Part 3 :) This story may feel a bit slow at the moment but hopefully some of you are enjoying reading it?
The picture on the right is TJ...
**************************
Jimmy Eat World - Pain
It's a lie.
A kiss with open eyes
And she's not breathing back.
Anything but bother me.
It takes my pain away
Nevermind these are hurried times.
Oh oh oh
I can't let it bother me.
***************
"So what did you and Jordan get up to last night?" I asked Chelsea, taking a bite of my chicken salad sandwich.
It was lunchtime and we were sat outside on one of the benches.
"Just hung out and watched a movie" she shrugged; I noticed that she blushed slightly.
"What movie?"
"Romeo and Juliet"
"Ooooer, setting the mood were you?" I teased.
Chelsea frowned and nudged me, causing me to drop the rest of my sandwich on the floor. I scowled as I picked it up and wrapped it up ready to throw in the bin afterwards.
"Shut up! We couldn't decide so Jordan closed his eyes and we said we would watch whatever he randomly picked"
"What a convenient film for him to pick" I continued my teasing, knowing that it would wind her up.
"He picked it at random. I don't know what you are trying to say but please shut up!" she groaned, her cheeks bright red now. Her red cheeks with her red hair made her look like a tomato.
It was a definite overreaction for someone who claimed to not understand what I was implying.
Speaking of Jordan, he suddenly appeared at the bench and crashed down on the bench seat facing mine and Chelseas.
"You ladies talking about how much you love me?" he joked.
I looked at Chelsea and raised an eyebrow and we simultaneously cried out "Eeeew, as if!"
Chelsea and I both love the film Clueless and since we were little "Eeew, as if!" has been one of our most common phrases that we would use as a joke in situations such as this, just like the main characters in the film do.
It was just my luck that at that exact moment Liam was walking past with a few of his friends; he obviously didn't know that it was a joke phrase and had probably decided I was an even bigger bimbo than he already incorrectly thought.
"Like oh-em-gee Kaydie, I'll see you tonight at the gym - make sure Missile Max isn't late. Like laters!" he called out to me in a stupidly high pitched voice, making his friends laugh.
He'd walked off with his friends before I even had chance to retaliate.
I narrowed my eyes and let out a big, annoyed sound. So he was going to taunt me at school now?
That jerk.
"OH. MY. GOD. WHO IS THAT?" demanded Chelsea, pointing in the direction that Liam had just gone.
I frowned at her, wondering if she was really being serious.
"That's Liam, erm-"
"Unsworth" Jordan filled in for me.
"He's in our English class Chelsea and a few others" I continued.
Chelsea giggled.
"I know that, I just wanted to add a touch of drama, it wouldn't have been as exciting if I'd just said Kaydie why is that Liam boy talking to you"
Wow, I love Chelsea but sometimes she can be a bit "special".
"But yeah, why is he talking to you?" she asked.
"Well you know I had to take Max to his boxing lesson?" I said, pausing for her to say yes, "Well I get there and the owner tells me to take Max to this Liam guy who's gonna train him and well as you can probably guess, it was that Liam"
"Wahey! You think you're gonna be surrounded by sweaty old men and then you wind up with a hottie like that there" Chelsea said, nudging me and grinning as if I was the luckiest girl alive. Little did she know.
I noticed the frown on Jordans face when Chelsea described Liam as a hottie.
"He's horrible, I didn't do anything and straight away he was taking the mickey out of me acting as if I was a bimbo, telling me that the gym wasn't a salon" I complained.
"What a monster" Jordan gasped, clearly mocking me. He laughed at his own "joke" like the loser kid that he is.
"He is" I said indignantly, "It's not right to treat people like that for no reason, he doesn't know me at all. I could have gone in there and told him I thought he was a drug taking waste of space but I didn't!"
"That is pretty rude" Chelsea said, agreeing with me. I was glad that at least one of them saw my point of view.
"Plus he's the bimbo himself" I pointed out, "Max doesn't even have a class there tonight"
I was just about to start teasing Jordan about the fact he'd watched Romeo and Juliet with Chelsea when the bell for the end of lunch rang.
Hmmm, saved by the bell.
************
Okay, so maybe Liam wasn't a bimbo.
When I got home from my volunteer job that night Max was sat waiting for me with his new gym bag. I volunteer at a residential home for the elderly twice a week; my mum and dad thought it was stupid but I loved it. Well when I say I volunteer, it started off initially as being classed as volunteering but after it had finished (it was a class project) I kept going back to see a lady that I had befriended.
"Erm buddy, your class is tomorrow" I said ruffling his hair and walking past him to the kitchen to get a drink.
He ran after me.
"Dad booked me a class tonight as well!" he said excitedly, bouncing around me while I got a can of diet coke from the fridge.
I mentally groaned and headed to my dads office.
"Dad, I can't take him to his class, I have homework" I complained, leaning on the doorframe.
It wasn't a lie, I had a big stash of Biology homework to get finished.
"Take it with you" my dad said simply, not even bothering to look up from the papers he was currently reading.
Sometimes I just wanted to scream "LOOK AT ME!" at him; occasionally I'd say random things to my dad like "Owch dad my arms just been bitten off by a man-eating bear that's now running round our garden" to get a reaction but even then he either wouldn't reply because he hadn't listened or he'd just give me short instructions. When I reported the fake bear incident to him he told me to ask my mum for a bandage. Yeah right, as if my mum knew where our first aid box was.
