The following day at the Parker House.
Dad’s been home now for 3 days and everyone is acting like nothing has happened. That he didn’t get let of a police cell almost 72 hours ago. That he didn’t physically assault my boyfriend.
I could hear them -mum, Jordan and dad- downstairs in the living room. The low, distant muffle of ‘Friends' playing in the background while they ask Jordan about how his life in Colorado has been these last few months(For about the 600th time). They had been constantly pestering Jordan about his girlfriend, trying to find out EVERYTHING about her. I was cringing listening to it from all the way upstairs. I feel bad for Jordan. Especially since he’s been thrown right in the middle of our chaos. With dad.
Since he arrived, mum and dad have been trying to act like we’re a normal, happy family. It’s so annoying. Although I couldn’t blame Jordan for acting like nothing happened. Because to him, nothing did. He wasn’t there when it all kicked off last week, but unlike mum, I’m not forgiving dad that easily and I absolutely will not forget it either.
Ignoring Dad seemed like the better option for me right now. That moment when I opened the door and Dad proceeded to act like everything was alright between us, I’ve been pressing rewind on that memory ever since. Every time I do, the rage inside me builds exactly like it did when it happened. Like an internal time machine throwing me back to Wednesday. The anger felt fresh, as if it had just occurred a few seconds ago.
Keign and I seemed to be on roughly the same page. I don’t know if it’s just the ‘Twin thing’ or if he had his own reasons why he wasn’t talking to dad, but he hadn’t left his room for the past three days. He’s been uncharacteristically quiet and hasn’t really spoken to anyone, to be honest.
I decided this might be a good time to check on him, so I got up and knocked twice on his door.
“Keign?”
No answer.
“Keign, its me, can I come in?”
Still no answer. I was contemplating whether I should go in anyway, when the perfect idea popped into my mind.
“I know what will cheer you up.”
I dashed back into my room and grabbed my phone to text one of my favourite people.
-Keign’s in a weird funk, wanna help me cheer him up?
Sure, what do you have in mind?
-Meet me at the end of my road in 5 minutes. We’ll discuss it then.
Roger that captain Rye. Should I bring Thing 2?
-Yep, bring your partner in crime, we’ll need all the help we can get.
Quickly, I rushed downstairs to put my shoes on.
All thanks to Jordan, house lockdown was over. He managed to bring mum back to her senses. Jordan must of used some magical charm or something because mum is hard to convince, even on a good day.
Nevertheless, I’m grateful; this plan I had to cheer up Keign was gonna be Awesome.
“Mum I’m going out!”
“Alright.”
Mum was in the kitchen making a salad.
“And can my friends come over?”
“Okay, but make sure your homework is....
“Already done.” This was typical protocol, I could recite mum’s words in my sleep.
“Room tidy?”
“Vacuumed and organised.”
“Alright then you’re free to do whatever, SENSIBLY. She said, pointing a cucumber at me.
“Gotcha, oh and can you tell Keign to meet me in the cave in an hour?”
“Sure.” She continued, chopping the vegetables.
“Thanks mum.”
As I got to the end of my front lawn, I noticed a familiar Red convertible, parked behind my mum’s car. I strolled down the side walk and leaned my arm on the car door.
“Long time no see.”
“You. In the drivers seat? I’m surprised you two made it here in one piece.” I said.
“Ouch.” He held his chest dramatically.
“Well, dad let him drive only cos you live literally 5 minutes away from our house.”
“Aww, I missed my favourite twins.” I grabbed them both and pulled them into a hug.
“We definitely missed you too. Eijai said.
“Speak for yourself, I didn’t miss her insulting my driving skills.” Eli sulked, crossing his arms.
I made my ‘I doubt that very much' face at him.
“Whatever bro, you’ve been asking about Rye nearly every single day since she was house grounded”
“Alright, I did miss you a little.”
“Anyway what’s this plan you’re talking about?” Eli asked.
“So I thought we could surprise Keign with a movie night. Cos he was really upset when you guys had to cancel the movie marathon thing.”
“YEAH that’s a great idea.” Eijai said, excitedly.
