Chapter Seventy: "Let's Get To The Fighting Part So We Can Get This Over With."
"GO!"
I look through the halls to see Maya cornered up by her locker, some guy pressed against her, trapping her by his monstrous arms. I can't see who it is, but I'm going to guess it's Lance, since he's recently gotten a new haircut, which looks relatively similar to the guy in front of her.
However, Maya moves her head when he leans in for what I assume to be a kiss.
What the hell is going on?
I tug at Atticus' arm. "Come on." He obliges and lets me drag him hurriedly over to Maya down the hall. This hallway is deserted, since it's where the grade nine's lockers are and they have some thing called Bring Your Child To Work Day where parents take their children to work, I guess.
When we get closer, I can tell that Maya is panicked; I can feel her distress radiating off of her in strong wavelengths, and I know that this guy most certainly is not Lance.
I can tell Atticus notices too because I can feel his arm tense beneath my hand.
The guy goes for Maya again when I do something without thinking. "Hey!" I yell, and slap the boy across the face, stunning him and pushing him away from Maya, which is proven inefficient because he barely moves. "Are you okay?" I ask Maya, searching her face for any harm but all she does is shake her head.
The guy starts chuckling, bringing my attention back to him. "A strong hit for a small little thing like yourself."
Atticus steps forward. "Don't talk to her like that." He growls.
"Get away from my best friend you pervert!" I exclaim.
He steps closer to me, which makes me panic so I go up to slap him again when a hand wraps around my arm, pulling me back.
I look to see that Atticus has grabbed me. "Get the hell out of here, Tyson." He says warningly, shocking me. Atticus has avoided the McGibbon family since I arrived and I'm surprised that he's standing up for someone who is apart of them.
"Don't rush me, O'Connor, Maya and I are just chatting." Tyson, I guess, smirks back in reply.
"If any of the boys see you here, they'll have your head, so leave." I interfere. "Maya doesn't want to talk to you."
He chuckles. "And who are you? One of their play toys of the month? You can't be Lance's, because he took my girl, and Louis is too young for you, unless you're into that little shit storm. Tell me, honey, whose are you? Liam's?"
I frown.
His eyes suddenly widen in amusement and a look that tells me he knows something I don't. "Ah, so you're Landon's, I see. Well, I don't know what to tell you, babe. Landon's had his fair share of girls, and let me tell you, when he tells you he loves you, don'tâ"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A new voice snarls out and I turn to see all four McGibbon boys arrive. Atticus seems to stand his ground still, his chest bulked up the same way it was when we approached Tyson.
"Get the hell away from her." Landon says, and I don't even notice that Tyson came face-to-face with me when telling me whatever it was he was going to say before we got interrupted.
I don't know what to make of his words. What am I not supposed to do when Landon tells me he loves me? He already has, and I gave him my thought on it when it happened last night. I already know that Landon has gotten around, but that doesn't change my view on him or his character. He's a teenager with hormones, I'd be worried if he didn't want sex every now and again.
What was Tyson going to say?!
Tyson is pushed back away from me and starts to get dragged away when I stop Liam from doing so. "Brookâ"
"No," I whisper, holding up my hand and looking at Tyson confusingly. He notices my desperation and smirks, shrugging Liam off him. I already know I'm going to regret this but I ask anyway. "Don't what?"
"Blue." Landon warns, but I shush him. I need to know what Tyson was about to say, otherwise my mind will have me, and I can't have that interfering with my playing when we leave tonight. I have come to very much like volleyball, and now I'm pretty good. I can't have that messing my game up when my team relies on me.
"What were you going to say, Tyson?" I speak clearly, no signs of nervousness present. Lance has pulled Maya away, and that leaves the boys, Atticus, and Tyson and me left in the hall.
His smirk grows. "I think you already know," he laughs. "Don't be surprised when I tell you so."
"That's enough." Landon hisses.
Tyson makes a big move and leans into me, brushing his lips against my ear, making me stiffen and the atmosphere grow extremely tense. "Don't think you're special, Brooklyn. You're nothing new; you're just like all his other side hoes. You hope to be the one he changes for, but that isn't the case. Landon is, and always will be, unfaithful."
