Chapter 4
"You know, it was cute and all, the fact that these two finally got together, but now I don't know, seeing them like this... I'm losing my appetite."
"Right? The unrequited thing was funnier to watch from afar. The lovey dovey stuff is kinda gross up close."
"We can hear you, you know?" I told the twins, as we all sat around a table in the cafeteria during lunch break.
Lexi was sitting beside me, one of her legs thrown over my lap, and she kept kissing my shoulder in between each bite of her food. I timed myself right a couple of times to turn my head at the exact moment to kiss her on the lips.
And I was smiling at her like a moron.
"Yeah, that's exactly the point," Cameron answered, and gagged for dramatic effect.
"Stop the kissing, it's gross, we're trying to eat," Trevor added, his mouth full of food.
"Your face is gross," I replied, a little absentmindedly, because Lexi had just kissed my shoulder again.
"Look at what Lexi has reduced him too, already unable to form coherent, clever comebacks," Dwayne said with an amused grin.
Grand coming from him, when he'd been basically the same when he started to date Janna. I didn't say that though. There was nothing that was going to bring me down from my high of being Lexi's boyfriend.
"Yeah, he can't form comebacks, only wants to come on a back now," Clark said, and that suddenly got a violent reaction from everyone around the table.
"EW! EW!"
"NO!"
"WRONG!"
"OUTSIDE CLARK! OUTSIDE."
And now the guys were just yelling incoherently basically pushing Clark away and slapping him, which just seem to satisfy him.
I ignored them, and especially Clark. I was done wasting time on him.
"Maybe we should reduce the public display of affections. It can be a little annoying for people around," Lexi told me, as she ate some of her salad.
"Hey! I won those privileges fair and square! I'm not about to have them taken away from me now."
Lexi chuckled at my outburst. "Privileges?"
"Yes, my kissing privileges, and holding hand, and hugging privileges," I explained, feeling like a pouty child that had been promised ice cream.
"It's really wonderful, that fact that Blake Eaton can be this adorable. I never would have known."
"I'm not adorable, I'm freaking hot."
"That too," Lexi replied, her eyes fixing on my chest.
I laughed. "Jesus, how can someone be this obsessed with a chest? It's really baffling."
"You got a good chest," my Pumpkin admitted, never actually looking away.
"Obviously. I hope you're not gawking at every chest you see. I hope mine is quite special."
"I'm gonna fucking barf, seriously you guys, stop this," Cameron whined.
I just looked at Lexi, tilting my head a little with a smile. She chuckled at my expression and pressed a quick peck to my lips, making all the guys complain around the table again.
"So? Is anyone going to mention anything about Alex? Are we just supposed to act like nothing happened this weekend?" Clark asked in between getting slightly beaten up.
"What's there to say?" Mark asked, before taking a bite from his sandwich.
"The only question we should be asking is whether I'm the hottest twin, or Cameron is?" Trevor added.
Alex just rolled his eyes, ignoring the question, while we all laughed.
And so lunch went on as it usually did.
Expect now I could kiss Lexi whenever I wanted and the only thing I had to fear while doing so was annoying my friends, and not having my Pumpkin running away screaming.
After we were done with lunch and walking hand in hand to our next class, Lexi asked me, "So, do you have any plans for tonight?"
I assumed she wanted us to do something together, and I wouldn't have been against that, but I had also been a little bit of a shitty friend lately and I had to do something about that.
"Actually I was thinking about hanging out with Fred, and possibly checking in with Josh, seeing if I can get him to explain the whole naked in my house thing."
Lexi frowned, looking slightly confused. "Fred?"
"Yeah, something wrong?"
She shrugged. "No, I just never thought you two were that close. I knew you kinda hung out together, but I didn't think you were going out of your way to actually spend time with him. I thought he was more like the friend of a friend."
I snorted. It was funny for me to know how this girl could know so much about me while also knowing so little. She knew the big stuff that mattered, but the little subtilties flew right over her head. "Pretty sure you also thought Clark and Shawn were my main men, right?"
"Yeah..." she answered with a sheepish grin.
"So, you see how you might have guessed wrong?"
"Yeah..."
"Adorable Pumpkin," I chuckled, kissing her temple. "Fred is one of my best friends. He's super busy so we don't spend that much time together, but we're still close," I explained. My friendship might not have been the most obvious thing in the world. We hung out more often outside of school, so I wouldn't hold it against Lexi that she didn't know.
"I shall not question your friendship with Fred again," she announced.
"Excellent," I smiled and then added, "Did you want to tag along?"
It wasn't a secret for people that Fred worked at a fast-food joint. It wouldn't be like I was betraying his trust and sharing his secret if I brought Lexi along.
