Rule #11: Pick Fights
And win them.
- () -
After we get back from Chicago, all of us are exhausted. Irene and Sebastian go straight to their homes. All I want to do is lie down on my bed and sleep - but we have school.
So I spend eight more hours cramming my brain with all the information I need to know about finals, then another two studying while Archer finishes his last swim meet. By the time I stumble into Archer's car at five thirty, I'm so tired that I fall asleep.
I wake up with Archer's lips pressed on mine.
Squinting, I manage a smile. "Hey. What's going on?"
"You look cute when you sleep, almost like you're happy," Archer gives my lips another peck before standing up again. "Come on, your mom's calling us."
"Right."
Yawning, I grab my backpack and follow Archer outside. The breezy air feels nice on my skin, even if it is humid as hell. We walk through the house and into the backyard.
Mom waits for us at the porch, arms folded. "How did the trip go?"
"Okay. Irene, Jake and Andrew had a fun time. But now I'm tired so I think I'll just go and - what's this?" I say at the blue and white outfit mom shoves into my arms.
"Your costume."
"My costume?" I blink slowly, finally taking in my surroundings.
Mom's done something to our backyard. Sparkling blue and yellow lanterns hang from strings draped around wooden posts. Little cutouts of papers ships dangle from the corners. On a table nearby, our speakers play a Mediterranean theme. People, dressed in sundresses and loose pants, chat with each other.
"Wait a minute, what's going on?"
"Our barbecue," Mom snaps. "I knew you weren't listening when I told you about it last week. It's our turn to host the neighborhood barbecue. Melody and I chose a sailor theme. Go get dressed."
"A barbecue?" I try not to whine, but the drag comes into my voice anyways. "Now? But I've had such a long day..."
"You should have thought of that before you decided to travel halfway across the country during the school year," Mom glances over my shoulder and offers Archer a beaming smile. "Hello, sweetheart, how did the swim meet go?"
"Good," Archer grins at my sulky expression. "We'll go get changed now. Peyton?"
"Coming."
"I want you down in ten minutes," Mom calls.
"Okay," I roll my eyes, then turn around. "Wait, if you and Melody picked out the theme together, does that mean you made up?"
She sniffs. "We weren't in a fight in the first place."
"Right."
"Get changed."
I guess that's as good as I'm going to get. With a tired sigh, I follow Archer upstairs to my bedroom. He already has shirt off when I enter. I close the door behind me and toss my dress to the bed. "Did you know about this party?"
"Of course."
I scowl to myself. "Of course."
My bed seems so appealing. All I have to do is walk over, flop down and go to sleep. But then mom would wake me up and I'd have to go downstairs in an even worse mood. With another sigh, I tug my clothes off and pull on the costume mom put out for me.
It's the classic sailor girl costume, a white dress that swoops out at the hip. Complete with blue lining and a sailor hat, it looks the exact opposite of something I would usually wear. But I force it on anyways. As I tug my sleeves up, I realize the back of the dress has buttons. Before I can ask, Archer runs his finger along my spine.
"Need help?"
"Yeah," I pull my hair in front of me as he buttons the back of my dress. "Why didn't you tell me about this party?"
"I thought you knew. Besides, you seemed distracted today. You didn't even ask me yet."
"Ask you about what?"
"Who posted the pictures online?"
"Oh, that. I totally forgot," I smooth down some extra wrinkles, shivering as Archer's knuckles brush against my skin. "Xavier and Gwen got me all messed up. I promised I wouldn't let them get into my head, but..."
"Understandable," Archer finishes and wraps his arms around my waist, sets his chin on my shoulder. I feel the brush of his breath as he says, "Xavier wasn't how I imagined him. He was... nicer. Almost friendly."
"That's how he gets you," I say ominously. Archer chuckles. "When I first met you, you reminded me off him. Actually, you two are actually pretty similar."
Archer releases me. "You think so?"
"Just a little bit. Both popular, both handsome, both friendly. Hey," I say at the annoyed look on his face. "It's not an insult, just an observation."
"It's not an insult to compare me to your abusive ex-boyfriend?"
"That's not what I meant," I search his expression. "Are you seriously -"
"Peyton! Archer!" Mom's voice sounds from downstairs. "Have you fallen asleep? Don't make me come up there?"
