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𝟼:𝟸𝟶 𝙰𝙼
"unbelievable..." i mumbled, shaking my head. how was mom gonna expect us to "ride the bus" to school just because she needed to take rivi to a doctor's appointment? couldn't she have chosen a later time? i don't even know where the damn bus stop is.
i groaned, already feeling stressed at 6 in the fucking morning.
i can't just not show up to school right?.....unless?
"you know where to go?" i sighed, asking joey.
"nope but i have greg, see ya!" he said with a teasing wave, running out to meet up with greg who was walking out of his house.
little shit.
shaking my head in annoyance, i suddenly remembered the paper the office gave me with the bus schedule on it.
"mm that's near i guess..." i mumbled, before throwing the paper back in my bag and walking out.
not even stepping onto the sidewalk yet, a familiar white van stopped in front of me.
"needa ride?"
"please?"
rodrick opened the door for me and i hopped in, already taking in his appearance.
he still looked hot as ever, but i couldn't help but laugh.
"really? wearing your own merch?"
"yea about that.. here" he reached behind and tossed something at me.
a löded diper shirt.
"wow, you're giving me a shirt to a band i haven't even listened to yet?? what am i, a poser?" i teased.
"you're friends with the band" he pointed out.
"true true"
"plus, people will wanna listen to us more if they see a hot girl wearing our merch"
"what"
𝟷𝟶:𝟺𝟸 𝙰𝙼
"hey! mary jane right?" a guy walking up to me and dana asked.
i stopped walking and looked up at him. he was tall and had floppy blonde hair.
he's kinda cute i guess.
not rodrick cute though.
"uh ya you can just call me mj, and you are...?"
dana whispered in my ear, "we'll wait for you" before leaving to stand with the boys up front. i nodded and realized that i wasn't too far from them as i could easily see them and they could see me.
"i'm tate, you're in my physics class yea?" the boy introduced himself. he's definitely charming i'll give him that.
"oh ya! what's up"
i had No idea he was in my class.
tate looked down sheepishly and i took the time to glance over at ben, dana, rodrick, and chris. they were all watching intensely like a bunch of weirdos and i scratched my head awkwardly for comedic effect, successfully getting dana, ben, and chris to snicker while rodrick kept a straight face, still staring at tate and i. ight.
i quickly diverted my attention back to tate when he looked back up to speak.
"i just think you have a pretty cool style and you seem like a totally awesome chick... so i was wondering if i could get your number or something?" he asked with ease before flashing a smile.
oh wow he has dimples. eh.
i hate situations like this. do i give him my number? do i bark at him? wait woah don't do that.
"oh thanks! but yea yea sure!" i said as a first instinct. damn.
"cool" he said in a convincingly cool manner before handing me his phone to type my contact in.
i quickly put in my information and handed the phone back to him while looking over at the four again.
dana and ben were freaking out and rodrick had his arms crossed looking unamused.
"i'll text ya, bye mj" tate winked before walking away.
fuck why did i say yes? ya he's cute, but was i even interested?
"oh my god what the fuck, that was tate!" dana gushed.
"ya man he just asked for your number! he's cool as fuck" ben joined in.
"he's not that cool" rodrick mumbled.
"i agree" i gestured towards rodrick. he looked at me with a proud expression before dana and ben interjected.
"um he's totally cool, he drives a thunderbird"
"he does murals"
"his vinyl collection is Insane"
"dana used to like him" chris said annoyed.
"woah woah no i didn't... i just used to think he was cute.. that's all" dana defended. chris shook his head like he didn't believe her before we all headed our way towards rodrick's van for lunch again.
𝟷𝟷:𝟻𝟻 𝙰𝙼
walking to the parking lot with dana, i stopped in my tracks and groaned. i didn't drive here.
fuck my life. i don't wanna take the bus or walk home, and dana lives far, so i'm not gonna bother her.
fuck it i'll just walk home.
"k ima head home, i have to walk today" i told dana, walking away after waving to each other. an arm snaked over my shoulder and i was turned back into the direction of the parking lot again.
i looked up to see rodrick and ben now walking next to me.
