Chapter Sixteen: Cake.
Violet's POV
"Sorry guys, but since this was an impromptu thing, I had to bring my sister along" Annie apologized as she stood in the doorway of my living room.
"I go everywhere with my sister," Hunter said "you're right, I should be apologizing for that."
"I'll make you apologize" Susan grumbled, "With my fists!"
"Ah! Help me!" Hunter yelped as Susan launched an attack on him.
"Well, where's Abbie?" I asked waiting expectantly for her to come out from hiding behind Annie.
"Why are they fighting?" Abbie asked, leaning to the side to watch Susan and Hunter.
"It's what twins do" I shrugged. "How's it going, Abigail?"
"Uh, ain't nobody calling me Abigail no more." She said, her lips turning down in distaste.
"That's new, why?" I asked.
"Because she's nine" Annie rolled her eyes.
"Because I'm nine" Abbie echoed before looking around the house with a secret smile "Is your Dadddy home?"
"No, I checked" Susan sighed. "He's still at work"
Abbie's face fell and I think my eye twitched. "Here's the remote, Abbie. Watch stuff"
She looked up at me with big eyes. "I get to control the TV? You's for real?"
I glanced at Annie who face palmed. "Yeah, I guess."
"That's dope" Abbie giggled and went to lounge on the recliner.
"When did she get a vocabulary makeover?" I murmured to Annie who shrugged.
"Beats me."
"I can't believe you invited Jason McGuire and he said yes. It's a sleepover" Susan told me and I gave Annie a nervous look.
"I wanted there to be more guys so Hunter won't feel left out." I explained.
Annie groaned, "If I throw up from Nervous Stomach Syndrome it's your fault" And when the doorbell rang, she nearly jumped out of her dungarees.
I was suffering from Nervous Stomach Syndrome too and it really was my fault! Once I got to the door, I opened it with a smile which changed into a look of surprise.
"I bumped into him on the way" Angelo said, completely calm like Jason didn't have him in a headlock right now.
"Hello, Violet." Jason grinned and ruffled Angelo's already unruly hair. "Is Annie here?"
"Oh my God, Jason, yes she is, don't kill him!" I gasped and shoved him away to let Angelo go.
"Fine, alright woman! Jeez" Jason laughed, releasing Angelo's poor head and hurrying inside.
"Hey," I said, straightening his jacket for him with a smile.
"Wow, you just saved me, I even saw my life flash before my eyes" Angelo said with dry sarcasm.
I giggled and played along, "Right? You could have died." The sound of my laugh was so strange to my ears. I slipped my hand into his before I lost my little confidence and pulled him along. "Come on, everyone is here."
"Did you tell him you were coming here?" Annie was asking Jason with her hands on her hips as we stepped into the living room.
"Yeah, I was just trying to make small talk, to be nice." Jason explained. "So I asked if I'd be seeing him at Violet's place."
"Oh my goodness" Susan and Annie sighed.
I let Angelo's hand go. "Hale?" I asked, already figuring out who they were talking about.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jason asked, looking at all of us.
"I'm so lost," Hunter said, just watching this conversation go on.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Jason" I assured him. "Guys, Hale's at the country club till evening tonight, some golf tournament thing. He won't be popping up here because of some random sleepover on a school night."
"Why exactly do they hate your boyfriend?" Hunter asked, and I shrugged.
"They can fill you in," I said, "but not too much." I gave Annie a pointed look.
"Of course," She nodded fervently.
"Do you have your country club pin with you, Jason?" I asked and he shook his head. "Good, I have a cat and she hates those things, Angelo and I would be in the kitchen if you need us."
"What's for dinner?" Hunter asked.
"You'll see" I replied.
Angelo made a beeline for the fridge immediately he got into the kitchen. "Hm, chocolate" he said and bit a piece off with a satisfying snap sound.
"I was going to use that for the cake" I smirked, folding my arms.
He paused his chewing. "I'm guessing I should have asked."
"Maybe." I turned around with a smile. "I'm kidding, knock yourself out."
"I just might" he replied with a shrug. "Can we start now?"
"Eager?"
He raised his arms to pull his hair up in a ponytail. Well, most of it. Several locks kept escaping just how I liked it. "Very," he replied, his voice dropping a note lower.
I turned around and went into the store room to hide my grin.
"Have you ever baked anything before?"
I turned on the light to see Moo sleeping in a basket.
"No I've never- oh, the cat-cow" Angelo paused at the doorway and Moo flipped over to her front immediately.
Then the stare down began.
"The potential boyfriend versus the cat..." Susan appeared from nowhere with Angelo's expensive camera. "Both are fighting for her love but only one will come out victorious..."
