"Remind why we're here again Paul?" I ask him, standing on the patio of the Collins residence, a carrot cake balanced in a container in one hand.
"Because we have to do this every Sunday," Lucas answers for his twin.
"Mum, why?" I turn to my Mother, groaning.
"Natalie, it's really rude to be asking these questions. Michelle has organised this, and you are being extremely ungratefully," Mum turns around, shaking her head at me. My mum can always make me feel guilty.
"Its not Michelle that I'm annoyed at, its her son," I tell her.
"You don't like Liam?" my dad says, confused.
"No! Liam is cute! Its the other squidgy poo I'm worried about," I say.
"Alex is cool!" Paul says, just as the door opens to reveal Alex himself.
"Hi everyone!" he says, smirking at me. Everyone greets him and I'm the last to go inside outside. He leans against the door frame and smirks again. I roll my eyes.
"I'm so cool," he says.
"Shut up," I push the cake into his chest and walk in after my family. They're saying hello to his family and I join them.
"Hey Nat," Felecia waves at me and I wave back.
"Nat!" Michelle bustles over to me and gives me a hug.
"Hi Michelle," I hug her back.
"Nat! Nat! Nat!" Liam claps his hands my way and I smile at him.
"Hey, dude," Alex comes up behind me and hugs me from the back. I twist around and shove him off me.
"Alex, don't annoy her," Jackson says, coming over to hug me, I hug him back and I see Jackson poke his tongue out at Alex as he does so and I smile. We walk into the living room.
"So! Everyone, this is the plan," Michelle says from her place on the couch, where we're all seated. "Every second Sunday, the Bennetts will come over to our place, and the Sundays in between, the Collins will go over to the Bennetts house for lunch! Just because I wanna see Sarah every week after never seeing her for a couple of years!"
Mum and Michelle smile and everyone nods at the plan, including me, to be polite. Inside I'm screaming, Nooooooooo!
I only get two days away from Alex, now I have to see him six days instead of five 😨.
"Alex and Nat, do you want to go and play tennis until lunch is ready?" Jackson asks us. "And Felecia, Lucas and Paul can go play basketball, so you're both being active."
"Yeah, and you should go play beer pong, Dad, to stay 'active'," Felecia rolls her eyes and leads the boys off. Alex and I laugh, the adults have a slight smile on their faces.
"Take Liam," Michelle hands me the baby and I take him. "He'll probably start crying if you leave without him Nat, all we heard coming out of his mouth after you left last time was 'Nat!Nat!Nat! Waaaaaaaah!'" Michelle smiles at me and I prop the baby up on my side. Liam smiles and waves at the adults as we walk away.
"So, dude, how're you?" he hooks an arm around my waist. I would push him off, but I'm holding onto Liam, so I'm stuck smelling his extremely amazing smelling cologne.
"I'm fine, thank you," I ignore him.
"How's Noah," he says, I see him clench his jaw in the corner eye. I whip my head around to face him.
"What?"
"You know, your boyfriend, Noah," he says.
"I don't know? I haven't seen him since Friday," I say, turning back around and tickling Liam's stomach.
"That's good, I'm so glad he's okay," he clenches his jaw and I turn to face him again.
"What's you problem, babe?" I ask, annoyed.
"I don't have a problem," he says angrily. I'm really confused.
"Ok, so why're you bugging me for information on Noah?"
"Because! He's an extremely dumb d*ck!"
"Ok... so?"
"I don't understand why you're dating him," he runs the hand not around me through his hair. Liam pulls on my hair and I turn to face him, dragging my eyes away from Alex.
We reach the tennis court and Alex lets go of me to get the rackets and balls. He walks back over, drops the balls in front of me, and gestures for me to hand Liam over. I hand him over and try not to think of how close he is. I turn my head away.
"You good?" he asks and I pick up a racket.
"Yeah, why?" Damn it, he noticed.
