The Ballad of Mona Lisa ► CM Punk

E I G H T

My parents never got married.

After I was born, my dad made sure he was as involved in my life as he could be. He and my mom never got married, though, and it worked for them.

I was near the end of high school by the time my mom actually got married to my stepdad, Luke. Two years later, they had my brother (well, half-brother) Leo. My mom was really into art, so his name is actually Leonardo (as in Da Vinci, who painted the Mona Lisa), but who is going to call a baby Leonardo? Even if he's half my age, Leo is one of my favorite people, and I love spending time with him.

Phil and I stay at Chaleen's house for a couple of days, then we head to Luke and Leo's house, where we spend the rest of our time in Chicago. That way, we both get to spend time with our families.

Once Phil and I are off the plane and have gotten our bags, we spot Chaleen.

"Chaleen!" I yelled, running over to her and hugging her. She laughed, and even though I couldn't see him, I knew Phil had rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Mona!" She greeted me, smiling.

Once the hug ended, Phil had finally reached us. I moved out of the way so that he could also hug her.

"I'm being drowned in hugs!" She protested, but it was obvious she was okay with it.

Phil let go of her. "Excuse me for wanting to hug my sister!" He laughed.

"I'm just kidding!" She said, rolling her eyes. When he didn't move, she said, "Come on! I need a hug from my big brother!"

"Fine..." Phil hugged her again.

"Thank you," She said. When he let her go again, she said, "All right, let's go!"

We picked up our things and followed her out of the airport. We got to her car, so we put our things into the trunk. Phil and Chaleen sat in the front, so I took a seat in the backseat. As I put on my seatbelt, they started whispering to each other. I just sat there, watching them. I didn't bother trying to eavesdrop, since they were so quiet.

Once they stopped, Phil turned around to look at me.

"Chaleen and I need to talk," He told me. "But it's a secret."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine..."

I pulled out my earbuds, decided on a playlist, and gave Phil a thumbs up once the music started playing.

P H I L :

"What if she can hear us?" Chaleen asked, glancing at Mona in the rearview mirror.

"Mona listens to music like she's deaf," I assured her. A few seconds later, her music got louder, and we could hear it pretty clearly. "See?"

"Okay, so she can't hear us." She nodded.

"What do you want to talk about so badly?" I asked.

"Have you asked her?"

"Could you be more specific?" I asked. "There are a lot of things I should ask her. Did you go to the bathroom before we left? Or Why didn't you feed your turtle?"

"Those are weird questions..." She muttered. I rolled my eyes. "When did she have a turtle?"

"When she was ten," I replied. "She didn't feed it, and it died."

"Oh."

"Can we get back on topic now?" I asked. "Have I asked Mona what?"

"You know..." She looked in the mirror again.

"She can't hear you!" I said. "Just tell me!"

"Have you asked her out yet?" She glanced over at me.

"No."

"Why the hell not?" She asked. She sounded annoyed.

"What makes you think I want to?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's obvious to anyone who has a brain that you like her. Why haven't you asked her out yet?"

"She has a boyfriend..." I mumbled. Chaleen reached over and punched my arm. Hard. "Ow!"

"You're an idiot."

"Why did you hit me?" I asked, incredulously.

"It's your fault she has a boyfriend!"

"How?" I was confused, and my arm still hurt a little, so I sounded angry.

"You waited too long to ask her out!" She exclaimed.

"She doesn't like me like that," I said, shrugging. "It's not my fault."

"My god, you're so dumb sometimes," She said, shaking her head. "She does to like you."

"How do you know?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You remember when you two were in high school? And she got into that fight?" Mona got suspended because of that fight.

"Yeah." I was confused. I couldn't figure out where she was going with this.

"Do you know why she beat up that girl?" She asked.

"No..."

"Ask her sometime," She said.

"Why can't you just tell me?" I asked.

"It's not my story to tell."

She didn't say anything after that, so I assumed the conversation was over.

M O N A :

By the time we arrived to Chaleen's neighborhood, I still hadn't been talked to. I took out one of my earbuds, and neither of them were saying anything.

"Can I stop listening to my music now?" I asked.

Phil turned around to look at me. "You don't want to listen to music? Who are you and what have you done with Mona?"

I rolled my eyes. "Ha ha. You're so funny. I just don't like not being included in things."

"We're done talking, Mona," Chaleen said, so I took out my other earbud and paused my music.

She pulled into her driveway, and we got out of the car. Phil and I grabbed our things from the trunk, and we brought them into the house.

Chaleen has a guest room with two beds, which is where we normally sleep. We put our things on our beds (well, I threw mine, and it almost didn't stay on the bed), and we walked back into the living room.

"Hey, Mona," Chaleen said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

***

Written while listening to Xavier Woods on Talk is Jericho.

These chapters are so short, but I can't really make them longer. xD

Well, let me know what you thought! :)