I really like this pic of her ^
Landon
"So how are you since you found out about, you know, Alice.." Bates trailed off. We were walking down the hall, beside one another, after art class. We had had a busy day in art class today. We had to learn how to draw a realistic eye. Which, in my case, it would have looked better if I just drew a little dot like I do with stick figure people.
"Oh," I looked down at my shoes, "I'm fine. I'm going to call Margaret later today and see when I can visit Alice." He nodded his head understandingly. We kept walking until we were outside. He stood beside me, waiting until Mandy came to pick me up. "You know you don't have to wait here with me," I said when he made no move to walk away to go get Emmy.
"I know I don't." he said, looking over at me, "But I am going to." With warm cheeks, I smiled just a little bit.
"Well, thank you," I say, sending him a glance, "it means a lot, Bates." He stuffs his hands in his hoodies front pocket, seeming colder than he was letting on. I, on the other hand, was warm with my big, furry winter coat and boots that were fuzzy inside. "Cold?" I asked as he began to pace, to keep warm and moving.
He looked up at me, nodding slightly. "Just a little bit. I'll be fine, Lan." My stomach fluttered at the nickname he had made for me.
"Are you sure?" I ask him, worried. "You can always huddle closer to me, you know. Some animals do that when we are cold -"
"So we are animals?" He asks, smirking.
I roll my eyes, "Well, no. What I mean was -"
"That we are animals." He interrupted, walking closer to me.
"I said no. We are simply using a method that animals use. Which, in fact, is very useful for survival. Oh well. You just passed up a opportunity to be extra close to me." I said, turning to look at him, poking his chest as I sent him a playful glare. He caught my finger before I could yank it back fast enough. Which resulted in him to pull me closer to him.
"Ah! Look, the lovebirds," Jonas greeted us, like always, which was most incredibly loud. But that was Jonas for you, and you had to like him (for most, like him and are afraid of him). "I'm kinda in the mood for some burgers and milkshakes, wanna join?"
Bates raised his eyebrows, looking from me to Jonas. "Um, I have my little sister -"
"Daycare? Or, better yet, she can tag along." Jonas said as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
Bates furrowed his dark eyebrows, pursing his lips, "But you don't really like kids. At least not your siblings."
He rolled his eyes at Bates, scoffing, "Just because I dislike my siblings doesn't mean I dislike all children. I only like a limited, selected few." Jonas took a drag from his cigarette, "If your -- sister?-- yeah, little sister is anything like you, I might just like her. Or I might completely despise her as much as I despise you." I didn't even know that Jonas had siblings. Needless to say, I didn't really know a lot about the J's except they were friends with Bates.
He lets out a chuckle, punching Jonas's arm. "Shut up, meathead."
Jonas glares at him, purposefully blowing the cigarette smoke towards Bates. His eyes land on me, "So," he asks, "are you coming or not?"
"I, uhm..,"
"Landon!" All three of our heads look over to where Mandy's car isn't that far from us, her window rolled down to look at me. Jonas quickly threw down his cigarette, stomping on it. "Come on!"
I look at Bates and Jonas. They were both watching me, just like Mandy was except she didn't have as much patience as they did. "Mandy," I shout to her."No I'm hanging with them for a little bit. I'll be home for dinner, bye!" I grabbed Bates hand, us all running towards Jonas's car before Mandy can utter another word on anything.
"She's gonna be so pissed," I laugh as we zoom off, the school disappearing from our sight as we keep going forward.
"Was that your mom?" Jonas asks, fumbling with the radio to find a good song for us to listen to.
"No," I shake my head, looking at him from the backseat. "She's my step mom."
"Oh, so what about your real mom?"
Bates snaps his head to look at him, "Jonas!" Bates turns halfway around to look at me, "I'm sorry about him, he doesn't think about other peoples emotions when he bluntly asks them personal questions."
