"WAIT, WHAT IF she's still mad at me? What'll I do then? Just sit there and look like an idiot?" Parker says, roughly dragging a hand through his hair, his other hand holding Leo's coffee.
"She's gonna forgive you. Leo isn't the type to hold a grudge." I pat his cheek, but he just swats me away.
We walk down the hall where I can see Leo and Sam talking at his locker, which is a few down from mine.
When they notice us, Leo gives me a quick smile but it falters when she sees Parker next to me. Sam just looks up from his phone and gives me a little smile, before very obviously and obnoxiously raking his eyes over my body.
I roll my eyes and mouth, "Dickhead."
He just laughs, shaking his head a little. A tiny grin crosses my lips, but I try to keep my face straight. He sees this and smiles, biting his bottom lip.
My stomach dips but I ignore it, quickly taking a sip of my coffee.
We walk up to them and I grab Sam's arm, dragging him over to my locker so that Leo and Parker can talk.
"Babes, I've been waiting for you to finally come to your senses," Sam says, tugging on my arm and pulling me to him, so close I'm almost pressed up against him.
His olive eyes bore down at me, skimming over my lips and chin.
"That's not what I'm doing," I snap, pulling away from him and rolling my eyes.
"I could've sworn it was from the way you hesitated before stepping back." He shrugs and takes the coffee from my hands. Again.
"Give it back, Sam." I reach for it, but he holds it above his head.
"Well, not when you ask like that." He pouts down at me, shaking his head.
"Sam, can I please have my coffee back?" I deadpan, glaring at him.
"I could be persuaded with a kiss," he shrugs, taking another sip.
"Not worth it."
His face falls and he says, "Madeline Jane, I am wounded."
"Sammy, could you please give it back?" I ask, even going as far to give him a smile.
He sighs and hands it back to me, a dumb smirk on his face.
I press my back to my locker and look over at Leo and Parker, who look pretty good. Leo is smiling up at him, holding the coffee in her hands, and Park is standing close to her, playing with a piece of her blonde hair absentmindedly and saying something.
I smile. They're cute.
"Did I tell you, you look amazing today?" Sam asks, standing beside me and tugging on the sleeve of my sweater.
I kinda look like an old lady, but I dig it. I'm wearing a pair of mom jeans with a maroon sweater tucked in the front and white converse, my hair in two messy braids. Not French, I went the lazy way today and just plaited them.
"You didn't." I murmur, before taking a sip of my drink.
His smirk grows. "Well you do."
"I know." I assure him.
He raises his eyebrows, nodding. "Good."
Before we can say anything else, Leo and Parker walk back over, hand in hand. She has a pleased smile on her face and he looks a little annoyed.
"Sam, Parker has something he wants to say to you." Leo starts, smiling proudly.
"What's up, Parker?" He smirks at him.
When he doesn't say anything, Leo kicks his foot and lets go of this hand, pushing him towards Sam.
"Sam, I'd like to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. It was inappropriate." Parker says, almost monotonously.
"There wasn't much heart in it, was there Leo?" I ask, prompting my brother to glare at me and Sam to grin.
"No there wasn't." She shakes her head, nudging Parker again.
"Sam, I'm really sorry. That was inappropriate behavior and I shouldn't have said that." He tries again, his voice at least having some emotion to it.
"I forgive you. That was a very heartfelt apology, Parker. So... I don't know, meaningful. It felt really personal too. Thank you." Sam says, holding a hand to his heart.
I snort out a small laugh, making him glance down at me and grin, giving me a wink. I just roll my eyes, still laughing.
When I look back up, Park is staring down at Leo. "Was that good?" He asks quietly.
She nods and smiles, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. A light blush comes over his heavily freckled cheeks, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
He's smitten.
"Alright, well I have to get to class, you two are sickeningly sweet." Sam says, pushing off the wall and heading towards class. I trail behind him, giving the two a small wave.
When I catch up to him, he looks down at me and says, "That was cruel. I think I'm rubbing off on you."
He grins and puts his hand out for a high five. I laugh and give it to him, rolling my eyes.
~•~•~
"Did you see their already advertising the winter formal?" Leo says around a mouthful of food.
I shake my head and say, "We didn't do that at our old school, what is it?"
"It's like prom, but winter themed. They do actually prom in April, but this is a smaller version." Sam supplies, chewing on an apple slice.
I nod.
Leo gasps loudly, choking on her food a little. She coughs and Sam looks over at her, patting her back and handing her his water bottle. She chugs some water and once she's got air into her, she says, "Do you think Parker will ask me?"
"You almost choked over that?" I ask incredulously, laughing a little.