"Nothing," he walks over and puts Liam in the high chair meant for umpires. I stand over on one side of the court and Alex makes his way over to the other. He throws the ball in the air and brings his racket down on it. I hit it back to him and we rally for a few minutes before he hits one out. As he goes to collect the ball I see a smashed beer bottle beside Liam's chair. Do Michelle and Jackson even know Alex throws parties? Who cleans it up? I remember Friday night.
Did he go back and see Amanda?
Of course he did, where else would he have gone?
Ew. Amanda.
The next time I the ball comes flying at me I picture Amanda's face on the ball and whack it. Hard.
Alex is way to good for Amanda.
Whack.
Why is he even dating her?
Whack.
Does he seriously think she's still the girl that she used to be?
Whack.
Suddenly I remember something. I must stop playing because the ball suddenly comes flying at my head, hitting me square between the eyes. I fall to the ground and everything turns black.
***
"No! Blue!" I yell at my BFF.
"It HAS to be pink!" Amanda yells back at me. She looks taller than 6, thanks to the high heals she's wearing. The dress reaches down over her ankles and the sleeves of the dress are off shoulder. The color yellow really suits her, Mum made the perfect dress for Amanda. Her brown hair is half-up/half-down and travels down her back. She's shoving the pink dress towards me in her gloved hands.
I clutch the blue dress towards me and Amanda groans. "Natalie! Pink is Aurora's signature color!"
"But... in the movie her dress kept turning blue when she was dancing with prince Eric!" I whine.
"MRS BENNETT!" Amanda cups her hands and yells out the door. Mum walks into the room a few seconds later.
"Pink, definitely pink," she says, already knowing what we're arguing about.
"Mum," I complain, pouting.
"C'mon, Nat, just get changed," mum says.
"But we have all day! Can't I try them both?"
"Well, Michelle and Alex will be over soon, I doubt they'll want to see you in your singlet and underpants, honey," Mum shuts the door behind her and walks away.
Amanda helps me into the dress and I squeeze my stomach in when the part connecting the top half of the dress to the skirt. Amanda zips up the zip and brushes my hair down my back and fetches the crown.
We walk over to my floor length mirror and stand in front of it.
"Oh, wait! We forgot a few things!" I quickly run outside and grab the box of Amanda's things. I walk back in and stretch out the yellow head band, securing it around the bun that's tied, the rest of her hair is running down her back. I give her her earrings and she puts them on. I then hands her a rose and we walk into the kitchen to show Mum.
"Mummy!!! Look!" we twirl around in our dresses.
"Beautiful, girls! Do you like them?" my mum smiles and asks us.
"I love it, Mrs Bennett!" Amanda smiles so wide her cheeks turn pink.
"Would you like to keep it?" Mum asks her kindly.
"Yes! Thank you so much, Mrs Bennett!" Amanda twirls, smiling wider. The doorbell rings.
Mum smiles at Amanda and goes to unlock the door. "Michelle!" we see the women hug as we trot down the hallway behind Mum.
"Natalie!" Michelle bends down and hugs me.
"Hi Michelle! Do you like my dress?" I ask her, pulling out the skirt.
"I think it looks beautiful!" she pats my head and looks to Amanda. "You must be Amanda! How long have you two been friends?"
"Two years!" Amanda and I hold hands and grin up at her.
"Well, Amanda, you probably haven't met Alex yet, he goes to an all boys school," Michelle explains.
"No, I haven't," she says.
"Alex," Michelle pushes Alex - mister frowny face- towards us. At the sight of each other, myself and Alex both cross our arms and glare at the other.
"Hi..." Amanda, blushes when he looks at her.
"Hello," he says coldly to her and pushes his way between us, following his mother.
Amanda bursts into tears. "Why doesn't he like me?"
"Amanda?! What's wrong?"
"He doesn't like me," she cries, whining.
"You like him?" I ask, shocked.
"He doesn't like me," she keeps crying and I pat her back, we walk back up to my room and see Alex sitting there, crossing his arms and frowning.
"Mum told me to come in here," he grunts.
"This is Amanda," Amanda wipes her eyes and steps out from behind me.
