Hey, guysss! I'm back with another chapter. I'm done with my tests for now so I figured I'd update for you guys. Thanks again for your continued support. I can't believe we just hit 6'5 k reads, I never thought this book would get this much recognition. Thanks to all of you for making that true. So... As always, please comment down below and vote, and make sure to add this story to your reading list if you enjoy it :)
"Oh Em Gee!" Andie's mom exclaimed, making Andie jump in surprise.
Dakota's head instantly snapped in her direction.
"What the hell is going on? I get called off at work because my son is a rebellious little shit... to find my daughter... skipping class... with her friends?"
Andie's heart jumped to her throat.
Life was being a bitch again.
Words jumbled in her mouth as her tongue twisted into ways she didn't even think possible.
"I–" Andie stammered. "I felt sick, and I threw up, and I had to leave class, and they decided to help me, and walk me home, and make sure I was okay." she rambled in a single breath.
Andie didn't like lying. However, in this case, it wasn't a full lie since she actually had to leave class. Her nervousness always gave her away, which played an important part so as to why she hardly ever lied.
"Oh, really? Then you wouldn't mind if I called the school to check if they gave you permission to leave, right?" Andie's mom asked, giving her daughter a stern look. "You can't fool me, young lady... If you're too sick for school, then you're too sick to hang out with your friends. You're safe for now because I have to deal with your idiotic brother, but I'll come back to you..."
Cautiously eyeing Andie for one last time, her mom turned around and walked out of the living room. Andie gestured, shooting herself with her fingers and dramatically toppling to the floor. Shooting her an apprehensive glare, Josh switched positions to the bean bag next to the couch to keep Andie within sight.
"What the fuck was that?" Dakota rolled his eyes. "Your excuses suck major whale cock! I swear a toddler could do better than that..."
"Sometimes, I feel like I'm on autopilot and shit just spews out of my mouth."
"You bet!" Dakota replied, slamming his hands on the table to get everyone's attention. "Now let's get back on track! That pompous bitch isn't going to mess with my friend and live to tell the tale!"
Josh pursed his lips. "I'm just concerned about Andie. I didn't sign up for a revenge plot."
"Anyway..." Dakota shunned him. "Listen, I just had a stroke of genius," he halted, a haughty laugh escaping his lips. "Which I always do. Now shh!" he ordered, bringing a finger over to his lips. "We're gonna be needing some bleach... Lots of it..." Dakota chuckled devilishly, rubbing his hands together with excitement. "I found out that bleach is to grass what Greer is to Andie, so it's a perfect analogy... Let's have Andie pour out her feelings using bleach on the bitches' lawn! It'll never grow back, so really fucking tear a new one."
"That's messed up, Dakota. Even by your standards!" Josh shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. "That's like permanently damaging their property and we can get jailtime for that! Let's try something a little less far-fetched."
Josh peered over at Andie to make sure she was okay. He absentmindedly stared at her before Dakota spoke again.
"Hmph, whatever... Tell me when your balls drop, kid!" Dakota scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance. Laying back on the couch, he laced his hands behind his head.
"Okay, so the bitch likes to fuck around, huh? She thinks she can use that skanky bimbo bod to screw anything that moves... Then we'll give her that!" he snapped his fingers, snickering. "And who likes to fuck more than lonely sexually deprived men jerking off in public bathrooms? We just need to plaster her number at every stall we see. And you sweet-ass delinquent–" Dakota halted, raising his voice and looking at Josh intently. "are gonna be the perpetrator of this all..."
Josh's head snapped to the side suddenly, and he gave Dakota a puzzled look.
"So, you better move that pasty white butt, or I'll slap you so hard you'll be shitting teeth. I wanna see those digits at every dirty-ass backwoods gas station. Am I making myself clear?"
"Wait what?!" Josh protested, giving Dakota a stone-cold stare. "You actually want me to willingly spend my gas money driving to every bathroom in town for you?"
He stood up, trying to assert dominance over Dakota. Yet he knew nothing could phase him. "No way in hell, Dakota. No such luck. I'm not doing that!"
Dakota locked eyes with him, not blinking or showing any signs of receding. A small smirk slowly painted itself across Dakota's lips as, in his mind, he was already a step ahead.
"Are you sure you wanna go down that route?" Dakota sneered, getting his phone out and fumbling with it. "Cause I got that Russian buddy of yours on speed dial. And you know how worked up he gets when he can't find his favorite drink, especially on a Friday night..." he shot Josh a death glare.
"What was his name again?" Dakota scratched his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. "Smirnovsky? Smirnov? Smirno–?"
"Okay, okay!" Josh cut him off before Dakota could expose him. The last thing he needed was Andie finding out how irresponsible he was. "I'll do it. I'm sure there are hundreds of guys with her number, so I guess it can't be traced back to me."
