I was in a bad mood.
Sam had won my bed in a game of rock, paper, or scissors and I had to sleep on the cold, hard floor. So, instead of sleeping, I shivered and twisted and turned all night. And when I finally fell asleep, someone rang the door.
I assumed it was Uranus because I made Kurt call to tell him about Sam’s whereabouts yesterday and he said he’d pick him up in the morning. I didn’t think he meant at six in the morning. Inconsiderate asshole.
I slowly got up from the floor, muttering about how Uranus was stupid and made my way downstairs. As I approached the door, I could feel myself getting angrier.
Right now, I pretty much hate Uranus. I mean, who wouldn’t? He kept the fact that their parents were dead from Sam and turned it into a story about them going to the moon. Yeah sure, it was nice that Sam had a little bit of time in blissful ignorance, but then Uranus suddenly turns around and sucker-punches his sweet, innocent seven-year old brother into harsh reality just because his girlfriend didn’t love him back, or at least didn’t say it back.
The doorbell rang again and I clenched my fist. Impatient little asshole.
I irritably flung the door open.
Uranus was standing there with a guilty look on his face. I didn’t say anything. I just silently stepped to the side, gesturing for him to come in. I was afraid if I said anything, something that he didn’t know I knew would come out.
“I didn’t mean to…” Uranus started to say.
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it,” I cut him off. “Stay here. I’ll go get him,” I said emotionlessly.
“Rena, just listen to me.”
“Why? So you can rip out my happiness and stomp on it too?” I asked coldly, turning around to look at him again.
“Holly doesn’t love me back,” he confessed, his lips sinking deeper into a frown.
“Yeah? Well, things don’t always work out, but that doesn’t mean you had to tell him like that,” I said bitterly.
“I was angry, okay? And it slipped out,” Uranus said, his voice rising a bit. Oh, so he was getting angry again.
“That’s your excuse?” I questioned incredulously. “You were angry. People get angry all the time, Uranus, but that doesn’t mean they go around punching little kids in the heart just because of some stupid relationship crap.”
I could see Uranus’s guilty look hardened into a stony composure. I could see him gritting his teeth.
“You’re such a hypocrite. How could you say that when you got angry and started spewing shit to Holly? People get angry, Serena, but that doesn’t mean they go around insulting someone like Holly because of their own stupidity,” Uranus mocked my words. “I get that you were upset at my grandma’s death, but you should have seen it coming,” he said acidly.
I clenched my fist. Did he just seriously bring that up? “Just like how you should have seen your relationship problems coming? I mean Holly’s a straight A student, student body president, head of the mathletes. Do you really think she could ever return the feelings of someone who’s barely passing physics?” I moment that left my mouth, I felt bad. But I couldn’t stop once I had started. Guilt bubbled within me when I saw Uranus’s now deflated look. “Uranus…”
When his eyes reached mine, I swear I could see fire. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean—“
“No, you’re right, Davidson. It’s almost like how I could never like a stupid, pathetic, attention whore, who lies on a daily basis,” Uranus told me venomously.
I froze. I could feel my heart sink. I knew that he knew, but I was expecting him to ignore it, not rub it in my face. I didn’t know how lowly he thought of me.
I tried to keep a nonchalant look. “I’ll go get your brother,” I said as calmly as I could and turned around to go up the stairs.
“Morning, Rena,” Kurt said groggily as he stepped from his room into the hallway. “You’re up ear—what happened?” Kurt questioned me, all signs of sleepiness faded and worry filled its place.
I tried to give him a smile, but I failed. “Uranus is here.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing, Kurt, just go take your shower. You reek of Kurtness,” I attempted to joke and went to my room to wake up Sam.
Kurt looked like he wanted to say something, but I shoved him in the bathroom. “I’m fine, Kurt. The only thing hurting me is your stench.”
I heard Kurt sigh, so I assume he was going to stay in there.
I continued my walk to my room, where Sam was still snoring. Yes, Sam snores—another thing that kept me awake all night.