A frown immediately pulls at my face strings and I stumble back in utter curiosity and confusion. What does he mean I'm not special? As far as I know, Landon hasn't really had a serious relationship until me and he hasn't said 'I love you' to anyone besides myself so why does Tyson think I'm no different? I've never tried to make Landon change, nor has he changed for me. And what the hell does he mean that Landon is unfaithfulâno, always has been unfaithful? Is he cheating on me?
No. No, Brooklyn, don't you dare go there. Landon loves you and he says he loves you, he would never hurt you like that. Tyson doesn't know what he's talking about, he's just trying to get a reaction out of you.
"Get the fuck out of here, boy." Liam snaps and pushes Tyson, who happily obliges.
Landon goes to follow but Liam grabs his arm. "He's not worth it."
He then turns to me, striding over. "What did he say to you?" He demands.
I stare up at him, trying to decode his mysteriousness. I'm too stunned and mentally confused and out of it that I don't even process what he said.
"Blue, what the hell did he say?" He presses, grabbing my shoulders firmly yet gently, and forcing me to look at him. "Whatever it is, he's lying, alright? He's a manipulative liar and it's his specialty, you hear? Don't believe a thing he says."
I can only frown.
What if Tyson is right though? What if Landon's been around more than I thought and I'm not good enough for him to satisfy his needs?
It's not like I'm abstinent or anything, or that I won't give him what he wants; I find that hard to believe anyway because it was Landon's idea to refrain from sex until we knew one another better. He made it strictly clear that he wants to know my head more than my body, and that it wasn't a top priority for him but one he definitely prioritizes. He wanted to take things slow and slow down on his player ways to try and commit to something he wants instead of having a release.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts and despite my minds overwhelming confusion about Tyson's 'warning', I wrap my arms around Landon's right bicep and squeeze tightly.
"Thanks, O'Connor." I hear Liam say, giving Atticus a firm nod of thanks. Atticus's face is stoic as he nods back, then turns his eyes to me.
"I'll see you later, Sweetheart." He smiles softly, rubbing my free arm before nodding at Landon and walks down the hallway.
"I still hate that guy." Louis grumbles.
"You hate everyone." Liam deadpans. "Now shut up and get to class you pain in the ass."
"I'd call you out on your stupid rhymes but I have a science test to fail, so later." Louis retorts, and smacks Liams shoulder as he walks behind us.
I look up at Landon. "I still don't know why you guys don't like him," I voice aloud. I've wondered this question for months since I found out they had beef, and neither of them have elaborated. "He's really nice."
"It's nothing the kid done, it's just family history. Our families have quarrelled for generations; it's like school rivalries, you naturally hate them whether something happened or not." Liam explains.
I narrow my eyes at him, feeling like something is missing but I drop the subject for the time being. "I'm hungry, can we go eat lunch now? We finally found Maya."
Landon chuckles and kisses the top of my head. "Of course. What do you want?"
I shrug. "I could go for some nachos."
He beams down at me. "Nachos it is, baby."
***
"Lance, I really don't want to talk about this right now, so can you just drop it?" Maya says exhaustedly. Lance, Maya, Liam, Landon and myself are currently in the living room, just hanging out until Lance tried to pry again on what happened earlier this morning.
"It doesn't add up, why was he there? He doesn't even go to Bear Creek."
"Look, I told you I don't want to talk about it; about him."
"But Mayaâ"
"No." She says sternly. "I sense an argument coming along, so let's get to the fighting part so we can get this over with. I'd rather just drop the subject all together and if fighting with you results in that, then I will happily scream my head off at you because frankly, you're pissing me off right now."
"Fine. Why was he there?" Lance says.
"I already told you, I don't know." She deadpans. "He showed up and cornered me."
"You should have yelled for help."
