This Changes Everything

05. nervous

"I'm perverted?" Brooke scoffs, eyeing down the girl who scarily resembles him. Even though they both won't admit it, the Moore's are as close to twins as you can be whilst being a year apart. They're like Irish twins.  "You fall in love with men that are old enough to be grandma's boy toys, rat."

Myra flips all of her curly black hair over her shoulder as she stalks closer to us. "What did you just call me?"

I'm partially bracing myself to hear Brooke yell 'rat' over and over again. So I'm mildly surprised when he doesn't give in to the urges I know he's currently battling with.

"What do you want, brat?" He asks instead.

Myra crosses her arms over her cropped black top, which is bound to have her dress coded by the end of the day by Principal Rodriguez.

"Mom said it's your turn to take Jagger out on a walk."

Jagger is the beloved Labrador of the Moore's. He also weighs more than any dog probably should and is where my heavy dislike of dogs started. Johnny and Brooke call it a 'phobia,' but I haven't been afraid of anything since I was seven.

The realisation must dawn upon Brooke because he's all of a sudden going ballistic next to me. He's shaking, groaning, moaning — I wouldn't be surprised if he started foaming at the mouth. "No!" He whines, "Jagger's always trying to hump everything in sight, can't you just take him until he's neutered?"

"Only if you get neutered too."

A panicked sound makes its way to the back of Brooke's throat. "And deprive the beautiful female population at this school of Charles?"

"Charles?" Myra horrifedly repeats, "You named your dick, Charles?" Her mouth has dropped open as she sports a terrified look. "I'm related to a creep!" She cries.

Brooke turns to me with pleading eyes for a completely different reason. "You think Lola can handle one more dog?" He asks, his dark eyes widening and completely getting rid of the colour as his pupils dilate.

"Lola is taking care of your dog!" Myra pipes in, seemingly forgetting about the whole 'Charles' situation.

"No," Brooke and I chorus. Not because it has to be a secret but because Myra Moore is probably the biggest loudmouth at Westgate High. And that's surprising considering who her brother is.

"Yeah." Johnny answers a beat of a second later. His silence had nearly made me think he'd walked off, he's always doing that whenever Brooke and I get too loud.

I would take it as offensive if I didn't know Johnny better. The guy likes his peace.

"Traitor," Brooke venomously spits.

Johnny shrugs, his eyes still glued onto Myra who's got a wolfish smile arching at her lips. Oh no.

"Johnny?" She asks in that flirty voice of hers that had Brooke kick her out of any party of ours she's managed to sneak into.

Be strong, Johnny. Be strong. I repeat in my head as I try and catch his eyes but it's hopeless whenever he's looking at the she-devil. 

"Yeah?" His voice is even.

Yes, Johnny.

Myra tilts her head to the side and looks up at him from beneath her long lashes. "Can you please tell my brother that it's his turn to walk our sexually liberated dog, who should be allowed to keep his private parts?"

Don't fold, Johnny. Don't fold Johnny. Do not fold, Johnny.

"What'll you do for me, if I do?" The bastard asks, his voice dipping down into hoarse territory.