"Hi, Amanda," he says. "Why're you friends with Natalie?"
"Oh, I'm not, she just invited me over," Amanda says. I turn to look at her, shocked, my mouth open wide.
"Cool," he smiles at her. "I smell food. Bye Amanda," he shoves past me and I fall to the ground. Amanda stares after him, eyes full of lust.
"Why did you say that? We've been friends for two years!" I get up and dust off my clothes.
"I didn't mean to. It just came out," she pouts at me and opens her arms. "Forgive me."
"Of course," I hug her, all is forgiven and we begin playing princesses.
***
"Nat? Natalie?" I feel hands patting my face, then a big smack from the same hands.
"Ow!" I sit up, clutching my face.
"Sorry! You passed out," Alex says, leaning down beside me.
"You didn't have to hit me!"
"It worked!" he smirks.
I grunt, looking around. We are no longer on the tennis court. I'm lying in a chair outside, under a roof so this must be some kind of outdoor entertainment place.
"You threw a ball at my face!" I suddenly remember.
"You did it to me!" he says, gesturing with his hands but grinning.
"You liked it!" I start shoving him and he keeps grinning. "You liked it! You liked hitting me with a tennis ball! You evil person!" At this point we're both laughing and I stop shoving him.
"I didn't enjoy you whacking me with a basketball, which, by the way, is ten times bigger and harder than a little tennis ball, dude," he says.
"You so enjoyed that, babe," I shove him once again and he grabs my hands and grins at me.
"Babe? Babe? What are you doing with her!" I hear a high pitched shriek from the door way inside. Amanda walks outside, furious. "Did you just call him babe?" she points manicured figure in my direction.
"Um... no, I called him .... slave, why the hell would I have called him babe?" I say, acting confused and offended.
"Why're you with him?" she huffs.
"My family is over for lunch," I answer.
"Well, go and play with Felecia or something, I need to talk to Alex about something," she orders. I raise my eyebrows and stand up, walking over to Liam where he is placed. I pick him up and turn around.
"Nat..." Alex starts.
Amanda walks over to me and Liam. "Hey Liam, remember me? Aren't you a cutie," she begins to take Liam from me. He starts crying when I hand him over. "Naw, don't be sad, little Liam, you're safe with me."
Liam wails louder. I stop myself from laughing and I see Alex look down to hide a smile.
"Um, Amanda, maybe Liam wants to come with me?" I say hestitantly. She huffs, turns around and kisses Liam on the cheek, stalking over and plopping down next to Alex, so they're joined by the hip. He puts his arm around her. She lays her head on his shoulder before she turns around to face me.
"Um, go see Felecia," she orders me, shooing me off. Liam keeps wailing. He puts his small hands on her chest and pushes, kicking his feet at her and crying.
"Nat! Nat! Nat!" he yells in his small voice.
"Well? Why're you still standing there!" Amanda says, making no move to give Liam to me.
"See ya Liam," I wave and he cries louder and kicks harder. Alex turns around, still with his hand around Natalie. I give him a half-smile and swivel around, I walk away, still hearing Liam's cries when I'm three rooms away.
***
"Hey, Nat!" I find Felecia with the boys in the games room, lounging on a bean bag while the boys play Fortnite.
"You play all the other video games but this one?"
"Yeah, I hate it," she shrugs, I smile.
"Same," I take seat next to her. She's silent, just looking around for a few minutes before she asks a different question.
"Why is Alex dating Amanda?" she shakes her head sadly at me.
"I don't really know. He did say on Friday that he thinks the old her is still there, but I have a hard time believing him. He can do what he wants," I shrug.
"I don't like her. Actually, I hate her. Sorry God," she does the sign of the cross. "Please forgive me, Amen," she repeats the action and I laugh.
"I'm with you there," I say.
"Maybe she should eat make up? I mean, she buys so much of it, it wouldn't be hard to swallow that, she'd still have heaps. It'd make her prettier on the inside," she says, smiling. I laugh.
"I think she should. We should buy her some edible stuff, I'm sure it'd work," I say, she chuckles.