"Coming! Archer, I -"
"We should go down," Without waiting for my response, Archer swings open the door and goes downstairs.
A little worried now, I run down and catch him up with him in the backyard.
"Wait," I grab his wrist and force him to turn to me . "Listen, I didn't mean to offend you. I know that you wouldn't have ever put up those pictures, let alone ask for them - speaking of which, who did post them?"
Archer glances around, then pulls me into a shadowy corner by my house. We sit down and lean back against the wall.
"It was Susan Smith."
Sitting in the dark makes me sleep. I shake my head to make my thoughts clear. "What? But how did he get his hands on my nudes?"
"That's just the thing," Archer takes a second to reply, as he's tired himself. "He didn't have your nudes. It was another picture of you that he put up, and I guess he got your number from the website. The picture was recent, I guess, because you had pink hair."
"He must have taken it from the time he came into the shop to take Harper," I think back to that awful day. "I thought I saw him take a picture."
"Creep," Archer leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes. "He can't do any more damage to you in prison."
"Yeah, too bad he put the picture on the website before they could arrest him though," I say and lean my head against his shoulder. "I guess being a pervert, as well as an asshole, isn't too far of a leap when you're raising dogs to fight each other."
"The police took it down."
I blink slowly. "The dog-fighting ring?"
"The picture, cub. The police accessed the website and took it down, because it's illegal to post pictures of minors without parental consent. Now, your photo - and number - are no longer available to online perverts."
"That's -" I raise my head to look at him. "That's - actually really nice of them. Maybe I should write a letter to police department - thanks for having my back and helping a girl out, or something those lines anyways.
He smiles. "They were just doing their job, but I'll help you out. Why do you look so surprised?"
"I don't know," I shrug. "The run-ins I've got with the police have never ended well before. Back in Florida - when my mom made me report the nudes - they told me they couldn't do anything about it - and that it'd help me learn the consequences of my actions."
"Bastards."
"Yeah. It embarrassed me then, but I don't care anymore."
"Liar," He taps my nose gently.
"Fine, maybe it still bothers me. It hurt to realize that not even the police were on my side - it really made feel stupid, and alone. But that didn't happen this time around."
"Not this time," Archer agrees. "You should talk about it with Dr. Robinson."
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, we're going to have a lot of fun in our next session. It's also our last one, actually. I think I might miss them."
Archer pulls me in by the nape of my neck to kiss my forehead. I relax. Just when I'm about to close my eyes, I spot a movement from under our porch. A pair of neon yellow eyes watches the two of us from the darkness. "Check it out. It's Lucky."
Archer glances over his shoulder. "She's grown big."
"Let's go say hi," I decide, already crawling over. "I'm feeling sentimental."
"I think that's the fatigue talking."
"Come on," I crouch next to the edge of our porch, then make a clucking sound to lure her out of the porch.
Nobody notices Lucky or us as the black cat steps out into the light. She sniffs my hand cautiously, then Archer's as he bends down next to me, before relaxing. She takes a few steps forward, her paws sinking into the sand, and settles between us. I stroke the area below her neck, watching as she closes her eyes in response.
"You two have grown close," Archer observes. "What are you going to do with her after you go to college?"
"I'm not sure," I look down at the feline. "I was thinking that maybe -"
"Hey!"
Lucky's eyes fly open. Both Archer and I look up at the new arrival. Derek, with flashing eyes and curled lips, stomps up to us. I can't help but gawk, considering Derek and I haven't snapped at each other for a week now (a new record). I have no idea why he looks so angry.
"What's wrong with you?" He starts.
"Listen Derek -"
I stand up to face him, but he brushes me aside and walks up to Archer. "What'd you say to Bettie?"
Archer glances up at him, squinting. "To Bettie? Why do you care? It's none of your business."
"It is my business when Bettie comes crying to me at three in the morning," He snarls, shoving me away when I attempt to interrupt him. "I don't know what you've been saying to her but you need to back off or I'll..."
"You'll what?" Archer stands up too. "Listen, I haven't spoken to Bettie in days, so whatever's bothering her has nothing to do with me. And honestly, I've had a long day so if you don't mind I would -"
Derek pushes on Archer's chest, cutting him off. The shove was light, but Archer's so tired that he stumbles back anyways. I get in between them, facing Derek, but he spares just one glance towards me. "Get out my way, Peyton."
