Dedicated to intellectualpotato_, my soul-linked sister.
Sidebar: Diana Agron as Amanda Reynolds and Hercules by Sara Bareilles. I need your help with casting everyone else!
I'll regularly be updating this story every MONDAY (and THURSDAY if I'm feeling extra write-y).
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Chapter 16
I should be happy.
Earlier in the week, Adam and Becca told me they were going on a Babymoon – basically a vacation couples take before they become parents – over the weekend. I personally felt like they were taking this vacation earlier than they should; Becca wasn't due to give birth for another four months. But she'd had been especially testy recently and maybe a weekend away was what they – and by that, I mostly mean Adam – needed. Ginny, on the other hand, was catching the Friday Red Eye to Miami for a week-long family reunion and my parents weren't coming back until Saturday afternoon.
That left me with an empty house for a whole night. The reason for my happiness isn't because I'm throwing a party. Considering my one time foray into the world of high school parties involved too much alcohol-induced behavior on my part, I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to be hosting one anytime soon – or ever.
Nate found out I was going to be left alone for a night in a large and rather drafty house (his words, not mine) and quickly suggested I stay over at his house. Apparently, we were going to have one of our Friday night movie nights.
Ginny and Mrs. Anderson were individually more excited than Nate and I combined. Ginny promised Nate all the double chocolate chip cookies he could eat (which definitely made his day) and Mrs. Anderson promised me all the tiramisu cupcakes I could wish for (which nearly made me cry of happiness). Mr. Anderson even offered to pay for the pizza and chips. I'm pretty sure if my parents were home, they would've vouched for the drinks.
Spending one night with my childhood best friend should have made me happy.
Note the should in there.
My current inability to be over-the-moon joyful at being able to hang out with Nate had nothing to do with any resentment on Amanda's part – she was perfectly fine with the whole thing. Like Ginny and Nate's parents, she was all for it actually. If she reacted negatively to the whole shebang, she wouldn't be Amanda Reynolds, would she?
I definitely should have been psyched.
Should.
* * * * *
I arrived at Nate's doorstep at five-thirty on Friday afternoon, armed with my overnight bag and the big Tupperware of cookies Ginny baked. The smell of cooling cupcakes greeted me when Nate opened the door and my eyes involuntarily rolled into my head in pleasure.
"Oh. My. God," I leaned into the doorframe. "I forgot how your house smelled so much like how I imagined heaven would." I took in a deep breath of the wonderful scents that resulted from Mrs. Anderson's baking.
I could hear Nate's cheery laugh. He was probably even shaking his head at me. "Come on in, Mom wants to see you in the kitchen."
Following him into the house, I happily sighed. "Your mom wants me to come closer to the source of all this amazing goodness? Yes, please."
"You're weird," Nate chuckled. He took my bag from me and tossed it so that it landed right next to the couch as we passed by the archway that led to the living room.
"Yes, yes," I rolled my eyes. "I'm weird and you don't make sense half the time. We're definitely a match made in heaven."
"Oh, how I've missed your humor," Nate teased.
I stuck my tongue out at him just as we stepped through the kitchen archway. The instant I spotted Nate's mom, I practically started flailing. "Mrs. A!" I ran up to her and gave her a hug.
She returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. "Sara! It's been years since I last had a good look at you!" She pulled back and narrowed her eyes. "Well, you've definitely grown into a beautiful young lady," she finally declared.
I blushed. "Thanks, Mrs. A. You look wonderful, as always."
Mrs. Anderson looked nothing like the forty-seven year old suburban mom she actually was. Her light brown hair was cut in a stylish and sleek bob and her features were still smooth and delicate and were almost always fixed in a pleasant expression. It was unfair how trim and fit she still was and she insisted that a busy lifestyle of running the Greenville Women's Society and being on the board of numerous local charities was her only workout.
More importantly though, there was a sparkle in her dark green eyes that –coupled with a look of happiness and contentment –made her seem younger and full-of-life. Most women her age, Mrs. Rouleau being a very good example, just looked like they were dead inside.
But don't let Mrs. A's cheery smile fool you. There's a reason why she puts the fear of God in Nate. You do not want to be on the receiving end of her glares. Those would make anyone cry – possibly even Julian Pitt, Mr. Bad Ass himself.