Silently, I went up Sam’s sleeping figure and shook him gently.
“Sammy, it’s time to wake up,” I tried to say happily.
Sam didn’t wake up, but he rolled to the other side and mumbled in his sleep, “Trent is a butthole.” Then he started snoring again.
If I wasn’t feeling so angry and yet depressed right now, that would have probably made my day, but I only found it slightly amusing at the moment.
“Come on, Sam,” I called again, shaking him more.
“Noooo, the sun’s not up yet!” Sam whined rather cutely and placed my pillow on his face.
“Sam, do you want me to dump cold water on you?” I bluffed. I would never do that to Sam.
“I play hockey. I’m used to the cold,” Sam murmured through the pillow.
“Fine, Sam. I guess I’ll just have to go eat my Pikachu-shaped pancakes all by myself,” I bluffed once more and pretended as if I was leaving without him.
With that, Sam kicked off all my blankets off of him and jumped out of bed, dashing downstairs.
I felt guilty for lying since what was really downstairs was heartbreaking, temperamental loser, so I rushed after Sam, so he wouldn’t be alone with Uranus.
I was a few steps behind Sam when he first saw his brother. And to see him stop the moment he saw his brother was upsetting. All of his enthusiasm for Pikachu-shaped pancakes flew out the door.
“Hey, Sam,” Uranus gave his brother a sympathetic greeting.
At the sound of Uranus’s voice, Sam scampered behind me. “Santa Clown, there’s a butthole in your house,” Sam whispered not so silently.
I looked awkwardly at Uranus, who was looking at Sam with remorse. I didn’t know what to do here. Should I help Uranus out? But if I did, in a way I would be betraying Sam. But if I didn’t, Sam will probably never look at Uranus the same way again. I mean, I don’t know what I would do without Kurt.
I didn’t want to completely throw Sam back to his brother, so I turned around and squatted down to Sam’s height. “You want to go eat your pancakes?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light and unsuspicious.
“Pikachu-shaped?” Sam questioned uncertainly.
I gave him a smile and nodded. Sam nodded in agreement, so I took his hand and led him into the kitchen. On the way, I sent a discreet ‘follow us’ nod to Uranus.
“Just sit at the table, Sammy, They’ll be done in a minute,” I said, hoping Uranus will take the chance I’m giving him to talk to his brother.
Silence.
I looked back at the table. Uranus was sitting across from Sam looking as if he was trying to figure out what to say. Sam looked like he wanted to bolt.
Not a good start.
I started getting out a pan and whistling casually, hoping that that would ease the tension a little.
“Sam, I’m so, so sorry you had to find out the way you did,” Uranus started saying. Asshole.
“I’m mad at you,” Sam said right off the bat.
“Why?” Uranus asked. Asshole…
Not paying attention, I accidently poured too much batter in the pan. When I realized it, I cried out, “Shit—lalala,” I suddenly remembered Sam was in the room. “Shish kabob!” I corrected myself. “We…we don’t need shish kabobs for pancake making,” I explained my outburst to Sam and Uranus, who were staring at me weirdly. Well, Uranus was more annoyed, but yeah.
I turned my attention back on the pancakes. How the heck do you make Pikachu?
“Because you lied to me,” Sam told Uranus.
“Sam, I lied to you because I wanted to protect you,” Uranus said, sorry laced within his voice. I was starting to feel bad for him, but then I remembered he was an asshole. “You’re my baby brother. I didn’t want you to go through what I did when I found out. I didn’t want you to feel so…alone. I wanted you to keep being the happy kid you were—playing with those Legos and drawing horses on the wall.”
“Then why did you tell me?” Sam asked.
“I was mad.” Asshole.
“Why?”
“Sam, you’re too young to understand.” Asshole.
Shit. I quickly retracted my hand from the pan. When the hell did I touch that? I quickly ran my hand under cool water.
“I’m seven,” Sam objected.
