Chapter Fifty-one: Friendly Friends.
I didn't mean to freeze the way I did. But I couldn't help myself, some stranger just called my man, "babe". Even I hadn't gotten round to calling him that yet!
On the other hand, Angelo looked quite unimpressed.
"Forget blocking, I would literally kill you." He said.
"Is this how to talk to me after days of ignoring my calls? Huh, honey bunny?" The stranger on the other end said with such an obnoxious, high pitched voice.
I sat up with an incredulous look to mouth at Angelo, "Honey bunny?" As I grabbed my sweater and pulled it on, in case things were heading the way I hoped they weren't.
His eyes widened slightly only just seeming to grasp the situation, before talking into the phone "Dammit, Mey, do you realize what that sounded like? You're loud..."
The high pitched voice continued regardless, "Ha, a ploy to get me to stop calling you pet names? Well, guess what, baaaabe, I'm not dumb-"
Angelo sighed and hung up the call before looking at me. "Please don't mind Meyers, he's... an idiot."
I blinked twice as I did the last button on my sweater. Oh. "He's kinda good at sounding like a girl!" I chuckled nervously.
"He's had years of practice." Angelo said dryly and his phone rang again, this time when he picked the call, two voices were laughing on the other end.
"You broke the hang up rule!" They chorused. It seemed like a video call this time because Angelo was really glaring at his screen.
"I expect my full payment the moment you step into New York." One of the voices said. They seemed like...
Oh no way. The inside joke? The prank? New York? A very distressed Angie?
Were these his best friends?
I started to smile until I remembered I still didn't know if I liked them one hundred percent yet.
"You were being a nuisance right in front of Violet, of course I'd hang up." He explained, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "So what, three public declarations of love?"
"I'd have you know the price has gone up, it's now five..."
"Did'ya say Violet?" The voice with a thicker New York accent cut in and this time I smiled because I never thought I'd actually hear a person speak like that in real life. And he seemed to have a lot to say.
"Hey, why ain't ya at school? This don't look like your room, it's so purple-y, you in a woman's room? Where's your shirt?" Then a moment of calculating silence... "Damn, are you in her room...?!"
"Ohhh let me see, Noah!" The other voice called, probably Mey then. "Dude, it's my phone anyways."
Angelo sighed heavily, "Alright, we should wrap this up, you guys aren't at school either so..."
"Oh hell no!" Mey's voice cut in, "We want to finally talk to Violet! The one girl you've been going on about for years!"
"Oh." I said and shrugged at Angelo who didn't quite look like he wanted the earth to split and swallow him up, but was getting pretty close.
"I have to apologize, Letty, they're a bit much." Angelo said with a grimace, running his fingers through the front of his messy waves.
"What? It's fine, I don't mind talking to them." I smiled, "Do you?"
He shook his head, "No. Don't take them too seriously though. They might be stupid but they're...you know...still good."
"Awww!" Mey and Noah chorused and I nodded in understanding.
"I'm willing to take that as the first declaration of love. You've got four more." Mey announced.
"You guys are cute, I'll give you that" I chuckled and touched my hair before adding in a stage whisper, "do I look too much like I just woke up?"
The corner of his lips quirked up for a second before he leaned closer to murmur in my ear. "You look like you just walked out of my dreams."
A little delicious shudder ran down my spine and I was very sure my face was red.
"Helloooo! Where are you guys?" One of the boys called from the other end.
"Focus," Angelo teased, tapping my forehead with a finger which barely got me out of my little daze but I leaned over into camera range and waved.
Currently, there was only a pretty boy with tanned skin and platinum blonde hair in frame and he seemed to be walking down some kind of alley.
He had a kind smile on his face as he waved back, he was the one the accent belonged to and he honestly didn't look like I thought he would.
"Ah there she is!" He said and his lip piercing caught my eye for a second. "Hello Miss Violet, so nice to finally speak to ya."
"Hi. Noah, right?" I greeted, "Cool hair-"
"I've got a word nicer than nice and that's amazing!" Mey cut in and he must have grabbed the phone abruptly because everything went shaky before finally settling on his face.
Mey had the biggest, brightest green eyes I'd ever seen and that with dark brown curls framing his round face gave him lots of points in the cuteness factor.
"I've heard so much about you, Violet! We always make Angelo keep us updated." He said, with the grin of someone who was running purely on sugar. Or maybe something else, who knew?