"Yes! I've- I've never gone and imagine if he asked me! That'd be so cute!"
Soon, Parker comes back and sits down beside Leo, his usual spot recently.
She tries to act normal, but she's smiling and has a blush on her usually pale cheeks.
"Did you see the posters up for the winter formal, Park?" I ask, resting my chin on my fist. Her face goes a darker shade of red but her smile stays in place.
"Uh, yeah I did."
"You think you'll go?" I ask, and I can see Sam grinning.
"Probably. Why're you asking me this?" He replies, squinting at me as he takes a bite out of his sandwich.
"Dunno. Just thinking." I shrug, going back to my food.
Sam opens his mouth to say something, which is still grossly full of chewed up apple, when a girl who has to be a senior comes up behind him. She's gorgeous, with long jet black hair and dark blue, almost violet eyes. She has high cheekbones, porcelain skin, and full pink lips.
She taps on his shoulder for him to turn around, and when he does she leans down and whispers something in his ear. He quickly stands and goes to follow her, before turning around again and saying, "I'll see you guys."
Then the leaves, pale faced. With the girl.
I'm not sure why but I straighten a little and look back down at my food, digging the toe of my shoe into the floor of he cafeteria a little too roughly.
"Who was she?" Parker asks, making me look up.
"Uh, I'm not sure." Leo says, chewing her lip.
I pick up my phone and pull up insta, scrolling through that instead of thinking about who the hell that was.
"Mads!"
My head snaps up and I look at Parker, who's staring at me.
"What?"
"You were zoning out. I was asking if you had practice this afternoon." He replies, shaking his head a little.
"Uh, no. First practice is tomorrow." I murmur.
"I told you!" Leo says proudly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Maddie's just usually really organized in that area." He shrugs, his arm going back around her waist.
"I can be organized too."
"I've seen your locker, no you cannot." Parker says, laughing a little.
"Hey, my locker's a mess but you'll never see a more organized calendar." I say, raising my eyebrows. He just nods, putting his free hand up in surrender.
~•~•~
I'm sitting in the bleachers, reading some book I borrowed from the library while I wait for Parker to finish practice.
Sam always drives me home, but he didn't show up again after he left, ditching all his classes and never even sending me a message explaining how he wasn't going to drop me home. I know I sound entitled, but I do like our drives. They're fun.
"What're you reading?"
I look up to see Sam sitting down on the bleacher beside me, his eyes on the book in my hands.
"Why does it matter to you?" I say, a little too harshly. I look back down to my book, reading the top line. I don't even think this is where I left off, but it doesn't matter. I'm being dramatic and I need to have something to do.
"Are you mad at me?" Sam asks incredulously.
I roll my eyes, still looking down at my book.
"Says the kid who nicked off without bothering to tell anyone where they were going, and missed all the rest of school." I mutter.
"I had to do something!"
"And what was that?" I ask, looking up at him and giving him a deadpan look.
"Rory's mom went crazy and claimed that we took her baby, and she's trying to get him back. I was informed by my cousin Isadora, who was the girl who came up to me, that I needed to get home. Social services is being weird and they wanted to talk to all of us again, just to make sure Rory was in a good enough home. So I'm sorry I didn't decide to tell you that someone was trying to take my little brother away, I'll inform you next time." When he finishes, his tone is snappier than mine.
My mouth falls open, my eyes flitting over his face.
"I actually came back to offer you a ride home, but I can see you're well situated. I'll leave you be." He says, his tone like acid. Then he leaves. Again.
I quickly shut the book and leave it on the bleacher, following him down.
"Sam, hold on," I try, almost tripping and falling on my face as I attempt to follow him.
He ignores me, still walking out of the gym and down the hall.
"Sam!" I grab his arm and turn him around, out of breath from running and trying to get his attention.
"Sam, I'm really sorry I just- I didn't know where you were going and I assumed, well I assumed you had just left us. For a girl." I explain, huffing as I try to catch my breath.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a shallow bastard?" He asks sharply.
"What else was I suppose to think? You're the playboy, a pretty girl comes up and whispers something in your ear, and you're gone!"
"Playboy? Madeline, when was the last time you saw me go out with a girl?" He asks, shaking his head.
I don't say anything.
"When was the last time you saw me kiss someone?"
My eyes drop to my hands.
"When was the last time you even saw me flirt with a girl? Never! I have not, for as long as you've known me, given you any reason to think I'm some playboy!"
I look back up at him and bite my lip hard, twisting the end of my braid between my fingers.
"Would you not with the stereotypes? I kinda thought you'd realized I'm not like that." He says, taking another step back from me and sighing.
"I was told you were a playboy, okay? That's what I was told when I first came."
