We sat in front of dad on the opposite side of the dining table.
"Honey", mom said to dad, "They're just kids, we shouldn't be too harsh on them",
Mom was making the desperate attempt to calm him down but by the look on dad's face, he wasn't very interested in listening to what anyone had to say.
"Dad", Bubba laughed nervously, "They're teenagers, even I was like this before but look at me now".
Dad looked at Bubba and the grin faded from his face as he sunk into his seat.
"All of you leave the room, I want to talk to Will alone", Dad said sternly.
I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze from under the table and he returns the gesture with a small smile which seemed genuine but terrified. Me, Bubba, Kat and Mom left the kitchen and sat in the living room anxiously.
"I hope dad doesn't make him leave me alone forever or something", I prayed.
"Leave you alone?" Bubba scoffed, "You should be thankful if he comes out alive from that room".
"Hell of a brother you are Bubba", I said sarcastically.
"Are you and Will dating? I thought Mason was your boyfriend", Kat cut in.
"No, Mason and I broke up AND Will and I are NOT dating", I explained the entire situation to them while they just quietly listened.
At the end of the story, Mom was very sickly pale.
"Are you okay, Mom?" I looked at her curiously.
"There I was, wishing that for once in your life, you would have a boyfriend just like all the other girls your age but now I realize it wasn't such a good idea", she fell back into the armchair, deep in thought.
Well Hallelujah mother.
Too Late.
Will
Mr. Jones sat in front of me, silently scrutinizing me for a few minutes, until he said.
"What are your intentions with my daughter?"
My throat was too dry to even speak but I managed to say,
"I like your daughter Mr. Jones, but she's my friend",
"Friendship is not the problem, the problem is the boundaries", he explained.
"I understand the boundaries sir, I assure you I would never do anything to harm her".
He pondered what I said for a minute.
"Why were you in her room last night?"
"I wanted to be there for her, she needs people around her when she's upset but she never admits that she does, Liam and Kat called me a million times and I figured something was wrong with her so I got here as fast as I could",
His features softened a bit as he let out a long sigh.
"My children, are the most precious things to me, they are my world", he stated, "Harper puts up a strong front but I can see she's hurting inside and I do not want that hurt to continue breaking her, I've seen her change from a happy child to this, she doesn't tell me because she doesn't want me to worry but I'm not oblivious to all the scars on her arms",
"Mr. Jones I may not seem like a very reliable person which is true since I'm just a teenager", I continued, "But Harper means a lot to me, we've known each other since we were kids and though she refers to me as her nemesis all the time, we have an unlikely friendship",
"Are you saying that you care about her now?"
I smiled.
"I guess I always have cared about her sir, even when I superglued sticky notes to her car, after all, she's one of a kind",
*****
Harper
"Tell me what happened, pleeeaase", Kenzie whined.
"I told you the story more than a hundred times Kenzie", I let out a groan and fell back against the couch.
Kenzie had been bugging me the entire week about what happened when dad found Will in my bed and now that we were on a sleepover, she still wouldn't stop.
She found it romantic. In some way.
Still, it was way better than when Daniel and I had to keep her from pouncing over Mason and rip his eyes out when I told her that he had cheated on me. Kenzie was small, but when she got mad, she was REALLY strong.
But I couldn't help but wonder.
One second, dad was ready to kill that boy and the next, they came out of the kitchen with dad patting his back while they shared a knowing smile. Convincing dad was not easy and this boy had managed to do it in just a few minutes.
"Hey Kiddo, why aren't you ready for the family dinner yet? It's about to start in an hour", Bubba poked his head into the living room.
"It's just a family dinner, I usually wear pajamas during them, why should I change now?" I replied, too lazy to get up.
"Because Mom invited Will and his family", he said chirpily.
Me and Kenzie exchanged a look of horror as we dashed past a laughing Bubba and up the stairs.
In about half an hour, me and Kenzie had whipped up the best looks we possibly could've.
Kenzie's Dress
Harper's Dress
If Will ever saw me in pajamas at a dinner party, I'd have to dig a hole for myself and crawl into it and DIE.
"We are geniuses", Kenzie praised as she inspected us standing in front of the mirror.
We were suddenly interrupted by the door opening and Kat stepping in, clad in a maroon tee, tucked into her usual black trousers, her face looked sulky as she slumped down on the bed.
"Why the long face?" Kenzie sat down beside her as Kat leaned on her shoulder.
"Why do I have to see Levi's awful face again and again?", she whined, "He's so..so..infuriating!"
Kat sounded an awful lot like me when I talk about Will. That's how we started out. Archenemies. I chuckled at the thought.
Levi likes her.
Will's voice came to my mind. Levi liked her. He liked my tomboy of a sister. He liked her pranks, her idiotic antics, her poor skateboarding skills and her cocky personality.
I looked at Kat who sat there with her curly chestnut hair bunched up in a ponytail while she complained to Kenzie.
"Hey Kat, sit down here for a second will you?" I patted the chair in front of my dressing table.
"You know that's exactly what the dentist said before he pulled out my tooth" she commented.
"Sit down or I will rip out more than a tooth", I threatened.
Kat groaned and sauntered over to the seat, sitting down on it with her head resting on her hand.
