Authors's Note:
Hi Wattpaders! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I did it in, like, a day and a half so it may not be as thought out as my other chapters. This more like a filler.... I hope you enjoy! :))
Chapter 6
After school had ended I rode with Mike and Linda so they could take me home. Old Betsy (my red, beat up BMW) hasn’t been running quite smoothly lately so I had to take it to the nearby car shop. They hadn’t diagnosed the problem yet, though they knew that it had to do with the motor. I just hoped that it would be fixed by this weekend.
Because Linda had no car—due to her parents being overly protective—Mike took her to school almost every day. They lived close together so it wasn’t really a big deal. After dropping her off first, because she lived closer to the school that I did, Mike took me home.
“Bye, Mike. Thanks for the ride.” I stepped out of the vehicle, but didn’t close the door just yet.
“Sure. Do you need a ride tomorrow?” he asked.
I casually let my gaze travel around, and suddenly noticed the familiar, red truck sitting on the driveway next door. I assumed that Kayden and his mother (at least I thought it was his mother) were bringing boxes and their belongings to their new house again. I wondered if they would be moving in soon. It was a possibility. They had been coming over almost every day. It was only a matter of time before they would officially be moved in.
“El?”
I averted my gaze from the rusty house and to Mike. “Sorry, Mike. I must be caught up in my own, little world today.” I laughed lightly.
“I’ve noticed. You know, El, if you ever need to talk to anyone…I’m here.” He gave me that soft, gentle smile that made my legs go numb and my heart beat at an abnormal speed.
“Thanks, Mike; I appreciate it. It means a lot to me,” I said with a smile.
“Sure.” He nodded. “I’ll see you later. So, um, do you need a ride tomorrow? I can pick you up if you do.”
“Are you sure? Lindy needs you to pick you up, too. I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Stop being so nice.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ll pick you up. Linda only lives a couple of minutes away from me, and you’re only, like, ten minutes away. No big deal,” he assured.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Thanks—“
“Kayden, please stop being so disrespectful. I’m getting tired of your attitude,” the blonde woman who I predicted was Kayden’s mother said as both Kayden and her walked out of the house next door.
Kayden rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well—“ He stopped talking once noticing that Mike and I were staring at the bickering two.
The blonde woman looked at Kayden with confusion before slowly letting her eyes wonder over to Mike and I. A bright, friendly smile grew on her face once noticing us. “Hello! I’m Tracey Maxwell! This is my son, Kayden. We’re the new neighbors,” she announced,
Kayden rolled his eyes. He then glanced between Mike and I, and a small smirk grew on his lips.
“Hi, I’m Elyse Blackheart. This is my, uh, friend Mike Jones. It’s nice to meet you.” I smiled politely.
Mike’s eyes curiously studied both Kayden and Miss Maxwell for a moment or two, before a smile stretched across his lips. “Hi.”
“Well it’s very nice to meet you two. Kayden is actually attending Jefferson High. Do either of you or both of you go there?”
“Yes, both of us. Kayden and I actually met. He sort of helped me today.” I looked over at the dark-haired boy and sent him a grateful smile.
His dark eyes narrowed at me.
I cocked my head in confusion as I studied his face.
“Really? That’s a big change. At his last school Kayden got into trouble constantly. With the mention of school, Kayden did you check to see if there was a chess team? Kayden absolutely loves—“
“Alright, Mom! We have to go,” Kayden snapped and nodded towards the truck.
“Oh, okay.” Miss Maxwell nodded before turning her attention to Mike and I. “Well it was nice meeting you two. Maybe we can catch up some time. Have dinner? I mean, we’ll be neighbors, after all… Okay, enough of my blabbing. Goodbye.” She gave us one last smile before hopping into the truck.
Mike and I waved.
“Bye, Kayden.” I smiled softly.
Kayden nodded in goodbye before getting into the truck and starting it up; the roar of the motor filling my ears. I watched as the red truck backed out of the driveway and zoomed down the road.
“That was…interesting,” Mike said after a moment of silence.
“Yeah, it was.” I nodded in agreement.
“Hey, El?” Mike said once the truck was out of sight.
“Yeah?” I glanced over at him.
“Do you, uh, like Kayden?” A slight smile was carved on lips, though his deep-green eyes held something else—something that opposed the emotion that was lit on his face, but I wasn’t sure what.
“I don’t know. He seems nice, but I barely know him. I guess that may change since he practically saved me from the gossip at school. Plus, he’s my new neighbors.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, you never told us that he was going to be your neighbor. Why not?” he said and cocked an eyebrow.
“I really never thought it was important,” I spoke truthfully.
“Oh.” Mike looked away.
“So, um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Mike’s eyes once again met mine, and I could feel my heartbeat quicken and a blush for on my cheeks. “Yeah, you will. But, El, when I asked if you liked Kayden, I meant like, liked, as in more than friendship.” A small smirk formed on his lips once he saw my cheeks become even redder.
“No! Like I said before: I barely know him. If anything, we’d just stay acquaintances—but I was hoping to be friends. He seems…nice,” I said in a quick manner.
He laughed lightly. “Okay, okay, I get it, El, you don’t like him. But, um, I don’t think friendship is such a good idea with him. I’ve heard some rumors going around school, specifically about the, um... activities that he did where he used to live, and they are most-definitely not good things. They may just be false, but I suggest you stay away from him for now. He’s trouble, and I just don’t want you to get involved,” he said the last two sentences quietly, a blush developing on his tan cheeks.
My heart fluttered. I was surprised he cared for me that much. I knew he cared for me. We had been like brother and sister for years—but I never knew that it was that much. I felt like a person drinking Starbucks—happy, excited, and crazy all mixed together.
