Chapter Six: The Outfit.
After school closed, Hale came finding me, there was a new announcement to be made at the football court and I had to be there with him.
Judging by Hale's excited look, I could guess what the announcement was going to be about.
Angelo had to come too though I doubted he had any business with football.
Since I was going, Susan and Annie thought they'd tag along. I couldn't talk to any of them on the way though since Hale kept me glued to his side.
Jason McGuire, the Captain and definitely the most popular guy in this school was there with the Coach on the field.
"So, your boyfriend finally made the team." Annie drawled as we watched the four of them discuss from our seats.
"But what's Angelo doing there?" Susan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What?!" Hale's suddenly exclaimed, "he tried out just yesterday but you're gonna make him a quarterback?!"
"Ohhh, drama." Susan sang and hurried down the stairs to get closer to the group. Annie and I immediately followed her.
"I've been trying to get into the school team for months now, Coach. You cannot just let him have this on a silver platter!" Hale said, face contorted with disbelief.
"Pfft, his diapers were handed to him on a silver platter" Annie murmured, checking her fingernails. "Now it's someone else's turn but he's flipping out. Typical."
"Angelo is... really talented" The Coach said lamely.
"I'm really talented" Hale shot back, jabbing a finger into his chest.
The Coach and Jason shared a look.
"But you made me a...a Blocking back!" Hale continued.
"Is he gonna cry?" Annie asked aloud before slapping her palm over her mouth.
I held back my laughter so Hale won't turn on me. Jason turned around and stared at Annie like he was seeing her for the first time.
He probably was, I didn't really know, the popular guys never looked at us cool nerds.
Annie gave him a really mean glare but he just smirked and turned back to the others with the smile still on his face.
"Let's just be good sportsmen, Frances." Jason McGuire said. "I'm throwing a party and you two are gonna be there, I just don't want any..."
"Oh don't be worried" Angelo shrugged, bringing a small packet of chips out his pocket and munching on them. "He's my favorite cousin, he never fights with me over little things. Am I right, Cuz?"
Hale's fists trembled and even though he wasn't looking at me, I felt the small urge to hide behind Annie. "Of course" he said through his teeth, smiling through his anger at Angelo.
"Great." The Coach clapped his hand once and dismissed all of us.
"Are you going to the party?" I asked my friends quickly before Hale could call me away.
"Of course, Hale's gonna drag you along anyways so we're gonna be your wing nerds." Susan nodded before adding mischievously, "Also there's going to be boys."
"We won't let you be alone with him, don't worry" Annie said. "But you could also dump him tonight."
I already tried! I nearly told her but the thought of any of my parents stuck in jail for a crime they didn't commit flashed through my mind.
Annie quickly backtracked, "Ugh, don't look at me like that, it's just a suggestion. I don't know why you like him so much, gosh!"
"Violet!" Hale barked from near the main doors of the school, startling me.
"Bye guys." I whispered and hurried to my living, walking, fancy prison.
Since I brought my car along, I had to drive to the Frances's residence to see what he bought for me. I had no clue why he couldn't bring it to school but it was probably an excuse to get me to the house again.
We didn't even get there until 30 minutes after Hale did. Angelo rode shotgun with me for some reason and made sure we stopped at a drive thru for chicken nuggets. Then he kept making annoying comments as he slouched lazily in the front seat.
"Wow, Squeaky. Slow down, we don't want to get there by next Tuesday."
"Do obey the laws of the road and not run that yellow light."
"You drive like my grandmother"
"Are you scared of the gas pedal, kid?"
"How is so much 'annoying' in just one person?!" I snapped before he could say something else.
"She speaks, hurray." Angelo said, unenthusiastically. "Do I get a congratulations for getting on the team now, kid?"
"Stop calling me kid or squeaky or anything! I'm probably even older than you judging by how you're acting!"
"Well, what do you want me to call you?" He asked dryly. "Baby? Hale would love that."
I think I experienced mild heart palpitations in that moment. "Violet is fine" I said.
"Don't get me wrong, you have a beautiful name, but you're Kid to me" Angelo shrugged and tossed the last nugget in his mouth.
I tried not to flush from embarrassment at the fact that he thought I looked like a literal child. We were already getting to the house anyways.
"Seriously?" Hale asked as we got out of the car. "A detour?"
"It was..." I murmured but Angelo beat me to it.
"I needed these." He said, waving the empty food carton in his cousin's face.
"Don't you think that you probably eat a bit too much?" Hale blurted.
Angelo's deadpan turned into a glare as he crushed the carton in his fist, which caused his bicep to flex so that it strained against his black jacket.
I looked down to hide my blush. Why did I even notice that?
"I think it's working out pretty well for me" Angelo shrugged and smacked the carton against Hale's flat chest as he passed by him.
Hale was obviously embarrassed as he stared at me, searching for a way to pin this on my head. He probably couldn't find anything so he just sighed and gestured for me to follow him.
→_→
He bought me clothes.
Well, he'd been getting me clothes for a while now but today was not the usual.
It was a skimpy, barely there crop top that made an X over my chest and a small strap for my back, then a skirt shorter than what I was used to.
If Dad ever saw me in clothes like this, he'd grow white hair and kneel over!
They were pretty clothes, but just not my style. But I couldn't tell Hale that, he could take it in a very wrong way.