"ya no you're not" rodrick said, leading us to his van.
"it's only a 15 minute walk" i suggested, not wanting to push ben into the pits of hell , aka the back of the van.
"as if we'd let you walk alone" ben chuckled shaking his head.
my heart warmed with gratitude.
"aw shit thanks guys, i'll get in the back"
"no you can take the sea-"
"LISTEN TO THE WOMAN RODRICK" ben yelled as he excitedly jumped into the passenger seat.
stepping into the back i immediately regretted my decision. fuck i'm gonna die back here.
hoping i'll move less in a corner, i took my spot and held onto one of the wires before hearing a thump and a "ow what the fuck man!" coming from the front.
the van sped off and i winced as my head banged against the back door.
𝟷𝟸:𝟹𝟺 𝙿𝙼
i took ben's seat after rodrick dropped him off, claiming he had 'important business' to tend to. whatever the fuck that meant.
"looks like it's your lucky day cause im bouta show you the coolest spots here in plainview. i'm literally the best person to go to for this shit" rodrick confidently said with one hand on the wheel. he was surprisingly driving a lot smoother than before.
"okay show me" i shrugged my flannel off and put my legs up on the dashboard. ben was doing it earlier and rodrick gave a fuck about literally nothing, so i figured what the hell.
pulling my white knee high socks up, i noticed rodrick's gaze on me from the side of my eye and couldn't help but smile.
god don't look at me like that.
"keep your eyes on the road pretty boy"
rodrick widened his eyes in panic and immediately diverted his gaze back to the road. he began to open his mouth to speak only to shut it again, going for a slow nod with a small smirk now forming on his face.
we comfortably jammed out to king gizzard & the lizard wizard for a solid 10 minutes before pulling up in front of a blockbuster.
"blockbuster?" i questioned laughing. i haven't seen one in years.
"an Abandoned blockbuster" he corrected.
"oh word???"
"yea come on, there's a secret entrance" he smirked before stepping out of his car. i followed him to the back of the building and up a ladder that lead to the roof.
he opened up a square metal door that revealed the top of an old shelf before using it as a makeshift step stool to easily lower himself onto the ground.
copying him, i stepped onto the shelf but carefully sat my butt down on it before dangling my legs closer to floor so i wasn't so high up.
"here" rodrick chuckled before grabbing onto my hands. i scooted off the shelf and onto the ground, bumping into his chest in the process.
"sorry"
gazing over the abandoned blockbuster, i was surprised to see it was still well put together. the sun was our only source of light, but it created a delicate ambience that fit the mood.
not letting go of each other's hands, rodrick interlaced his fingers with mine and led me to sit in between two large shelves inside of the horror section with him.
my heartbeat was quickening by the second. sneaking into an abandoned blockbuster, holding hands, and now sitting face to face to each other like we were children again? it all felt so intimate yet so comforting.
"do you like it?" he asked genuinely, checking out the movies next to his face.
"hell yea this is super cool, how'd you find it?" i admired, running my finger through an array of movies next to me as well.
"i explore when i'm bored, not at band practice, or not sleeping"
nodding understandably, i glanced back at him.
why the fuck was he so cute? it makes no sense.
my eyes traveled down to his lips and he coincidentally licked them the second i did so. jesus christ.
looking away flustered, i took a deep breath.
"so...tate asked for your number" rodrick slowly mentioned.
it almost sounded like he was bothered.
"oh uh ya, i kinda wanted to say no for whatever reason but i'm too much of a pussy, so i said yes. i don't know, hopefully he doesn't mind just being friends, he's sweet" i rambled.
"wow. you're declining the school's number one stud. i thought he'd be your type" he teased.
funny.
"says you loser, aren't you the one who doesn't like the school's 'number one bombshell' anymore?" i mocked.
"i have my reasons"
"and i do too, plus didn't you say tate wasn't that great either?"
"he's pretty cool i Guess, i just don't like him" he admitted.
"spill the beans" my nosy self egged on.
"i don't know, we've always had this tension with each other"
"are you sure it's not sexual"
"IT'S NOT LIKE-"
"I'M KIDDING I'M KIDDING"
he rolled his eyes and we both started to laugh and hit each other like we always do until his phone started to ring.
