Brad POV: #fail
"This is literally the stupidest plan in the history of stupid."
I felt my ears heating up at Kailey's retort, fully aware of their truth as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of his chest. "Not to say kind of messed up."
"I...I know-" I groaned. "But come on, you know there is absolutely no other way he would ever willingly come to see me."
"And whose fault is that?" Kailey asked, raising an eyebrow. The thought made my stomach tighten, but there was no denying how right she was.
"I haven't been the smartest, okay? You think I don't know that?" I snapped at her.
"Is that supposed to be a good thing?" she asked incredulously. She opened her mouth to say something else before her phone rang and she fished it out of her jeans, glancing at the screen. "It's Cher. She's asking if she should go for it."
I bit my lip and took a deep breath. "Y-yes. I would say...go for it."
There were a million things that could go wrong with our twisted plan. For one, Nico might not actually come in the first place. But Kailey was convinced that he would and I was banking heavily on her being right again.
Kailey placed the phone to her ear. "Yeah, go ahead."
She hung up and immediately went back to glaring at me before she shook her head. "I just don't get it you know."
"Get what?" I asked.
"Why you're so desperate for him," Kailey sighed. "But whatever, I guess. He's the golden child after all."
I couldn't help but notice the twinge of jealousy in her voice, which was strange since from what I knew their mother spoiled both of them equally. "He should be here soon so I guess you oughta complete the set-up. I'll tell the others."
I nodded as she slipped out of the room and glanced at the still empty bucket on the floor. I felt like an absolute donkey, trying to pull off a ridiculous immature prank I had only ever seen in crappy 90s era movies. But the prank wasn't the main attraction anyway, me swooping in to save him was.
The thought didn't make me feel like any less of a donkey. I quickly made my way into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, taking deep breaths as I tried to calm myself. Under usual circumstances, something normal like straight up asking him out on a date would be a much better option, even if we did have to do it in secret until I was absolutely ready to come out. But in a world where no way in hell would he ever see me as a good guy, asking him on a date would cause immediate rejection.
A different idea formed in my head. What if this didn't work?
Something deep inside me couldn't help but hope that maybe the idea was just crazy enough to work.
I started as the door to my bedroom opened followed by loud voices. I assumed Kailey had informed everyone about our 'prank.' I peeked my head through the door, counting seven people including her outside. If I could stand up for Nico among them all, he would have to see me as the good guy or at least maybe see a part of me he wasn't completely disgusted with. It could be a start.
I took a few extra minutes in the bathroom, makings sure my hair wasn't perfect but just messy enough. After that, I stepped out as McKinney pursed his lips and gave me what was his most judgemental look, his eyes narrowed and shoulders wide.
"You're already a dumbass motherfucker but you're about to break your own record."
I scowled and punched his arm. "Shut the fuck up, okay? I've thought this through."
"You usually get an F when you think, Jones," Archer Blue said, grinning as he plopped onto the mattress.
"This time he's hoping he can get the D instead," McKinney laughed as I raised my eyebrows in warning to him. I glanced quickly at the rest of them to make sure they hadn't heard him and they seemed too engrossed in some animated conversation to notice anyway. I sighed in relief as Kailey walked over to me, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Cher texted me, told me they're on their way. So he should be here soon."
I bit my lip and nodded, my heart suddenly racing. I didn't want to think about the ridiculous shit we were about to pull off, afraid that I would actually see how dumb I was being. I nodded at McKinney who simply sighed and lay down on the bed, gazing despondently at the ceiling. I knew I looked like a moron, but as long as it worked, it would be worth it.
I made my way downstairs, preparing what I would say to him once he arrived. I needed to keep the act up for a while but once he went upstairs, he would see that Kailey was the mastermind of everything. Admittedly, I had been a little shocked when she had agreed to my stupid plan, but then, she would prank him all the time back at their home anyway. So maybe he was more liable to forgive her.
I started pacing back and forth in the foyer, straining my ears. Provided that Cher had acted decently enough, he shouldn't be taking too long. I glanced at my wristwatch a few times, resisting the urge to do a small lap around my house before finally, I heard the screech of tires somewhere in the distance. I took a deep breath, struggling to stand still as footsteps sounded closer and closer before a loud bang caught me off guard.
"Open the fucking door!"
For a second, his words sent a chill down my spine. He sounded angrier than I had ever heard, or even imagined him to be capable of. But it was temporary. He was worried about Kay, which was probably fueling his anger. He banged on the door violently again and for a second, my chest seemed to go empty. Anger really did change people then. It wasn't exclusive to my dad. Maybe there was some sadistic solace in thinking that way?