"You're taking longer than I like, Violet" Hale called from outside the room I was in. I wiped my tears quickly and sniffed. The handle jerked as he tried it from the other side "Did you actually lock the door?!"
"Five more minutes!" I yelped and quickly touched up my makeup. The bruise on my cheek was still clear for all the world to see without it on.
Muttering a small prayer in my mind, I unlocked the door and pushed it open, my arms coming around myself to cover my tummy.
"Can I wear something else, please?" I asked quietly, looking away from him.
"That's just crap, I've always wanted to see you in something like this." His eyes roved over my body in a way that made me very uncomfortable. The worst part was that I even had to wear heels with all this going on!
"Stop slouching though, mom hates that." Hale said coming up to me to kiss my cheek. I had to shut my eyes tight and just wait for it to be over.
"Wow, you guys are so in love." Angelo deadpanned, coming down the corridor in a different pair of black trousers and yet another expensive looking black leather jacket.
"I've never seen a happier couple. You look like you're about to eat her and she looks like she's about to throw up."
He dropped that comment and passed by us to go down the stairs.
Hale only laughed like Angelo didn't just mock him.
→_→
Jason McGuire's house was massive. Not as huge as the Frances's residence but still big. Already, people were getting drunk and cups were littering the pretty bushes of the huge front yard.
Surprisingly, inside the house was cool despite the large number of people. Jason's air conditioners must have been working overtime.
The moment Angelo and Hale stepped in, they were swallowed and taken away by all the excited jocks.
I stood alone for a moment, trying to be invisible while trying to find Susan or Annie.
They both came to me though, pulling me by both arms all of a sudden.
"We thought we won't find you!" Susan said.
"Oh thank goodness" I exhaled in relief as they pulled me up a flight of stairs with them. "Did you-?"
"Of course, girl. A jacket and undershorts, just like you asked." Annie replied and eyed my outfit. "Does he not know you don't do skimpy?"
"Maybe he forgot? I don't know" I sighed. The stairs led to a corridor where the people were less but still allowed the music to destroy eardrums.
"We can remind him." Annie offered. "With our fists!"
"Please don't, his mommy will fight you." Susan mocked and laughed.
"I don't know what I'd do without you guys" I said, smiling at Susan's joke.
"Absolutely nothing" Susan smirked, putting her hands on her hips, "now come on, there's a bathroom here."
The three of us went in and I took off my heels to pull the shorts on while Annie and Susan checked their outfits in the mirror.
Susan had taken the time to style her tea green hair into two messy buns tonight and her dress was a pale blue-grey to match with her glasses.
Annie looked effortlessly pretty in a pink tshirt and blue jeans, her full brown curly hair framing her face like a cloud.
Then there was me, trying to shrink into this pale blue jacket that was obviously meant to match with Susan's outfit. I felt far better though.
"Guess who's the greatest BFF you could ever have." Annie asked when I picked up the heels once more.
I looked up into the mirror and saw her waving a pair of baseball shoes with a smirk. My face lit up.
"Are those..?"
"The ones you left at her house after our last sleepover? Yep." Susan said, and I tackled them both in a hug, squealing and laughing.
"Let's go dance!" I suggested, for once having the hope that we might have a good time tonight.
→_→
I was right, we did have a great time. The night passed with us dancing and playing party games, making jokes for just the three of us and watching other people act like they had no basic human decency. It was awesome.
There were no signs of the Frances cousins anywhere.
Jason just couldn't get enough of Annie though, he invited her to beer play beer pong but she declined, asked her to dance but she declined, but then he informed her that there was barbeque chicken...
"If you say no, you'll be the barbeque" Susan informed her and I folded my arms.
"Ugh, fine, I'm hungry anyways." Annie agreed and Jason McGuire's grin expanded.
The grill was at the backyard and supervised by an expert, thank God. The music here was quieter here and people were in the glowing blue pool.
"Wow, so this is like for VIPs or what?" Susan asked.
"Something like that.l" Jason replied, easily.
I still had a hard time talking to him because this was Jason McGuire here not just anyone, football captain, popular hotshot with his black hair and blue eyes, the one all the girls who were now cheerleaders had been fighting for since we were kids!
You couldn't just go up to Jason McGuire to say hi. But here he was, trying to impress Annie who was one of us, the nerds. Cool nerds but still.
Oh my gosh and Annie had been telling him to screw off or eat a brick since the night started! Annie was an icon, end of story.
"Why are we in your dumb VIP section anyways?" She asked, giving him a suspicious look.
"Why do you have to be so mean?" Jason shot back. "You're here, there's chicken, jeez say thank you or something!"
"I'll think about it" Annie shrugged before pulling Susan and I along with her. "Why do I feel like he's gonna prank us?"
"It looks fine to me" I shrugged, looking around. Nothing was off so far. "Maybe Jason's just being nice."
"And I'm my Aunt Wanda." Annie scoffed.
"Auntie, is that you?" Susan asked, staring at Annie in mock wonder.
We just laughed at the lame joke.
~UwU~
Gosh and I had a whole author's note planned, now I don't remember what it says. *Pouts angrily*
Oh well, I just hope you liked this one, it continues in the next chapter. How about Jason? Yay or nay?
Rhodes.