Jonas shrugs innocently, eyes on the road and not us. "Oh, well." He uses one hand to keep it on the steering wheel, the other flipping through radio stations. "Dammit, nothing good is on. Especially when it's on the radio. Ugh," he made a face of disgust when he heard some song, a girl squealing the lyrics loudly, "music these days.."
We finally found a likeable band playing and listened to them until we picked up Emmy and arrived at the diner. The same diner Bates and I had ate breakfast together.
We shared a knowing look when we glanced at one another, beginning to grin. "Ew, stop looking at each other like that," Jonas said, laughing as he wedged his way in between Bates and I to pass us, swaying his hips to make us laugh. Emmy had attached herself by my side, her hand reaching up to hold mine as she giggled at Jonas.
"So why couldn't Jessie come?" Bates asked as the waitress led us to a table. We all sat down, opening the menu to look at all what we could eat. Considering I hadn't really eaten lunch today, I was starving and just looking at all the selections of food I could order made my mouth water and stomach growl.
"He is going to see his cousin, Kyle, today for some cook out." Jonas explained, closing his menu. Emmy was sitting in the booth beside me while Bates and Jonas sat by each other.
Emmy smiled, looking at her brother, "Can I get a chocolate milkshake?"
"Yeah, you can," he said to his little sister. The waitress comes to our table a few moments later. We all ordered burgers, a big plate of fries to share, and all of us some chocolate milkshakes.
"How many siblings do you have, Jonas?" I asked him in a attempt to make conversation.
He looks over at me. "I have two. An older sister and younger brother. Do you have any?"
I shook my head, "I have a step brother, but he's in college."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, he wants to be a lawyer," I informed Jonas about Connor. I never really thought of actually having a little brother or sister, not by blood anyway. And I was okay with not having one, it's fine.
"So how old is Mandy?" Jonas asked, crossing his arms.
"Um, thirty something," I answered, suspicious. "Please don't say you think she's hot."
Jonas laughs. "No, no, no. I mean, she is attractive. But I'm not going to try to hook up with her." I almost shudder at the thought, "Plus, I'm still looking for a girl to date. It's harder when the whole school ignores you."
"And whose fault is that?" Bates asks, looking over at Jonas with an amused look. Bates looked so cute right then. His pink lips forming a half smile as he looked over at Jonas and his eyebrows raised ever so slightly.
"No, I cannot help that people fear me, Bates, I've told you that."
"Also, by the faces you make when people get even a few steps too close isn't helping your case. Nor is when you threaten go beat them up."
Jonas rolled his eyes, turning to look at Emmy, "Hello, Emma." He was obviously done with that conversation.
Emmy looked up from her kid menu, coloring on it. "Hi!"
"So do you know a kid names Thomas at your school? He might even be in your class. He, uh, has the same colored hair as me, but he has bright blue eyes."
She thought for a little bit before nodding."Yeah, he's in my class."
"Well, that's my little brother, Emma." Jonas said, nodding his head. "Are you two friends?"
Emmy shook her head, "Not really. I'm friends with Clary and Belle. He's played tag with us a few times, he's clumsy." She giggled.
"Oh. Well you two could hang out sometime. Would you like that?"
"As long as he doesn't cheat when he plays with me," she said seriously and began to color the paper menu again.
•••
After combining all our money together, we paid for the food and left the diner. Emmy sat in the back with me again, smiling up at me.
"You like him, don't you?" She asked while Jonas and Bates debated on what to listen to on the radio.
I look at her, "Who?"
"My brother," she grinned, giggling, "it's okay. He likes you too. Are you two dating?"
I nod, blushing. "Yes."
"Good," Emmy said in her adorable voice, "because I like you too."
•••
"Aww," Emmy pouted, her lips turning into a frown. "I don't want you to go."
"I'm sorry." I apologize, beggining to feel sad as I saw her face. "We can hang out sometime, okay?"
This brightened her mood. She nodded as her lips turned up in a pretty smile. "Okay!"
"Bye Landon!" Jonas said as I stepped out of his car. I turned and waved goodbye to him.