“Holly—”
“She-witch”
“She doesn’t love me back,” Uranus admitted.
“You should have been happy. No more cooties.”
“Sam…”
The pancakes were done. They looked nothing like Pikachu though. It looked like a circle with two blobs on the top.
“Here you go, Sam,” I tried to say cheerfully as I laid the plate of deformed pancakes in front of him with a bottle of syrup.
“These are so cool!” Sam said happily, admiring the pancakes.
“Uhh… thanks,” I said, not sure why he thought they were amazing.
I stood awkwardly at the table, wondering if Sam and Uranus were going to continue their conversation. Uranus gave me a look that read ‘go away’. I glared at him, but I did as he wished.
I occupied myself by getting a bowl of cereal.
It was silent again.
I stared at my fridge angrily. No milk and I already poured my freaking Trix. I slammed the fridge door shut and aggressively grabbed my bowl. I hopped on the counter and ate my cereal. Plain. Ew.
Sam gulfed down the pancakes, getting syrup all over his face. It was adorable . . . and disgusting at the same time.
“I’m not that mad at you anymore,” Sam said, his mouth full of pancake.
What?
“What?” Uranus echoed my thoughts in astonishment.
“I think I knew Mommy and Daddy were dead a long time ago,” Sam admitted silently. “I think I was sad because I didn’t want it to be true, but when I woke up this morning, I wasn’t anymore.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier Sam. I just… I wasn’t ready to tell you. Are you sure you’re okay though?”
Sam nodded his head slowly. “Can…can we go visit them?” Sam asked hesitatingly.
“Of course, Aunty Sue said we could have the day off today anyways,” Uranus agreed immediately and got up to pick up his brother and hug him. “I missed you yesterday, bud.”
“Stop! You’re embarrassing me in front of Santa Clown!” Sam exclaimed and tried to wiggle his way out.
Uranus let out a chuckle and let go of Sam.
“Come on, Sam. Let’s go visit Mom and Dad,” Uranus said.
“Will you go with us, Santa Clown?” Sam looked at me pleadingly with his puppy dog look.
I nearly choked on my Trix. “You want me to go with you?” I asked in shock, looking at his hopeful face.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Sam,” Uranus said. “Serena has to go to school,” he said in a tone that warning for me not to go.
I bit my tongue. I was about to yell at Uranus again, but I didn’t that would be a very good idea with Sam still in the room. “Yeah, Sam. I don’t think it would be a good idea either. I’m sorry, Sammy. Maybe next time?” I apologized to his disappointed face.
“But—okay,” Sam was about to object, but gave up.
“Come on, Sam,” Uranus urged Sam again, tugging his brother’s hand. “Time to go.”
“Wait, Sam said and let go of Uranus’s hand.
He ran quickly over to me and embraced me in a tight hug. “Thank you, Santa Clown.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, forcing a smile, and ruffled his hair.
Sam let go of me and ran to the front door, which left Uranus and I alone in the kitchen. Uranus just gave me a silent nod and was about to go.
“Don’t mess this up again, Asshole,” I said bitterly.
“I won’t,” Uranus turned around and promised. “And thanks . . . I guess.” Then he left.
Asshole.
I never thought that I could feel so many emotions towards one person. Part of me pitied him for everything he’s gone through—his parents’ deaths, his grandma’s death, his girlfriend not loving him back. Another part of me hated him to the very core for all he’s put me through. Another part of me (the pathetic part of me) was just depressed because basically said he could never return my feelings, which I may or may not still have.
Everything just didn’t make sense right now.
It’s funny how drama used to be just a hobby of mine and now it actually is my life now.
:::x:::O:::x:::
Usually I would have loved coming to my daycare kids after a bad week, but I was dreading it. I had a bad headache and I wanted nothing more than to gorge myself with food and then sleep.
Luckily, when I walked through the door, everyone was being quiet and coloring around a table.