Josh's could feel his muscles relaxing as some weight had been taken off his shoulders. Nobody would single him out when Greer had so many contacts; especially, when she was known for her shitty diva attitude, which equalled enemies everywhere.
"Sweet ass-tastic to the max!" Dakota snickered.
"Alright," Josh hissed an aggravated sigh. "Look, you got what you wanted. Are we done now?"
"Done?!" Dakota emitted a ridiculing cackle as he jabbed Josh. "Are you kidding me? We're barely getting started. This is just like a warm up... Trust me, shit's about to get real."
He reached down his backpack, and got out a notebook and a pen. "Lemme elaborate on this for a while."
Josh nodded absentmindedly. He turned his head in Andie's direction as Dakota mumbled to himself and wrote down several revenge ideas.
As his eyes fixated on Andie, Josh noticed she'd shifted to the side, her back facing them. Planting his elbows on his legs, he rested his head on his palms, his gaze bathing over her resting form. The girl he'd known for what felt like his entire life had reverted to this childlike innocent state as she cocooned herself into a little ball.
In his eyes, she looked so fragile; as if the faintest breeze would make her crumble to dust. Josh could see her clothes slightly wrinkling with the rhythm of her breathing. Andie seemed to have dozed off after having worried herself to exhaustion for way too long.
A few moments later, Andie let out a single, off-tune, very uneven snore. However, it was loud enough to snap Josh out of his trance, and completely stop Dakota's thoughts. Josh shook his head as Dakota tried to stifle a laugh.
"Wow, what a catch!" Dakota teased, scooting closer to Josh and nudging him.
Josh chuckled slightly, playfully pushing Dakota's arm away.
"You heard that? You better get used to that, kiddo. I hope you're a heavy sleeper, or else looks like hippo grunts are gonna be the soundtrack to the rest of your miserable nights. All women are like that; they start out all nice and dolled up, and in a few years they get overly-comfortable and start collecting pounds like bath bombs."
"Thankfully she's facing away. I'd hate to see that drool-crusted face..." Dakota grimaced.
Dakota raised his eyebrows, chuckling as an idea popped into his mind. He tore a piece of paper from his notebook, crumpling it up.
He aimed for Andie, but before he could throw the paper ball at her, Josh grabbed his forearm.
Josh bowed his head over him and spoke in a gruff voice. "Look at her, Dakota. She's worn out! It looks like she hasn't slept in days. How about we let her rest for a while?"
"Whatever, chump!" Dakota scoffed, dropping the crumpled paper ball. "I can't concentrate over the snores of your hippo, anyway."
Gathering his belongings, he threw his backpack over his shoulder, and stood up from the couch. As he made his way out of the living room, Dakota sneakily peered back, waiting for Josh to turn his attention back to Andie or to check his phone. After he did so, Dakota tiptoed his way up the stairs, following the very faint whispers of voices that led him outside Alec's room.
A small smirk creeped over his lips as he leaned up against the door, eavesdropping on their conversation. This was the juiciest drama he'd be getting today, so he couldn't miss it.
"What were you thinking?" he could hear Andie's mom talking in an aggravated tone. "Is there something in that nut brain besides football, girls, and partying? What if they sue us?"
Dakota huffed out a breath. He was starting to understand Andie – her mom was certainly a bitch.
For once, Dakota felt lucky that his mom let him run at his own pace and fuck up whatever he wanted to. Teenagers need to mess up and learn from their mistakes; lecturing them and going on and off about the worst that could happen will never help.
He couldn't wait to hear what Alec was going to to reply.
"He was talking shit about me! He thinks he has a right to party for speaking so awesome..." Alec countered in a gruff voice. "He's like 'Oi, mate! I come from the land down under. The dingo ate my baby. Throw shrimp on the Barbie!" he mimicked in a whack Australian accent, frustration clear on his tone. "Well, guess what... We already have a quarterback and a ladies man. That choch needs to fuck off!"
Wow.
Dakota wasn't expecting that. Did Alec just lie to cover up for Andie? What had happened with the whole bro-zone macho act?
This new facet of him Dakota was starting to like.
"What the hell?" Andie's mom protested, her tone slightly rising.
Dakota pressed his ear further against the door, not wanting to miss any detail.
"And you had to tackle him and punch him in the face repeatedly?!"
"He'd been asking for it since Friday; laughing at my fucking face, and treating Andie like shit..." Alec tapered off. "I actually made it two days without losing my temper. That's like a whole new record," he chuckled.
Even though Dakota couldn't see him, by the tone of his voice, he was sure Alec would have this shitty smirk across his face like he's proud of himself.
"Like, c'mon mom! You gotta admit that's pretty incredible, even for me." Alec let out a cocky laugh.
There was silence for a couple of seconds.
