"SO WHAT'S UP with your brothers?" Leo asks as we walk around the mall. It's cute and small, with barely any of choices. But I like it.
"Uh, they're just really overprotective. Like, Sam came up to me and started being annoying, so Parker decided to be a jerk and tell me I was too little to deal with boys. I know they have what's best for me in mind, but it's hard to remember that when they freak out over little things." I reply, shrugging.
She laughs lightly, shaking her head. "That's ridiculous, Maddie. Why are they like that?" She asks.
"I have a horrible dad who left us and that's kinda when they started babying me. I mean, more than usual. I know it's not all from him, being overprotective is in their nature, but I think they're scared of someone hurting me again. And they express that in the weirdest ways thinkable, but I dunno, I know they care about me." I tell her, turning and walking into a small clothes shop called Annabelle's.
She follows me and asks, "How many brothers do you have?"
"Five."
"Five? I only thought you had like two." She says, laughing a little.
"Nope. I have a twenty-six-year-old brother, he doesn't live at home though. Then I have a twenty-two-year-old brother, he's moved out, but just down the road cause, that's where his college is. Then there are the twins. They're both nineteen and still live at home. And finally, there's my brother Parker, who you saw in the picture. He's eighteen. For some reason, my parents only waited a year after having a set of twins to have another baby? I'm not really sure why, though." When I finish I'm laughing.
"Wow."
I shake my head, smiling.
"You would look gorgeous in this, M," Leo says, picking up a red spaghetti strap dress.
It's simple and tight fitting, but the materiel feels breathable enough, the dress falling to my knees.
"You could dress it up, or make it casual. It's so cute." She tells me, shoving it into my arms. I shrug and walk in the direction of the dressing room.
I step into the small room and shut the door, before trying the dress on.
It's tight-fitting, but not where I can't move. It accentuates my curves and honestly makes me feel very pretty. The only problem is the fact that the slight v neck it makes it painfully clear I have no boobs.
I glare at the mirror.
I snap a quick picture and send it to Leo, then as an afterthought, I send it to Amelia.
"Dang Maddie, you look hot," Leo says through the door.
"Yeah, except I look like a little kid who got into her mom's clothes. I'm a man child." I say, laughing.
"Psh, shut up. You're getting that."
I roll my eyes and laugh, taking the dress off and changing back into my clothes.
After paying for the dress, we start walking the mall again.
"Where do you wanna go for dinner?" Leo asks, looking down at her phone as we walk.
"Uh, I dunno. Where's good?"
"There's this place called Ruby's, you would love it." She says quickly, grabbing my arm and leading me in the direction of the exit.
~•~•~
I listen to Leo talk as I shove as many fries as I can into my mouth. These are so good.
She says something about tryouts for cheer that catches my attention.
"Yeah, apparently they got the date on the flyers wrong. They meant to put the date down as tonight but accidentally did it for next week, so they're just going to do it then."
"Oh, are you trying out?" I ask around a mouthful of food.
"Yeah, I've always kinda wanted to do it and decided to give it a try. You should do it too!" She exclaims.
"Nah, I'll pass."
"Have you ever done it?" She asks.
I shrug before nodding. "At my last school I did, but I don't think I'm ready to get into cheer again."
"We could do it together! It'll be so much fun!" She says, bouncing on her seat. She's like a five-year-old.
"Yeah, MJ, you'd look cute in a skirt."
I look over in time to see Sam plop down beside me, successfully trapping me in the booth.
"Sorry Leo, no way in hell am I doing it now," I tell her, scooting as far away from him as I can, glaring at him the whole time.
"C'mon, don't hold back on my account, Ems. You'd be great." Sam says, pretending to pout as he slides closer to me.
"You are so annoying." I flick his nose hard, glaring at him.
He pouts again and I hate the fact he looks kind of cute. But he's a pretty face hiding an awful personality.
I look over to see Leo bouncing in her seat again, a huge smile on her face and her phone in her hands. She's so obviously taking a video of us.
"Leo, delete that now," I demand.
"Leo, send that to me," Sam says quickly, slamming his hand down on the table and making her giggle loudly.
