truly, madly, deeply // Joel Pimentel

chapter 24

                            Joel's POV

  Amara and I jumped away from each other quickly as an audible gasp sounded throughout the room.

  I whipped my head around as fast as I could to see who it was, and then I heard an all-too-familiar laugh.

  It belonged to my brother.

  "Oh no.. Joel, this isn't good," Amara whispered quietly as she saw who was standing in the doorway of my room, "This isn't good at all."

  The door was all the way opened at this point. Gabriel stood there with an evil grin on his face, giggling to himself.

Israel, on the other hand, had his mouth wide open in surprise– his jaw looked like it could hit the floor.

  Silently, Israel reached into a pocket of his pants, seemingly struggling to get something out of them.

  He pulled out a fresh ten-dollar bill and handed it to Gabriel – who was still standing there mischievously.

"You win," said a still-stunned Israel.

  "I was right," Gabriel said, pretending to kiss the ten dollar bill he had just received from his brother.

   Gabe must have made a bet with Israel that Amara and I were together.

  Well – it turns out that Gabe won.

  "Sweet, sweet victory," Gabriel said, rubbing his hands together evilly, "I always knew there was something going on between you guys."

"Well, we'll leave you alone now. Let's go Israel," Gabriel said innocently, pulling Israel by the wrist out of the door.

  Just before he shut the door, he stuck his head back in and whispered, "Oh, and don't forget to use protection."

  He winked quickly and closed the door.

  I was stunned. I got up quick and shouted after them, knowing they were on their way to tell mom.

"Gabe, wait!" I yelled, stepping out into the hallway.

  He turned around, looking as sly as can be. Israel stood there with a shocked expression still on his face.

  "Yes, big brother?" Gabriel asked innocently. He had a devilish smirk plastered across his face – he most likely knew that I was going to offer him a deal to be quiet.

  And I knew I'd probably end up on the bad side of the deal.

"Listen, Gabe," I began, trying to think of something that could stop him from telling our mom.

I needed something that would keep him quiet.

  Something, anything.

"Gabe, if you don't tell mom, I'll do your chores and homework for 2 weeks," I pleaded.

  He seemed to be thinking about it and tapped his chin with his finger, contemplating.

"A year," he said.

"A month," I replied.

  "6 months," he argued.

   "2 months, don't push it," I replied.

  "Fine then, I guess you really want mom to know," Gabe said in a singsong voice, turning around on his heel towards the stairs.

"If you tell, I'll show mom your report card," I finally said, grinning because I finally outsmarted him.

  Israel gasped.

  "The report card? I didn't think you would go there, man," Israel whispered, taken aback by my words.

Gabe turned slowly and looked me dead in the eyes with a glare.

  "You wouldn't," he said, his voice suddenly deeper.

"Oh, but I would," I said, a smirk playing on my lips.

  "Fine. I won't tell. Just no more funny business, okay?" Gabe said, wagging his finger at me.

"Okay, I promise. No more funny business," I replied holding up my hand as if I was taking an oath.

"I'll be watching you," Gabe said, slowly making his way down to the bottom of the stairs with Israel right behind him.

   I let out a sigh of relief and pressed my back against the wall.

I didn't even notice how nervous I really was during that argument until I felt drops of sweat prickling my skin.

How am I going to explain my crazed brothers to Amara?

I took one last deep breath before I decided to go give Amara the news.

I turned to go back into my room, and I almost ran right into a seemingly slap-happy Amara.

  "Look, Amara, I'm sor–" I began.

She cut me off unexpectedly by throwing her head back in laughter.

"I'm.. sorry... that was... just.. so funny," Amara somehow managed to say in between giggles.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why Amara was laughing.

  It was like she seemed to forget that my brothers literally just walked in on us mid-makeout.

"You should've seen your face," Amara laughed loudly, "and you even bribed your brothers."

  "Yeah, I know, I know," I said, holding my hands up in mock-defense.

She clutched onto her stomach as she doubled over in laughter.

   I found myself beginning to smile, too – her laughter was contagious.

   I was still a little shook up from the previous situation, but hearing Amara laugh was like hearing my favorite song.

"What's so funny?" She asked as a soft, crooked smile began creeping on her face.

   I just shook my head and smiled – for I didn't think I could find a way to explain just how much I was falling for the pretty girl standing in front of me.

-(AUTHOR'S NOTE)
BET YA DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING
THANKS A LOT GABE
so somehow this went from like a really scary nerve-wracking moment to like a really cute one idkkk?¿
What do you think will happen next?
Don't hesitate to comment your opinions and vote!