"So between the time of you moving here, and the month we've known each other, you've never actually formed your own opinion of me? You've just gone off 'selfish, narcissistic, egotistical, pig'? Cause if so, that's incredibly sad, Maddie." He says, rolling his eyes and turning around, heading out of the building.
"Sammy!" I call, dropping my braid onto my chest and stepping forward.
"Don't pull the Sammy card, Ems." He shakes his head, not even turning to look at me.
Being the frigid bitch I am, I just huff and turn around, heading back to the gym. Parker watches me walk up the stairs, his eyebrows raised in question. I just shake my head, still climbing the bleachers.
I sit down and grab my book, but I can't focus enough to read anything. My mind keeps wandering back to how insulted Sam looked when he asked if I had ever formed my own opinion of him.
Of course I have! At first he was annoying and the playboy persona fit him nicely, but now he isn't like that as much. Sure, he'll make comments and stuff, but it's less perverted teasing now. He's nice, and he's sweet when he wants to be. And he makes me laugh. A lot.
But it's not like I haven't noticed the girls who stare at him shamelessly, those same girls sending me glares when they see us together. I always kind of figured he liked the attention, from the way he gives them winks when he catches them.
"You look pissed." Parker says, walking over to me, drenched in sweat. Ew.
"Had a long day. Can we go now?" I ask, shutting my book and turning to look at him.
"Well, I kinda figured Sam was gonna give you a ride home." He looks a little embarrassed, scratching behind his ear.
"The boys were all gonna go to dinner, but I can just drop you home."
"No, it's- it's fine. It's not even that long of a walk, it'll take me like fifteen minutes. And the weathers been nicer today, I'll make it." I say, standing up and grabbing my bag, shoving my borrowed book in with my other stuff.
"Nah, it's fine, we'll do it another day."
"Parker, go to dinner, dammit. I'll be fine." I snap, making him reel back a little.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap I'm just, I'm just tired. The quiet walk will be nice. But thank you for offering the drive." I add, my tone softer.
"You sure? The boys might kill me." He drags a hand through his sweaty hair, making me scrunch my nose up.
"I'm sure. And I'll explain, they won't get mad at you." I nod, heading down the bleachers.
"Hey, have a shower before you go in public. That's just embarrassing." I tell him, making a smile break over his face.
We walk down the bleachers, not talking. Parker kisses my cheek before jogging to the locker room, a few other boys following him.
I grab my bag and start digging through it, looking for my earphones. I know I said I wanted a quiet walk but music helps me think, and I have a hell of a lot of thinking to do.
I find them, but they're tangled. I let out a huff, sitting down on the bleachers to untangle them.
I'm sitting there, my brows furrowed as I try to untangle the huge knot that is my earphones. I should get AirPods already, this is hell.
"So you're Parker's little sister, huh?"
"I'm not his little anything, actually." I reply, not looking up at one of the boys in the team. Yes I stole Sam's words, but I kind of love the way he put it.
"An attitude, I like it." He barks out a laugh, and I just nod distractedly, still trying to fix my earphones.
I cross my legs under myself and sigh loudly, tugging on the cords, even though I know it's going to make it worse.
"Want some help, Cutie?"
"Don't call me that." I say shortly, glancing up at him to see a handsome boy who looks to be a little older than Parker.
He has curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, framed with long curly lashes.
"Done checking me out?" He asks, a little smirk on his face.
"Yeah, no, I was trying to remember who the hell you are. I know you're either Ethan Hill or Jacob Brio." I reply, looking back down at the mess in my hands. They're finally untangling a little.
"Jacob."
I stand up from the bleacher when they're untangled, and throw my backpack on.
"You coming to dinner with us?" He asks, standing as well. He shoves his hands into his pockets, rolling back on his heels.
"Nope." I grab my phone out of my back pocket and plug my earphones in, before shoving them into my ears.
"Oh, well, you're invited."
"Thanks, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check on it." I reply, going through my musical playlist. I need something upbeat and Grease is calling my name.
"How come, Cutie?"
"Because. It was nice meeting you, Jacob." I say shortly, playing Summer Nights and putting my phone in my pocket.
I can see Park, his hair still dripping onto his clean new shirt and jeans, walking over to us. Except he doesn't have the usual annoying big brother look on his face. He looks kind of pleased.
He walks over to us and says, "Princess, you met Brio?"
I nod, unfortunately having the turn my music down.
"I invited her to dinner, just so you know." Jacob tells him.
"But I said I'll pass." I say, walking over to kiss Parker's cheek quickly and say goodbye.
