Chapter Twelve
“Hey honey?” I whirled around to see Seth and Mum standing near the front door. They were dressed up-not too fancy, but not too shabby either. Huh, where were THEY going?
“Uh...why are you guys all dressed up?” I questioned, leaning against the wall.
“We’re going to visit Maya, but I’m assuming you don’t want to dress up at this time of the night and go visit?” Seth told me.
It was 7, and I loved Maya, but I really could not be bothered changing. It was a Friday night, and my main focus for tonight was to do something to keep my mind off Sunday. Argh, damn...I just made myself think about Sunday again. Great.
“Alright, Oliver’s out with his football team partying,” Mum rolled her eyes. “Um, and Skyler’s having a sleepover at Cody’s house-hopefully with adult supervision. So you have the whole house to yourself.”
I smiled. THANK you very much. “Alright, have fun kids! Are you going out for dinner?”
Seth opened the front door, and they stepped out. Brrr, it was goddamn FREEZING out there. I stepped back into the warm house, and waved goodbye to them.
“Yeah, we’re having dinner at a diner or maybe grab some Chinese takeaway,” Mum told me. “Don’t worry about us. Now, there should be quite a lot of leftovers, and frozen stuff in the fridge, so go and rummage through and eat what you want. You can invite Aaron and Jodie over-I don’t mind. But please...I do not want to come home and find stains all over my carpet, drinks littered everywhere, and unconscious people lying everywhere.”
I chuckled. “Of course Mum. You know I’m the sensible one.”
They got in Seth’s car, and waved goodbye to me. I waved back, and then shut the door, locking it. Damn yeah, I had the whole house to myself! And no, I wasn’t going to be stupid and throw a party.
Okay dinner. I danced to the kitchen, and started searching for an appropriate dinner. Hmmm. There was...leftover meatloaf, microwavable meals (like noodles), frozen pizzas and yesterday’s spaghetti bolognese. I decided to heat up a frozen pizza. I grabbed all the boxes, going through them.
Margharita, Hawaiian, Pepperoni, Meatlover, and cheese. I went for cheese, because then I could throw in whatever toppings I wanted without making the pizza taste bad.
I heated up the oven, and shoved the pizza in. I skidded into the living room, and switched on the TV. Oh please let there be a good movie, or some TV Show marathon on!
A three-episode marathon of The Big Bang Theory (that show was alright-but I’d already seen the episodes), an episode of Pretty Little Liars (Season One finale-which I’d seen a MILLION times), an episode of The Mentalist, marathon of Glee (ugh, hated that show)...and Easy A (Seen a bajillion times), some horror movie and The Avengers (premiere) were on. Oooh, I’d seen The Avengers loads of times, but you can never get sick of it.
After watching it until the bit where Hawkeye and his crew start attacking S.H.I.E.L.D ‘s spaceship shuttle thingo, and rescue Loki I heard the alarm ding. Yay, my pizza was ready. I pranced into the kitchen once again, and grabbed the pizza from the oven. Mmmm. The cheese was bubbling over, and I was so tempted to just eat the whole thing right then.
I grabbed all the toppings available in my kitchen, and set them all out on the kitchen bench. First I squirted lots of tomato sauce on, tomato sauce overload much? Then I tossed on pineapple slices, pieces of ham, basil, cucumber slices and mozzarella cheese. I know, overload of cheese.
After finishing my masterpiece, and cleaning it up, I brought it back to the TV. Thank the lord we had pause and play TV. I rewound back to where I left off, and continued watching. Heck, this pizza was delicious.
Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever, but it's getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
Oooh, I had a new text. I let Avril Lavinge’s Here’s To Never Growing Up ring for a short while, before finally picking it up. New text. Joy.
From: xJodiex
Hey Monty, where d’ya think Aaron and Heather and I should go?
Xx
I chewed my lip. That was hard. Suddenly, I got a brainstorm. Oooh, maybe Sam, Marcus and I should go there. Actually...yeah, I made up my mind that we were going to Kids Palace. Kids Palace was an indoor giant kids playground, that had everything a kid wished for. I used to love that place, and I would go there as often as I could.
Hey, just go to some kiddie ice-cream place, and bring a book along or something, and just sit there. It’s not like you aren’t spending time with them or anything. :)
Monty xx
“YOU RUINED MY DRESS!”
