We keep on walking. We've been walking in silence for about 2 minutes now. I take my earphones from my sweater pocket and untangle them. Ugh. I swear these earphones are more complicated than my life! Then again, I'm a pretty boring person. I pull out my phone and begin texting the girls.
Me: Guys! Where are you? I'm trying to avoid talking to a humanoid!
No reply.
Me: Guyyyyysssss!
No response.
Me: Okay I will hunt you down tomorrow!!!! Ahh!!!
I turn to James. "Why are you walking me home? My house is literally only 10 minutes away from here." I ask him, plugging an earbud in one of my ears.
"I want to make sure that you get home safe." he answers, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he turns to smile at me, his dimples showing making this situation a million times more deadly than it has to be.
Wait...what? I know exactly what you, yes you right there, are thinking! And the answer is no, this is not me thinking he looks hella gorgeous! I'm an A-student in english. I'm just practising descriptive writing in my mind to...improve. It's totally a thing. Quite a few authors use it for success.
"Me? Safe with you?" I say, pointing a finger at myself then him. "If anything, I should feel at risk with only you here."
Don't think that I've forgotten that my face has been a target for soccer balls, basketballs, tennis balls-fine, everything for-my entire existence.
He laughs. "Really? If we're talking about safety, I should be the one who's afraid! I'm just lucky that you haven't tried to bruise this enthralling, handsome face of mine." he brags, batting his eyelashes.
"Well I think that your luck might be running out in 3-," I crack my knuckles on my hands. "-2," I crack my neck.
"Ugh! Stop with that cracking! That's disgusting!" he whines like a little child that's witnessed a spider for the first time, as he places his hands over his ears. I almost chuckle. I always knew that it was one of his pet peeves. Funny, I must be one of the only people to know what makes him tick.
He rolls his eyes and shoves me aside, causing me to step on the grass. I laugh hysterically, clutching my stomach. I catch my breath and go back on the sidewalk.
"Oh [insert swear word here]!" James mutters beneath his breath. His eyes are becoming increasingly worrisome.
I kick his shin without full force. "Swearing is bad!" I yell. Okay, maybe I'm tempted to swear at times but even in my mind, the words come out ridiculous. Like...fishballs and stuff like that.
"Sorry mother." James responds sarcastically.
That remark earns him a light punch on the shoulder. "What happened?" I ask him, my brows furrowing.
He puts a hand on the back of his neck and sighs. "I just remembered something. The team has practice on Saturday but I have to attend some event or whatever at a banquet hall right after." He looks up at the sky in despair.
"Sucks to be you." I pat him on the shoulder, and he squints at me. "I-I mean...um...you'll be fine?"
Okay. Maybe I'm not the best at reassuring people. What do you want me to say?
When he doesn't respond to my awkwardness, I continue to talk. "Is it about the business?"
"No, of course not. It's an event dedicated to potato farming." he tells me. The sarcasm is strong in this one. "I don't even want to go! My dad just keeps reminding me that I have to take over the business soon, that I have to learn this stuff, that-"
"You don't want it." I state simply, my voice hushed so low that I can almost not hear my own voice.
He never wanted it. I know that. I see it in his eyes whenever he tries to please his father. You see, a lot of rich boys would do everything to piss their dads off because of a rocky relationship. But not James. No, he loves his dad too much to ever do that. Too much to admit to him that he doesn't want to be the heir to the company, too much to ever let him down.
He laughs, a sad laugh though. "Only you De la Cruz, only you." he says, shaking his head.
We continue our walk until we finally reach my house. I shoot him a little smile and take a step on my driveway, but he pulls me back. "Thanks, you know, for tutoring me.
Woah. Jameson Bryer thanking someone? This must be a dream...or a parallel universe.
"I'd have thought you were being serious for once if you hadn't blackmailed me into doing this." I retort.
"If you want to back out, I could always go to my buddy Holden and-"
And...he's back again. The old, blackmailing James that I hate, dislike and despise.
I interrupt him, "Nope, no, no I'm not backing out!"
The idiot flicks my forehead and I slap his hand before I run to my front doorstep and jab the key into the key hole. "Bye loser!" I yell back at him.
I enter the house to see a pink tutu wearing child running in the hallway with a fairy wand. So...I guess my cousins are here now. My four year old cousin screams as she runs around a post and makes a beeline to my position.
"Hello Elsa! How are you?" I ask as I tickle her. She squirms, laughing.
"I'm going to see Frozen!" she says, a hand on her hip. Maya loves Frozen, like most little kids now-a-days. Therefore, I've renamed her Elsa.
My Ninang (Godmother) Kath comes from the kitchen. "Maya, did you tell Ate Lara that you're going to Disney On Ice?"
"Woah! You're seeing Frozen on ice?" I say to Maya.
"Yup!" she responds excitedly.
"Where's Maggie?" I question Maya. Maggie is her little, newborn sister. She gestures for me to follow her and we make our way to the living room where the baby lays in her car-seat. Of course, I can't see her since a blanket is draped over it since she's probably sleeping.
Maya doesn't seem to care as she hastily pulls the blanket off of the car seat, revealing a wide-eyed Maggie. "Well congratulations, Maggie's awake!" Maya announces, almost sounding sarcastic. Does a four-year-old even know what sarcasm is?
I mean, it's never too early to learn!
In an instant, Maggie starts wailing so loudly that Maya covers her ears and rushes upstairs. Oh gosh, she's going to unleash a tornado in my bedroom. I just know it.
I have no idea where Ninang Kath is, but I think I have been left alone with a baby that's barely a month old and is crying louder than Carol after a breakup. Sadly, I can't control this situation by bribing the baby with a tub of ice cream.