"Gosh, Susan that's terrible." I chuckled, picking a bag of flour and handing it to Angelo before going up to the camera. "Oh and guys, to clear the air, Angelo and I are not dating, Susan's just a hopeless shipper."
"Um, correction: you're not dating yet." Susan chuckled evilly. "Mark my words, you two will be smooching one day for my live feed."
"Girl, what?" I laughed nervously and grabbed a handful of flour to toss at her.
She dodged it and turned the camera on Angelo. "Oh, and Sir, the people wanna know; why do you never smile?"
Angelo cast a dry look at her and walked out of the store.
"Real slick, Susan" I deadpanned too and followed him out with baking pans and sugar.
"Premium content" She chuckled and went out of the kitchen.
Angelo picked a jar of cocoa powder, checking out the label, "We're not out of the woods yet" he said as I laid out everything on the kitchen island. "She'll be back"
"Oh, I know" I said, stretching up on tiptoes to take the scale from a high cupboard. "Have you been gaining new followers lately though? Like a lot"
"Haven't logged in in forever" He replied and suddenly he was behind me, really close and warm, reaching up and easily taking it down. "I'll check later."
"Thanks." I said, looking up at his eyes glowing with mischief. I guess he was as excited as I was. Taking the scale from him, I stepped aside and bumped the side of my hip into his.
"Excuse me."
"Hey, Violet" Jason called as he popped his head into the kitchen. I smiled at him and put the scale on the island. "I brought my Play Station and stuff, you don't mind me plugging it to the TV, do you?"
"Nope, just don't forget to return the settings, my dad can't fix jack even though he thinks he can." I replied and he nodded.
"Cool, I hate raisins by the way" He added and left.
"Who doesn't?" Angelo asked.
"Me," I answered, arching an eyebrow at him. "But I commend him for raisin alarm." I snickered at my pun and looked expectantly at Angelo who just kept staring blankly at me. And deliberately too.
"You get the joke?" I asked, turning on the mixer where the butter had been whipped before anyone arrived.
"I do, I'm laughing inside," he replied. "What's that?"
"Butter. Mix really well to get a nice, fluffy cake" I said, "I wrote the measurements down in case you want to try it out on your own. Hey can you wash your hands, please? I need you to separate egg whites."
"Yes ma'am," Angelo said, going straight to the sink.
Abbie walked in and looked around. "I wanna cook too, y'all ain't the only ones who can cook."
Angelo looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Really?"
"Ask nicely, Abbie." I said, folding my arms and she gave me a dimpled smile.
"Can I cook with y'all? Pleaseee?" She asked and I nodded.
"You're just who we need." I said, and tossed her three packs of microwave popcorn. "You know how to do it?"
"Yeah!" Abbie grinned and went straight to work.
"Let me guess," Angelo started, "you're going to use popcorn to stall them because this is going to take a while"
I smirked, "exactly."
(╭☞•́⍛•̀)╭☞
"Don't tell me this is what your Dad goes through," Angelo said, as we finally took a seat after two hours plus of standing. "day in, day out?"
"Absolutely," I nodded, resting my elbows on the ceramic surface of the kitchen island, "it's a few minutes to eight, Abbie. How are you still awake?"
Her big brown eyes were a bit too hyper and she was so restless. "I may have had that energy drink in the fridge" she giggled. I shook my head, well she was going to be in for a long night.
The cakes were all in the freezer, we made four different flavors: Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and lemon. They actually came out beautifully. All we had to do was frost them when they were cool and voila!
"I think it's time." I nodded at the oven where the main course was and slid off the stool to bring it out.
"Finally!" Abbie sighed as I put the steaming trays of hotdogs on the table.
"This ladies and gentlemen is why you must always have more than one oven in your kitchen." I said before sitting next to Angelo so I could sprinkle grated cheese and some onions on top of them. "So... what do you think?"
"I'm thinking..." He said, thoughtful as
he stared at the food. "I sliced my first tomato today."
I laughed and Abbie did the same. "You baked your first cake too." I reminded him before adding in a lower voice, "And it's all in honor of your birthday, remember?"
He turned to look at me with slight surprise and I shrugged.
"Did you think I'd forget?" I asked with a soft smile.
His eyes darted down to my lips for the slightest moment before he shook his head. "I hoped you wouldn't."
Oh, why did he have to be so damn beautiful?
"I'm a nine year old kid," Abbie reminded us and I immediately stood up from the stool, my face heating up. "I'm still watching G rated movies. I'm still here."
"And so am I!" Susan startled everyone, appearing in the doorway with her ultimate weapon, the camera. "Not dating, huh?"