I wrinkled my nose. Who was that? It sounded like it was coming from Taylor’s front yard. I sent the text, and then shuffled over to the front window. I peered out to see a girl (who looked around my age) standing on the curb just out his house, her arms splayed out and there was a monstrous look on her face. She was annoyingly pretty, and she wore a sky blue dress. Rich brat, I thought immediately.
Oddly, her face seemed quite familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on it...but I knew I’d seen that face around. Was it from seeing her somewhere, like the shopping mall or a café? Maybe a holiday? Maybe she was a friend of one of my friend’s friend’s friends?
“M’am, there’s a tiny little speck, you can’t even see it!” a young woman who held a clipboard and looked like the girl’s assistant spoke, a scared rabbit expression on her face.
“What did you just SAY, Goldie?” growled the girl. “I want this night to be freaking perfect! PERFECT! Okay? Go get me my other dress. Thank the lord I brought a spare! You clumsy cow! Why don’t you be more careful when you hold Slurpees?”
I raised an eyebrow, and shuffled backwards, away from the window. Wow...dramarama much. I wonder how Sam knew them? Wait...why was I wondering about things related to Taylor? Ew, get a grip Crew.
I returned back to my seat, and grabbed my iPhone, and started texting:
To: TheTaylor
We’re going to Kids Palace. There, no one will see us, and we can stay away from each other. Good, now don’t reply. I’ll phone Marcus’ home.
I pressed SEND, and only then I noticed that The Avengers had finished. Meh, I had the DVD for it. I flicked through the channels, yawning. Damn, there was only a few boring documentaries, Superman (that old 1990s first movie), an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, an old weird movie that had two people exchanging dialogue throughout the whole thing and lastly...Happy Feet. I mean, I’d totally watch it-except it was three quarters of the way through.
I sighed, and leant back on the sofa, shutting my eyes. I really could not be bothered doing anything at that moment...
Starships, were meant to fly
Hands up, and touch the sky
Can’t stop, cuz’ we’re so high
Let’s do this one more time
Oh, oh, oh, oh
ANOTHER text message? Man, I sure was popular.
From: ZactheMan
To: Monty
Hey Monty, it’s Zac ;) Remember me...from detention? Yeah anyway, I was wondering, wanna catch up tomorrow afternoon? I’m free, and I was thinking we could just walk around the main central shopping district, grab an icecream or frozen yoghurt...the works. Are you in?
Zac ;)
My heartbeat immediately quickened. OMG! OMG! The cute guy from detention! Yes! Of course! And that would totally keep my mind off Sunday! I quickly tapped REPLY.
To: ZactheMan
From: Monty
Hey, yeah I remember you :) As if I’d forget our memorable detention together lol. Um yeah, I’d love to meet up and stroll around-sounds fun :) I’ll meet you in front of Ice-Cream Paradise?
Montana :)
I grinned, and snapped my phone shut.
Oh yeah.
●●●
■Sam■
I groaned again, for the millionth time, and buried my head in my pillow. Why, why, WHY did Mum invite that royal brat and her parents over for dinner? Why? Rochelle was probably going to try suck up to me, and pull me in again, tricking me into believing she hadn’t forgotten our strong friendship. Meh, kill me now.
“Sam honey! Rochelle and her parents are here!”
Oh hell. The devil was here.
I forced myself to drag myself off the bed, and I reluctantly trudged out of my room. Even though I would rather throw myself in a sealed tank with three bloodthirsty sharks than attend this dinner, my parents would probably ground me for life if I didn’t come out. Rochelle’s parents and my parents were super close, and plus, we hadn’t seen them for over five years now.
I trode downstairs, and leant over the banister, eavesdropping on the conversation that was going on in the living room.
“Wow, it’s such a beautiful home! You really decorated it well!”
“Haha, aw thank you! Geez, really feels like we haven’t seen each other in ten years!”
“Make that one hundred!’
Hahahahahahahaha.
“So...where’s Sam?”
My heart clenched. Rochelle. Her voice still sounded the same, high-pitched and silverly. I clenched my fists, inhaling a deep breath. Alright Sam, now or never. Just get through this dinner, and you’ll never have to (hopefully) see her again.