"Ninang Kath! Where's the bottle?" I scream.
"I just fed her!" she yells back in response. Well then. That's just lovely.
"Shh...Maggie stop crying!" I plead as I take her out of the car-seat and rock her in my arms. There are eight other people in this house right now, including my Ninang and Maya, so why am I the one with the baby?
I decide to try calming her down by singing. I rock her in my arms as I let my voice take over the air around us.
"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm a girl, a girl who has everything?"
It must be pure luck because the child miraculously stops crying.
"Look at this trove, treasures untold. How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you'd think, sure, she's got everything."
In the middle of my amazing (eh, not too terrible) broadway performance, the annoying sound of the doorbell goes off again. Gugh, that doorbell brings bad news. My dad goes past us and heads to the front door. I can hear the faint sound of my dad saying, "Come in!" and "She's in here!".
I think it's safe to assume that my location has been leaked by my father. I must be used to the betrayal by now. I look dramatically at a window. Damn it, the blinds are closed and it takes away that drama effect!
Maggie starts to cry at the second I stop singing and I rush to continue the lyrics to that little mermaid song.
"I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty. I've got whooz-its and whats-its galore. You want thingamabobs? I got 20. But who cares? No big deal. I want more. I want to be where the people are. I want to see, want to see 'em dancing. Walking around on those, what do you call them?"
"Feet." another voice says. I turn around to see James standing at the doorway to the room, clutching an envelope. "Flipping your fins you can't get too far. Legs are required for jumping, dancing. Strolling along down a, what's that word again? Street." he sings, his voice low and smooth like silk.
Deciding to become Troy Bolton all of a sudden, are we?
I look at Maggie in case of the very likely event that the voice of a probably possessed Jameson Bryer has scared her motionless. Instead, the baby is fast asleep. What? Again, what? His voice is the one that put her to sleep? The same one that rattles my eardrums each morning?
Unbelievable. Even my barely a month old cousin has given in to his tactics. It must be sorcery or wizardry or something!
I place Maggie back in her car seat and drape the blanket over it again.
"What do you think you're doing? Using sorcery on my cousin like that to make her fall asleep!" I whisper-yell at James.
"Not my fault that my voice is more appealing to the ear than yours." he shrugs, smirking at me.
Grrrr... He insults my boobs, now my voice? I'm actually ready to drop kick his butt right now.
"What are you even doing here?" I ask.
He just hands the envelope to me. "I forgot to give this to you. I said that I'd pay you for your precious time."
"I don't want your money." I state.
"It's not money." he tells me.
"Then what is it?"
He just shrugs, gives me a mischievous grin and walks casually out of my front door. Told you he's a weirdo.
***
10:45p.m. I squint at my bedside clock. Maybe if I stare a bit more, I'll finally fall asleep.
This is terrible. This is horrible. I hate this. I hate waiting for sleep to come over me. I went to bed at 9:30ish and I'm still not falling asleep. 9:30! You go to sleep at 9:30? Fun fact: I don't like staying up past 10. I can't stay up past 11 without waking up in the morning with a massive headache. So yes, I sleep early.
You can't wake up gorgeous without your beauty sleep! Let's cue my winking face.
Beep! Beep! My cellphone lights up on my side table and I shift over, extending my arm to reach it. I turn it on and I almost scream.
Light...bright...eyes...dying...help...
I quickly enter my password and like a ninja, I turn my brightness down to 0 which doesn't help AT ALL by the way! I open my message to see a number that I do not recognize.
647-001-020: Hey Lara! Could you help me in french? Could you translate a paragraph for me by tomorrow morning? My french project is due second period.
Me: Who's this?
647-001-020: It's Xander!
Me: Oh, ok.
647-001-020: So you'll help me?
Me: Hahaha...no. Do your own work. I'm sleeping rn.
This, this right here is what I hate! This dude probably didn't even know my name since a minute ago! We've shared a few classes but did he ever talk to me? No. So please, forget my existence if you're planning to use me as a translator.
I swear, where do these people get my number? How does this even work?
647-001-020: Please Lara! C'mon, we're friends!
Me: -_-
647-001-020: You can't refuse me! You're lucky that I'm even talking to you!
Excuse you?
Xander isn't just a regular dumb, cheating dude. He's a football quarterback dumb, cheating dude. He's also a womanizer and ego-maniac. So basically another version of James. He's friends with James but not close friends or anything. So yeah, I hate him too.
I'm beginning to realize that the more people I encounter, the more people I hate. Wow.
Me: Wow. I'm honoured...but I need my beauty sleep. Oh, and you're a jerk. Being conceited never looks good on anyone btw. Goodnight! :)
Time to press the "block number" button now. Buh, bye honey! Don't you just love ending your day with goodnight text messages? It makes me feel all fluttery on the inside. I go to the LKJC group chat. They still haven't replied and they've all seen the message!
I put my phone on silent so that it doesn't disturb me again and place it back on the nightstand. Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep! I'm not even thinking about anything! What the heck? Why won't my brain just let me sleep! Gugh.
Hey God, I know I prayed like...an hour ago since I thought that I was going to go to sleep, but could you please let me sleep now? I really want to sleep. Please? I pray silently, hoping that God will just snap his fingers and let me go off into my dreamland.
Finally, sleep overcomes me and I drift away to a dreamland where everything is perfect. Where everything is the way it should be.
Oh, and is it too late to change my number?
Happy Friday!
I had a monstrous headache last evening so I did nothing except sleep. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter! Sorry, I just had to make the guy have good vocals! Sadly, I haven't heard a guy sing the little mermaid before. Lol. Remember to vote if you did like the chapter. And comment 'cause I loooove reading comments! See you guys next week!
-Summer
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