"It wasn't like that!" I told Kim. "I didn't mean to, I swear. It was purely an accident."
Kim shook her head, lowered her gaze on her meal then stabbed one of her meatballs. I blushed.
"I did not know this was my brother's briefs." I deadpanned again. "I was in such a hurry this morning that I didn't even--"
"Save your breath. I knew you had a fetish for your little brother. With all the borrowing his clothes in stuff? How could I have missed it?" Kim gave me a smirk, then she wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I scratched my forehead frustrationally. For the pass minutes, I've been trying to convince Kim that I didn't intend to wear Skyler's underwear today. I didn't even realized it until Kim and I went to the girl's bathroom this morning and thanks to Kim's horrible habit of peeping at me whenever I used the stall, she spotted Skyler's name written at the inside. It was totally embarrassing.
"That is so gross, Pey." She joked, which really annoyed me.
"Kim, why can't you just--!"
"Do any of you want some of my cookies?" Mica spoke up.
I looked at her and saw a forceful look on her face. And when I say 'forceful' I meant it in a way that she forced herself to speak up. Mica had been hanging out with us for weeks now but I could tell she still wasn't use to us. She'd always look so hesistant and grounded.
I'm not really pushing her into something that needs time, but it wouldn't hurt to feel a little bit more comfortable with us.
I sighed, wanting to give Mica's attempt some credit. I let myself back and rolled my eyes.
"I'm sure Penny didn't mean to," Mica told Kim. "And...it is a little funny, isn't it?"
Kim simply shrugged her shoulders. "It's alright."
I kicked Kim's leg under our table. Kim glared at me and mouth the word; 'What?!'
I glared back, knowing she knew what I meant.
This situation between them had been so awkward that I'm starting to think that this whole 'making Mica join us' is a bad thing. I mean, I don't regret it. But I wish I would've thought it through. With Mica's uneasiness and shyness, and with Kim's trust issues, how could I've been so careless?
I looked at Mica, hoping she didn't thought about anything with what Kim and I just did. She turned to me and didn't hesitate to smile.
With that alone, something inside of me just went soft.
I love it when she does that; how she'd always seem so hesitant but when it comes to beaming at me, she wouldn't. There's just really something about her smile that really grips my heart to the core. How, despite her eyes looking sad most of the time, she could still pop that little sign of joy. It's like, in spite of everything, there's still hope inside of her. A dash of hope that makes me want to clench on it so hard that it wouldn't fall and break into a million pieces. It gives me a reason why I shouldn't let go of this.
Something flattered inside my chest and I couldn't help but smile as well. Mica was just too cute.
"Hey ladies," a call came from our back. We turned around and saw Lloyd.
"Hey Nel," I waved, raising my hand up so he could give it a high five.
"Sup Pey, Kim." He gave me the high five I was expecting. Then, he turned to Mica. "Hi Mics."
Mica's eyes averted shyly, she waved back. "Hi Lloyd,"
"What are you guys talking about?" He asked.
"Did you know Penny's wearing---"
"Kim what the fuck!" I comprehended as my cheeks turned bright red. I glared flames at her and made sure they gave her the message; don't you dare.
Kim laughed and banged her fist on the table.
"What's so funny?" Lloyd cluelessly smiled.
"It's nothing." I deadpanned. "Nothing at all."
"Oh yeah? Then why are you blushing like a cherry?" He grinned at me as he playfully brushed his finger down my cheek.
I jerked away, too mad to be considerate.
"Aw, Penny, it was just a joke." Kim gave me her puppy eyes but god knows they wouldn't win this time.
"Just don't dare, okay." I said.
"Well apparently somebody woke up at the wrong side of the bed." Lloyd boyishly messed up my hair like he would have done to his little brother. "I'm guessing you hit a nerve, Kim, let's take it easy, shall we?"
"Woah, since when did you become the mature one?" Kim teased.
"Since forever. You were just too blind to see the little things I do."
Kim rolled her eyes. "Words, words, words. You're all words, Lloyd Nelson."
"I think you meant hotness," He winked at her. Kim made a gagging expression as her left hand gave him a 'go away' gesture.
"Go away, lamebrain. Go back to your little buddies." Kim said.