I strode in, shoving my hands into my pockets. My eyes met the sight of all the parents sitting at the dinner table. Mum and Dad had gone completely out, and had polished the table shiny, and Mum’s most treasured vase was sitting in the middle of the table with Dad’s finest flowers sitting in it. Mr and Mrs Waters’ hadn’t really changes at all, except they both looked more richer and wealthier. Mrs Waters had a very professional looking hairstyle, and both were wearing designer clothing. They were sitting opposite Mum and Dad. My little sister was sitting next to Dad, playing some game on her Nintendo DS.
My gaze travelled on to land on a pretty girl with blonde wavy hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a pale pink dress, and she looked...hot. Like, super duper hot. Like crazy, crazy hot. Wait...THAT was Rochelle?
She smiled at me, flashing a perfect set of white pearly teeth. “Sam...is that you? OMG...you’ve grown up...”
I gulped. “I-I-I...could say the same for you too...”
She strode towards me, clacking in her high heels, and threw out her arms. I was suddenly hit by a wave of super-strong perfume. Usually, I loathe perfume, and I would quickly escape the room if Mum wore too much. But I didn’t care this time-because my mind was transfixed on Rochelle’s face. The once slightly chubby blonde girl who loved playing tag and ball games with me was completely gone. In her replacement, was a super-hot teenage girl, who was attracting me every second. Damn.
I swallowed as she threw her arms around me, pulling herself to me. Uh. I forced my stiff arms to wrap around her waist, hugging her awkwardly.
She released me, still smiling brightly. “It’s so great to see you Sam...after so many years!”
I smiled, weakly. “Y-Y-Yeah...you too.”
“Hey, you two sit down, we’ll start dinner,” Dad called.
I sat at one end of the table, Rochelle sinking down at the other end. So we were directly opposite each other. Fantastic.
“So Rochelle, how is your acting career?” gushed Mum, handing me the plate of honey baked ham. “I bet you’ve got movies lining up for you!”
Rochelle laughed, and I smiled immediately, entranced by her silverly, cheerful, tinkly laugh. “Hahaha...not exactly Sarah. But I am considering to be part of the F.A.M.E cast which is quite exciting.”
“What’s the F.A.M.E?” Dana questioned, excitedly.
Rochelle smiled, kindly at her. “Well, it’s a new TV Show coming up! It’s about four teenage people, Faye, Austin, Mike and Ellie, who are all individuals who have a passion for acting. They get thrown together to produce a musical production, and basically the show’s about showing all the ups and downs. I’m considering to play Faye. It seems like a good opportunity.”
“You should definitely get the job!” Dad barked, after swallowing his big bite of the turkey. “I will definitely be in front of the TV to watch the pilot! So, do you have to sing?”
Rochelle grinned, shaking her head. “Well, they said I won’t be forced to do it, as I can just mimic and lip sync it. But I might give it a shot, see if I can actually sing. I might be surprised and actually be good at singing. Who knows right?”
All the time, I’d been watching Rochelle, dreamily. Why did I hate her in the first case? She was so beautiful, and she was so friendly and kind, and I could just imagine it...her moving here, us graduating from school, graduating from college, moving into a house together, getting jobs, getting married, having a baby....WHOA! Slow down Sam, control yourself! What...having a baby? Have you lost your mind?
I quickly shook my head, and put a spoonful of mash potato into my mouth, keeping my eyes fixed on my plate. As long as I didn’t speak, I probably wouldn’t be able to make a fool out of myself.
“So Sam, how’s your life?’
Damn.
I slowly lifted my head, flashing a bright smile at Mr Waters. “Oh, just dandy.”
DANDY? I was turning into a sissy!
“How is school?” Mrs Waters asked, smiling at me. Oooh...she had a tiny piece of broccoli stuck on her teeth. “Everything good?”
I nodded, badly wanting to grab a pair of tweezers and pull out the piece of broccoli off her teeth. “Yeah...um...everything’s great.”
Don’t elaborate or say anything interesting, and they’ll stop quizzing you, I thought to myself.
“So, are you in any teams, Sam?” Rochelle asked, brightly, her eyes fixed on me.
Damn, why couldn’t I be in like...a football team or something? That would make me sound good. Being on the basketball team just sounded...plain boring and dull. Should I just lie? But no, Mum and Dad would know and would definitely ask me later why I lied.