Mrs. Anderson simply patted my cheek before turning back to the cupcakes she was frosting. I felt my mouth water at the sight of the two dozen tiramisu cupcakes sitting on cooling racks. Maybe I could -
"No, Sara. You can have one when all of them are frosted," Mrs. A suddenly said.
I tried to hide my guilty smile. "I wasn't -"
"Let it go, Sara," Nate warned. "She has eyes on the back of her head."
Mrs. Anderson turned to give her son a small smile. "That and the whole world knows about Sara's weakness for cupcakes."
Mother and son shared a laugh at my expense but I didn't mind. I shrugged it off and pulled myself up so I could sit down on the kitchen counter.
"Aren't you too old to be -"
But whatever teasing words were coming out of Nate's mouth were silenced by the sound of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran harmonizing the chorus to "Everything Has Changed". Nate's cheeks turned a bright pink and I started laughing so hard I was in serious danger of falling off the counter.
"Amanda chooses her own personalized ring tone, OK?" he huffed.
"Of course," I fixed my features into a serious expression. "It's not like you had the biggest crush on Taylor Swift when we were in eighth grade," I ended my sentence with a smirk.
Nate narrowed his eyes at me as Mrs. Anderson and I started to laugh. Before I could move out of the way, he dipped his finger in cupcake icing and wiped it on my nose.
"As comebacks go, Nate, that was just lame," I teased, wiping the icing off my nose and popping the finger in my mouth.
He shook his head and put the phone to his ear. "Hello? Yeah, she's here ... We've got cupcakes and cookies, Dad's out getting pizza ... What? That sucks, babe ... Well, I'm not sure ... If Sara doesn't mind," Nate looked at me uneasily.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
He placed his phone against his shoulder and gave me a nervous smile. "The spa kind of flooded so Amanda's plans for the night fell through. Would you mind if she joined us?"
I shook my head. "Of course not, Amanda's cool. The more the merrier, I say!" I cheered – and honestly meant it. If Nate and I were going to be best friends again, I might as well get used to spending time with his girlfriend.
Nate sighed in relief. "I'm really glad you said that. Now she won't feel so guilty bringing Angelie along," he smiled then placed the phone back to his ear.
I felt the color drain from my face and started tugging on Nate's shirt like mad. "Nate, won't that be awkward? I mean, you'd have Amanda – and you were there when we went to the movies and had pizza, right? Angelie isn't my biggest fan," I hissed.
"One second, babe," he told Amanda on the other line. He was quiet for two seconds then his face split into a wide smile. "Why don't you invite that British guy you're dating? Then Amanda can tell Angelie to bring whoever's her current boy toy."
Nate was relaying the plan to Amanda before I could protest. After thirty seconds of ironing out the details, he hung up and beamed at me. "They'll be over in an hour so you better call up that Daniel guy as soon as you can."
I was finally spending time with my best friend – so yes, I should be happy.
But with Angelie hanging around, it kind of makes sense that I'm not entirely chipper about the whole thing.
The sudden realization of who Angelie's current boytoy was hit me.
Fudgesticks.
Friday night movie night with Julian and Nate.
Maybe I could hide behind Daniel when the bloodshed started.
* * * * *
The doorbell rang exactly fifty-three minutes later. I know that for a fact since I'd been anxiously staring at my watch the entire time.
Nate laughed at the panicked look on my face. "You look like you saw a ghost," he joked as he stood up from the bar stool and walked off to the open the front door.
"- time we plan a spa afternoon and it gets flooded," Angelie's voice floated in as Nate and the two girls slowly made their way down the hallway to the kitchen.
"A movie night sounds relaxing too, Ange," Amanda sighed.
A second later, Nate was stepping back into the kitchen with Amanda and Angelie only two steps behind him. The reaction I got from the two of them were polar opposites; Amanda smiled at me and Angelie gifted me with a scowl.
Angelie's behavior on Monday would have made sense since she'd been thinking I was moving in on Nate. But now that we were standing inside the Anderson's kitchen – with Amanda smiling at me, no less – I kind of thought (or hoped) that she would've eased up on me. From the glares she was giving me right now, it looked like she still thought I was scum.