"Whatever, I was only going to say hi anyway."
"Good, lamebrain. Now, go."
"Maybe I will,"
"Then go,"
"Fine,"
"Fine,"
"See ya,"
"Wouldn't wanna be ya,"
"Oh you'll be surprised if you were only a dude."
"BYE!"
A smile plastered on Lloyd face as he rolled his eyes. "See ya, Penny." He said as he messed up my hair again.
"Bye, Lloyd." I replied.
Lloyd's eyes went to Mica. And for maybe about four seconds, he stared at her before giving her an evenly smile.
"Bye, Mics." He said.
Curiously, I looked at Mica and felt weirdly interested on what she'll reply.
Mica was like stone before she finally pulled herself together and said; "B-Bye,"
Instinctly, Kim and I turned to each other and made a look.
"Bye," Lloyd said again before turning to all of us. "I'll see you guys around."
As soon as Lloyd was no longer in sight, Kim immediately spoke the words right out of my mouth. "You like him."
"What?!" Mica's eyes grew wide as her cheeks turned red. For a moment, I giggled to myself. Mica's so cute.
"You like him." Kim said again.
"I don't." Mica answered defensively.
"Don't lie, it's written all over your face." Kim pointed at her. "Right, Penny?'
I nodded. "Can't say I don't agree."
"But I don't. Lloyd is--"
"We don't blame you, don't worry. There are lots of girls who do like him after all. It's not your fault you're also a victim." Kim bluntly said. "He does have his charms in spite being a brick most of the time."
"But Kim, I-I-I--"
"Stop being shy!" Kim laughed, which gave me a small surprised. "It's normal to like someone."
Mica's eyes were pleading. She turned to me, hoping for help.
"Penny, do you believe this?" She asked.
I looked how Mica's eyes were panicking, how her cheeks were turning red and how obviously caught she is. She looks so innocently cute that I couldn't help but admit that maybe having a crush isn't as all as bad as I think it is. Probably only in Mica's state that is.
"Hey, you like our little Lloyd, what else can we do about it?" I shrugged with a smile before taking a sip from my grape juice.
Mica was mubbling something in her breath but I knew she was just trying to make excuses.
Nope, no can do. You've already fallen, sweetheart.
-------
It was tutor time and like any other lazy day Kalvin has, he makes me read one chapter of our French book while he'd be too busy playing with his phone.
"I'm impressed," he suddenly said out of nowhere. "Thirty minutes had passed and you still haven't thrown a question yet."
I mentally grinned at myself.
Well, I have been improving in french. After having numerous tutor sessions, how could I not? I'm not that stupid.
"You're flattered." Kalvin said. "Boy, you're one weird kid, Penny, do you know that? I think the only possible way I could compliment you, in which you'd actually accept, is when it's about your studies. I mean, you never show that little smug face of yours when I compliment you about your appearance."
I gave his say a little snort, then a chuckle. I wasn't going to say anything cu'z I might ruin it for me. The way Kalvin noticed how I only get moved towards my studies, flattered me a lot. I secretly hope he'd compliment me more about studies from now on.
After seeing me without a reply, Kalvin shook his head and said; "This kid,"
Just when I was about to finish a page of chapter XII, the window suddenly made tapping noises. Kalvin and I turned to its direction and saw Damon, smiling and waving at us with Leo and Ethan.
"It's your bandmates." I said.
"What are they doing here," Kalvin sounded unpleased. He stood up, went towards the windom and opened it.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kalvin asked as he stepped back to give them a way to step in.
"We were in the neighborhood so we thought to drop by," Leo answered.
And like it was their naturally instinct, they all turned to me at the same time.
"Penny!" Leo cheered quite childishly. "Long time no see! Hey how are you?"
"Good. And you?" I asked just for the sake of sounding civilized.
Not to sound mean but I'm not really feeling it that they're here of all time. I mean, just when I was in the hand of reading French without Kalvin's guidance, they show up. They could've come another day. You know, a day when I wasn't feeling so proud of myself that I wanted to continue the pleasure of feeling confident in my own hard work.
"We're fine and dandy, thanks for asking." answered Leo.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Ray." Ethan lowered his head as a sign of greeting.
"Sup, Ethan." I replied.