“Uh...I’m on the school rep basketball team,” I murmured, shoving my cabbage all over the plate, eyes staying down and avoiding Rochelle.
“Yeah, my son will be the new Kobe Bryant,” Dad boomed, chuckling. “Son, which team will you be joining?”
“San Antonio Spurs,” I muttered, heaving a giant sigh. My Dad ALWAYS constantly reminded me about that. He was certain I was going to become a NBA star, and join the Spurs. Right Dad. He was kinda like Coach Bolton, from High School Musical. Not that I’ve watched High School Musical or anything...I mean I have...once...but Dana forced me to watch it.
“Oh yes, I know that team,” Mr Waters chuckled. ‘NBA’s fantastic huh?”
Then everybody launched into their own separate conversations. Mum and Mrs Waters started talking about the beauty of air fresheners and how good they affected us, Mr Waters and Dad started chatting about the latest NBA news, while Dana secretly pulled out her Nintendo DS and started playing Mario Kart (we weren’t allowed electronic devices at the dinner table-but I’d taught Dana how to sneak it out. I’d taught her well), while Rochelle and I continued to eat, politely.
She cleared her throat. “Ahem. SO! Sam...would you like to give me a tour of town sometime? I’m free tomorrow afternoon if you’re willing to...because my photo-shoot ends at 10 o’clock.”
Hell yeah! I would spend every single second I had with her! Every second she spoke, I kept getting more and more lured to her. I know, I sounded mushy and lovesick like that, but...she was just the perfect person. Beautiful, kind, friendly, cheerful...ticks all the boxes for me.
I nodded, furiously. “Uh, sure! Definitely. Um, yeah. Good idea. Great idea. Sure.”
Oh lord. I’d never acted this way before! I usually just had a small crush, and I could control myself. But this was a massively massive crush. Wow, this was becoming more cliché and cheesy by the minute! Childhood best friend falls for childhood best friend. Since WHEN did my life turn into some sort of cliché rollercoaster?
Rochelle grinned, happily. “That’s fantastic! I’ll get my chauffeur to pick you up, and take me wherever you want to-okay? You’ll be in charge. Cuz’ I really don’t remember this place, and I want to remember it again. Help me?”
I nodded furiously...again. “Oh sure. Definitely. I’ll be happy to help. Sure. Hehe...”
Wow, I was SUCH an idiot! What was wrong with me? Why could I not say ‘sure’ simply? Why did I have to keep babbling on like a toy stuck on replay? Ughhhhh.
Rochelle grinned, and pulled out her expensive phone. She tapped something in, with perfectly manicured nails. “Alright, let me just put that in my reminders and timetable. Don’t wanna forget. I’m getting REALLY forgetful these days.”
I chuckled, dreamily. “Yeah...me too...”
Dinner finished, and we all retreated to the living room. Well, Dana fled upstairs to play more Barbies or something. The parents all sat on the plushy sofas. Rochelle and I just stood at the corner, me leaning on the wall, lapsed in a comfortable silence.
“So um...I was thinking before...I don’t know if you remember...but, do you remember Montana Crew?” Rochelle questioned, stunning the HECK out of me. “Is...she still around?”
She still remembered Montana? Heck, I’d try and forget her as soon as possible! But I well and truly can’t, because she’s floating around school with her emo freak friend and that weird idiotic guy, and she’s also next-door which also bugs me.
I nodded. “Yeah...she still lives next-door. You still remember her?”
Yes, I was getting more confident as time grew on. I didn’t stutter or stammer anymore, and my pattern of speech was becoming more normal and smoother. Thank the lord for that.
Rochelle smiled, “Do you still hate each other?”
I nodded, furiously. “Oh yeah. Definitely. In fact, our hate relationship is the one thing that EVERYONE at school knows about. It’s well and truly public alright.”
Rochelle sighed, smiling. “Yeah. Good. I didn’t like Montana. Heck, I hated her guts. She was always a show-off right? Remember we would always bully her, and she would cower in a corner, scared? Hahaha, scaredy-cat!”
(A/N FREEZE! Before you continue to read, I just want to say that yes, Rochelle and Sam bullied Montana when they were all kids. Not full on abusive bully, but verbal bully. This is quite important, so please keep this in your head. Ok back to the story!)