"Hey," I waved weakly at the pair of them.
Amanda smiled at me while Angelie suddenly found the microwave particularly interesting. "Hi, Sara. Sorry to barge in on your movie night," Amanda said.
I shook my head. "It's no problem at all. Like I told Nate, the more the merrier," I smiled.
"Has Pitt arrived yet?" Angelie interrupted.
Nate stared at her. "Pitt? Why would he arrive?"
I wouldn't say that I was taking my revenge on Nate for inviting Angelie but the smirk on my face probably gave me away anyhow. "Because, Nathaniel, Angelie's current 'boy toy' is Julian Pitt."
He looked at me, turned to Angelie and went back to stare at me. I could tell he was waiting for someone to tell him it was a joke. I just continued to smirk at him.
Amanda cleared her throat. "So what're we watching?"
"Monsters Inc.," I replied proudly.
Angelie frowned. "A cartoon?"
"It's a classic – just ask Sully over here," I patted Nate's shoulder. I might as well have been patting a statue; Nate was just as responsive.
Amanda looked at her boyfriend inquisitively. "Sully?"
Nate only gave a slight nod at the sound of Amanda's soft voice. "Yeah and Sara's Mike because she's the brains behind our whole operation. Let's go back to what we were talking about earlier; Angelie, you're dating Pitt?"
I don't know if dating is what you'd call it, I mentally chided but Angelie was already nodding –and very proudly might I just say.
Nate turned to me. "And you knew this and didn't tell me?"
"Hey, I only -"
Saved by the doorbell.
I hopped off the counter, quick as lightning, and waved as I stepped back out of the kitchen. "I'll get it – it might be Daniel."
It wasn't.
"Julian, glad you found your way to the lion's den," I teased.
His chocolate brown eyes bore into my light brown ones. "Why do you always think you're so funny, Preston?"
"Oh please, you know I'm funny. You just don't think I'm funny right now because you're standing in front of 'Anderson's house'," I mocked.
He narrowed his eyes at me as he sighed. "What're you doing answering the door anyway? Isn't Anderson supposed to be the one welcoming people to whatever festival of weirdness this is?"
"He's still busy dealing with the fact that you and Angelie are dating. Or maybe he's trying to get over the fact that he unknowingly forced himself to spend a couple of hours with you tonight. Either way, I decided it was better I answer the door while he mentally prepares himself so he doesn't punch you in the face after five seconds," I shrugged lazily.
Julian opened his mouth but before he could say anything, something caught his attention and he looked away for a second. Then he turned back to me with an annoying smirk on his face. "So it has nothing to do with that car that just pulled up in front of your house?"
I pushed Julian aside – literally – causing him to suddenly yell "Hey!".
I was beyond hearing him though. I was already waving at Daniel as he stepped out of his car. He turned around when he heard me calling his name and his usually lop-sided smile took over his face.
"Hello," he said when he stepped onto the Anderson's porch.
"Hey," I said as I went on my tiptoes and wrapped both my arms around his neck. Daniel, in return, wrapped his around my waist. "I didn't think you'd make it," I whispered in his ear.
"I took a while longer trying to decide what ice cream flavor to get," he laughed as he pulled back and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. He raised his left hand showing me a brown grocery bag with a slightly moistening bottom.
"Really? So what did you end up buying?" I asked enthusiastically.
"Rocky Road – I hope that's alright?" Daniel answered tentatively.
I managed to keep the smile on my face. "Of course! It's -"
"Not," Julian finished. "Preston here hates marshmallows; and I mean really hates them," Julian continued as if he was unaware of – or completely ignoring – the frown Daniel was now wearing. "She hates them so much, she spits them out when -"
"That was years ago, Julian," I glared at him. Fixing a pleasant smile on my face, "Anyway, I don't think you two have met. Daniel, this is Julian Pitt. Julian, Daniel Tarver."
Daniel quickly recovered and flashed Julian a friendly smile as he extended his right hand out for a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you. Sara's told me all about you."
Julian, brows crossed in confusion, snuck a look at me as he gave Daniel a quick handshake. "She has?"
"Yes. You're Angelie's boyfriend, aren't you?"
Julian gave me a flat-eyed look. "So she's told you all about me, has she?" he huffed.