So now I was just chilling on a beanbag chair, watching Spongebob with a three-year old, who didn’t want to partake in whatever the other kids were doing.
It was pretty relaxing and I was starting to…. I was starting to doze off. My eyelids were getting heavy and I couldn’t keep them open any longer.
I was falling aslee—
“Sleeping on the job?”
I let out a small scream and fell out of the beanbag chair. The three-year old shushed me and then went back to watching Spongebob.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked Liam, who looked pretty proud of himself.
“Payback from the pool incident?” Liam suggested as an excuse and offered me a hand up. I took it and got up.
“What are doing here?”
“I volunteer here, remember, Miss I’ve-missed-work-for-a-really-long-time?” Liam asked teasingly.
“I’m not in the mood, Liam. Don’t push it,” I told him warningly.
“Everything okay?” Liam asked, looking genuinely concerned.
“No,” I said simply and turned around to go see what the kids were doing.
“Hi, Rena,” Amy greeted me, looking up from her work.
“Hi, Amy, what are you guys doing?” I asked looking at everyone’s papers.
“We’re writing plays,” Amy responded and looked down at her paper again.
“They’ve been working on these plays since you’ve been out,” Liam explained to me.
“Done!” Amy shouted and held up a paper with words written in green crayon.
All the other kids looked at it as if it were the Holy Grail.
“Alright, everyone. Get our actors to makeup, our sets up, and let’s do this thing!” Amy said authoritatively.
Immediately the kids ran around, setting up cardboard boxes everywhere and Amy was directing people.
“Come on, Rena. Makeup is this way,” Sophie approached me, took my hand and led me to the beanbag chair. “You too, Liam.”
“I’m an actor?” I asked Sophie as she sat me down.
She nodded. “You’re the female lead and Liam is the male lead.”
“Oh dear,” I said under my breath. I looked over at Liam. He just looked amused by this whole ordeal. Was I going to become Barney again?
“It’s a rom-com-action-drama,” Sophie explained further and starting taking out some washable markers from a box. Yeah, I was becoming Barney again.
“Oh, okay,” I said and closed my eyes, wanting to get this done and over with.
For the next few minutes, I just sat there with my eyes closed while Sophie drew on my face with markers.
“Done,” Sophie said and then turned over to Liam.
Ha. At least I won’t suffer alone.
All she did for Liam was draw a curly red mustache above his lips, but it was still hilarious.
“Amy, I’m done with makeup!” Sophie called to Amy and went over to the mini director.
“You look ridiculous,” I said honestly, trying to hold my smile.
“As do you,” Liam returned.
“Is it really that bad?”
Before Liam responded, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of me. And yeah, I did look ridiculous. Two huge, red circles were drawn on my cheeks. Green was scribbled all over my eyelids and my eyes were poorly lined with black. I didn’t really blame Sophie. I mean, I would have probably done worse with real makeup.
“Actors to stage! I repeat actors to stage!” Thomas yelled from across the room before I could yell at Liam to delete the picture.
“I guess that’s us,” I sighed and got up to go over to the small cardboard stage the kids had put up.
“Here’s your script, Rena,” Amy said cheerfully as I arrived. “And yours, Liam.”
I looked down at the green crayon. The play was titled ‘The Princess Ninja’. I wasn’t supposed to enter ‘til scene two, so I guess I had caught a break. Liam was up first.
“Ready?” Amy asked Liam, who situated himself on the stage. “And action!” she called and signaled Thomas to roll the cardboard camera.
Liam looked around awkwardly at first, but he read the script.
“Oh, how lonely I am. I wish I had someone to spend all this cash with me or someone to drink grape juice with me,” Liam said adding in a dramatic sigh.
“Cut! Scene one done. Scene two go! Get up there, Rena!” Amy directed.
I was hoping the first scene would be a bit longer but okay. I rushed onto the stage and Liam gave me a wink. Weirdo.
“And action!” Amy yelled.
The script said that I was supposed to be blending in with the background, so I did.