"hello?........ 10 MOM BUCKS??? say less i'm on my way ok bye mom....." he rushed.
thinking he was gonna end the call, he kept his phone held up to his ear and dropped his head in embarrassment.
".....iloveyoutoookaybye"
i grinned widely.
"aww mommy's bo-"
"you shut your mouth i'm bouta get 10 mom bucks"
rodrick and i left the building the same way we came in and drove to wherever susan told him to go to.
we arrived at westmore middle school and my jaw dropped. rodrick's getting 10 bucks to pick up greg and i've been doing it for free??
seeing joey, greg, and rowley walk out, rodrick rolled down his window.
"get in" he said.
greg questioned him and i waved at the boys.
"mom said she'll pay mom bucks if i drove you home from school" rodrick smirked before looking at me and chuckling lowly.
uh ya that chuckle was-that was kinda hot.
i giggled at his forced responsibility and we attempted, but failed at a high five.
it took a hot second, but rodrick finally convinced greg to get in and opened the side doors for the boys. greg continued to complain some more and i looked back at joey to warn him.
"hold onto.... something....literally anything"
we lurched forward and the entire ride consisted of me watching the boys in the back fly all over the place.
since they were still pretty small, they literally Flew everywhere. rowley kept hitting the roof of the van while greg and joey kept tumbling and yelling at rodrick to slow down.
as i was about to suggest to rodrick to maybe calm down too, i witnessed rowley as he ass-planted onto greg's face and bursted out laughing.
nevermind fuck them kids, this was comedy gold.
we pulled up in front of the two houses and the boys stumbled out the same way dana and i did on the first day of school. i couldn't help but giggle at the resemblance.
"be back before dinner young lady" joey pointed at me before walking into our house with greg and rowley in suit.
"shut up you're like 5"
"I'M ALMOST 12 YOU ASSHOLE"
"WOAH WOAH WOA-"
"GOODBYE MARY JANE" joey dramatically yelled before slamming the front door closed, leaving me with my mouth open. oh i'm gonna kill him.
rodrick laughed hysterically and i looked at him with my mouth still open.
"holy shit you just got owned by your own little brother"
"i have no fucking idea where he gets his language" i said shaking my head.
"okay blueprint, i got another place we could go to. but first, let's get take out"
"oh wow" i gaped.
"right??" rodrick nodded with his arms out, walking backwards into a small meadow that was hidden by large trees off the road.
"holy shit-" i was at a loss for words.
there was a vandalized cement shack in the middle of the meadow and it created the most beautiful unorthodox contrast i've ever seen. there were purple flowers scattered everywhere and the grass was the most vibrant green i've ever seen in real life.
i looked over at rodrick and he held up a finger, telling me to wait before walking back to his van real quick to grab something. he came back in like 2 minutes with a random bedsheet in his hand.
"so we have something to eat our food on" he cutely said before laying the sheet down for us to sit on. suddenly remembering that i was the one carrying the food, i pulled out our chinese takeout.
i could cry. even though this wasn't a date, it still felt romantic.
"okay how did you find This place" i asked while digging into my rice.
"i was driving down that road one time and saw the spray painted cock and balls on the shack through the trees and was like 'wait a minute why's there a dick in the forest' and so naturally i investigated" he casually said, holding the back of his hand to his mouth since he was still chewing.
i glanced over at the shack and fell back laughing. there was indeed a graffiti penis shining in all of its' glory.
"oh my god why is it so detailed" i said in between breaths. rodrick started laughing too, realizing how much detail was actually put into the drawing.
"do you come here a lot?" i asked, calming down.
"uh no not really, i wanted to wait until i finally found someone i- s-SOMETHING i mean, something.. in my car... to take with me just in case... it's dangerous... out... here?" he stammered.
i looked at him the second he started making less sense, my confusion not leaving for a second.
"what did you... finally find?" i questioned.
"uH this... this fork"
"from the chinese restaurant?"
"yes"
i squinted at him and chuckled. i am so fucking lost right now.