“Yeah it is, but where are we gonna do it?” Eli asked.
“We can do it in our basement, Keign and I call it ‘The Cave’.”
“Cool name.”
“Thanks Eli.”
“Alright, so let’s go to the big supermarket and get some supplies.” Eijai opened the car door for me and I climbed in. The seat belt was becoming a little uncomfortable now. My bump was quite a bit bigger than it was last time I was in this car. When I lifted my shirt, my bump was noticeable now. I had to adjust the seatbelt so it wasn’t tight around my belly.
“Ok let’s go.”
We headed over to our local supermarket about 10 minutes away from my street.
When we arrived, each of us grabbed a basket and split up to get all the essential snacks you’ll usually need for a movie night.
Without thinking, my feet took me exactly where Keign would have went first.
Straight to the candy floss.
I tossed two tubs. Then three then four.....
Until my basket was full to the brim.
“Rye, chill with candy floss, you’re going to leave the store empty.” Eijai said.
Eli turned the corner into the sweet aisle and rolled his eyes when he saw me.
“Rye, not again. We do NOT need 20 tubs of candyfloss.”
“Yeah but Keign needs some, I need some and so do the babies.”
Eli placed his basket on the floor and snatched mine out of my hands.
“Lets just get rid of at least 15 of these tubs, you really need to control your fluffy cloud obsession.” He stacked a little over 2 thirds of the tubs back on the shelf.
“Fine, I guess we don’t need 20 tubs of candy floss.” I snatch the basket back.
“You’ll be fine with 5.” He scruffed my hair like a dog, leaving it all frizzy and making my bandana slip down over my eyes, then walked off with his basket.
I fixed my bandana and glared in his direction, while attempting to tame my hair.
“What else do we need?” Eijai asked.
“Let me have a look at what you got.” I peered into the basket.
· Crisps
· Sweets
· Popcorn
· Fizzy drink.
“Eli has the plastic cups and plates.”
“I have the candy floss, what else?”
I thought as hard as I could. I was pretty sure we were forgetting something.
“GUYS!!!” Eli yelled from another aisle.
“Which one is better, Cookie dough or chocolate fudge brownie?”
“Ice cream!” I said.
“Oh yeah, how could we forget that?” Eijai said.
The mention of ice cream reminded me of the time I bumped into Lilah, in a similar situation to Eli.
I haven’t spoken to Lilah in such a long time. I’m not a very good best friend. We used to tell each other everything. Secrets no one else could know. Since me and Louis got together, Lilah and I have drifted apart. I didn’t even tell her that I was pregnant!
A rush of guilt hit me, but I knew what I needed to do.
“Rye, you good? Eijai tapped me lightly on the shoulder.
“Yeah, all good. You go and choose the ice-cream with Eli. There’s something I have to do first.”
“Alright.” Eijai said, disappearing around the corner.
I pulled my phone out of the pocket from inside jacket (that no long zipped up) and dialled Lilah’s number.
It rang for a moment and then she picked up.
“Rye?”
“Hey.” I said, nervously.
“Before you say anything, I know I haven’t been much of a great friend lately, but I’ll explain everything to you soon. Are you up for a last minute movie night?”
“Um, OK, can I bring a few others?”
“Sure, the more the merrier.”
“Meet me at mine in an hour.” I said.
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.”
“Rye! We’re ready to pay.” Eli yelled loudly across the store.
“COMING!”
After we finished buying all our stuff, we drove back to mine to set up the movie night in our basement.
Eli laid the blankets on the carpet.
Eijai set up the snack station and I put the first avenger DVD in the projector (and maybe stole a few handfuls of candyfloss while Eijai wasn’t looking).
Soon after we finished setting up, I heard someone coming down the stairs.
“Its him.” I whispered.
“On the count of three we say surprise.”
“One...”
“Two...”
“Three.”
“SURPRISE!!!” We all yelled at once.
“Whoa! What’s all this?” Keign’s face lit up with a huge grin.
“You were kinda in a funk, so I thought
I’d surprise you with the avengers movie night.”
“Really, all this for me?” He looked flabbergasted.