"This school has over a thousand kids, ninety percent of which go out for lunch. That hallway is a grade nine hall which was absolutely deserted today, and this area is never busy at lunch. You try screaming for help and I'll sit in the cafeteria and tell you if I can hear you." Maya snaps in reply.
"What did he want?" Lance continues.
They continue bickering, Lance asking all these questions and Maya answering them sarcastically yet truthfully. It goes on for a full three minutes before Maya cracks.
"Will you stop fucking pestering me?!" Maya yells from across the room. "I already told you what happened, what else do you expect me to say? Nothing happened!"
I sense more to her emotional distress than she's letting on, so I untangle myself from mine and Landon's laying down position and stroll over to her, interrupting their 'fight'. "Maya, I need some help with some outfits for our trip. Would you mind helping me?"
She looks at me in annoyance, then notices I'm trying to help her out. "Yeah, sure. We need to find you a sexy outfit for your man over there." Her voice only lightened slightly.
I subconsciously glance over at Landon, who is shaking his head in amusement. "Make sure it's small and tight!" He winks, and I feel my face burn up.
I ignore his comment and grab Maya's hand, dragging her. Lance doesn't look too pleased, but he doesn't say anything.
When we get up to my room, she situates herself on the couch because she knows my bad is gruesome. "Thanks for that."
I smile. "Not a problem. But seriously, I could use some help with an outfit."
She quirks an eyebrow. "What kind of outfit?"
"Well, I did shopping and all I have really now is country clothes. I got rid of a lot of my celebrity city girl clothes and, well, now I wish I had a few left so I could wear something cute."
"Like dresses?"
"I got rid of a bunch of dresses."
"Are you looking for comfortable, going out, date night, or casual?"
"Going out and date night." I blush.
She grins. "Perfect." She then walks to my closet, and starts rummaging through it. "What's in these boxes?" She asks.
I shrug. "I don't know."
She asks to open them and I give consent, and she lets out an ear-shattering squeal. "Dresses!"
Oh. Well, then that's where my old clothes went that I couldn't find months ago.
"Oh my God!" She gasps in awe. "Brooklyn, this dress is beautiful."
I look at her to see her holding out a red cocktail dress, that's tight in the torso and puffy at the bottom, but not too puffy. It has crossovers across the chest, and I smile at the memories I have with that. I wore it to grade nine homecoming, which was probably one of the best nights of my life with just me and my friends.
"You can have it." I tell her with a genuine smile.
She frowns and shakes her head. "No, I can't."
I chuckle. "Maya, I don't fit in that anymore. My bust is too big, and it's way too short. It's yours if you want it."
"Are you sure?" She looks at me uneasily, scanning my face for any reluctance.
"Of course." I nod. "Plus, you look amazing in red and it's a sexy dress so Lance will love you in it."
She grins and gives me a tight hug. "Thank you." We pull away before she starts going through the box again. "Found it! You're wearing this."
In Maya's hands is a warm blue dress that runs to the thighs and similar to the red dress, except it isn't as puffy. It's a silk-like material with a sweetheart neckline, with having the neckline show some cleavage. I loved that dress once upon a time, and I honestly don't remember why I stopped wearing it.
I grab the dress and Maya hands me the cover for it, and I place it on my doorknob, in front of my bags so I don't forget it when we leave tonight, which is in less than four hours.
I start to head downstairs when Maya suddenly screeches, "We forgot shoes!"
Less than five minutes later, she says she's found the most sexy pair of pumps, which when she shows me the shoes, my jaw drops.
They're five inch gold heels that are closed. They have shine to them, but no glitter, and in a way they completely pop out the dress on the hook.
I don't own these; where did they come from?
"Where did you find those, Maya?" I ask in bewilderment.
"Beside your desk. Why?"
"Those aren't mine," I explain. I walk over to my desk in confusion, but everything starts to make sense once I see the box.
A flashback occurs and I rewind to when Landon said he was going to get me an early gift for my birthday, which isn't for another two days and he said he wanted me to open his gift when the day came instead of waiting until we returned next week.