“Oh, how scary this forest is. I hope nothing comes out and scares me,” Liam said.
That was my cue to stop ‘blending’ and to come out with a ‘ninja stance’.
“I’m scaring you!” I yelled. Thomas probably thought of that line. My theory was confirmed when I saw Thomas throw a fist into the air victoriously.
“Ah! How could such a lovely girl like yourself scare me?”
“What are you doing in my forest?”
“Ah magnificent creature. You’re like the apple to my Adam’s apple. The Christmas to my Eve. The right atrium in my heart. By golly! I found you, my fellow grape juice drinker.”
I couldn’t go on. I was trying to keep my laughter in and I could tell Liam was losing in too. He kept on chuckling while reading his lines.
I saw Amy giving me a glare, so I tried reading my lines. “Get away from me, you creep. I’ll whoop your butt with my tiger lily kick.”
“But surely you feel it too—the connection, like between to magnets.”
The script said to kick him in the shin, so I did happily.
“Oh sorry, the ‘magnet connection’ brought my toe to your shin.”
“So, you admit there is one?”
I slapped Liam. I’m beginning to like this play.
Suddenly, Sophie jumped out with a green jacket over her head. She cutely shouted, “RAWR!”
And according to the play, Liam was supposed to be the one to scream girlishly. I was highly entertained when he obeyed the script. I nearly lost control of my laughter there and then.
“You’re such a girl!” I yelled at Liam. “I’ll take care of this myself!”
I was supposed to use my awesome ninja skills for a bit. So I just attacked the air for a bit, not wanting to hurt Sophie. And then I was supposed to get knocked out because I trip on a frog.
“No, my ninja princess!” Liam exclaimed. “I shall deal with those who dare interfere with our love!”
Liam pretended to have some magical powers to defeat the ‘monster’, but in reality, he just lifted Sophie off the stage and returned to me.
“NOOOO! My love, my fair ninja! How shall I go one without thee?” Liam shouted to the heavens as he sat by me, pretending to weep.
I have to say, Liam is a pretty good actor.
“Cut! End of scene two. Start scene three,” Amy ordered.
Scene three is where I’m stuck in a coma, so I just continued lying there with my eyes closed.
“Tell me, Dr. Penguin. Is she going to make it?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to get the potion of sheer awesomeness,” Amy said, being Dr. Penguin.
“Anything, doctor. Just tell me what I have to get,” Liam said.
“It requires the tears of true love and lemon juice.”
“I just have to cry?” Liam asked. “Okay, I’ll do it! Punch me doctor.”
“Okay,” Amy replied simply and punched Liam in the stomach.
“Oww!” Liam whined and wept, “Not that hard. I’m sensitive man.” I almost lost my composure at that line.
“Now cry into this bottle of lemon juice,” Amy instructed and handed Liam a bottle.
Liam followed her command and let one of his nonexistent tears into the bottle. Then he poured the lemon juice and tears onto me.
I was supposed to reawaken at this point so I blinked a couple of times and saw Liam and Amy hunched over me.
I read my script. “Why do I smell like tears and lemonade?”
“Oh, my fair ninja, you’ve reawakened. I was afraid I’d have to sit by the fire, singing the campfire song song by myself. Or worse—frolicking in the flowers with my imaginary frog, Hernandez. The thought of that makes my spleen go cold.”
I lost it. I started laughing there and then. His spleen? These kids were great. I loved how they made Liam seem so girly.
“Rena, stay in character. This is supposed to be romantic,” Amy hiss-whispered to me.
“I—I think I like-like you,” I said, giggling through my line.
“I’m sure I like-like-like you. Cooties haven’t crossed my mind once since I laid my eyes on my ninja princess,” Liam said. I could tell he was losing it too. Liam was saying his line through clenched teeth, trying not to laugh.
But my laughter subsided when I read the next part of the script.
There in green crayon it read:
Rena: Then you don’t mind if I do this.