"I'll walk you to the door," Bates stated as he climbed out of the car to catch up to me. I sent him a smile as I looked up so we could meet eyes. He was already smiling, one part of his mouth lifting up higher than the other one. I looked back down when I realized I was starting a little too long, my cheeks pink. All too soon, we were at my door. We turned to look at one another, not saying anything.
"I had fun," I said, nodding to myself.
He copied my movements, nodding. "Yeah," he said, "it was fun. We should do it again sometime. But, just you and I."
A laugh left my lips as my cheeks heated up just the slightest bit. "Oh, really?" He sent me a nod, smiling and our hands intertwined. "I'd love that, Bates."
"Hurry up and kiss, you two lovebirds!" Jonas yelled from the car. "Or just hug. We gotta go!" I didn't know why he was in such a hurry. I looked back at Bates, he was smiling. Leaning forward, I pecked my lips quickly on his before stepping back.
"See you later, okay?" I say. I see his cheeks are pink and I bite my lip before opening up the front door and walking in. I leaned my back against the door, sighing deeply.
"Landon, is that you?!" Mandy yelled from somewhere in the house and I inwardly groaned before straightening up and walking into the kitchen.
"Yeah!" I yelled back as I poured myself a glass of juice. I heard her stomp her way towards me.
She walked in, making me look up from the counter. Her hair was in a bun and she wore pajama pants with a t-shirt of my dad's. From the scowl on her face, she was obviously mad. "Landon Grace!" She snapped, her eyes cold and menacing. "How dare you?"
"Um, what did I do?" I asked her completely confused. I am used to her usual rotten mood, but she rarely ever says my first name and middle name. She only ever did if she was completely furious with me.
She threw her hands in the hair. "You really don't know? You," she pointed a finger at my direction, "made me go all the way to your school just for you to only go hang with Bart and that other guy? Are you hanging with those-those guys now?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you beforehand," I apologized. "We just made those plans a few minutes before you showed it." I didn't really like apologizing to her because I knew she always got some satisfaction from me when I did that, but it needed to be done. If I didn't apologize, she would over exaggerate it all to my dad and then I would get in big trouble. And I didn't need that right now.
"I wonder how your dad would feel knowing this information," she let a smirk fall on her lips. She was probably still upset with me for what happened in the car. Which I was being completely reasonable and true while she was being ridiculous with those petty excuses. Plus, she got satisfaction from my downfalls. By downfalls, I mean embarrassment, humiliation, getting scolded, and so on.
I sighed, already knowing where this was going. "What do you want?"
Mandy's smirk grew wider. Thinking hard, she put a finger to her chin. "I don't wanna make you clean anything. Mostly because the house is already clean enough from the last time. So I guess I just want you to tell me something."
"What do you want to know?" I asked, eyes narrowing at this woman I call my step mom. Who, in fact, acted nothing like a step mom ever should.
"Why didn't you tell me or your dad that Alice was in the hospital?" She put her hands on her hips.
I sucked in a breath, looking away from her. "I just didn't."
"Oh, sure. Now tell me the real reason."
"I just didn't." I forced myself to say, shooting her a deadly glare. "Just drop it, okay?"
She stated at me for a little while, studying my face with a blank expression. "Wait for me to get dressed? We are going to go see your best friend at the hospital."
I kinda wanna hear a funny story. Anyone have one to tell? If so, comment one. I really need a good laugh.
Anyone have a favorite character so?
Anyways hope you enjoyed the update.
ALSO I HAVE 2K READS....CAN I GET A WHAAAAAT?
I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT. SO THANK, THANK, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE READS, VOTES, AND COMMENTS. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT REALLY MEANS TO ME! BECAUSE I LOVE HEARING WHAT YOU GUYS THINK OF B&L AND THE SUPPORT MEANS SO MUCH <3
Also, I just wanted to tell you guys that school will be starting back soon for me. *cries loudly* which means that my updated may or may not be as frequent as usual. It all just depends on how busy my day is (like it always has before).
Xoxo
Talia