"Don't be out too late, Park." I call, jogging out of the gym. He just sighs and nods, a few of the guys laughing. Jacob just smiles at me, and I give him a little wave.
I play my music as soon as I get onto the sidewalk, shivering a little.
Okay, it was warmer earlier.
I silently curse myself for not bringing a coat as I walk down the sidewalk, rubbing my arms to get some friction and maybe warm up a little.
I walk for a few minutes, Summer Nights faintly playing in my earphones, when I hear, "You wanna ride?"
I turn my head to the side to see Sam driving beside me, slow enough to keep pace with me.
"Yes please," I say quickly, jogging over to the other side of the car.
I pull the door open and hop into the passenger seat, cursing under my breath when I see the slush on my shoes. This is his new car.
"It's fine, I have weather tech mats down." He says, seeing what I'm panicking about.
"Thank you." I murmur. He just nods, his eyes on the road.
"Sam, I'm sorry."
He just lets out a small sigh, puffing his lips out.
"I know you're not a shallow bastard, okay? You've been great to me and I've been a bitch. I guess- I don't know, it annoyed me that this chick I'd never met could just take you away. You were with us." I explain, playing with my fingers and tugging on my sweater sleeves.
"So you were jealous?" I can hear the smugness in his voice.
"I wasn't jealous. I was annoyed, cause we're your friends." I reply, staring down at my hands.
"No you weren't, you were jealous!"
"I was not!" I snap, glaring up at him.
"Yes you were!"
I open my mouth to shout something but nothing comes out, leaving me looking like a fish out of water.
He laughs loudly and I feel my face heat up, sliding down farther in my seat.
He keeps laughing for an unnecessary amount of time, and I just look out the window, a deep scowl on my face.
When he finally quiets down, we drive the rest of the time in silence. When we pull up in his driveway, he lets out a small chuckle.
"Admit it, MJ. That was funny." He says, leaning over the console to poke my arm.
"It wasn't," I say, climbing out of the car.
"Ems! I'm teasing you!"
I turn my head to hide my smile as I walk over to my driveway.
"Maddie!" He grabs my hand and turns me around, and I don't fight him. He must've been expecting me to pull against him more, so I'm roughly pulled into his chest.
Our chests are smashed together, one of his hands holding my arm, the other wrapped around my waist. I stare up at his bottle green eyes, my heart going way too fast.
"L-let me go." I say weakly, barley even trying to pull back.
His hand slides down my arm and to my waist, winding around me and pulling me closer.
"Do you deny you were jealous?" He asks quietly, his thumb tracing shapes into the small of my back.
"I wasn't jealous." I say, a little firmer than before.
He smirks and dips his head, bringing his face down to my neck. His oddly soft lips run over the sensitive skin, his lip ring cold. My hands fist the hem of his tee shirt without meaning to, my eyes shut tightly.
"Were you jealous?" His lips brush my skin, making me let out a small breath I didn't realize I was holding in.
"No,"
He presses his lips fully to my neck, right under my jaw. I melt a little, accidentally leaning against him when it feels like my knees might give out.
The sound of a car honking loudly pulls me out of the trance, and I jump back from Sam.
I glance around, my chest rising and falling rapidly, only to realize it was someone down the street honking. Not one of my brothers.
Thank the Lord.
I look back at Sam, to see him looking a little dazed. When our eyes meet, the look completely fades from his face, being replaced with his signature smirk.
"You were so jealous." He tells me quietly, before turning around and walking into his house.
I stand there for a minute, not even shivering from the cold rain starting to fall, because my entire body feels like it's on fire. He's long gone, but I can still feel the echo of his lips on my skin.
I finally get my feet to move, shuffling to my front door, rain dripping down my face and making my mascara run.
I pull the door open, my hands shaking slightly.
He isn't suppose to make you feel like this!
He's Sam.
I take my shoes off and walk upstairs, sending the Twins a quiet hello, then hopping into my shower.
An hour later, I'm fresh faced and clean, changed into a pair of old sweatpants and one of the boys old shirts.
I'm sitting on the couch eating Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream. Who even needs dinner anymore? The Twins are upstairs, distracted with a school project, so I get away with it.
Without realizing it, my hand creeps up to my neck, tracing circles into where Sam's lips were.
"Hey Princess!" Ricky says, walking into the living room with Maya at his side.
"Hi," I squeak, my hand dropping from my neck so fast I knock my spoon out of my ice cream.
"Why on earth are you eating ice cream instead of dinner?" He demands, taking the tub from me and shaking his head.
"No, no, give it back, Ricky! Please!" I say, reaching up to take it from him.
"No, this is not a dinner food!" He shakes his head, but Maya comes up behind him and snatches the tub.