(Rena kisses Liam)
“The end!” I shout early, sitting up.
“But, Rena, this is a rom-com-action-drama, there has to be a kiss,” Sophie whined, giving me a puppy-dog look from the side.
“Rena, stop trying to change my script,” Amy scolded me.
Liam just sat there, staring at me. Jerkwad.
“Reena!” Sophie whined.
“Fine, Sophie! But only on the cheek,” I agreed unwillingly. “Just stop giving me that look.”
“Okay, let’s go from Liam’s last line and action!”
“Cooties haven’t crossed my mind once since I’ve laid eyes on my ninja princess,” Liam said once again, but this time he sounded serious and he was staring at me strangely.
I don’t know why, but I suddenly just got really nervous. I mean I shouldn’t have been. I’ve done actual kiss-on-the-lips stage kisses and I’m nervous about this?
“Then you don’t mind if I do this,” I said, barely above a whisper and kissed Liam on his cheek.
“And end scene! That’s a wrap! Beautiful job everyone! Thomas did you get everything?” Amy asked Thomas.
I was relieved that that was over, but for some reason I didn’t feel compelled to move. I just sat there with Liam’s face literally an inch away from mine. Maybe I was still nervous from kissing him on the cheek, but my heart was beating quickly in my chest.
What the hell?
Don’t tell me. … Did I have another crush?
No, no. That can’t be it. I was just really rusty with stage kisses. I shook my head and moved back from Liam’s face, which was unreadable at the moment.
“Thanks for saving me from the monster,” I said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.
Liam snapped out of his transfixed state and sent me a smile. “Anytime, my ninja princess.”
I was distracted by mine and Liam’s voices being played by some device. I looked around to see Thomas holding a phone in his hand.
He was actually recording?!
“Thomas, please tell me you weren’t actually recording.”
“I was,” Thomas said honestly and giving me a grin.
“Thomas,” I said his name threateningly.
Thomas gulped and ran away.
I was about to chase him, but Liam put a hand on my shoulder.
“Just let him be. Who can he send it to anyways? Dora?” Liam reassured me.
“You just want this to be documented,” I said cynically, gesturing to my face.
“Yeah, so everybody can see you’re beautiful even when a little girl scribbles over your face,” Liam complimented giving me a smile.
I was speechless for a moment and I didn’t know what to say, so I just hit him.
“Ow,” Liam said jokingly and rubbed his arm as if I really hurt him. I just laughed him. “You’ve got a smile that light up this whole town,” Liam said to me quietly.
“Liam, I’m kind of worried about you. First Twilight and now you’re quoting Taylor Swift?” I laughed, totally disregarding his compliment.
“I can’t help it. I have four sisters. If I even try to bring up cars or something, they complain how boring I am,” Liam excused himself.
I couldn’t help but think of the next line of that song. Kurt played it on our road trip to the Grand Canyon… on loop just to annoy me.
I haven’t seen it in awhile since she brought you down
Today was the first day that I’ve had a genuine laugh or smile. For the past week all I’ve done was give barely smiles and short chortles. I have been done all week. I had to deal with Sherry’s death, guilt for what I did to Holly, and Uranus’s asshole-ish moves. Maybe Liam was my way to smiles and sunshine again.
“Hey, Thomas, send me that video!” Liam shouted to Thomas, who was cowering behind a bookshelf.
“Okay,” Thomas agreed and started clicking some buttons on his phone.
There was a ping on Liam’s phone and Liam started watching the video, looking between his phone and me and laughing his head off. I scowled.
Or maybe not.
:::x:::O:::x:::
Author’s Note:
Hey, guys! I gotta go real soon, so I’ll make this quick. Sorry, my laptop broke last week. I’m a proud owner of a new mac.
And I really gotta go. Lol literally putting my pants on as we speak.
No time to edit. Pleas let me know of errors.
Kay gotta go bye!
Okay, I'm back. and I fixed the spacing it was bothering me. So, how'd you guys like the play?