"How's studying for you? Has Kalvin been any help?" He walked towards me.
"After months of French, thank god I improved." I raised my chin proudly. Maybe them coming over wasn't such a bad thing. At least I could brag about my improvements in French, which is definitely brag worthy.
Ethan made a straight line with his lips and nodded his head. At first he looked quite convinced, but then he started speaking French with matching hand gestures. He went on as Kalvin and the rest chuckled in their breath while my mouth completely hung open. When he was done, he gave me a facial expression that it was my turn to talk.
I stayed quiet, wondering if I got anything he said. I blushed, knowing I had no clue.
So as for being cocky, Ray. Serves you right.
When they figured I wasn't going to give Ethan a reply, they eventually all bursted into laughter.
"Guess you didn't do a good job, Kalvin." Damon brushed a tear from his left eye.
"She only started improving," Kalvin said with a smile. "She'll get there."
I frowned, completely embarrassed.
"How come you know how to speak French?" I asked Ethan.
"Kalvin had been our friend for nearly five years now." He said. "Think of the times we heard him speak on the phone using that language. How he spoke to us with it accidentally. The countless of French movies we watched with him and not to mention he watches French channels and news while being in the same room as us."
"That must be nice," I mostly said to myself. To learn the language without studying it? Are you kidding me? How envious is that, I mean, come on.
"Don't worry, Penny, we know you're smart." Leo spoke. "You'd get it eventually."
"And if not, then maybe Kalvin is just a suckish teacher." Damon shrugged with a smug face. "You'd be better off without him,"
Ethan, Leo and even Kalvin laughed. I narrowed my eyes and found his comment quite uncalled for. I tried to take it as a joke and let it slide but something inside of me couldn't help but feel annoyed. Sure it might just be another one of his and his bandmates inside jokes but to me? Why do I feel offended and felt the need to attack?
"Same goes with your ignorance," I smiled. "You'd be better off without it."
With that being said, the guys laughed even harder. Kalvin looked the most impressed with how his eyes showed humor and likeness.
"Good one, Penny." Leo gave me a thumbs up.
"High five, sweetheart." Ethan reached out his hand for me. I grinned and gave it a brofist instead.
I could see how Damon wasn't impressed. He tried to smile and although he showed it a little, he still rolled his eyes.
It didn't have to take a genuise to see that these guys were close. They couldn't stop talking when either of them started a topic. They were all evenly fond of whatever they'd come to mention. Clear enough, they looked like a complete family. Like brothers. Ethan was the oldest, the second would be Kalvin, the middle one would be Damon and the youngest would be Leo.
They were all funny in their own way but I can honestly say Leo was the funniest. He was the most open and childish among them. In spite of him being twenty-two, he really acted more like a high schooler than a young adult.
"Damon, who are you texting?" Ethan asked just when we were calming down about something Leo said. He noticed how Damon was quiet for a while and soon realized he was texting for about ten minutes.
Damon didn't respond. Ethan called out again and this time Damon answered with a 'hmm'.
"Is it Lia?" Leo said.
Damon snapped his at him and glared. "It's Scott, Leo. I'm texting Scott."
The room qrew quiet. I stared at Damon, who was still glaring at Leo. His eyes were obviously furious; both of them clearly portraying a topic that shouldn't be mentioned.
"Oh," Leo looked away, slightly looking guilty.
I felt awkward as the room felt stiff and unbreathable. It seemed like no one was going to break the ice until Kalvin suddenly volunteered with a question; "Are you seeing her again?"
Ethan, Leo, and I turned to Kalvin. He was smiling, but although he was, you could clearly sense a grim feeling around him.
"I'm not." Damon answered.
"Watch yourself, Damon." Kalvin's tone was like ice. "Lies make me sick."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I am if you're lying to me."
"Damon," Ethan spoke. "I think you should tell him."
"See?" Kelvin snickered. "You make me sick, Damon."
"Fuck," Damon spat angrily. "Fine, I met with her, Kal! But only once. Once. Are you happy now?"
"Am I happy now?" Kalvin laughed sarcastically. "Are you serious? Why the hell would you meet with her?"
"She wanted to talk, man."
"Talk? Well that's great." Kalvin shook his head. "Well that's awesome, Damon. Really."