"Oh please Maverick, would you stop being so damn stuck up and be a nice big brother?" She says, grabbing the spoon from me and taking a huge bite.
She hands it back to me, her mouth full of my ice cream.
"Yeah Maverick." I reply, snuggling into Maya's side when she sits beside me. She smooths her hand over my damp hair, her other arm coming around my back.
"Maya, you're suppose to be helping me." Ricky deadpans, sitting on the recliner.
"You were being unreasonable! Let her live a little. She sixteen. You were banging people when you were sixteen, the worst she's done is have ice cream for dinner. Calm down."
I snort loudly, choking on my ice cream.
"Maya!" He says, but he's obviously fighting a laugh.
She just sticks her tongue out at him.
Ricky leaves to go talk to the Twins, and I lay my head down in Maya's lap. Well, the best I can with her baby bump in the way.
"Talk to me, Mads. What's new in your life?" She says, twirling a piece of my hair around her finger.
"Nothing much." I shrug.
"Any cute boys at Newport?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
"No," I say, laughing.
"C'mon, not even one has caught your eye?" She asks, poking my ribs.
"No, you little spy."
"I'm no damn spy! I'm here cause I genuinely care about my little sister." She says, making me laugh loudly.
"Now, tell me. There's no way you haven't seen at least one cute boy."
"I have seen cute boys, that doesn't mean I want them, they want me, or that I'd even be allowed to do anything though. So don't get ahead of yourself." I tell her, rubbing her cute little belly.
"Ooh! Tell me about him!" She whispers excitedly, grinning.
"There is not a specific boy I have a thing for, okay? There are just guys in general that I think are somewhat attractive." I explain embarrassedly.
"Tell me their names."
"Um, so there's a guy named Casper. He has nice blue eyes and brown hair. He's cute, I guess." I murmur, bringing up a guy in my geometry class.
"You don't sound very enthusiastic." She pokes my stomach and I laugh, rolling my eyes at her.
"If you really thought he was cute you'd go into a full blown speech about how beautiful he is and how he makes your your heart flutter and your head spin." She says, flicking my forehead.
"He doesn't make my heart flutter." Sam just makes my heart dip. That's all.
"So there is a real boy?" She asks, her face light up.
"N-no! I was talking about Casper!" I say quickly, my face heating up.
"No you were not! Tell me about this other boy!"
"There is no other boy, okay?" I lie, tugging on the sleeves of my shirt.
"Don't you lie to me! I've known you since you were twelve, I know the way it works." She narrows her eyes at me and I shrink under her gaze.
She's gonna be a good, albeit scary, mom.
"At least tell me what he looks like."
"I don't like him!" I snap, covering my face with my palms.
"If you don't like him then you'll have no problem telling me what your friend looks like." She grins mischievously.
"He's not my friend!" Another utterly blatant lie.
"Oh drop it, Maddie. What does he look like?" She says, peeling my hands off my face.
Knowing she isn't going to let me off the hook, I murmur, "He has green eyes and brown hair. Done."
"No, that is the most generic answer. More detail. What makes him stand out?" She probes, ever persistent.
"Goddammit, Maya. He has light green eyes, like olive green, but his right eye has two little freckle things right next to his pupil. And his hair is a dark chocolate brown, and kind of long on top. When it's wet it has a little wave to it, I guess. He's tall. Taller than Parker, which could make him intimidating, but he always has a dumb smile on his dumb face so he never is." I say, unable to stunt the flow of words once I start.
When I look up at her, she's smiling widely.
"You like him."
"I do not!" I say, sitting up off her lap and grabbing my mostly melted ice cream from the coffee table.
"Yes you do! If you're not even friends with someone you don't notice details like the little dots in his eyes or how his hair has a wave when it's wet. You like him."
"Bullshit." I snip, shoving ice cream into my mouth.
"Does he make your stomach flip?" She asks eagerly.
"No he doesn't." I shake my head adamantly.
"Does he make your heart race?"
"Nope, not at all." I bullshit like crazy, my head never stopping shaking.
"You're lying, he so makes your heart race." She says, nodding to herself.
"He does not." I eat the last bite of ice cream before putting the empty carton on the coffee table.
She stands off the couch and smiles to herself. She looks down at me and says, "He sounds lovely."
"He's hell personified."
****
ok so like i kinda like this chapter, and i hope you think so too.
thanks for reading! please vote and comment, it makes my day!
you guys want a song? probably don't but i'm still gonna give it to youuuuu
break my heart again- finneas
if you give it a listen, come back and tell me your thoughts! if you don't like it, that's chill, we don't all have the same taste. but you might find a song you loveeeeeee
- f a i t h y