"Can't you or mum take him?" I asked.
My dad let out an impatient sigh and that was my answer right there.
I didn't bother saying anything else and walked back to the kitchen where Max was still bouncing around, fake fighting with thin air.
"Give me five minutes Missile Max" I told him, heading upstairs to get changed and to grab the stuff for my Biology homework.
I quickly put on my pink Thornton Tigers hooded jumper and a pair of denim shorts with my pink converse, scrunching my hair up into a messy bun - my mum would go mad if she saw me leaving the house like it but I didn't care. Anyway, she'd been nowhere to be seen when I was downstairs so she was probably round one of the neighbours houses sipping cocktails and discussing how hard it was being a housewife even though they all have cleaners and cooks that come in to do all the hard work. I grabbed my Biology stuff, shoving it in my bag and ran downstairs where an eager Max was waiting for me.
*************
Liam hadn't made any comments when we got to the gym and instead got straight down to business with Max.
I was glad of this and hoped that was how it would remain from now on.
I was so engrossed in my homework that I didn't even notice somebody sitting down beside me.
"Kaydie, right?" they asked, making me jump.
I turned to see a boy I vaguely recognised from school.
"Yeah and you're.... Tony?" I replied, hoping I'd got his name right.
"Toby" he corrected me, smiling, "But everybody calls me TJ"
He held out a hand and I shook it.
"Do you train here or do you teach a class or something?" I asked, trying to make general chit chat.
"Neither. I just come here sometimes to hang out with Liam"
"Poor you" I said, pulling a face.
TJ burst into laughter; he had an infectious laugh that made you just want to laugh right along with him.
"I saw him teasing you at school today" he said, still laughing.
I rolled my eyes.
"Eeurgh I don't know why he was such a jerk to me, I literally didn't say a word to him yesterday and he started saying stuff last night and then again at school" I said shaking my head.
"Liam can be difficult" TJ grinned, "But he's a good person once you know him"
I highly doubted this; he seemed too much of a smart ass.
"What are you doing?" TJ asked, nodding towards my homework.
I held up the sheets so he could see.
"Advanced Bio?" he asked, looking impressed.
I nodded.
"Liams done his, I was just looking through it to check I'd got my homework right"
"You do the advanced work too?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"No way, I think my brain would explode. Liam does the advanced work but your homework is the same as ours, just with extra questions. More difficult questions" he told me, grimacing, "Do you want to look at Liams, I have it in my bag?"
"I'll be okay thanks" I smiled. I most definitely did not need Liam thinking I was copying his work.
I sat talking with TJ for the rest of the session, he was ridiculously funny and had me in stitches laughing at his various impressions of teachers at school and some of the students. His impression of Candice had me gasping for breath as he mimicked the way that she walked down the hallway.
"Sorry, I know shes your friend and all" he said, sitting back down beside me, "But the way she struts round is crazy"
"I wouldn't exactly call us friends" I replied, still catching my breath from all the laughing I'd just been doing, "I think we just tolerate each other"
TJ stared at me, looking puzzled.
"You're alright, you know that?" he said sincerely, "Most of my friends think you and your cheerleader friends are stuck up but you're not like that at all"
"People shouldn't make judgements based on assumptions" I tutted, "But now you can spread the word about how fantastical I am"
TJ grinned at me.
Just then I felt ice cold water hitting me, not loads but enough to make me jump.
Surprise, surprise.
Liam.
In the space of two days this boy had already annoyed me soooooooo much.
"What are you doing?" I cried, jumping up and stepping back incase he tried to throw anymore.
"Oops my hand slipped" he replied, feigning innocence.
I narrowed my eyes at him and took a deep breath.
"What are you two talking about anyway?" he asked, looking between TJ and I.
He was trying to act like he wasn't too interested but I could tell that he was.
"You" I lied, "TJ's told me a lot of interesting stuff"
Liam glanced at his friend who said nothing.
"Like?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow.
"Never you mind. Let's just say some of it was shocking"
He looked from me to TJ and then back again, clearly trying to decide whether I was telling the truth or not.
"Missile Max!" I called out, ignoring Liam now and focusing on my brother who was walking towards us with the biggest grin plastered on his face.
"Did you have fun?" I asked, ruffling his hair affectionately, though I think his massive grin was enough to answer that.
"Yeah, I want to come every day!" he replied enthusiastically.
Ha, I don't think so. I wasn't going to spend every evening in that gym.
I introduced him to TJ who offered his hand to Max to high five him; Max slapped his hand against TJ's and shouted "Missile Max!"
"You've got a strong arm" TJ told him, "You'll be rivalling Liam soon"
"Right, come on, you have school in the morning" I said to Max, before turning to TJ, "And I'll see you around school or something TJ"
I surprised myself when I instinctively gave him a quick, friendly hug.
My attention shifted to Liam who was watching me curiously, probably wondering how I would say goodbye to him. I gave him a withering look and turned on my heels, following Max who was already walking towards the main doors.
For the duration of the journey home I had to listen to how amazing Liam was and how Max wanted to be just like him when he grew up.
Pah! Over my dead body would he grow up to be like Liam!