"It isn't half as creepy as it sounds..." Angelo tried to say but I just took the phone from him and stretched out across his lap on my tummy, with my feet in the air.
"Oh so you guys are the one he's always texting?" I asked.
"That would be us. Enchanté mademoiselle." Noah said, leaning into frame and it made me wonder if he was really that tall or Mey was just really short.
"Those are the only French words he knows." Angelo pointed out.
"Oy, that's still more than all the ones you know, son." Noah shot back.
"So I'm guessing to two are officially dating?" Mey asked before smirking, "just a hunch, since our boy is literally naked in..."
"I am not naked!" Angelo said and he sounded so offended I burst into giggles.
"First of all, we've been dating for... a while," I began and they both exclaimed in surprise, "So that's weird that you don't know and secondly, the only reason he looks naked is because he's refused to wear the special pajama shirt that I bought him, with my own two hands..." I smirked over my shoulder at him as his friends let out another exclamation. "...like an absolute savage brute!"
He playfully narrowed his eyes at me, "How dare you?"
"Oy vey!" Mey gasped, "Angelo, how could you?!"
"He's gotta put it on now, don't ya think?" Noah asked, mischief dripping off his words.
"I knew the three of you would be a bad combo." Angelo sighed but put on the shirt anyways. "Happy?"
"Yes!" Noah, Mey and I chorused just before I added, "I took pictures of it yesterday. Also, the little duckies glo- hmm!" Angelo clamped a hand over my mouth.
"The little duckies do nothing." He said quickly. "They do nothing."
"Mmhmm!" I said with a muffled laugh, nodding along and making an attempt to bite him before he whipped his hand away.
"Cute." I heard one of the boys say and I assumed they were talking about the shirt.
"Hey, Violet, has Angelo told you a bunch of stuff about us yet?" Mey asked out of nowhere, it looked like he was stretching to be in frame now that Noah was holding the phone.
"Well...", I chuckled nervously, I didn't even know they existed until last week! "Uh..."
"Why on earth would I want to do that?" Angelo asked, saving me from giving an awkward answer.
"Angelo, we're literally your soulmates!" Mey gasped.
"It's all good, if you don't wanna share stories then ah will." Noah explained like it was a simple rule to life. "Let's kick things off with our first group decision, the starting point of all our crazy adventures: the time we all decided to be goths!"
"Yes!" I yelled into the phone with a crazed grin just as Angelo yelled, "No!"
Oh, there could have been stars in my eyes I was so happy. "Do you have a picture?"
"Okay, that's enough for now..." Angelo said and attempted to snatch the phone from my grasp, but I got it out of the way in time and hauled myself off the bed.
"He doesn't have A picture, he has picTURESSSS!" Mey chortled. "We can send them to yo-"
"No you can't. Nope." Angelo cut him off and literally picked me off the floor so I was basically dangling by my middle, laughing and screaming and holding on to his phone like my life depended on it.
"Send them to me! My phone number is five-one- eeek! You're tickling me...! This... this is manhandle-ment! Haha-!" I laughed so hard I ran out of air and had to take a big gasp in order to change tactics, "Okay, fine! Fine I'll- I'll let it go...!" I cried and his phone clattered to the carpet.
"There we go. Not so hard was it?" Angelo asked, letting me down so I crouched on the floor.
"You're so mean!" I breathed, pushing my hair out of my face so I could watch him crouch in front of me too with the most smug look ever.
"I'm not the one who hung up on them," he said and truly the phone screen was off now.
"That's okay I'll just..." I traced a finger along the phone before snatching it up. "...call them back! AHAHAHA!!"
Before I could even move, I was slung over his shoulder like a sack of nothing, fighting for my freedom while trying to call Mey or Noah back.
"It's for the greater good, I promise!" I squealed as I got tossed onto my bed, landing noticably softer than I thought I would.
"Alright, that's enough, Letty. Hand it over." He said, laughter mingling with his voice as he towered over me, shaking his head. "You don't even know my passw-"
I showed him his unlocked phone with a smug look. "Now why would you think that?"
"You sneaky girl." He smirked, and it felt like heart would explode but I had calls to make so I pushed at his chest with my feet while trying to decipher the complex ancient runes that was his phone format. "Dammit Angie, is this even English? And your font is so tiny-"
The phone was snatched out of my hands and I looked up to see him dangle it teasingly in my face. "Give up yet?"