“
Yep.” Eijai said.
“Thanks You guys, this is awesome!”
“You’re welcome.” I gave him a little hug.
“Oh, you got chocolate fudge brownie! The best kind.” Keign darted straight for the table and began scooping himself generous helpings into a bowl.
“I know right, CFB beats cookie dough by far.” Eli grabbed a bowl too.
“What are you guys talking about? Cookie dough obviously the best.” I said as I plopped myself on the couch.
“Nope. Not better than this, its tastes like heaven in a bowl.” Keign shoved a huge spoon full of ice cream in his mouth.
“Whatever, cookie dough is WAY better.”
“What do you think Eijai? Are you team CFB or Cookie dough?” I asked.
“Um, I’m not much of a chocolate person, so I’d have to go with cookie dough.”
“Yes!” I held my fist out and Eijai fist bumped me.
“2 to 2, how about we see which ice-cream gets eaten first, and the one with the least ice-cream in the tub is the superior flavour?” Keign held out his hand to me and Eli did the same to Eijai.
This was ridiculous. Were we really making a bet on ice-cream? I knew Keign wouldn’t let it go until the debate was settled. We’d argue about it for days, so I figured this was the easiest option.
I shook his hand “Deal.”
BOOM! BOOM! I jumped, gripping my chest as my heart slammed against it. It was someone thumping loudly on the basement door. “Geez!” I whispered to myself.
“Come in!”
Lilah walked in with 4 other people: My old friend’s Eric and James, a new girl that I’d never seen before and a boy, that I think I recognised as Michael (Louis' best mate) from Kingston.
“Hey guys!”
“Eric! James! I haven’t seen you in such a long time.”
“I know it’s nice to see you.” Eric pulled me in for a side hug.
“What’s up Rye?” James said. We did our old handshake that we used to do everyday at school. I couldn’t believe I still remembered it.
“Still as cool as ever.” Eric said, in the background.
“Oh and remember your favourite fidget spinner? Mrs Hepworth confiscated it because you kept doing crazy tricks in class.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I was told to clean out the confiscation cupboard as a detention last week and I found it.”
He reached deep inside his coat pocket and pulled out a black and gold fidget spinner.
“Omg! I haven’t seen this since year 8."
“Thought you might want it back. It brings back so many memories, like the time me, you and Eric planned a school escape.”
“Oh! that day when we went to the skate park, I landed my first 360.” Eric said, proudly.
“Yeah, we stayed there until sunset, that was so much fun.”
“Sure it was, but did you forget we all got grounded for 2 weeks when the school called our parents, saying weren’t in class?” James chimed in.
“Oh yeah.” Eric and I said in unison.
Lilah came over and tapped my shoulder lightly
“Sorry to interrupt your conversation but there’s someone outside for you Rye.” She walked over to the door and held it open. Michael was standing beside it.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Have a look.” Michael said, gesturing into the dark.
I stepped out of the basement cautiously and Lilah closed the door behind me.
Beyond the doorway led into complete blackness. I couldn’t see a thing.
It was quiet too. All I could hear was my own breathing and........something else. Close to me, I felt the warmth of a familiar body, the smell of sweet cologne. It was way too easy now.
“Louis?” I whispered. More like mumbled.
He stood silent. I knew he was close, but I didn’t know where he was exactly.
I felt him place a hand on my waist and pull me in.
I gasped as he startled me.
Even though he couldn’t see me, he cupped my face in his warm hands, stroking his thumb ever so gently over my cheek. He turned on his phone light and placed it on the ground between us, brightening up our faces.
“Hi.” He said. Brushing a stray curly strand of black hair out of my face and hooking it behind my ear.
The space between him and I closed up as he leaned in. Opening his lips slightly and slowing letting them shut, so our lips were intertwined. They were exactly how I remembered them. Soft, smooth and so so, irresistible. His kisses tasted of strawberry bubble gum with a faint hint of mint.
“You don’t understand how I excited I was when Lilah texted me.” He said breathlessly as he pulled away.
“I couldn’t wait, but it was my idea to surprise you like this.”