Dakota rolled his eyes. He imagined Alec's mom was probably shaking her head in disappointment upon hearing such a stupid revelation.
"Hey, mom check out these guns!" Alec grunted all of a sudden, moaning like a girl.
Suddenly, a slapping sound was heard on the other side of the door.
Dakota closed his eyes, wincing as he cupped a hand over his mouth.
Ouch.
Turns out their mom also had a tendency to slap people – which in this case, he let it slip; Alec made everyone want to fucking hit him.
"Ugh! You're a lost cause! Your dad raised you like a fucking animal!" Andie's mom groaned. "I'm going to check on Andie. Do not move!" she ordered in a stern voice, an exasperated breath tumbling out of her mouth.
"Glad that motherfucker is out for good..." she cursed under her breath as she reached the door.
Dakota panicked, the breath hitching in his throat when he heard her footsteps approaching. His eyes widened as his brain seemed to be reaching farfetched connections; his jaw was tight with unsoothing tension. Dakota was frozen with fear as he waited in silent trepidation to get caught.
He watched how the door handle slowly jiggled, its light twisting and ticking sound making him grow uneasy with anxiety. Suddenly, it stopped moving altogether.
Dakota sighed in relief.
He took a few blind steps back without any further delay, his gaze still fixated on the door.
"Shit!" he muttered after his back collided with the hard aisle wall.
Dakota clamped a hand tightly over his mouth when he realized he'd voiced his thoughts aloud. He turned around for a split second, hoping he hadn't given himself away.
He had to admit he had slow reflexes today; he'd been close to getting busted twice.
"You'd better be ready. When I get back, you're gonna see a real gun show." Alec's mom deadpanned as Dakota started to walk away.
Though, before he could make it too far away, the door opened. Behind it stood Andie's mother, looking very confused. Dakota spun on his heel, trying to hurry down the stairs as he felt the weight of her stare burning a hole in the back of his head.
"Hey!"
Dakota stopped abruptly, his arms dropping by his sides when she addressed him.
"I thought I told y'all to go!" she snarled, the disdain in her tone cutting him.
Dakota turned around hesitantly, leaning an elbow against the stair handrail. With a nervous chuckle, he forced a smile as his mouth slowly stretched into a rictus.
Before he had a chance to speak, the thumping of heavy footfalls filled the house, making the ground shake with ferocity. Dakota feared for a moment they'd get caught up in the middle of an earthquake again, especially since they were in an area of high seismic risk.
However, his aggravation was pushed aside as soon as Alec made his way out of the room.
Dakota found it hilarious as Alec stood beside his mother, making her look like a dwarf next to him. Any funny thoughts were pushed off his mind when they both eyed him down mercilessly.
Finally, he understood the meaning of being 'a deer in the headlights'. He felt ashamed of himself; he usually was on top of his ninja game, but today he was being dense as fuck.
With a raise of his brows, Dakota planted his hands on his hips.
"Y'all need to stop undressing me with your eyes. I know I'm irresistible. But please, at least have some decency." Dakota retorted, feeling irritated under their accusatory stares.
Alec tensed up, inhaling sharply. He nudged his mom aside before lurching forward.
Dakota flinched as Alec approached, fearing he'd push him down the stairs. However, he was surprised when Alec only clasped his hands on his shoulders.
"What are you doing here?" Alec inquired in a stern voice.
"Wait a minute–" he paused briskly, his eyes widening as if he'd just had a revelation. "Andie!" he growled before bolting down the stairs, Dakota and his mom following suit.
Rushing down, Alec stopped dead in his tracks as he reached the living room.
His sister was lying on the floor, unmoving. However, that didn't strike him.
Sitting down on their beanbag was none other than his ex-friend, shoulders slouched as the fucker stared at his sister like a fucking pervert.
Seeing this horny, untrustworthy, and backstabbing asshole hounding like a rabid dog over his – now vulnerable and exposed – little sister sent him into a fiery rage.
"Yo! Why is my sister on the floor?!" Alec roared, his blood boiling as he clenched his fists.
Josh turned around in surprise, standing up abruptly as soon as he heard Alec's penetrating voice. They locked eyes for a couple of seconds, bewilderment shining on Josh's.
"Why were you staring at my sister like a fucking creep?" Alec snapped as he stepped towards Josh slowly and menacingly.
Unbeknownst to them, Andie started to stir in her sleep, the sound of her brother's irritating voice slapping her back into the cold, cruel world.
Josh's brow furrowed, one corner of his mouth pulled down in concentration.
"I... Uh–" he stammered, his eyes darting around as he struggled to come up with a response to appease Alec.
"Hey!" Andie's mom interrupted them as she walked into the living room. "What's going on here?"
Andie propped herself up with one arm, rubbing her eyes with balled fists to help them adjust to the sudden commotion that had erupted around her. She was too groggy to comprehend what was happening at the moment.