I mean I could...
"Never." I replied, laughing breathily and attempted to launch myself at his phone once more, only this time he put it behind him and pinned me back down by my arms.
This was all a game, and it was fun, so I had no idea why the overwhelming feeling of being trapped suddenly came over me.
The sensation trickled in from the back of my mind, so familiar and strong that it clouded my senses, making it so hard to stay in the present and... for a long moment, bad memories took over.
"Whoa, hey, Violet..." Angelo's voice called and my eyes snapped back into focus on him as I blinked severally.
His hands were up as a means of putting distance between us and his silver eyes were so wide I could have thought he was afraid.
I sat up quickly. What just happened?
"I'm fine." I said hoarsely.
Angelo didn't look like he believed me.
"Letty you just flinched like you thought I was going to-" His voice cut off and even more alarm seeped into his features. "Did I?"
"No!" I said, looking up at him before casting my eyes away and hugging myself, "I'm fine. You didn't hurt me, you wouldn't, it's just, my mind is... my mind's not my friend sometimes and..." I shook my head before placing it in my hands, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...!"
"Letty. Darling, you're okay." He said and gently, he pulled down my hands. I stared at my palms now wet with my tears and noticed his bigger ones hovered right under them, not quite holding me, like he was letting me know I could pull away from him at any time.
I looked up at him, at all the concern and blatant affection written on his face and I just couldn't take it.
Letting out a big sob, I threw my arms around him, hiding my face in his neck.
"I don't know what happened-! I- I thought I could be normal again...!"
"Shh. Don't say that," Angelo said, returning my hug, the pressure of his hand on my back was such a welcome feeling, "you're perfectly fine and a reaction like that is normal, considering where you're coming from. If there's anything and I mean anything you're uncomfortable doing, we can stop, is that okay?"
I nodded, squeezing him as tight as I could. "Yes. Thank you, Angie."
"It's nothing." He said, "I'm just relieved I didn't hurt you, thought I did. I was going to throw myself out your window."
He sounded so much like he meant it that I had to laugh, leaning back slightly to peek up at him.
"I'm serious." He said, wiping at my cheeks with the back of his fingers and then his thumbs.
"I don't doubt that." I said, smiling a little. For some reason, I noticed how my tears had caused the littler gold hairs at the base of his neck to curl and I wiped at them. Then as an afterthought, leaned in to press my lips to his skin.
I think he jumped slightly at the contact, or that could have just been my heart skipping at how much closer he was holding me now.
"Letty?" He murmured and I marveled at how I could feel the actual vibrations of his voice.
"Hmm?" I replied, unable to fight back a smile. My hand trailed up his other shoulder as I placed another kiss, a little lower and a little lighter.
Angelo swore under his breath and gently pulled me back by my shoulders.
"Huh, you're going to mess me up." I think he said, and when I looked at his face I could see a few hints of color.
"I was in no way prepared for that." He admitted.
"I can tell. I kinda got carried away, sorry." I chuckled. It was the first time I'd ever see Angelo like this. Flustered. It was adorable.
I got off him and off the bed so I could actually get the day started, "I wasn't planning to leave a mark though, just so you know."
He paused touching his neck, "Why not?"
"Just in case you'd mind." I shrugged.
"Of course I won't," He said a bit too quickly. "I don't. Mind."
"Oh." I said, unable to hide my smile and the train of thought that was going on high speed to dangerous areas.
"Okay okay, back to earth. I don't even want to look at the time but I know it's high time we left. I've kinda run out of excuses to give Dad, so! Ready to get the biggest tardy you've ever had?" I asked Angelo with a sheepish grin.
"Ugh, that place, thought I'd escape today." Angelo rolled his eyes. "I wonder what kind of crazy they have in store for us this time."
(~￣³￣)~
"How DARE you, you....man thief!" Susan cried, pointing her finger at Hattie Jensen.
"So what if I got a selfie with Jimmy before you? I'm just better than you, I can't help it!" Hattie replied and right in the middle of the hallway, she and Susan got into this huge squabble.
I slammed my locker door shut with a sigh.
"I bet it gets worse." Angelo said, tapping away at his phone, no doubt texting his friends.
The worst part was, he wasn't even wrong.
To be continued...
A//N: I really do love cooking me up some drama. And I'm about to serve some 😌 stay tuned!