“Thank you, Mike. I’ll keep that in mind.” I smiled in appreciation.
“Sure. Well, I’ll see you in the morning. Bye.” He waved as I shut the passenger side door.
“Bye,” I said through the somewhat cracked window.
Mike cranked up his spotless, black, yet slightly old mustang and backed out of the driveway. He honked at me as he drove down the road.
With a smile, I waved.
I thought back to what Mike said as I walked up the steps of my home: He’s trouble, and I just don’t want you to get involved. Had “trouble” consisted in his reputation? What else had? And what did Mike mean about not wanting me to get hurt? I shook my head and let my thoughts flee.
As I entered my house, I was greeted to my younger, twin siblings: Jared and Crystal. They’re fraternal, though they have similarities. Both share the same blue eyes and noses and age birthday and age—but their hair shades were different. Crystal’s hair was brown, but much lighter than Jared’s—almost an auburn color. Jared’s hair, on the other hand, was a dark shade of brown—almost like chocolate. Plus, Crystal’s facial features looked a little more mature—but that could just be because she constantly covered her face with makeup. She had been handing out with the wrong crowd lately, and nor me or Jared or my parents liked it—but we decided that it was her who could make the decision to stop hanging out with them. We just assumed that she was just in one of those “stages”. So was Jared, though. He believed that if he hung out with the “cool” kids at school and joined the football team, he could get girls faster. The chance of him getting a girl was very slim. It wasn’t that he was ugly or had a horrid personality; it was just that he tried too hard to get a girlfriend—and he was extremely shy and nervous around the opposite sex. I had been in their shoes at one time. I was once fourteen and starting high school, trying new things and whatnot. I just hoped that the decisions they make now won’t affect their future.
They were both arguing over the bag of chips, sending one another hateful words and names and roughly pulling the bag out of the others hand. Eventually, because of the equal strength that was being pulled at both sides of the bag, it ripped. Chips were flying everywhere, and their voice became mute. They looked around, as If trying to figure out what had happened, before looking at one another and yelling, once again, the horrible words that they were calling each other moments ago.
I rolled my eyes and tried my best to drown out their voice—though it felt impossible to do. They were just lucky my parents were at work. If they were here, they would Raise Cain and send them up to their room and ground them for, like, two weeks. My parents weren’t mean, just tough. They could be humorous sometimes, but they were so engrossed in their work that it was almost impossible to maintain both there strict side and joking side, so they mostly just used there strict side—at least around us kids.
I ran up the steps and into my room. My room was the definition of messy. Clothing was sprayed across the room, bed accessories were lying on the carpeted floors, chip bags and food and soda cans were seated on the tables that were spread across my room—it looked like a tornado had just blown in. I knew I had to clean up; my parents—more like my mother—would go ballistic if I didn’t. But, as of right now, I was just too tired and lazy to do it.
I threw my book bag across the room and flopped on my clothing-covered bed, grunting once my back hit the soft mattress. I closed my eyes and let out a soft, content sigh.
Soon, as seconds passed by, I could feel my breathing start to increase slightly and my heart rate start to slow down… And then I was asleep.
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I was awoken by the vibration that was coming from my pants pocket. I groaned and opened up my eyes as I slipped my hand into my pocket. Once feeling the object in my hand, I pulled It out. As my IPhone continued to vibrate in the palm of my hand, I touched the green “Call” button on the touch screen and put it to my ear, not bothering to look at the ID In the process.
“Hello?” I said.
“El! Guess what?” I heard Jessie squeal from the other side of the phone.
“What?” I said; confusion and curiosity laced in my tone.
“I’m going on a date with Leo Wills; the hottest boy in school!”
My eyes widened in shock Leo Wills? He was the hottest boy in school—that was for sure. He had the soft, blonde hair, sparkling, blue eyes, and a wonderfully toned body; he was the definition of “smoking”. But I wasn’t so sure about his personality. He seemed nice and sweet, but snobby and arrogant most-definitely radiated off of him—not to mention player. I wasn’t so sure if I wanted Jessie to start dating The Player if she was only going to get hurt in the end. But I also don’t want to tell Jessie that; it would only cause anger.
“That’s great. When did this all happen?” I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
“Well, Mary… You know Mary, right?” Before I could respond, she continued, “Anyway, she invited me to the football game tonight. She said she was going to see Ryan, her boyfriend, play. So, I went and after practice, we all went to Pizza Perfection. Mary introduced me to Ryan, and I guess we just hit it off. But I don’t know…he seems sort of player-y, you know? It’s not like he’s dated the whole female population at school—but he has dated quite a lot of girls. Do you think I should have said no to him? But he’s so hot! Oh, my, gosh, it’s seven now! He was supposed to call me around six-fifty to tell me about our date-plans on the weekend! Did he stand me up? Oh, my, go—“
“It’s seven?” I exclaimed. I looked around; the mess in my room was still there, and my parents were supposed to be home in about ten minutes—at least my mom was, and she was the worst when it came to messes. They were going to kill me if they saw this. Plus, I had to do my homework. I had to start cleaning…now! “Jess? I’m sorry, but I really have to go. I have to clean my room. My mom’s about to get home, and if she sees my room; I’m dead.”
Jessie stopped ranting. “Oh… I feel bad for you. I’m glad my mom isn’t that demanding. Well, I’ll let you go.” She sighed. But suddenly, the constant “beep” sound filled my ears, and Jessie then said in an excited tone, “Oh, my, gosh! It’s Leo! Bye!” and then she hung up.
I sighed and looked around my room again. I. Am. So. Dead.
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