another thing; she hadn't broken a sweat. It was something that both Massie and Claire were jealous of. She sharply tilted her head side to side to relieve the tension that had built there while running.
She wasn't paying attention to where she was going when she bumped into something hard. "Oh," the recognizable voice said, grabbing Kristen's arm before she stumbled back.
She looked up—it wasn't a something. It was a someone. And it was a very cute someone. "Josh," she breathlessly said.
He smiled at her, looking relieved. "Hey-hey, KK." His eyes were gleaming with bliss. "How are you? Where've you been the past couple of days?"
She beamed back and she started walking, hoping that he would follow. And follow he did. "Oh, here and there, you know?"
He was in step with her, his hands in his pockets. "Where is here and there, exactly?"
She didn't bother looking at Josh. No way would she do that. "Oh, you know, there and here," she cracked lamely.
He chuckled. "No, but seriously, Kristen. Everyone's worried about you. I mean, after the thing that happened the other day. That's just not you, you know?"
Kristen shrugged. "I just needed to do something. To get my mind off of everything and everyone. It's not important, anyway."
It is to me, he thought. "Uh," he stammered, trying to erase the thought of Kristen being with some other guy, "you run, right? Play soccer?" Gah! Lame, Josh, you're so freaking lame.
Kristen smiled wider. "Yes, yes, I do."
"That's cool. I play lacrosse, actually, but you know, whatever. They're almost the same thing." He nodded at a blonde that was flirtatiously smiling at him.
For some off reason, Kristen took a disliking to the blonde. She cleared her throat and tugged on her ponytail. "So why are you here?" she asked, hoping to continue the conversation.
It took a while for Josh to answer. A distant look in his eyes replaced that of the one earlier. He finally said, "Just needed to run an errand."
Kristen's eyebrows went together. She stepped away from an old lady who was walking down the sidewalk. They were nearing Westchester's park. Only one… More… Turn.
"Hey, let's talk in the park?" she suggested.
Josh nodded his head and they finally took that turn. The park was one of Kristen's favorite places; with it's always green grass—the same green as her eyes—the loud sound of children's laughs nearby, and how everyone still had a picnic here every now and then, it reminded her that aside from the dreadful occurrences happening around the world, there was still a bit of happiness for everyone.
"Josh?" Kristen said, following Josh's suit and sitting on the empty space next to him on the brown bench. "Not to poke around or anything, but what errands did you do?"
Again, the faraway look. "Oh, you know, this and that. That and this."
"Josh, we're not gonna have a this and that and that and this and here and there and there and here conversation, are we? Because I'd seriously leave you here if we do."
He snickered. "I'm sorry, Kris." He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, just to let you know, I went to buy milk and eggs for my mom."
"Oh, okay." She eyed Josh. "And where are they?"
"Which, the milk and the eggs?"
"No, Josh, the purple llama and the glow in the dark camel." (AN: Sorry, but just wanted to say that that was for Tessagon:])
Josh chuckled. "Well, if you are talking about the llama and camel, they're at the zoo. And about the eggs and milk…"
"Okay, for the llama and camel thing, I'll hold you to that. And with the eggs and the milk. Let me guess; you were really thirsty and drank all the milk and someone bumped into you, causing the eggs to fall and break to its deathly death?" Kristen offered a skeptical smirk.
He swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly how it happened."
Kristen's smirk became more pronounced. "How far are you going to take this story, Josh?"
"As far as it can go," he replied immediately.
"Well I suppose that you should stop because, darling, it's not getting too far." Kristen crossed her ankles and redid her ponytail.
Josh sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Wanna know the truth?"
"Of course, Josh. I'm not bugging you with my insanity to get a quarter from you, aren't I?"
He half-smiled and said, "Antoinette broke up with me."
Kristen's lips parted, and her mouth opened wider, as if to say something.
"You don't have to say anything. I sort of saw this coming. It's not like I like-liked her. And besides, she didn't feel up for a boyfriend at this time. She said she had something else to think about, something like helping people or whatever. I don't know why I even went out with her in the first place." He shrugged.
Silence overcame the duo until Kristen piped up. "So, kumquats, huh? What are they, really?"
Josh smiled and began to explain what a kumquat was.
"Yeah," Kristen interrupted, "the thing is, I really don't care."
"Oh. Well, that's okay. I don't know what a kumquat is, either," Josh admitted.
Kristen laughed, throwing her head back. "Okay, Mister-Mister, you have a project."
"What, to help you bail out of jail when Train finds out that you've been going around labeling people Mister-Mister when they already copyrighted that?" he joked.
She laughed again, a laugh that Josh stored to memory. "Oh, Josh. No, your project is to find out where you can find a purple llama and a glow in the dark camel. I was serious about that, you know." A smile was still on her lips and Josh found himself wanting to kiss her.
He shook the thought away from him. "Hey, ever heard of Arctic Monkeys?"
Kristen raised an eyebrow. "I'm hoping that that's a shampoo or a brand." She giggled and light pink blotted her face. "Explain them to me, please."
Josh, smiling, went into a deep elaboration on the English band and they both exchanged common ground in their love of food and some types of music and sports. Laughs were thrown around and people around them stared at them, smiles on their faces.
AN: XD
Finally, dearies! Updated(: Well, it's 3:47 AM and Mayday Parade's Ocean and Atlantic has been blasting from my earphones for the past few hours.
Review, darlin'?
Peace, yo!
ErickaLoops