“It was?” I asked
“Thought it would be sexy.”
I giggled because I could literally hear the eye brow wiggle in his voice.
“Did I succeed?” He asked, lifting me up against the concrete wall. His hands securely gripping my thighs.
“You definitely did.” I brought his mouth back to mine kissing him with my eyes shut.
My tongue played around with his, wiggling it to life. I nibbled on his bottom lip a little as I pulled away. A slight moan escaping his mouth.
Louis carefully brought me back down to the ground.
Standing on my tippy-toes, I pointed my head up and leaned in to kiss him again, just as the basement door swung open.
Shining a glow of sunlight on us both.
“Make out session over.” Lilah declared.
“The movie is about to start.”
We were the centre of attention when we entered the room. All the boys gathered in a pack at the back. They wolf whistled all at once as if they had planned it. Knowing them, they probably had.
Heat flushed to my cheeks but Louis just smiled shyly.
We parted ways, I stood in front of the snack table and clapped my hands loudly, to get everyone’s attention.
“Before we watch the movie, I would like to thank everyone for coming at such short notice. And also I wanted to say that Keign, the twins and I have this little debate going on.”
“Its to figure out which ice-cream is better, cookie dough or chocolate fudge brownie. The tub that finishes first is the superior flavour.”
The new girl raised her hand.
“Yes?” I said.
“Hello, I’m Levaeh. I have an idea. What if we make this a bit more interesting?” The losing flavour has to play 7 minutes in heaven and the winning flavour gets to pick who goes in with who.”
The crowd conversed with each other, muttering and nodding their heads. They seemed to be agreeing with Leveah. To be fair, it wasn’t a bad idea.
“OK, what does everyone think?” I asked.
“Yeah!!” Everyone cheered.
“I guess that settles it then.”
“Now let’s watch the movie.” I said.
Lilah pressed play with the remote, as I sat on the sofa and snuggled up to Louis.
He brought me in, resting his arm on my shoulder.
Keign was on my other side.
Reaching over, I tapped Keign’s knee.
“Are you feeling happier now?”
“Yeah much better, this was really cool of you Rye.”
“Yeah I know, I’m a cool twin.”
“Yeah, you're pretty cool I guess.” Keign smiled then lightly poked my belly.
“Are they awake in there?” He asked, curiously.
“Nope, I think they’re sleeping now.”
“Will you let me know when I can feel them moving?” Keign quickly turned his attention to the movie.
“Sure.” A small smile gradually moved across my face.
Keign was gonna be a great uncle.
The first avenger movie wasn’t bad. I’ve watched it quite a few times before but when we got into the third movie that’s when I began to doze off.
To be fair, avengers was Keign’s thing, I’m more into X-men and Harry Potter. So this was the perfect moment to catch up on some sleep. The last few nights had been frustrating, I couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position to get to sleep. Turns out, Louis snuggles was all I needed.
I glanced over at the snack station, next to the cookie dough ice-cream there were see-through plastic bowls and beside the chocolate fudge brownie there were black ones. I couldn’t see how much ice cream was left in each tub but judging from the number of bowls left, CFB seemed to be in the lead.
There wasn’t much time left either ; the film was almost finished.
Louis swiftly slid his hand under my jumper and began to draw circles around my belly button with his finger, tickling me a little.
“Rye?” Louis whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Have you thought of any names yet?”
“No, not yet?”
“Why?” I adjusted my position on sofa to face him.
“Its just, I think I might have a name for a girl.” He said, continuing to swirl his finger around my belly.
“Ok, what’s the name?”
“Kyla.”
“That’s a pretty name.” I brought my hand under my jumper and laid it upon his.
“Yeah, I thought of it yesterday when I was at the...”
He stopped himself.
“When you were where Lou?”
Light filled the basement, and everyone resumed to normal level of chatter.
The movie had finished.
“Let’s see who the winners are then.” Leveah raised her voice above the chatter.
Everyone stood up, and headed over to the snack station. Louis got up to join them.
“Lou.” I grabbed his hand.
“What were you going to......”