I was actually surprised she didn't know this. I was sure Daphnee at least would have brought her to go nag Fred at his place of work like she often did.
"No, it's fine, I'll hang out with my friends too. Maybe try to have Daphnee admit to the same things as Josh."
"Something is going one between them, right?"
"Oh yeah. Who else could have taken his clothes?" my girlfriend agreed. Still not getting over that bit.
"Precisely. It's either that or he actually lost them."
"I think Daphnee makes more sense," Lexi replied, a little pensively.
"I agree."
"What are we supposed to do if they actually start dating?" she then asked, looking a bit worried now.
A legitimate response. Josh and Daphnee together would definitely be... dangerous.
"I have no idea. I don't think it's gonna happen any time soon though. They're both very stubborn."
She nodded in agreement, and I reluctantly let go of her hand as we headed to different classes.
I had football practice after school, so Daphnee drove the Graysons back home.
I was still on Coach's shit list, it was a painful experience.
I went back home to change and ate afterwards. I had expected that my parents would be there and that I would be able to have a serious talk with them.
I didn't really have one ever since the dust had settle with Lexi and my little tantrum, so I felt like I owed them an explanation.
And an apology. I couldn't exactly control my bipolar tendencies and the way my brain was wired, but I could take responsibility for my actions, and the truth was, I'd worried my parents a lot in the last couple of weeks.
They didn't need to be put through my shit.
But they had gone out for dinner, so instead I decided that I would leave Anita alone and let her enjoy an extra night off, and headed to Fred's restaurant.
I texted Josh before I drove away from home, and he agreed to meet me there a little later.
So, I ended up being a lot earlier than I usually was where Fred worked. I usually only ever stopped there when it was dark.
And I realized I wasn't the only one that had thought about annoying Fred on this fine evening.
Daphnee was sitting crossed leg on top of one of the tables inside the fast-food joint, while Fred was working behind the counter.
She made a face when she saw me, which made Fred laugh alone.
"Does Lexi know you're here?" Daphnee asked me, without any kind of greetings.
I skipped the hellos too.
"Does Lexi know you're here?"
Lexi had said she wanted to spent the evening with her friends, and here Daphnee was.
I thought once again about the fact that Lexi might not have had as good of a support system as I did when it came to my friends.
I hoped Alex had agreed to meet with her at least, so she wouldn't be spending her evening alone.
I'd call her a little later, to check up on her and make sure she was okay.
"I asked first."
"Yes, I told her I was gonna hang out with Fred," I answered.
"And she was confused by that statement," Daphnee stated. It wasn't a question. She knew her friend.
"Yes, greatly."
"She refers to him as Vegetable Fred," she suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"Because he's always sleeping in class or close to a vegetative state in her mind," Daphnee explained.
I frowned. That didn't make sense. "She understands that vegetative state means you're awake but unresponsive, right? Like Comatose Fred would have been more fitting."
Daphnee rolled her eye. "Dude, I stopped trying to argue with her logic. I pick my battles. I let you pick up this one now if you think it's worth your time."
"You never cared to tell her the reason why Fred sleeps in class?" I wondered.
She shrugged. "It's Fred's business. She has no idea you're close either."
I shrugged too. "It was my business, and up to a few days ago, I'd assumed she had no interest anymore in my business. Anyway, I have nothing to explain to you."
"Fine."
"So? How did you like my birthday party?" I asked, changing subject, hoping I could get her to spill the beans.
Daphnee made a grimace. "How was that even your birthday party? You weren't there. And there wasn't cake."
"AH!," I exclaimed, pointing at her. Fred was rolling his eyes at us behind the counter. It was a good thing the place was empty except for us. "So you were there!"
"Yeaaaaah..." she trailed, sounding confused.
"Are you going to give Josh his clothes back?"
"He knows what he needs to do to get them back," she replied with a smirk.
I kind of did a double take. I hadn't expected that answer at all. I had expected dodging and feigned ignorance.
"Did you just admit to stealing them that easily?" I asked, and snorted.
"I did no such thing."
"You did."
"I didn't."
"You did."
Fred came up to us and dropped two cheeseburgers and fries in front of me. He knew my order at this point.
"Fred, darling, did I admit anything?" Daphnee asked him, making googly eyes.
He rolled his. "I'm not getting involved in this little argument of yours," he said, and walked back behind his counter.
"Fredoo, honey, she basically admitted to stealing Josh's clothes, you've witnessed it, right?" I asked, blinking rapidly at him, with a shit eating grin on my face.
"Leave the working man alone," he replied in a sing song voice.
Apparently, that brought the exact opposite reaction. "Fred, darling, between me and Blake who's your favourite? Keep in mind that I've see you naked."
"I've seen him naked too," I interjected.
"I hate both of you," Fred just replied.