"Where are you going?" Ethan asked as Kalvin was moving his way towards the door.
"I'm off to buy something at 7 eleven." He answered as he placed both his hands in his pockets.
Just when he was about to pass me, because door was behind me, I called his name.
"Kalvin," I said. He stopped and gave me a look.
I gulped. I didn't know what came over me. Why did I call him? It was like an accident. It was like my voice moved on its own and now I'm panicking. Why did I do that?
We exchanged eye contact and I could see the coldness in his eyes. It was weird because not too long ago we were laughing, but now, what happened?
I wanted to somehow change that. I didn't want that look to stay at its place any longer so I was trying to come up with something that could lighten the mood; to make something up for him to smile a little; just a little something to assure me that everything would be fine.
"Um, while you're there, can you get me some grape soda?" I asked, couldn't come up with anything other than that. "You know, just a little something for me since I kind of improved a bit?"
I was expecting a slightly different respond this time. Maybe a little tease, a smile, or anything that could relieve me.
But in the end, he snorted and said; "You don't deserve it. You still need work."
My heart ached when he moved passed me. I was left completely frozen; dumbfounded and confused.
What happened to him?
"Don't let it get to you," Ethan took my shoulder. "Just one of his tempers."
"Who's Lia?" I immediately went straight to the point. It was the question that had been swimming around my thoughts. Who is she and how could she make Kalvin snap like that?
"She's one of Damon's ex girlfriends," Leo answered. "But..." He looked behind him and saw Damon looking outside the windom. He seemed to be making sure if it was all right to mention but since Damon wasn't making a sound nor looked interested, Leo figured that maybe it was all right to continue. "Unlike any other girls, Damon actually liked this one."
"When does Kalvin get in the picture?" I asked.
Ethan moved closer to me and whispered; "You see, it's pretty funny actually; while Lia was dating Damon, we didn't know...that she kind of had a thing for Kalvin."
I went quiet. I had to process that one in mind before pulling myself to talk.
"That doesn't sound funny," I said seriously.
Ethan caught my humourless tone, which led him into an awkward situation.
"Sorry," he said.
"So what happened?" I scotched closer.
"Well, it was weird. We were having our usual band practice and Lia was there watching in our studio. When we took a short break, Kalvin was left to tune his guiter. While we were out buying drinks, Lia...short of made a move on him."
I wanted to roll my eyes but somehow I knew it wasn't such a good idea for now. I mean, I wouldn't wanna look immature in front of these guys. Not to mention the guy who had been cheated on was right there.
"What she do?" I asked.
"Touched...or even kissed Kalvin." Ethan scratched his neck. "Anyways, while Lia was doing her thing, Damon, who went back to ask Lia what she wanted, walked in on them and caught the scene. It got a little crazy but luckily one of the staff members broke them apart."
"Kalvin and Damon didn't talk for solid two months." Leo went in. "The practices were awkward, the meet and greets were off and the concerts were a disaster. Kalvin tried multiple times to explain and apologize but Damon here was too stubborn to listen. It was pretty wrecked. So wrecked that I thought the band was going to go downhill but luckily, I remembered that the studio had a CCTV. We got a copy of the incident and showed it to Damon."
"Luckily it turned A.O.K after that but Damon was still kind of heartbroken. Seeing how this deeply affected Damon, Kalvin grew hatred for Lia. Whenever the name was mention, Kalvin would just automatically snap."
I don't blame him. Kalvin, I mean. I would've felt the same way if I was in the same position.
And come to think about it, I think I have experienced a similar situation.
Matthew
Suddenly, the images of Kim's swollen eyes appeared. My ears were reminding me how her cries sounded. How this affected her for months and eventually leading her to trust issues and sleeping with guys.
I found myself raging; angered by the memories that my friend had to go through.
"Why did you meet up with her, Damon?" I asked him. I pierced my eyes right at his back as I wanted an immediate, straight, and honest answer.
Damon took a breath. "She wanted to get back together again."
"And?" I clenched my fists, hoping he wouldn't say what I think he'd say.
"I met up to get it over with." He said. "I only did it to give it to her straight; that I wasn't stupid, that I knew from the moment I saw the video that it was over."
"Then tell Kalvin that!" I demanded.