“Just forget about it.” He said sharply, pulling his hand away and walking towards the table.
What’s going on with him? He’s never reacted that way before.
“Chocolate fudge brownie is the winner!!!” Levaeh yelled.
“Let’s go!!!” Eli and Keign shouted.
C F B!
C F B!
Eli and Keign chanted quietly. Then people begin to join in (even the losers), gradually getting louder until almost the whole room were chanting. It was ridiculous, but then, on the other hand, it was Keign and Eli who started it. They were the biggest kids in our group.
“What flavour did you pick?” I asked.
“The wrong one, apparently.” Louis shrugged and walked away.
“You know what that means.” Levaeh said.
Alright, Levaeh was starting to get on my nerves. She sounded like she was a TV show host, hosting OUR movie night. I hardly even knew her and she was already taking over the spotlight in my own house.
“Losers take a seat in a circle, it’s time to play 7 minutes in heaven!”
Ugh, see what I mean.
Eijai, Lilah, Louis and I sat in a circle on the carpet.
“Since I also chose cookie dough, I will be joining you guys.”
I sat next to Eijai and Lilah, so Levaeh sat in the only space left, which was next to Louis.
The winning group: Eric, James, Eli, Keign and Michael were huddled up debating who should go out into the cupboard (AKA the dark hallway) first.
“Who do you think they are going to pick?” I asked Eijai.
“I don’t know to be honest, I just hope it isn’t me because... well.” His eyes drifted towards the door, nervously.
“Because what?” I asked.
“Um, you’ll probably laugh.”
“No, I won’t. You can tell me.”
“OK, its because I haven’t had my first kiss yet.” He whispered.
His cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
“Oh.”
“Why would I laugh at that?” I said.
“I don’t know, Eli has kissed loads of girls. I’m just a bit shy I guess.”
While Eijai was talking, I noticed Levaeh and Louis from the corner of my eye.
They were talking and laughing. I was ok with that. I didn’t own Louis, he was allowed to make new friends. But what I WASN’T ok with was the fact that her hand was on his thigh.
“Rye?” Eijai said.
“Oh yeah, what did you say?”
“Never mind what I said, your face tells me something’s up.” He scooted around on the spot to face me.
“Oh it’s nothing.” I lied.
“Can you guys hurry up over there?” Levaeh sighed, impatiently.
“I’ll be back.” She said to Louis, giving his a flirting smile. My blood was boiling inside me, I felt like she was doing this on purpose. That’s insane, she didn’t even know me and she probably didn’t know that Louis and I were together. That just made me angry at Louis now. Why couldn’t he see that she was flirting with him? Why didn’t he say he was taken? Rye, take a deep breath, you’re probably overthinking.
Levaeh walked up the boys and took Michael's hand, tugging him to the corner of the room.
They shared a few whispers. Michael nodded and ran off back to the group.
“What do you think that was all about?” I asked Lilah, who was completely engrossed in her phone.
“Huh, what?” she said.
“Levaeh and Michael were whispering in the corner, she seems like she’s up to no good.”
“Rye, give her a chance, you literally just met her.” Lilah said, frustratingly.
“Fine.” I do NOT trust that girl.
Finally, the boys came to a decision.
“The first two people going in will be Levaeh and Louis.” Eric announced, with a cheeky smirk on his face.
What! You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Rye, can I talk to you for a second?” Levaeh said sweetly. Way too sweetly.
“Alright.” I stood up awkwardly, and followed her to the far corner of the room.
“You’re with Louis, aren’t you?” she said.
“Yeah.”
“You’re ok with this right?” she asked.
At this point, I thought, Wow, ok, she’s actually being humane and asking for my permission, maybe I judged her too harshly....
“Well I.....”
“Thanks. You gotta let this guy have fun sometimes.”
“Or you might end up a single mother.” She whispered threateningly into my ear. And then I took that straight back.
“What did you just say?” I bellowed after her.
She ignored me, strutted towards Louis, before taking his hand and heading towards the door.
Mid-way, I made eye contact with her. She mouthed ‘slut’ and grinned slyly before exiting the room.
That Bitch!