PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

03. The Cakes

I fall on the floor from the couch, ass first. I'm not here by any accident, instead I was kicked out by my own flesh and blood.

My elder sister waves the remote control she won from me before changing the channel to a reality show. I can't watch the TV anymore. Reality shows give me shoulder pains from my over cringing. I have a serious ailment of secondhand embarrassment.

Getting up, I massage my butt cheeks that were wounded in the battle. Then I walk away, with my head held high.

There was a time I wouldn't have yielded until there was blood (or mom intervened) but I let it slide now.

I hardly see Karen these days. As a final year resident at Maxbon Hospital she rarely gets any day off, which she prefers to spend at our home instead of her bio-hazardously unclean apartment.

My next sanctuary is not too far away either.

When I enter the kitchen I see mom packing a glass container with chocolate cakes. "Good, you're here," mom says without looking up. I swear she has a third eye somewhere on her skull. "Take this to Nina."

I groan. I've nothing against my mom's friend, but I don't like going there. I look at the wall clock. It's 3:15 PM. Maybe he's not home. I pick up the container and leave.

I see Nina watering in her front yard garden. "What you got there, Ellie?" she asks, giving me a pearly white smile.

"Mom made some chocolate cakes."

"That's great! Could you put them in the kitchen, honey?" Nina says.

I walk into the large big house behind her, and straight into the kitchen. I try to decide the best place on the counter to place the cakes. Mom trusted me with them, of course I'll make sure they are displayed in a spot worthy of their taste.

"Boo."

I drop the container, and my will to live.

But a hand from behind, bent around my waist, catches the glass box before it comes to a shattered ending.

With a heart still trying to break out of my chest I turn around to see Raylan pull out a cake from the box and take a bite. With a full mouth, "It's good," he says.

By some twist of fate, ever since I'd acquired Raylan's kryptonite, I haven't had a single encounter with him where I'd the time to blackmail him properly.

Feeling too upset to confront him now, and confident over the photos, I ignore him and move forward. He grabs my arm and pulls me back. "Let go of me," I say, trying to get my arm back and failing to.

Instead he twists it behind me, causing pain in my upper arm. "No," he casually says while taking another bite.

This is it. This is the time I carry out God's will. I calm down first. "If you don't, you'll regret it for the rest of your life," I say. I can feel his laughter flow into my back and out of my chest. "I knew something was up with you. Don't tell me you'd for real gone crazy," he says.

"Not crazy enough to kiss Tony's girlfriend."

Insert a loud silence here.

Raylan turns me over to face him. "What the fuck did you just say?" he says through his teeth.

I smirk. "I said, I'm not at least crazy enough to kiss a best friend's girl."

"Why would I kiss Lara?" he says.

"I don't know why. I just know you did — at the parking lot."

He looks mortified, to say the least. I give a second for the color on his face to return. He grabs my arms tighter. "If you tell him any—"

"I won't tell him anything. But I'll show him for sure, if you don't let go of me immediately."

"What?" he says, with fear stained in his words.

"I took photos."

"He won't believe them."

"Only one way to find out."

Raylan brings me threateningly close to him. I fight the urge to look away from his livid eyes. I never realized blackmailing could be this stressful.

"I don't believe you," he says before suddenly letting my arms go and grabbing my waist. I shrink back at his touch. He follows my waistline and finds the pockets of my oversized hoodie, and puts his hands in.

When he takes them out, he has my phone in his right hand. He takes my thumb to the phone and unlocks it.

For a few seconds I see him intently operating my phone, and when the color on his face suddenly vanishes again, I know he found the photos.

"You can delete them if you want," I sincerely offer my suggestion.

"It's not how it looks like," he says, looking back at me. "She forced it on me."

"Hey, I'm not the one dating her. Save your explanation for your bff."

"Delete them now," he says. "Delete all the copies."

I take a step toward him and gently touch his ripped arms. "It's over, son. The more you fight it, the more you'll hurt yourself. Just accept it: you're in no position to tell me what to do — or not do whatever I tell you to."

I can feel his struggle to stay calm and not murder me. I grab my phone that's in his hand and pull it away.

"I've a lot of things for you to do, Raylan. You're in my palm now," I say, clutching my phone tighter in front of him. "You'll do whatever I say. The second you mess with me, Tony will see these photos."

His jaws clench but he doesn't say anything. I smile a genuine smile. The boy who has always talked back to me over everything is now standing speechless in front of me. And I just love it.

————

The edge of my tray meets a strong resistance on Raylan's abs. The orange juice box falls, spilling its content over Raylan's brilliant white t-shirt.

"Oops. Guess I should look where I'm walking to," I say.

Raylan doesn't say or do anything, except glare at me. Seeing his friend silent, Tony decides to stand up against the injustice. "You spilled the drink on him on purpose," Tony says.

"Did I?" I ask and turn to Raylan. "Did I, Raylan?"

Raylan ignores the question and walks away. His friends, especially Tony, looks stunned while they follow their friend out.

Becca, Tess and I celebrate our first post-photos Raylan's fall. No more orange sandwiches for me, and one orange t-shirt for Raylan.

End of Chapter

A/N — (^_ ^) Howdy? Good? Good.