"Contrary to what you might think, people don't need to know everything about you," I smiled sweetly and slipped my hand into Daniel's. "We should go inside. Everyone's in the kitchen. Five minutes before you two got here, Mr. A dropped off the pizzas. Hmm, yum."
Julian gave a hoot of approval when he stepped into the house. I couldn't help but flash him a smug smile. "Impressed, Julian?"
Julian ignored me as he looked at the picture frames that hung on the hallway walls.
I've said before how Nate's parents are into interior decorating. It isn't really surprising, considering Mr. Anderson's a senior partner at the architectural firm Adam works at, that the Andersons have a picture perfect home.
The interior walls of the house were painted the right shade of yellow – bright and airy but not in-your-face – and the mix of light and dark-wood furniture made all the rooms look welcoming and, for lack of a better word, homey.
"You're in a disturbing amount of these pictures, Preston," Julian said when we were three feet from the kitchen archway.
I shrugged. "I don't know why you're even surprised, Julian. Nate and I have been best friends since we were five and we live thirty seconds away from each other. I was bound to crash a few pictures," I smiled at one of the more adorable pictures of Nate and me.
It was taken the afternoon after someone had painted my hair yellow and Ginny gave me an impromptu bob. Nate and I were sitting on the kitchen steps and we were holding up the newly cut brown-yellow strands to our faces and twirling them like evil mustaches.
"You looked cute with your hair that short," Daniel smiled at the picture I'd been studying. He looped an arm around my shoulder and whispered, "Of course you look gorgeous now," before giving me a soft kiss that had me smiling against his lips.
"Ugh," Julian groaned, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. "Couldn't you make out in a less public place?"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Just like you and Angelie were doing against the school doors?"
"So that's how you know about them!" Nate suddenly yelled.
I turned around, surprised that Nate along with Amanda and Angelie were standing at the entrance to the kitchen. I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I kind of walked ... in on the whole thing," I smiled awkwardly.
Amanda introduced herself to Daniel just then, distracting everyone else from the darkening pink hue of my cheeks. "Why don't we bring the food to the living room so we can eat while the movie starts?" she offered.
Along with everyone else, I nodded.
By the time all the food – save for the ice cream that was chilling in the fridge – was laid out on the coffee table, I was drooling. But that was mostly due to the sight of the two dozen perfect cupcakes that sat next to Becca's cookies.
"I'll give you my share of the cupcakes if you give me your share of the cookies," Nate bargained.
I looked up at him. "Deal," I answered and offered my hand. With a wide smile reminiscent of his much younger self, he enclosed my hands in his and gave it a very strong shake.
"You two are adorable," Amanda commented as she caught us vigorously shaking hands.
Nate and I flashed wide grins.
Amanda laughed. "You even have the same smile. I finally see why you two were best friends for so long despite being so ... different."
"Different is good. It isn't boring," Daniel smiled as he pulled me into a hug. "Just in case you want anymore, you can have my share of the cupcakes as well," he whispered into my ear.
I smiled at him and pulled him down for a quick kiss. "I know it sounds really stupid but you do not know how happy that just made me," I chuckled.
Daniel gave Nate a curious glance. "Is this all it takes to make her smile like this? Cupcakes?"
Before Nate could say yes, Julian mumbled, "You have no idea."
The silence that followed was deafening.
The glare Angelie directed at me probably had the same amount of toxic energy as the nuclear bombs that took out Hiroshima and Nagasaki – combined.
I picked up a pizza slice. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I'm hungry," I handed everyone plates – Angelie took hers with a steely glint in her eyes – and soon enough, I had a pile of food on mine.
"You sure you don't want any more food?" Daniel teased, looking down at the two pizza slices and three cupcakes I was frantically trying to balance on my plate.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Now that you think about it, I'd like some of that ice cream you brought over," I grinned.
Daniel nodded. "I'll go get you a cone while you settle down on the," he looked around the room. Nate and Amanda were already cuddled against each other on one side of the couch while Angelie and Julian were on the other side. "Well, looks like we've been relegated to the floor," he laughed nervously.
"Please, I used to sleep on this floor. My butt can deal with sitting on the floor for the length of one movie, Daniel," I
Daniel looked to Nate for confirmation.