"Yeah, I think she looks like Mr Potato head got burnt, we should definitely buy her some new foundation, at least," she say. I giggle at her comment.
"Maybe some new clothes would do too, she looks too much like Regina George," I say. Her phone vibrates in her pocket. She pulls it out and answers. Its an old, 19th century phone, only used for calls.
"Yeah, we'll be there soon," she says. We stand up. "C'mon guys, we're having chicken rolls," she gestures to the boys and they shut off their video game, following Felecia and me outside.
"Oh, yeah, Felecia," she stops and turns to look at me. "I forgot to tell you, Amanda's here. I think she'll join us for lunch."
"WHAT! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Felecia holds her hands out by her sides and cries to the sky. I laugh. "I don't want her heels to scrape the floor," she mumbles. The boys look at us strangely as I laugh at Felecia.
We enter the dining room and see the adults seated around the table, buttering their bread rolls and chatting.
"Hey kids," Michelle says, nodding her head and flicking her knife up t us before looking down. "Nat?" her head pops up again as she does a double take.
"Alex and Liam got caught up with some stuff," I say.
"Hurricane Amanda," Felecia mumbles.
"Ok, they'll be here soon I hope," Michelle looks to the empty chair and high chair. We nod and sit down. I'm between Liam's high chair and Felecia. I talk to Felecia for a few minutes before Michelle addresses me.
"So, Nat, what do you want to go into after school?" she asks me.
"Well, I was thinking something like a teacher or a role in a middle school, or possibly a doctor in a children's hospital," I tell her.
She smiles, nodding. "Alex wants to be a doctor too!"
"What kind?" I ask.
"He's thinking about being a neurosurgeon, but he's not sure yet," she tells me. "Oh, here he is now."
I turn my head and hear them before I see them. Liam's still kicking to get away from Amanda and he's screaming and crying. Amanda's heels echo in the corridor. Alex walks beside them.
"...Amanda," Michelle begins.
"Ms Collins! How nice to see you," she greets Michelle, a big, fake smile stretched across her face.
"Hi. What a surprise to see you here," Michelle says. She would ask Amanda to call her Michelle, but obviously the girl hasn't earned that right. Michelle looks from her baby son to Amanda uncomfortably, clearly she doesn't want him in her arms. She then looks to Alex and sighs.
They take their seats and Amanda puts Liam beside me, then walks around to Alex, who drags a chair over for her. Everyone watches it with a frown on their face.
"Nat!" Liam claps his hands and I turn to him. I tickle his tummy and he giggles, wrapping his hands around my fingers, Amanda watches with a sour expression on her face, I avoid eye contact.
The lunch continues. Amanda keep interrupting conversations, telling people her opinion on their topic.
"Ms Collins! I agree wholeheartedly," Amanda clutches a hand to her chest when Mum and Michelle start talking politics.
"Yes! Mr Collins! That is so true!" she says when Jackson talk to Lucas and Paul about football.
"Oh, Alex, you're so funny," she places her hand on Alex's knee when he laughs. Its like she's seated herself around a table of people that absolutely despise her, but is too arrogant to realize it. I stay silent the whole meal.
I feel Alex lay his feet on my knees, leaning back in his chair. I look up from my burger and glare at him, he smirks. I push my knees up and his legs knock against the table from below. Everything jumps and the salt shaker tumbles over. Michelle glares at Alex and I snort into my burger.
We are escorted to the door. Amanda is clinging onto Alex's arm as he walks. I internally roll my eyes.
"Thanks for coming!" Michelle hugs us all and waves.
"I'll text you our address for next Sunday," Mum hollers as she opens the car door waving.
"Next week?" I see Amanda mouth to Alex angrily before the door shuts. I smile quietly to myself, slamming the car door behind me.
_______________________________________
Hey everyone!
Thank you for over 2K reads! Every read, vote and comment means so much!
I tried to make this chapter long! Hope you enjoyed it!
I love Felecia and Liam. I hate Amanda.
bye!
-Abbey