I took a few more deep breaths and snapped out of it, opening the door with projected confidence. My heart seemed to fail as I saw Nicola Evans standing on the other side, glaring daggers at me. My throat went dry and for a second I forgot everything I had planned to say.
"Where the fuck is my sister?" he asked, clenching his jaw and balling his fists. I was stunned that he seemed to be vibrating with fury. It would be almost funny if it wasn't for his eyes which seemed like he wouldn't hesitate to kill. "Where the fuck-"
I opened my mouth to say something but found my tongue too dry. This didn't look like anything I had planned.
But hey, he was looking at me at least. Almost willingly too.
Before I could stop gaping like a fish, a loud sound snapped his attention away and he quickly ran past me, taking long strides up the staircase and towards my bedroom. I flinched as I heard another loud bang followed by Kailey's shriek. Nico seemed to speed up impossibly as I huffed to keep pace with him. I stood outside the door as he banged it open and stepped inside. I heard a dull splash, laughter and delirious screams. For my plan to work, it was necessary that I enter the room a little late. I waited for a few more seconds and just as I turned, Nico appeared from inside, covered in the disgusting gooey mix and somehow even angrier than he had been before. My words died in my throat as he stomped out, seething, not so much as glancing at me as he furiously rubbed at his eyes.
I gulped, realizing how awfully my plan had backfired and quickly ran after him. "Hey man, don't take it seriously. It was just a joke-"
He ignored me completely as he made his way down the staircase. I racked my brains to come up with any way to do damage control and in the split second of indecisiveness, decided to own up to the truth and the horrible 'prank' I had hatched. I took a deep breath and called after him just as he reached the foot of the staircase.
"Eva-"
I gasped, all rational thoughts leaving my brain as he jumped down from the last staircase and onto the velvet carpet. I heard loud yells behind me and realized everyone had followed. I pelted down the staircase, my blood running cold. "What the fuck? Get the hell out of there! My mom will murder me! Fuck!"
He didn't budge, moving his arms up and down instead as the carpet was effectively ruined, the disgusting glue sticking to it and already forming clumps. I gaped, horrified as he sat up straight and smiled brightly at me. "Hey sorry, I'm just not very fond of the super sticky feeling, you know ?"
I balled my fists, venomous anger surging through me as I watched him wreck the carpet. My dad would definitely flip out, I would have to take my mom's help to switch it out before he got to know.
I glared at him, at that moment, hating everything about Nicola Evans. Right from his gooey curls to his now dirty shoes. And I decided to say the vilest thing I could imagine, knowing I might regret it later. "Get the fuck off the floor, fag."
I could almost feel the temperature in the room dropping, although he didn't react immediately.
"Here's a pointer, Jones, when trying to have someone do you a favour-" He said after a pause, moving his arms again as he smiled blissfully, "be polite to them."
I spluttered with anger, not knowing what to say. It didn't make me feel any better that he was covered in disgusting glue, I thought that wasn't enough. I heard giggles and groans behind me as my ears burned, my neck heating up with embarrassment. I balled my fists so hard I could feel my fingernails cutting into my palms. But I didn't care as he waved merrily and left, shutting the main door behind him. I stared at the shut door for a long while, racking my brains to come up with a plan that would humiliate him worse than he had humiliated me. I turned and started making my way silently upstairs, calling after me. "McKinney, you have it on camera?"
"Yeah," McKinney responded before curiously asking, "Why?"
"You'll see," I responded as I dashed up the staircase and into my room, the anger for now camouflaging the hurt from my failed plan. I thought that in a twisted way, it might end up working. He would have to ask me to take the video down, and maybe there was a slim chance that I could steer that conversation to something more pleasant.
I was disgusted at myself that even though my anger, I found myself planning on how to befriend him.
Pathetic.
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This chapter was suggested by @kellya54. Thanks for the suggestion!
I will admit, writing this chapter kind of rekindled the idea of a Brad Jones spn off in my head. It shall now join about half a dozen more ideas and incomplete projects I already have.
I'm curious, do you guys think this chapter actually was able to give this 'bully guy bad guy' more character? While I never meant for him to be two dimensional, with how little he appeared in Getting Wilder, I'm afraid he might have looked so.
Nevertheless, as always, thank you for the immense support.
-Your humble birb.