Was she still dreaming?
"I-I was just making sure she was okay." Josh tried to explain, stuttering as he nervously ran a hand through his hair.
The atmosphere was so heavy that the tension could be cut with a knife.
Suddenly, the microwave beeped. All heads snapped towards the kitchen where Dakota was making himself some popcorn.
"Whattda?" Andie whispered in confusion, tilting her head to the side.
As he strode over to the living room, Dakota got weird looks from everyone.
"What?" Dakota shrugged. "Don't mind me. Keep going!" he encouraged as he stuffed his mouth with popcorn.
Andie rolled her eyes, shaking her head in annoyance.
Taking a deep breath, Josh glanced over at Andie for a few seconds before his attention focused back on Alec. His brows wrinkled in an untangled mess as he voiced his concerns.
"Your sister is feeling horrible today and you didn't even notice," he spoke sternly. "God, Alec, open your eyes for once."
Glancing back down at Andie, he apologized on Alec's behalf. "Sorry. I hope you feel better."
For what couldn't have been more than a second, but felt like an hour, everything around them seemed to dim into silence. Not even the slightest noise could break the intense focus between them. Andie and Josh locked eyes, their gazes unwavering and searching one another as Josh's face was painted over with concern.
Dakota crackled popcorn ceaselessly, sneering as he stared at them.
"Hot damn, I'm so into his..." he chuckled under his breath.
Josh turned away from Andie, giving Dakota a menacing glare.
The sudden motion jolted Andie out of her trance.
"Wait..." she managed to muster up in a soft whisper.
However, Josh didn't stop.
Their front door slammed shut a few seconds later, leaving Andie on the floor with nothing but intrusive thoughts. She felt more alone than ever as an overwhelming feeling of confusion nagged her.
"Alec, please go upstairs!" his mom ordered, not taking her eyes off Andie. Her hands were on her hips as she tapped her toes impatiently. "Me and your sister need to talk."
Dakota chewed on more popcorn, walking over to them enthusiastically as Alec left.
"Dakota, you should leave too." Andie's mom continued as she glared at Dakota vehemently. "Your parents must be worried."
Dakota lifted his shoulders in a dismissive shrug.
"Okay, whatever, but I'm taking the damn popcorn with me!"
Stuffing his face as he headed for the door, Dakota left a trail of popcorn behind him.
Andie's mom folded her arms in front of her chest as she towered over to her daughter.
"I'm not going to repeat myself again, Andie Deb Fixler. What the hell is going on? Why are you not in school?" she inquired in an accusatory tone.
Andie sighed, feeling as though her head was about to explode.
"I already told you... I wasn't feeling good, I vomited and I needed to lay down, so Josh brought me home. And you know how Dakota is."
"Just go to your room, Andie!" her mom commanded, uncrossing her arms and dropping them to her sides. "I can't handle either of you right now."
Andie stood up as her mother left to cook dinner. She waded upstairs, holding her head with both hands as she combed her fingers through her hair.
Once inside her room, she collapsed onto her bed in utter exhaustion.
"What a perfect topper to a perfect day!"
Andie huffed a breath in defeat. She felt completely drained, both emotionally and physically, after such a hard day. Coupled with the fact that Dakota, and even her own mother, refused to back off, she couldn't cool off for even a minute.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a strong vibration in her pocket.
Fishing her phone out, Andie unlocked it and shifted through a sea of unread messages. She hadn't realized she had so many notifications, the craziness of today's events pulling her so far out of reality that she couldn't grasp the basic things she did everyday. There were texts from Courtney, Imogen, Dakota, and Josh.
She pressed on Josh's without any hesitation, as if her finger was magnetically drawn to those four letters.
From: Josh
Sent: 4:39 P.M.
Seen: 4:45 P.M.
Hey Andie, just wanted to make sure you're fine.
She quickly typed a reply, a slight smile curving over her lips.
From: Andie
Sent: 4:45 P.M.
Seen: 4:45 P.M.
I'm okay, I think... Hey, thanks for talking me off the ledge today.
From: Josh
Sent: 4:45 P.M.
Seen: 4:46 P.M.
You really don't have to thank me. What good friend wouldn't have done that? I want you to feel better soon, okay? Get some rest.
From: Andie
Sent: 4:46 P.M.
Seen: 4:46 P.M.
Thanks again <3
Andie stared up at the ceiling, feeling relaxed for the very first time that day. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, embracing the peaceful silence around her as her phone lay rested on her chest. Yawning, she stretched her arms out, her eyes suddenly heavy.
As she stole a quick glance back at her phone in anticipation of Josh's reply, her eyes began to slowly shut and she drifted off to sleep – the first peaceful slumber after a couple days of nothing but a living hell.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please vote and comment down below. Peace out! :)