"you're the funniest guy i know rodrick" i said, shaking my head while standing up with an 80% finished to go box in my hand.
"thanks i try" he charmingly said, standing up too and gathered the bedsheet.
we walked through the forest to get back to the van, and i couldn't help but admire for the 66th time how handsome rodrick looked. if i could take a picture i would.
wait i have my point and shoot.
"hold up, stand right there. i forgot i carry my 35mm everywhere with me and you're for real giving me twilight vibes" i stopped him.
getting my camera ready, rodrick cutely posed while holding the sheet and his empty chinese takeout in his hands. i took the picture and smiled at him.
"cute"
extending our trip by like 15 minutes, rodrick took the long way home 'just cause'.
we continued to tell each other our best pranks done on greg and joey, attempting to one up each other.
"okay that's pretty good" i admitted laughing.
"told ya" he confidently smiled.
i felt my phone buzz and looked down.
muvver
Greg and Rowley are joining us
for dinner, tell Rodrick to join
us too! :)
oke
"my mom's inviting you over for dinner since greg and rowley are there too" i told rodrick.
"i could fuck up some homemade dinner" he said with his eyebrows raised
i unlocked the front door to my house and was met with the three boys, my mom, and rivi already eating at the table. thanks for waiting.
dinner went by smoothly as mom thankfully talked to rodrick normally about his interests and what not.
"wow you and mary have a lot in common! i see why you guys are so close" she gushed.
i stopped chewing and glanced over at her. is she inferring what i think she's inferring?
"yea i always enjoy spending my time with her" rodrick replied. i immediately looked down at my food so no one could see the blush forming on my face.
once dinner was done, rodrick kindly thanked my mom for the meal before i grabbed his hand to come upstairs with me.
"casa della mj" i introduced my room the same way rodrick introduced his, besides from me kicking the bra on my floor to underneath the bed before he could see it.
"this is so sick"
"thanks"
"you gotta let me come around more, your room's like mine, but so much better"
"what no" i denied. his room was the ultimate teenage punk boy dreamscape.
"uh yEa, skeleton siamese twin clowns??? are you fucking kidding me that's genius"
"thanks i made it"
rodrick's eyes widened and pointed at the hanging oddity i made.
"you. made. that."
"yessir"
he continued to look at all the paintings i had displayed, hyping each and every one up, which i immediately humbled each time.
"where's your guitar?" he looked at me confused.
"in joey's room, he wanted to learn how to play so i agreed to let him borrow it while i give him lessons" i explained while leading him towards joey's room, opening the door to be greeted by the three boys sitting on the filmore bed while talking and throwing a ball at each other.
"you're lucky, greg's a total lame-o" rodrick complained, not caring his little brother was right there.
"hey!" greg yelled with his arms up.
"what are you losers doing" i asked, not really caring. the boys looked at each other nervously before all talking at once.
"ummmm"
"nothing!"
"talking about greg's crush on holly hills!" rowley admitted innocently.
rodrick and i looked at each other, smirking and giggling before walking towards the bed to tower over the three pre-pubescent boys.
"the girl from the skating rink? the one you tried to skate with before dad had to pick you up like a baby and before you fell into that little girl's cake??" rodrick slyly teased.
"shut up" greg grumbled.
"you know... someone from the skating rink caught mj's eye too, she was basically drooling over this guy" joey started.
you've gotta be fucking kidding me.
"you..." i pointed at him.
i think i'm bout to bully!
"yea in fact, rodrick! i think you Might know him too!" joey kept going with a shit eating grin on his face.
you're dead joey. you're fucking dead.
rodrick looked at me curiously and as i was about to murder my little brother in cold blood in front of witnesses, i smirked.
two can play at this game.
"don't think i didn't catch you staring at little miss braided pigtails in the tutu that night" i challenged.
"PATTY FARRELL????" greg and rowley simultaneously yelled, shooting their necks in joey's direction with their jaws dropped.
"N-NO IT'S NOT LIKE THAT" he defended.
he shot me a death glare and i dragged rodrick out of the room with a proud smile.
luckily i got out of that.
"who's the guy from the roller rink?" rodrick asked once i closed the door.
ah fuck me.
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