I opened her hair tie to reveal that her hair was a lot longer than she let on. I mean it would be a bit longer and less choppy if she hadn't tried to cut it with Garfield safety scissors. Her hair was too curly because she barely ever opened it but it framed her face perfectly.
I instructed Kenzie to find a dress for her while I got to work.
"Are you experimenting on me again?" Kat questioned.
"No, I'm just going to give you a little makeover that's all".
I managed to pluck her eyebrows without her squiggling too much after I threatened to throw her out the window.
I put some eyeliner on her, giving her a cat like look.
Heh, saw the pun there?
I used a curling iron to perfect her curls, making them neatly fall on her shoulder as I tied a small part of her hair at the top, into a ponytail, doing a half-up half-down look.
Kenzie found a cute black dress for Kat which we forced her to put on.
Kat's Dress
I finished the look with some pink lipgloss and some thin golden hoop earrings.
"Oh my god, Harper she looks like you!" Kenzie squealed as she shook me vigorously by the shoulders.
Kat stared at her reflection in awe.
"Is this really me?" she mumbled.
"Kiddo! Kitten! Kenzie! The guests are here". we heard Bubba yell from downstairs.
"I don't look like me", Kat said, still gaping at herself.
"It's just a little makeover Kat, you're still you that's for sure".
"How can you tell?"
I pointed down at her feet. Her red sneakers covered in scratches and various stickers stared back at us.
Kat gave me a sheepish grin.
We went downstairs and greeted my family.
Grandma and Grandpa were my grandparents from my mom's side while Nana and Pops were from my dad's side.
My dad didn't have any brothers and sisters but my mom had three of them.
Cody and Camila were the twins of the family.
Cody was awesome but Camila was a real bitch. Kat and I had a special dislike for her. Anna was the eldest. She was a doctor and one of the sweetest sisters in the world. Then there was Edward. He was Liam's age and man, was he vulgar as hell. There wasn't one time where Edward hadn't cracked a dirty joke at the family dinner just to make everyone uncomfortable.
Good guy though.
I hugged my grandparents and then I moved to my cousins.
"Codester!" I exclaimed when I saw Cody's head bobbing around.
"Harper!", his face lit up as I tackled him with a hug and he spun me around midair. Cody and I were practically best friends. We knew almost everything about each other. Heck, the boy even knew when I had my first period.
Cody put me down and I realized he had become a lot taller and tanner since we last met. Not to mention muscular.
"Please tell me you stuffed balloons in your sleeves and those aren't real", I pointed at his biceps.
"Please tell me you stuffed balloons in your bra and those aren't real", Cody retorted, pointing at my chest.
"What can I say? Puberty was in my favour", I grinned.
"No it wasn't, you still have baby teeth and you're still short and I can still see the acne scars beneath all that foundation", he teased.
It's true. My teeth were crooked and small like a baby's. Cody loved teasing me about it. And so did Will. Until I knocked his front tooth out in 5th grade. I got suspended for it. But the joy I felt was beyond anything.
"Don't use your super vision on me", I threatened Cody.
"Codddyyyy!!", A voice exclaimed before Kat's thin figure latched itself onto Cody. It's crazy how this child can just jump on people like that.
"Damn Kat, you still weigh like a baby", Cody chuckled, "But you have gotten prettier I'll give you that",
Kat grinned at the compliment as Cody put her back down on her feet.
"Ugh, I can't believe I have to see you guys again", Camila appeared from behind Cody. Her blond dyed hair sparkled against the light as she ran her long manicured fingers through them.
"The feeling's mutual Cam", I snarled.
"Come on Cam, lighten up", Cody stated chirpily.
"Oh shut up Codfish", she sneered back in reply.
"Harper! Whoa wait-", Edward scrutinized me with his malicious eyes, "When did you get the boobs?",
I smacked him on the arm since I was too short to reach his head.
"Yeah, I can't believe you actually look like a woman now", Camila commented.
Why on earth is it so surprising that I have breasts? What did they expect? That I was hiding a penis all along?
"Oh stop it you guys, don't be mean to her", Anna said as she gave me a warm hug.
"Oh my God Kat! You look gorgeous!", Anna squealed as she and Kat shared a tight hug.
"KitKat? Gorgeous? Yeah right", I heard a scoff, finding the source to be Levi standing beside Will, a very cocky smirk plastered on his face.
"Fuck off", Kat groaned.
Levi looked so much like Will when he was younger.
Well thank you for pointing that out captain obvious.
Shut up mind.
Levi wore the same cocky smirk as he studied Kat. But it couldn't hide the fact that he indeed did like what he was seeing.
"You done checking her out?", Will tapped Levi's shoulder, snapping him out of the trance he was in.
"Imnotcheckingherout!", Levi rambled as the tips of hid ears turned crimson red.
Me and Will shared a knowing grin as we watched Kat desperately trying to hide her flushed face with her hands.
Hey hey hey! I sense another book coming on these two cuties.
Lemme know if you want one.
By the way, things got a little interesting here don't you think?
What do you think is going to happen at the sleepover?
And no @whats_up2021 they will NOT BE SLEEPING TOGETHER!! SO CONTROL YOUR HORMONES!!