"Not unless you tell us what your problem is."
"My problem is with Archer, not you."
"Calm down," I say, too tired to argue. "Why don't you just ask Bettie why she's upset?"
"I know why she's upset," Derek scowls at me. "Because of your perfect boyfriend."
Improvising, I take on the soothing tone that Dr. Robinson has when I'm getting emotional. "I think this may just all be a misunderstanding. Why don't we just sit down -"
"I said, out of my way."
I step in front Derek as he moves towards Archer again. He grabs me by the front of my shirt and shoves me to the right. Surprised by the amount of force he used, I can't do anything but slam against the side of my house. When I manage to get on my own two feet, I turn to face two furious men.
Derek reaches for Archer, but before he can get there, a blur of black startles us all.
Lucky grabs onto Derek's leg and sinks her claws right into his bare skin. I'm so surprised that I don't react until Derek lets out a loud yelp and kicks her away. Just like me, Lucky hits the side of the house with a thud.
"No! Lucky!"
She's on her feet within a second, but with a slight limp. She hisses at me when I reach out to help her, then darts between my legs and into the backyard.
"What was that?" Derek demands.
Ignoring him, I run after Lucky. By the shrieks and cries from the party-goers, I can tell that's she already in the middle of our backyard. I run to the middle of the crowd, but can't find her. She's gone.
And maybe hurt.
Archer catches up to me, followed by Derek. "Did you find her?"
"No," I search the crowd desperately. "She must be scared."
"Don't tell me you've actually made friends with a feral cat," Derek scoffs, ignoring my glare. "I can't believe even you would be that stupid."
"Lucky's harmless."
"Tell that to my leg."
"It was a barely a scratch. She probably thought you were threatening her."
"You're crazy. Animals should be eaten, not brought up and coddled. You've created a monster."
Fury and fear threaten to blind my vision, but I push them back in time. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Back off, Derek. I need to go find Lucky before you find her and gut her for your living room wall."
As I storm off with Archer, Derek yells, "I'm calling animal control."
Dread creeps into my stomach, but I ignore him.
Archer and I search the entire neighborhood from top to bottom, including the woods and the areas under our porches. But there's no sign of Lucky anywhere. Eventually, I'm forced to give up and return to the party. It's already ended when we reach there so mom puts us in charge of taking the decorations down.
Archer holds the ladder while I take down the banners. "I'm sorry you couldn't find Lucky."
"It's fine. Maybe it's for the best that animal control gets her," I wrap the banner around my arm, then step down. "She couldn't have lived in our backyard forever. I just hope she isn't injured, or that she tries to hurt anybody else out of fear."
"You need to rest," Archer says, running a finger over the circles under my eyes. "So do I."
"Yeah, I will, after I take off this stupid dress."
"It looks good on you."
"Thanks. But don't think I didn't see you take out the camera earlier," I say, rolling my eyes at his small grin. "Help me unbutton it?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
Archer and I drop off the decorations, then head upstairs again. As soon as I'm in pajamas, I climb into bed. It isn't until Archer's voice reaches me that I realize he's still here.
"...more alike than I thought," He's saying. "Maybe that's why I was so pissed when you compared me to Xavier."
It takes me a moment to process his words. "Yeah, you're little similar. But you're different in all the ways that count. You're nicer and genuine and more things that I can't come up with because I'm too tired."
"I'm like Xavier 2.0."
"Even better. You're Archer 1.0."
He chuckles. Under my blankets, I almost blush. Archer strokes my hair. "Why, cub. That was almost cheesy."
"Treasure it," I turn over in my bed and close my eyes. "It won't happen again."
"Mm, I will. Good night, Peyton."
"Night."
Archer turns off the light. The door clicks shut behind him. Alone, and into my pillows, I let out a small smile.
- () -
Haha, did you guys expect it to be Susan Smith? Most of you are pretty good at guessing my plot twists, but I think I got away with this one >:)
Also I made a new book! Tada:
Crackers likes this book too, since it contains two of his favorite things: a) romance and b) superheroes. If this sounds interesting to you, give it read! I'll be updating every two weeks.
Dedications for this chapter go to ASarcasticBitchQueen, CookieButterAddict, and xxxStarsGirlxxx.
Thanks for reading!
QotC: What's the story behind your username?