I chuckled, nodding. “Oh yeah. But I don’t think you’ll be able to repeat that again. Montana’s really confident and stronger these days-so yeah. Good luck with that.”
“Does she still live next-door to you?”
“Yep. Damn annoying. Most annoying thing is her bedroom’s opposite mine...I don’t know if you still remember...?”
“Oh I remember. Remember, when she accidentally left the bedroom window open, and we crawled into her room, and destroyed all her Barbies? We drew moustaches all over them, and pulled the heads off the sockets, and coloured the body parts with highlighters?”
I grinned. Oh yeah. I remember that.
“Those were the days,” I commented, nodding my head.
Rochelle giggled. “They sure were. Do you miss them?”
I shrugged. ‘Yeah. I guess.”
Rochelle turned to face me properly, with a serious expression on her face. “Sam, you know I’m sorry for not contacting you-right?” She looked so adorable, with a puppy dog face. I turned mush instantly.
“Of course I do,” I said, warmly. “You’re here now-right?”
Rochelle giggled, making me smile. “Right!”
Wow...why was I dreading tonight? Tonight was probably the best night (a/n song to the side) I’d had in such a long time. I mean, Rochelle was beautiful, pretty, funny, friendly, nice and she understood me. Huh, I’d been saying that a few times already.
~~~~~~
“Yep, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I released Rochelle from our embrace, shooting her my trademark grin. “Looking forward to it-a lot.”
Rochelle giggled. “Yep! We’ll pick you up at 1pm-okay?”
I nodded. “Sure thing.”
Everyone said their final goodbyes, and then we shut the door, Mum, Dad, Dana and I.
“Well, that was definitely worthwhile, wasn’t it?” Mum commented, her eyes bright with happiness. “It was such a good thing, catching up after SUCH a long time.”
“Yeah, it sure was,” I said, enthusiastically, nodding my head.
“I thought you were dreading it at first?” Dana asked, curiously.
I chuckled. ‘What crazy stuff are you talking about this time-Dana?”
I went to my room, and dropped down on my bed, smiling.
Best night ever.
●●●
☮Montana☮
“Don’t wanna break your heart, wanna give you heart a break,” I belted out, dancing crazily around my bedroom. “I know your scared it’s wrong-like you might make a mistake. There’s just one life to live-and there’s no time to waste, to waste, so let me give you heart a break, give you heart a break, give you heart a break, give your heart a break.”
Knock, Knock!
I turned down Demi Lovato’s Give Your Heart a Break, and bounded out of the bedroom, prancing over to the front door.
“Who is it?” I sang. “If you are a psychotic murderer, then I suggest you get out of my front yard, before I bring out my hockey stick and whack you on the head.”
“Monty, it’s Mum and Seth,” chuckled Mum, and I smiled. I bet you one hundred bucks they forgot their keys.
I flung open the door, and there stood Mum and Seth. I flashed them a giant knowing smile. “Hmmmm, did you guys forget the house keys?”
Surprisingly, Seth held up the keys, dangling them in the air. “Nah, they’re right here. We just wanted to see what you’d do if you didn’t know who was at the door.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did I pass the test?’
They strode into the house, Seth locking the door after them. Mum nodded at me, hanging up her coat. “Yes hon, you did.”
I smiled, cheerfully. “Yay. So...why are you guys home so early? I would’ve thought you would’ve at least stayed out one hour later...?”
Seth and Mum exchanged happy expressions.
“Well...we got a call halfway during dinner...,’ Mum broke to me. “And Seth’s been promoted!”
“Yay!” I squealed, hugging Seth tightly. “That’s fantastic!”
“So, Seth is the vice-president of the big boss of his company,” Mum told me. “His boss is thinking of retiring...so maybe Seth might get promoted to the top job!”
“That’s if I work hard,” chuckled Seth. “Anyway, what’ve you been doing?”
“Watching TV, singing, dancing, eating,” I shrugged.
We strode into the living room, them informing me about their visit to Maya.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My spacing is wonky...:( Anyway, longish chapter-how'd you like it? Sam's falling hard for Rochelle! Ooooh. Holidays are coming up, and I've set myself a full list of Wattpad stories I'm going to read. Yes, I'm that organised. LOL, anyway, vote and comment please? Thanks you guys
peaceanddisaster xx