"It's me, it's gotta be me," she pressed.
"My favourite is Josh, he's never seen me naked," Fred suddenly said, probably to shut us up.
Speaking of the devil, "A sad fact. One that can be corrected quite easily if we go for a round in the freezer," Josh said, walking in the building, and joined us at the table.
I didn't know why I was surprised that he walked into the building. I had told him to meet me here.
I just hadn't expected that I would see Josh and Daphnee interactions live.
"Joshua," Daphnee nodded coldly.
"Yoko Ono," Josh replied.
Yeaaaah. He hated being called Joshua. That wasn't his name. They were off to a beautiful start.
"Contrary to what you believe, that's not an insult. The woman hung out with the Beatles and fucked John Lennon. Sure, I would have preferred Paul, but I'd make do with John too," Daphnee informed him, as Josh sat at the table with us, grabbing a fry from me.
"You wanna be Yoko Ono?" he asked her.
"Yoko Ono only got shit because she's a woman. She didn't break anything. They were already arguing like little drama queens before she came along."
Josh snorted, grabbing another fry. "Another reason why the Rolling Stones are superior. They never disbanded, and they never had any girl drama."
"Yeah, Mick was too busy fucking David Bowie to have girl drama," Daphnee replied with a smirk.
My best friend scoffed. "Are you really judging his rumored sexual preferences, right now? Because between going down on John Lennon or David Bowie, I pick David Bowie every day of the fucking week. John Lennon was a dirty hippie. David Bowie was fucking fabulous."
"Am I really just sitting here listening to this conversation right now?" I asked Fred.
"Yeah, and I don't know why," he replied.
"Come on, let's be honest here. Bowie or Lennon?" Josh asked Daphnee, ignoring us.
"That's beside the point. Okay, so like I'd probably pick Bowie too. But between Lennon and Jagger? Ew. It's Lennon. Always. Jagger is fucking vile."
Josh glared at her. "I will shove your face in that ketchup."
She grinned, like she'd won a price. "I've heard something similar before."
"Christ..." Josh breathed.
"Should we like, give you guys some room?" I asked, laughing.
"It's fine, I'll be leaving.," Daphnee announced.
"So soon?" I asked, still amused.
I'd gotten barely any information, but I had enough to call and report to my girlfriend.
"Wait, wait, wait! We're all here? Who's looking after Jean?" Josh suddenly asked, getting up from his chair in one sharp movement, the picture of panic.
"She's sleeping over at a friend's house," Fred told him, looking amused.
Josh let out a relief breath. "Oh god," he said, letting himself fall back on his seat, a hand pressed against his chest, "I almost had a heart attack, don't do this to me again."
"So dramatic," Daphnee replied, rolling her eyes.
"I get it from Blake," Josh answered.
"I get it from you actually," I informed him.
Daphnee rolled her eyes again, and got off the table. "I'll leave you boys to your dick measuring contest. I gotta go break in some new clothes I got this weekend, you know, roll around naked in them," she said, looking pointedly at Josh with a little smirk.
"Babe, that's not a threat," Josh said.
"Wasn't meant to be," she said with a winked and turned around, walking away to her car.
"I'm in trouble," Josh let out in a breath, staring after her.
Fred snorted. "You definitely are."
"Sorry, by the way. I had no idea she was your Daphnee," he suddenly said, making a face.
Fred chuckled, unaffected. "If you know her, you'll know she's not anyone's Daphnee. And also, we've been over for a while, so there's nothing to apologize for."
"It's just weird. Also, like, is she always this infuriating?" Josh asked, pouting a little bit.
"She's worst with you. With me she's a different kind of insufferable."
"Yeah, I know the kind. She was that kind before I told her I hated the Beatles."
"Your greatest mistake."
"I'm really in trouble," Josh repeated still looking towards the door Daphnee had just walked out through.
My best friend was definitely in trouble.
But it was impossible to figure out if it was the good or the bad kind just yet.
______________________
Happy Monday my little Pumpkins!
I'm covid free! XD And doing muuuuch better. Over busy as always actually.
As a matter of fact, sorry for the slight delays in posting, I just came back for a concert this evening. After coming back from a weekend at my family's old estate. And I work at 9AM when I usually have my Mondays off. So like, this weekend was hectic to say the least. XD
It was really nice to be home though, and see my family, and run around the beach, smelling the salty St Lawrence river and my great grandma's wild rosebushes. Memories are often connected with smells. And that's what home smell like for me.
Anyway, I shall not ramble for any longer. Friendly reminder that if you want to have a few chapters of Little Bitch in advance you can subscribe to my Patreon at patreon.com/kariannegiard.
Otherwise, I'll see you all next week! :D
BYE! LOVE YOU GUYS! <3