Yo! So I have a problem… lately I've been busy with a ton of stuff so I may or may not have time to post tomorrow… just thought that I'd be a good person and let you people know.
I sighed and stepped off the porch, slipping my new Tribal-print sunglasses on.
"Kim!" My sister Hanna's head popped out from behind the screen door. "Mom wants you to get one of those gardening book thingies!"
I gave her a thumbs up and climbed into my car. Onto the library.
"Yo Mamacita! What's with you standing there for like five minutes?"
My head flashed up and met two dark ones. I scowled slightly and shut the Harry Potter book, placing it back on the shelf. "What the heck Jerry? You scared me!"
His hands raised slightly in surrender at my irritation. As I started walking away I could hear him following.
"Why are you at the library anyway? The only things you read are comic books." I stated, running my hands along the books as I walked out of the YA section, towards the center of the library.
"I'm on a," he slid across the linoleum floor, "mission!"
I rolled my eyes. "And what, 'mission', are we talking about?"
"It's for Jack. He wants you to be dressed in a casual-yet-fancy outfit. He'll pick you up at eight."
"Say what now?" I drawled in disbelief. "Since when did he get back?"
"Um… like an hour ago." He checked his reflection in a piece of glass covering a display. "Of course, you should know, Chica. He lives like right next to you.
Both of my eyebrows rose. "He lives where?!" My voice shrieked out.
Jerry's eyes widened in the glass. "Really Jerry? Really?" His hands flew into the air.
"I'm guessing that I wasn't supposed to know that." I said sarcastically. My eyes narrowed a little. Jack is back. "And now Jerry, if you'll excuse me, I must go find the most interesting gardening book my mother needs."
I sidestepped him, leaving him to fix his hair in peace.
(A/N: This is late August right before their junior year. Forgot to mention that.)
When I got home I slammed the useless book down on the table and headed up to my room. I felt oddly at peace when I stepped into my tranquil, light blue room. My huge bay window was letting in immense quantities of light that shone off my walls and made me feel like I was at the beach. Placing my keys on the table I lay down on my huge white bed and did something I really didn't want to do. Contemplate Jack.
It's not like I hate Jack. He did apologize profusely about the skirmish last school year. In fact, he said sorry so many times that I thought I was going to punch him in the face! So yeah, we're on speaking terms. It took a few weeks, or two months, but we talk.
And it's not like we're frenemies or anything either. We play nice. We still both go to the Bobby Wasabi dojo. We eat at the same table. We hang out with our 'gang.'
But it's not like I'm close to him. At all. Because I was right all those months ago. He did replace me, no matter how many times he tries to convince me otherwise.
Her name is Kelsey.
I suppose it's not really replacing me. She goes out with Eddie, and they are the cutest couple! But as I came to sit at the lunch table my first day back, they just looked so… complete without me. It kind of hurt.
And she's a tough girl. She doesn't take any crap. She does gymnastics and cheerleading, both things that I do. She's blonde, like me, she's flexible, like me, she's loud, like me, and the list goes on and on. The only things that are different are these; she doesn't take Karate, her eyes are a bright, jewel-like blue, and she's an extreme girly girl.
But back to the matter at hand.
In early July Jack's family went to their summer cabin. He had invited me – when we were in elementary school I had always gone – but I couldn't go. I told him I had a summer job, which in turn made me have to actually get a summer job.
Then I heard through Eddie that the Brewer's house had been sold. I rationally thought for awhile that they were moving out of Seaford. I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders at Eddie's announcement!
But I should have connected the dots when the huge house in my neighborhood was remodeled to be even bigger! I swear that house-turned-mansion is even bigger than the Brewer's old residence!
And it happens to be right next to mine.
I wonder, did Jack talk his parents into this moving? Cause money isn't an issue. They could've just remodeled their old house and been done with it.
Ugh. I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it. I laid there for about five minutes before I heard the door downstairs slam. I slowly drug my tired feet down the wooden stairs and plastered a smile on my face to greet my mother and two sisters who were dropping their grocery bags on the kitchen table.
"Hey mom." I said quietly. I took a peek at the contents of the bags and raised my eyebrows. "What's the occasion?"
She turned around to put some milk in the fridge. "What do you mean?" She said to me. Then she turned to my two sisters. "Marie, I want you to take these four bags, Hanna you take these four, and Kim, you take these four." Then she turned back to her four bags.
"Sixteen bags?!" I said, immediately suspicious. "You never get this much stuff at one time unless we're having company!" I paused. My voice went up an octave; "Which we're not, right? You bought all of this stupidly expensive food just to be nice right?"
"Well…" she said slowly, grinning bashfully at me. I scowled back. "Your Aunt Roselyn might be coming to visit… with your Uncle Rono."
Hanna and I gasped, while Marie just stood there, confused. Marie had the luck of being too young to remember what a disaster our last get together with Uncle Rono was. You see, we love Aunt Roselyn to death, but her choice of men isn't too… good. Uncle Rono gets really drunk whenever there's alcohol. And if he's going somewhere that doesn't have it, like our house, he tends to bring his own, potent, liquor.
Anyway, when I was ten, Hanna was seven, and Marie was three, all my mom's siblings came over. Aunt Jessica and her husband Jeffery, Uncle Michael and his wife Casey, and Aunt Rose and her husband Rono. Our family isn't that into alcohol so an already-drunk Rono talked Uncle Jeffery to drive him to go get some. Anyway, first they wrecked the car when Rono grabbed the steering wheel, then when they finally got back, just a little bruised (and extremely lucky), Rono started running around like a hooligan. He poured punch all over the living-room couch, (and me, who was sitting there at the time), shaved our cat (don't ask me how he managed that), threw a baseball bat through our widescreen TV, and ripped off his clothes and danced around in his boxers, singing about all of our family's secrets. It's something I'd rather not relive.
"What?" Marie asked, as innocent as ever.
"Nothing." I said, patting her blonde head. "Nothing at all."
Quickly, I started bounding up the steps into my room.
"Wait just a minute Miss Kimberly. I need you to help make dinner and watch for Aunt Rose and Uncle Rono!" More like babysit Aunt Rose and Uncle Rono.
I turned on my heel. I need a way to get out of this, I need a way to get out of this! I thought for a minute. My mouth opened even before I could tell it not to. No, don't say it, no no n-
"I have plans." I said seriously. "With a friend."
I could see her doubting the sincerity of my words. "Oh really? Well-"
"It's Jack!" I all but yelled. Her expression froze. I could almost see her weighing the options. Let eldest daughter reconnect with kind of-friend I don't particularly like but feel that she needs to get socialize more and this would help her do it, or, let eldest daughter babysit her crazy drunken uncle who will undoubtedly embarrass her and the family for years.
Apparently she wanted to save me from shame and humiliation; "Fine, you can go. But be back before eleven!"
"Ok!" I hollered from my doorway. Running in I smiled at my stupid genius. Even if I do have to go with Jack, at least I'll be somewhat free tonight!
KK, don't kill me for not posting the 'date' thing with Jack yet! I'm still in the process of perfecting it! It will either be up tomorrow or Monday.