"Easy." he said calmly. "I will. Just give him some time to steam it down a bit. I knew he'd be like this if he found out."
"Sorry." Leo squeaked.
Damon took a hopeless sigh and turned to us. "Well I knew I couldn't keep it a secret for long. But I just didn't want him to worry. With his jobs hogging all his time, barely sleeping, his mom being in a hospital and you to add up," he meant me. "of course I didn't want to stress him out with Lia."
I looked at him, but this time, with more attention.
"Kalvin's a good friend. And he hates it when the people he loves get hurt. He's a complicated little piece of shit." Damon's laugh crept in his breath.
Just when I thought he was going to be humorous, he suddenly turned more serious.
"Listen, Penny." He said to me, locking his dark eyes into mine. "I know Kalvin could get frustrating sometimes; confusing, insensitive, selfish and a know-it-all. He could also be a child sometimes, not to mention being way too playful than he should. He's secretive and doesn't like anyone getting in his way. You may doubt him for his actions, question him and even get angry with him, but you need to know that all that is just an act. An act to make it oblivious to what that man really is; a lonely, insecure, miserable man who doesn't know what he trully wants in life."
I was taken a back.
Somehow, something inside of me knew that but I didn't know it was that bad. What made it more believable was that this was coming from Damon's mouth. Coming from Damon. A character that didn't seem capable of such words. A character that didn't seem to be honest but with this speech alone, made him sound so truthful than anyone.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, finding myself unable to handle the information that was handed to me.
Damon smirked. "Because the dude cares about you."
For a moment, my heart stopped. "What?"
The rest of them exchanged each others smile. "You're little tutor cares about you, kid." Damon said. "It may not to obvious to you nor him, but to us, it is. It may not be in a romantic way, but at least that pathetic little heart of his moved for someone other than his mom."
I gulped my words to hold them back. But in the end, they escaped from my mouth; "How could you tell?"
They all shrugged at the same time. "We don't entirely know actually. We just feel it. It's different."
I shut myself up before I'd end up asking more embarrassing questions.
"Penny," Ethan's voice reached me enough. "Kalvin's a good guy. Obnoxious, but a good guy. We hope nothing will you convince you otherwise."
My lips formed on its own and made a smile. "I hope so too,"
Ethan returned, and a gorgeous one at that. "Believe me, the guy could be a total ass sometimes but he has some pretty wicked stuff in his sleeves. He's a guy that will never fail to surprise you no matter what the cost may be."
"He's full of surprises, Penny, that's for sure." Leo beamed proudly. "He could be pretty unexpected, especially during those times when you thought you couldn't expect anything from him."
I couldn't help but feel relieved. I looked at them and each gave them grateful looks.
I felt so incredibly glad Kalvin gets to have friends likes these.
Just when I was about to say something, the door suddenly swang open making us turn to its direction. It's Kalvin.
"Kalvin," I said.
He had a lollipop in his mouth and was carrying two 7 eleven bags. He first stared at each of his friends before his eyes landed on me. I felt a short jump when he did, and I froze at my place.
Kalvin took a step and slowly walked towards me. When he reached me, he moved one of the 7 eleven bags at me.
I hesitated at first but eventually took it from his hand. When I did, Kalvin walked passed me and sat on his usual sit in front of me.
Out of curiousity, I opened the bag to see what was inside. There were at least four grape sodas in there.
"These are..." I trailed off. "But I thought I didn't--"
"Do you want them or not?" Kalvin questioned as he moved his lollipop at the other side.
I immediately stoved them in my chest. "Of course I do!"
"Figures. They are your favorite after all."
I think I blushed, but before I could speak again, Kelvin turned the other way and spoke to Damon.
"We're going to talk and you're going to explain, alright?" He said.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, dude."
While Damon and Kalvin were too focused with each other, Ethan poked my arm and said; "See?"
I let that one sink in before opeing my bag and looking at my four grape sodas. Looking at them gave my heart a quick bump. Something inside of me flattered and my whole body started to feel like it was going to melt. That, and how my face felt like glowing.
When I couldn't hold it in any longer, I lifted my head and called him. "Kalvin,"
When he turned to me, I couldn't help but smile and say; "Thank you,"