"It's true," Nate laughed, nodding enthusiastically. "She used to come over and we'd study or do homework on the floor. Since she was a genius even in kindergarten, she'd finish way ahead of me and randomly fall asleep."
Daniel nodded and walked off to the kitchen.
I stuck my tongue out at Nate. "I was not a genius; you were just a very easily distracted kid – still are actually," I teased.
I took a seat on the carpeted floor and placed my plate of food next to me. Just as I was about to take a bite out of my pizza, I felt a sharp kick to my head. It didn't hurt a lot but much like my body's reaction to the shock of the orange juice fiasco, my hand loosened its grip on what it was holding.
I heard more than saw the pizza slice fall on my shirt. Plop.
With very wide eyes, I turned around to find Angelie blinking at me. "Oh. My. God. I am so sorry. My foot slipped on the couch and it must've hit your head," she apologized profusely.
"It's fine. I never really liked this shirt anyway," I joked as I stood up. It was kind of the truth. I mean, what else would you feel for an shirt with a humongous picture of Barney on it?
Adam gave me this shirt as a joke Christmas present. With my put-on-the-first-thing-you-grab-from-you-drawers style, it was the shirt I put on before heading to Nate's house.
"Good thing you're staying over, then," Nate said with a clenched jaw. "Here," he handed me my over night bag.
Because of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson's penchant for moving things – and rooms – around, I looked at Nate curiously. "Second floor, first door to the left, right?"
Nate nodded.
I took a good look at the pale-green wallpapered guest bedroom. An elegant four-poster bed with white and green sheets, sandwiched by two white washed end tables, occupied the middle of the left wall. A matching white-washed chest of drawers stood on the opposite wall, right below a painting of a rolling meadow. The rest of the furniture in the room – an arm chair, a floor lamp, a desk and a full-length mirror – were artfully arranged in the corners of the room.
I dropped my bag on the bed and gingerly pulled the shirt off of me, carefully trying to keep the stain on Barney's face away from my own. I walked up to the mirror just to make sure that there were no grease stains on my chest or on my face.
I could have spared myself a world of embarrassment had I not started doing muscle man poses in front of the mirror.
Just as I was doing an unbelievably uncanny Johnny Bravo pose, the guest room door was thrown open. Before I could yell at who ever it was for not knocking, I realized how insane I looked at that moment.
I was doing muscle man poses in nothing but my scuffed up Converse, ratty jeans and a black lace bra.
And standing in the door way was a wide-eyed Julian Pitt who, possibly for the very first time in his whole life, was starting to blush.
I dove for the bed and wrapped the comforter around me, effectively throwing my bag to the floor.
Julian, thank all heavens, had the decency to slap his hand in front of his face. Of course, that was possibly a second too late but at least he didn't stare.
"Julian, explain yourself," I seethed, half-delirious with anger and embarrassment.
With his hand tightly clamped over his eyes, Julian swallowed nervously. "Anderson said the bathroom was on the second floor first door to the right -"
"Julian, this is the first door to the left. Left, Julian. You should have paid more attention in kindergarten!" I yelled.
"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered and, hand still on his eyes, started to grope around for the door knob.
I took in a deep breath through my nose. "I'll close the goddamn door. Just turn around and walk into the bathroom like you should have thirty seconds ago," I hissed.
Swallowing nervously, he nodded before doing a complete one-eighty.
And walked straight into the bathroom door.
The idiot had forgotten to take his hand off of his eyes.
If I wasn't about to die of embarrassment, I would have died of laughter.
I need help casting the rest of the characters people. For now: ADAM PRESTON - dark-haired, smart looking and looks like Sara (Lyndsy Fonseca). Prize: Dedication.
Ask me questions PLEASE: ask.fm/CrayonChomper
Thanks to those who sent in UITA oneshots (Go check your e-mails by the way). I'll announce the official winners (plus the 2 or 4 runners-up) in the next chapter (Monday). I want everyone to be able to read the one shots. How do you guys suggest I go about doing just that? :/
I'm going to write Daniel's (and possibly Nate's) interview over the weekend. Leave your questions for him/them in a comment XD
VOTE. COMMENT. SHARE. (And follow? :P)
- Chompy