"Susan, come on" I sighed, my embarrassment only heightening further.
"Ohhh, my followers are gonna kneel over for this..."
"Don't post that," Angelo said and Susan stopped her happy dance.
Abbie took a hotdog in a plate and left the kitchen.
"But..." Susan stared at him, pouting.
Angelo didn't say anything so she rolled her eyes.
"Okay, fine!" She scoffed, dramatically grabbing a hotdog.
I cringed. "Um, careful Susan, they're..."
"Oohhh, hot! Hot! Hot!" She gasped, dropping the food down in a plate. "Oww...!"
"Well," Angelo said, standing up and putting on a pair of oven mitts "I'll just take these out."
"Come on" I said, taking Susan's arm and leading her to the sink to cool off her hands.
She was silent for a while before she finally spoke. "I'm sorry. I just get so over excited sometimes."
"It's fine, Susan. I understand."
"I don't mean to invade either of your privacies" Her eyebrows furrowed and I turned off the tap. Serious Susan was a big deal actually.
"I know you don't. I'm glad I'm there to tell you when you're doing too much and I'm glad you can listen. You're my best friend." I told her and grabbed her face so I could squeeze her cheeks like her grandmother did whenever she was upset. "So I need you to smile right now. Smiiilllle!"
Susan burst out laughing and I left her face alone.
"Granny is a monster."
"But for some reason, she never misses" I chuckled.
"True." Susan shrugged and smiled to herself as she took the camera and her food away, passing by Angelo who was leaning on the doorframe with folded arms.
There was something about the way he was looking at me now. Like he was trying to study me.
"What?" I asked.
"If there's one thing I've noticed about you, Violet" he said, walking the short distance to stand before me. "It's that you always have a lot to give, especially this" he pointed to a spot on my chest, referring to my heart.
I stared up at him, waiting for him to continue.
"But for a while, it kind of seemed like you were... running out."
A small gasp left my lips and I looked away. His eyes were too intense for me now.
"It was kind of worrying, to be honest. I knew something was up but I didn't know how to help-"
"But you did help," I shrugged and stepped around him to clear up the island. "Don't ask me how, you just did."
"Really?" Angelo asked and I turned to look at him with arms full of bottles of favors and cans of baking powder and stuff.
"Asking someone if they're ok can change the trajectory of their day, as insignificant as it may seem. Maybe for worse sometimes, or for better." I whispered and offered a small smile.
He probably didn't know what to say because he kept staring at me, lips parted slightly in surprise.
"So did you end up figuring out how you were feeling?" I asked, once I finished placing the bottles in their places, reminiscing over our conversation during class. "...do you know how to explain it now?"
He shrugged, leaning back against the counter, "I would describe it as the feeling of slipping away," He said quietly, "like a kind darkness was... calling me. It felt like the light was too bright and it burned... because I wasn't meant to be a part of it."
I watched him in silence, relating to every word he was saying. His darkness and my numbness were the same, both empty and peaceful.
He made it so easy to understand.
"That's exactly how I felt." I finally said, in the same low tone as him. This moment was too fragile to not whisper.
"And it's kind of like you're...um... struggling to stay afloat, right?"
Who knew how hard it was to stay happy, positive, patiently waiting for the low tides where I could swim to safety?
"That's the difference between us, Violet" Angelo said, staring into my soul with eyes full of depth and so many things I couldn't place. "I didn't struggle, I walked straight into the darkness because it was easier."
Oh, Angelo. I sighed. I didn't know if I'd been through a lot in life but he definitely had.
I pondered my question before asking.
"Was this after...your parents?"
He shook his head, thinking about the question too, probably. "It was after I tried to convince everyone and myself that I was fine."
Then he gave me a pointed look like he was trying to pass a message across.
I understood and I looked away with a frown. My case was different from his, of course.
"I know we haven't been friends for a long time, Violet" Angelo said, "but you can tell me if anything's bothering you. I could just listen if you want. And if you don't want me to do anything to help, I'll also understand."
"Really?" I blurted, looking up at him. He looked so sincere. I didn't want to risk it, though. If he knew what was truly going on, there's no way he could sit still and watch and I didn't want to put him in danger. "I'll think about it, Angelo. Thanks."
He sighed, a bit of disappointment tinting his eyes but he blinked and it was gone. With a slight jerk of his head, he gestured to the living room.
"They're watching a movie, come on."
~UwU~
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I genuinely wish you a great 2022 and I hope that you, just like me, are not setting unrealistic goals for yourself.
You, dear reader, are enough and I pray you successfully become a better version of yourself this year!
XOXO
Rhodes.