Maya gasps, examining the contents of the large bag Landon left. My eyes widen, I already seen one part of my present, I don't want to see the others! "I changed my mind, Brookie! Fuck that blue dress, you're going to wear this, it's more stunning." She starts to hold it up, but I turn around and close my eyes.
"Maya, no, put it back!" I squeak. "I don't want to see it!"
"What? Why not?" She whines. "It's beautiful."
"Those came out of the stuff Landon bought me for my birthday, I don't want to see it."
"Shit! I'm sorry. I didn't know." She sounds guilty, but I hear ruffling and take it she put the dress back, so I hesitantly turn around.
I'm clear.
"It's okay, don't worry. I'll just open the rest when the day comes." I say softly.
"Well, at least you didn't see the dress." She points out, lightening the mood.
"Well now I know it's a dress." I tease. "Come on. Let's go back down, clearly I found an outfit."
"Do you have lingerie?" She asks me as we walk downstairs.
"I own lacy attire, but not to the point where I have corsets and stockings with straps that attach to my butt."
"Is it sexy at least?"
"All lace is sexy, Maya." I giggle.
"If you really want Landon's dick to fall off, you should try going for corsets." She tells me matter-of-factly, to which I gasp and slap her arm. "What?! It's true!"
"Maya!" I laugh. "Stop."
She throws her arms up. "In my defence, I don't know from personal experience."
"Now I think you're just giving yourself ideas." I chuckle.
She shrugs. "I don't really want to spend eighty dollars on lingerie when it won't even be on for five minutes and there's a good chance it'll get ripped."
I feel my face heat up. "Agreed."
She giggles and follows me downstairs.
"Got everything?" Landon asks once we reach the kitchen.
"Think so," I reply. "You?"
"All set whenever you're ready." He answers. "When do you need to be at the airport?"
"Seven, but Coach wants us to be there before so we can do head counts."
"Sounds good. Is everyone catching a ride with me?"
"Um, as far as I know, Maya and Liam are riding with Lance."
"Do you want to leave early so we can get you some supplies before the flight?" He asks.
I nod. Since the family still doesn't know I'm on antidepressants and suchâand I want to keep it that wayâLandon and I have to make up random code words for my prescription. It'd be easier if we could do it in Spanish, but Maya knows the language so unless it's while she's out of earshot, it's secret codes for now.
"What kind of supplies?"
"Oh, my shoes ripped and I lost my kneepads at the Catholic school so I need a new pair. Oh, and a water bottle."
"Wanna grab me something?" Maya asks.
"Sure." I shrug. I actually need my volleyball supplies as well, since everything I said is actually true. If anyone wants anything, now's the time.
"Tampons." She whispers in Spanish.
Landon blinks, and I chuckle and nod. "Yeah, I can. I'll need some too."
"What?" Landon questions quizzically from beside me.
"Don't worry, you big child. It's expected on Friday."
"So we can do stuff?" He asks.
"If you want to," I whisper back. "But it depends how good you are."
"How good I am?" He says. "Baby, I'm as good as the Principal's Pet."
"I don't know what that means but I'm glad you get my point." I giggle.
What's a Principal's Pet?
Is that a turtle?
"Um, guys?" Maya interferes. "Spanish speaker over here."
"Don't eavesdrop, then." Landon shoots back with a wink.
"Let's go." I laugh and tug at his arm. "We'll see you guys in a couple of hours."
"Drive safe! The roads are still icy." Lance shouts.
"Got it." Landon replies and we walk outside hand-in-hand to his pick-up. "So," he starts as we drive down the highway. "We're going to do stuff?"
"Landon, we could've done stuff months ago." I giggle. "But I hope so."
"You know," he says, "I'm okay with doing it dirty."
"Dirty?" I question with raised eyebrows. What does he mean by dirty?
"Like, while Aunt Flo is visiting. That stuff doesn't bother me. I'm okay with it if you are."
"Really?" I ask. A lot of guys are grossed out by that; I certainly am and won't ever consider doing it, but it's nice to know how Landon feels about it.
"Yeah," he shrugs, "but it's totally your choice."
I give a small smile. "Nice."