⌜ chapter twelve ⌟
Eric walks over to Letty as she's going through her locker, and he holds a beautiful, full rose out toward the brunette. "Here, this is for you." He says, looking down at the rose that his dad cut from Mr. Feeny's bush this morning.
"Kristen wouldn't take it, huh?" She asks, and he shakes his head as she takes it from his hand.
"No, she doesn't deserve it anyway. So, now it's yours."
"Leftovers from your mom and the girl who's mad at you." She says sarcastically as she looks down at the red pedals. "Gee, I feel special."
"Hey, it matches your necklace — except my rose is a real red rose and not some small, rose gold charm that you wear." He says. "Where'd you get it anyway?"
"It was a Christmas gift." She tells him.
"From who?"
"Don't worry about it." The brunette says, shutting her locker and then walking away from him.
Miller finds her soon after and he takes the rose from her hand. Her eyebrows furrow and then she watches him throw the flower into a nearby trash can. She's about to yell at him when he raises his hand, holding up one finger, and she stops to glare at him.
"You're not gonna hold onto that rose like it was some sweet gesture or something." He tells her, and she just listens to him as he talks. "He was using that to try and smooth things over with another girl. You deserve better than some other girl's rejected peace offering."
The brunette sighs as she looks down. "Yeah, I guess you're right...but I like roses."
"No, you don't. You like the rose in Beauty and the Beast, and you like that the little one likes to draw them with you." He argues, and a small smile spreads across her face as she looks up at him again.
"Thanks, Miller."
"For what?"
"For giving me something that I thought I lost a long time ago." She says, and his expression softens as he realizes what she means.
"Hey, I mean... What's family for, right?" He shrugs, just as awkward with his emotions as his brother has always been, and she chuckles. "You're annoying." He mutters as he wraps his arm around her shoulders; he presses a kiss to the top of her head as they walk to their next class.
Letty goes over to Eric's after school to help him watch his siblings, like she promised him she would. The brunette walks in and sees that Shawn's there too. "Hey, so what are we doing?"
"Scarlett, didn't my mom's bowling league end?" Shawn asks, and she nods.
"Yeah, like, six weeks ago."
"See?" Shawn says as he looks at Cory.
"Yeah?" Cory stands up and walks over to the counter where his mom left the bag that she keeps her bowling bowl in. "If there's no bowling league, then why is my mom going out with this big, heavy— Eric, something's wrong." He cuts himself off as he picks up the tan bag and looks down at it. "This doesn't weigh anything." He tells his older brother.
"Maybe Mom forgot her ball." The teenage boy says as he walks over to his brother.
They open the bag and each pull out a red high heel. "And if those are bowling shoes, there should be a number on the back just above the spike heel." Shawn says jokingly as he and Letty walk over to the Matthews brothers.
Eric pulls out a black, shimmery dress and looks at it. Letty's eyes widen. "Eric, what does this mean?" Cory asks, obviously confused.
"It means Mom's going to be flashing some leg when she picks up that seven-ten split." The older boy says.
Cory pulls something else out of the bag. "La Buggy-a." He says, reading a small piece of paper.
"La Bugia?" Eric asks as he takes it from his brother.
"That fancy dinner place that Seniors always take their prom dates?" Letty asks as she looks up at her best friend.
"Why would Mom be going there?" Cory asks, confused.
"Maybe Mom's dating a Senior." Eric says. "I mean, everybody else is."
"Scarlett isn't." Shawn says as he laughs.
"Shut up, Shawn." The brunette says, and he laughs even harder as she pushes him away from her. "This is ridiculous. Your mom isn't dating anyone besides your dad." She disagrees with Eric.
"I love you too, Pumpkin!" Mrs. Matthews calls to Morgan as she starts down the stairs.
The boys quickly scramble to get everything back into the tan bowling bag, and then they set it back on the counter where they got it from. The two younger boys sit back in their original seats at the kitchen table, and Eric grabs Letty's arm as he moves to lean against the counter behind him. He pulls her into his side and slings his arm around her shoulders, trying to act natural.
"Oh, hi, Scarlett." Mrs. Matthews smiles at the teenage girl when she sees her standing with her son.
"Hey, Mrs. Matthews." The brunette lifts her hand and waves before letting it rest over Eric's ribcage. She doesn't have the most comfortable way to stand because of the position he put them in in such a rush.
Eric feels her hand on his side, causing him to look down at her, but her attention is elsewhere at the moment. She looks from his mom to his brother, and the brunette glares at him. The younger boy's smiling as he looks at the pair, still he knows something that they don't, and she doesn't want him to say anything to his older brother.
"Morgan says she's getting hungry, so you guys better order that pizza soon." Mrs. Matthews tells them, pulling Eric out of his thoughts about Letty.