"Oh no, neither one of you are getting this, Maddie will find a way to delete it off your phone, Sam."
I groan and hit my forehead with my hand. "Why could you not just leave me alone, Sam? I wanted to have dinner with my friend."
"I'm surprised you got out of your house," Sam says, pointing one of my fries at me.
He eats it before I can snatch it back.
"What the hell do you mean?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.
"We're neighbors and lemme tell you, you and your brothers are not quiet when you argue. Plus I heard you guys yelling when you got out of the car and walked into the house."
"I'm not a baby, I can leave my own damn house when I want," I mutter, rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, tell that to your brothers. They seemed determined to keep you locked up."
"Well, you should know that the reason they're pissy with me is because of you and your stupid comments. They're convinced I'm just a little kid who needs to be protected from the big bad playboy." I say, poking his chest.
He grabs my finger and tugs me closer to him, grinning playfully, "You should be scared of me."
"Gross," I snap, pulling away from him and pressing as far back against the wall as I can.
"Most women just call me 'Irresistible'."
"Yeah, well I think irritating suits you much better." I shoot back, grabbing my phone to check who texted me.
Lia: sexy mama
Mads: If you consider a flat-chested man child a 'sexy mama' I'll take it.
I laugh as she tells me off, but I am cut off when Sam whistles, "Hello."
I look up to see his eyes trained on my photo. In the picture I'm rolling my eyes, my free hand playing with the hem of the dress, which makes it ride up a little. Nothing too scandalous, thank god, just part of my thigh.
I wasn't even posing for the picture, it's just one I quickly took. I look so obviously over the world in the photo, too.
"Hey, I didn't show you." I snap, pulling my phone to my chest so he can't see anymore.
"How come you're so gorgeous?" He winks, and I roll my eyes.
"How come you never learn to be rejected?" I ask, glaring at him.
He just smiles at me, tilting his head. "Because I like you."
"I don't like you." I shake my head.
He just shrugs, a stupid smile on his face. It's a smile that says 'I know something you don't'. I don't like it.
I look back over at Leo to see her grinning like a fool.
"What're you smiling about, dude?" I ask, flicking Sam's fingers away from my fries and chicken tenders.
"You two are really cute, that's all." She says.
"Aren't we?" Sam grabs my milkshake, taking a long sip before me kicking his shin makes him stop.
"Don't encourage his harassment, Leo." I chide, grabbing it from his hands and taking a sip.
"How do I taste?" Sam whispers, making me choke on my milkshake.
After coughing loudly for a few seconds, which makes a few people turn and look at me, I manage to catch my breath.
"Aw, did I make you blush?"
"No! My face is this red from lack of oxygen, you jerk!" I yell, kicking him again. He smirks, laughing.
I push him so he falls off the booth and I stand up. I'm done with this outing, I just want to go to bed. Sam is mentally draining to be around.
"Where are you going, pretty girl?" Sam asks, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him after he gets back on the booth.
I pull away and glare at him, walking over to Leo.
"Hey, I'm gonna call one of my brothers to come pick me up. Thanks so much for the ride and taking me out, I had fun." I tell her.
"No problem, I had fun too." She replies, standing up and hugging me quickly.
"I can drop you home, I know the way." Sam chimes in, grinning smugly.
"I would rather walk home than get in a car with you. Not only could you be a serial killer, but you're so annoying I'd more likely be begging you to kill me by the end of the drive. Hard pass."
"Actually, I think you'd be begging me to do something else." He murmurs amusedly, picking at my fries again.
"You wish." I roll my eyes. He's so disgusting.
I grab my phone and text, Parker, asking if he can pick me up. A minute later I get a reply saying they're at a restaurant and they just ordered their dinner, so he asks me to wait around until their food comes. I sigh loudly and send a reply.
Mads: It's fine, I just got a ride. I'll see you at home.
Parker: Kk
I look back up at Sam and say, "I get to control the music."
He grins and says, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
**** hey guys!
whatcha guys been up to? i made a shload of sugar cookies and i'm not even mad. thanks for reading!
please comment and vote, i really appreciate it. ily guys
- f a i t h y