MY LITTLE BROTHER IS DEADPOOL

CHAPTER THREE

"WHAT?!" I SAY, my eyes the size of golf balls. Mom is just smiling like everything's all cheerful and happy. Uncle Harrison has his arm wrapped around Mom's shoulder. Wade and I stand there with our jaw open down to our ankles.
"I said," Mom begins, "say hello to your new Dad!"
Nothing. Wade and I still stand in front of them with our mouths hanging open. We were in complete shock.
Mom starts to get concerned and says, "You boys alright?"
I laugh. "Alright?! ALRIGHT?! Mom does it look like we're alright?!"
"Peter-"
"You didn't even talk to us about this, Mom!" I remind Mom.
"Well, he did but-" Wade begins.
I give Wade a death glare. "Shut it. Wade."
Wade shuts up and puts his hands up in a surrender kind of way. I look back at Mom.
"You didn't even give us a choice if we even wanted a new Dad!" I say.
"I understand that, Peter, but I need someone to support me and help me-"
"You said you'd go see a therapist! Even Uncle Harry agrees!" I remind him.
"Peter," Uncle Harrison says, giving me a warning look. "Peter, your mother's stressed out as it is-"
"AND YOU DON'T THINK I AM?!" I point at myself for emphasis, letting all my anger and frustration take over me. "YOU KNOW WHAT MOM?! I DON'T EVEN WANT A NEW EEFING DAD!" And do you think I said "effing"? "OUR DAD IS DEAD! YOUR HUSBAND IS DEAD!"
It's silent. I glare at my mother, who's staring at me in shock with his mouth hanging open.
"Peter Reynolds. Don't you ever talk to your mother like that-" Uncle Harrison starts but I cut him off.
"EFF YOU!" Again, do you think I said "eff"?
Uncle Harrison glares at me, stepping in front of my mother like a shield, and clenching his fists.
"Watch. Your. Mouth. Young man," Uncle Harrison said through gritted teeth.
My vision gets blurry and then do I realize I'm crying. Tears stream down my flushed cheeks. My teeth are gritted like Uncle Harrison's.
"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" I scream, crying at the same time. "YOUR NOT MY FATHER! I DON'T CARE IF YOUR MARRY MY STUPID MOTHER! YOU'LL NEVER BE MY FATHER! NEVER! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! MY FATHER IS DEAD!"
It's dead silent. I'm glaring at Uncle Harrison and he's glaring back at me, still standing in front of my mother like a shield. Wade's behind me. I'm crying and crying and I'm breathing heavily. Mom is also crying but not as much as I am. He stares at me in complete shock.
Angry, I storm upstairs and slam my door shut. Slamming it so loud I cause Mom to gasp and I see him jump in surprise in my mind. I slid down my door when I enter my room. Tessa, my mother's dog, is still curled up on my bed. She hops down and sits next to me, making a Scooby "Arrew?" sound and tilting her head.
"Hey Tess," I say quietly, petting between her ears.
She makes the sound again and licks my face with her slobbery tongue. I smile a bit and pet her some more. I can see why Mom loves her so much. Tessa truly is a man's best friend.
"I'm sorry, Tess," I apologize.
Why am I apologizing to her? Shouldn't I be apologizing to my crying mother? Who cares. It's his fault anyways. Not mine. Well, technically speaking, it's my father's fault for being dead.
Tessa whimpers and lays her head down on my lap. I smile as I stroke her head.
I can still hear the arguing between Mom, Uncle Harrison, and Wade. Wade yells something back at Mom and storms out of the house. How do I know? Because I can hear the front door slam shut and I can still hear Mom crying endlessly, saying that he's a terrible mother and wife and disappointed me and Wade and Dad, and Uncle Harrison soothing him.
I know I should apologize to my mother. But why should I? Because he's crying and he's my Mom? Yeah right.
I feel my phone vibrate in my jean pocket. I turn it on to see the caller ID. It's Matt. Matt Murdock. Why is he calling me though? I didn't give him my number.
I stare at it. Hesitating. Should I call him? Should I answer? What if Uncle Harrison or Mom walks in on me while I'm in a middle of a conversation with him?
Oh, eff you mother. I pick it up and press the call button on my phone and place the phone to my ear.
"Hey, Matt!" I say.
Immediately, he answers. "Hey, Peter! Your friend, Ned, gave me your number."
"That would explain why you're calling me, haha!" I laugh.
Matt laughs along with me. "Haha. Well, how's your mother?"
I freeze and my smile turns into a frown. How to answer...
"Um...Mom's fine..." I lie. "He's uh...doing better, I guess."
"Huh. So uh...are you free Friday night?" Matt asks. I can see him blushing when he asks this.
"Um...yeah, I guess. Why?" I ask.
"Well, A Quiet Place is out and I was wondering if uh...you'd like to come with me...?"
It's silent. My mind is internally screaming. Inside, I'm smiling like an idiot and jumping around and screaming as loud as I can. But on the outside, I sit criss-crossed applesauce on the floor behind my door, mouth hanging open and my eyes wide. Did Matt Murdock just ask me out on a DATE?!
My gaping mouth turns into a wide smile and I nod.
"Of course! What time?!" I ask, rather quickly.
"Uhm...how does 6:45 sound to you?" he asks me.
I nod. "Yeah! That's fine! Totally fine!"
I can see him smile on the other end of the line. I'm smiling too.
"Great!" Matt says. "I'll pick you up about 6:00!"
"You have my address right, Matt?" I ask. I'm always making sure someone has everything they need. It sometimes drives that someone crazy.
"Yep! Ned gave me everything!" Matt answers.
We hang up. I scream. Actually scream. I put my phone down and run down the stairs, smiling like an idiot.
I jump on Mom and hug him so tight he could hardly breathe. I nearly made him tumble over his own heels. And not the tall shoes ladies wear.
Mom laughs. "Oof! Peter! What-"
"HE ASKED ME OUT!" I scream.
Mom smiles and hugs me so tight that even I couldn't even breathe.
"He did?!" Mom asks, not believing me. I nod, still smiling. "Oh, Peter! I'm so proud of you!"
Mom knows about me and Matt. He knows I have a crush on him. But one bad thing about having Uncle Harrison as a Dad is that he's extremely protective.
"Who asked you out, Peter?" Uncle Harrison stands up, brows narrowed and body full of protectiveness.
My smile turns into a frown. Uncle Harrison doesn't know about me and Matt. He doesn't know about my crush.
Mom also frowns and looks at me, as if I knew what to do. I have no choice. I have to tell him. He has to know.
"Um...you see...Uncle Harrison...uh...there's this boy I like at high school..." I look down.
"Boy?!" Uncle Harrison sounds shocked. "And does your mother know about this?"
I look up and Mom nods and says to Uncle Harrison, "I was the first one to know."
"Continue," Uncle Harrison says, somewhat glaring at me. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair.
"And um...his name is Matt Murdock and he's extremely handsome. He's eighteen so he's a year older than me. I've had a crush on him since middle school. Even before Dad died I had a crush on him. But it wasn't until after Dad's funeral that I told Mom. I haven't told Wade yet. I don't want him to know. So anyways, he called while you were comforting Mom and Matt asked me out...on a date," I explain. And as I am explaining this I lock eyes with Uncle Harrison.
He doesn't blink. Doesn't move. He just stares with arms crossed and jaw tightens. I gulp. I know this look. And I'm going to rereget it. It's the look that he's going to take Matt away from me. Forever.