"I'm on it." Her oldest says as he tears his eyes from the brunette and picks up a menu from the local pizza place off of the counter.
"Good. Keep your eye on your sister, and I'll be home around ten o'clock."
"From bowling, right?" Cory asks.
"Where else would I be going with my bowling bag?" Their mom asks as she picks it up from the counter before making her arm hang. "Oh, this ball weighs a ton."
The boys all laugh awkwardly as Letty shakes her head at them. "Okay, maybe it's not as bad as it looks." Eric says as soon as she's out of the kitchen.
"I sure hope so because it looks pretty bad." Shawn says.
"Shawn." Letty lightly scolds, and he looks over at her.
"Does it look as bad as liver?" Cory questions, and she chuckles. Shawn's mom has been trying different ways to make liver recently, and he hates it. That's why he's at the Matthews' and not at home to eat tonight.
"No." Shawn says quickly.
"Why is she going to La Bugia?" Eric questions.
"Why is she going to La Bugia with a bowling bag?" Cory asks.
"Is there...trouble in paradise?" Shawn asks the brothers.
"Between my mom and dad? No way! They're so happy, it's disgusting." He says as he gets to his feet, looking at his best friend. "They're always kissing and being romantic."
"Are they?" Eric questions, and his brother looks over at him and the brunette that he's still keeping close to him. "Or is Dad always kissing and being romantic?"
"What are you talking about?" Cory asks his older brother.
"Remember this morning? He came in with a rose for her, and she didn't even care."
"Yeah, and he poured coffee for her, and she just walked away." Cory adds.
"And that kiss she gave him this morning before she left was nothing more than a pity kiss."
"You would know." Letty mumbles, and Eric shoots her a dirty look. His arm's still wrapped around her and he starts squeezing. "Ow, Eric." She smacks his side, and he loosens his hold.
"The main thing is, she picked Wednesday nights. The one night that Dad has his managers' meeting." Cory says.
"Yeah, and why was she in such a rush to leave this morning?" Eric asks. "I mean, is she trying to get away from Dad?"
"You don't think she loves him anymore?" Cory questions.
"It could mean worse. I mean, no one goes to La Bugia alone."
"I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for all of this." Letty says as she looks between the brothers. She rubs her hand across Eric's back, and he looks down at her.
"You think she loves somebody else?" Cory asks his brother, ignoring her.
"You guys better tell your dad." Shawn says.
"Tell him what?" Eric asks, again tearing his gaze from Letty. "We don't have any proof."
"Get proof."
"How?" Cory questions.
"Don't you guys watch NYPD Blue?" He asks as he gets to his feet. "Tail her...and talk dirty."
"Tail her on our bikes?" Eric questions.
"Get on a bus. You know where she's going." Shawn tells them. "Just get there and take a look around."
"You know, he's right. We should do this. I mean, chances are we'll get there and we'll find she's there alone...in a cocktail dress...bowling." The older boy says.
"We're gonna have to go undercover." Cory tells his brother.
"As what?"
"Two kids."
"By day, two ordinary kids. By night, two ordinary kids on a bus." Shawn says. "Talking dirty."
"You seriously need to stop watching NYPD Blue." Letty says, and he looks at her, shaking his head with a smile on his face. "You're a twisted little boy."
"We'll be back as soon as we can." Eric tells his best friend as he reluctantly pulls away from her.
"Here's the twenty. Order the pizza, watch my house, and guard my sister." Cory tells his own best friend. "And if I'm killed on this mission, find out the answer to that car wash problem from Feeny and have Topanga channel it to me." He says, and the Matthews brothers leave.
"This whole thing is ridiculous." Letty shakes her head and then looks at Shawn. "Now let's order that pizza, I'm starving." She tells him.
After the three of them eat, Shawn plays cards with Morgan in the living room, and Letty goes upstairs to take a nap in Eric's bedroom. She hasn't been getting a lot of sleep lately because of her dad. He always has his buddies over and they've been drinking a lot lately. Honestly, she's too afraid to sleep at the trailer anymore, and she's feeling guiltier and guiltier about Miller being around.
Eric tries to wake her up later, and she pushes him away from her. She hears him and Cory talking to their mom soon after, and she hears that their mom was dancing with their dad. They lied about his meetings and her bowling league so that they could have some alone time.
Their mom leaves the room, and Letty rolls onto her back. "I told you so." She mumbles, and Eric walks over to her.
"Come on, up you go. It's time to go home." He tells her, and the brunette reluctantly gets to her feet. She has to go back to the trailer at some point anyway, it might as well be before it gets too late and she gets into trouble again.
She rests her forehead on his shoulder, and he looks down at her. "Walk down the stairs with me?" She mumbles, and a small smile pulls at his lips.
"Come on." Eric takes her hand in his, and she moves so that they can walk side-by-side, her head still resting on his shoulder most of the way.