( C r a z y G l u e )

chapter six

author's note: since it's been a while, i'll throw in a bit of the last chapter to refresh you guys' memories. o.o sorry about the wait, by the way... also, this is really REALLY short, but i think it's good quality. soo... the next chapter WILL NOT take as long, i swear.

flashback.

He yawned, which reminded me again that it was midnight and I was at Baskin Robins with my father. “Was that your boyfriend?” he asked, oblivious to the onlookers that were still amazed as to how I could make such a big scene in a Baskin Robins, which led me to thinking about why there were so many people in a Baskin Robins this late at night. I gave them weird looks.

“I wish!” I exclaimed with a mouthful of ice cream.

He was silent for a while. “What about that Cole guy?” he inquired. I choked on my bubble gum, which I ended up accidentally swallowing, then I started laughing.

“Cole's a jackass,” I suddenly replied, wiping my eyes. “Plus, have you seen his car? Yes, you have. I'm not even going to guess how many random girls that thing has seen.”

“Good,” my Dad answered, with a smile. “I know his older brother. He's a jackass, too. Works with me.”

I contorted my face in confusion. “Parker?” I asked.

He took another bite. “Nolan,” he corrected. “Who the hell's Parker?”

My eyes widened. “No one.”

start.

new chapter.

I was right. There really was no reason for my Dad to bring me to Baskin Robins this late on any normal day. I was coming to dread even agreeing to go in the first place.

“So...” my Dad started slowly.

My left eye twitched. That was his 'I've just bought you something to make up for the fact that I'm about to give you horrible news' tone of voice.

“Well,” he swallowed, “You know your mother and I are divorced.” He paused so I nodded and took another bite of my ice cream. “Well...I know this is sudden, but it's... It's not very drastic, so I just want you to be prepared. I...” He trailed off. I shivered from the cold.

“I've decided that I'm going to start dating again.” My eyes widened so he sped ahead of himself and started to explain. He'd met some blonde bimbo at work–he's manager of the local mall's Footlocker, by the way– and she'd asked him out to dinner.

I calmly took another bite of ice cream. “I need to go the restroom,” I finally answered slowly, standing up. Half of the people in the Baskin Robins looked towards me, as if expecting another huge crash-and-burn scene. I almost got so nervous that I tripped, but I just stumbled a bit and quickly made my way towards the womens' room. I think that I'd be checking for urinals every time I walked into a bathroom for the rest of my life.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad for him to start getting out more, I thought, but that was one of the only reasons that I had decided to live with him: I didn't want any new parents and I most certainly did NOT want to wake up in the middle of the night to loud, old people sex. I gave my phone a long, sad sigh because if I called Brooke she wouldn't even answer and Phoebe didn't know enough about me to really understand.

I went back out and drank the remainder of my ice cream without another word. Tomorrow was another day, completely, I decided.

---

Phoebe and I went to the mall the next day. I called her, she answered, we conversed, and, well, without every boring detail, we wound up at Footlocker (I get the family discount) looking for neat, slip-on shoes because I was pretty bad at tying mine and I tripped over the laces a lot.

A familiar face came over to help me look for the perfect pair of shoes. I was positive that I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. Furrowing my brow, I squinted my eyes at him. Brown hair, hazel eyes... His face was kind of oval shaped. My eyes lit up as my Dad's voice flitted into my ears.

I know his older brother. He's a jackass, too. Works with me.

I glanced towards his name tag. “Hello! My name is: NOLAN!” Eeep! Cole's brother! I squealed as a smile brightened my features. He gave me a weird look.

“Uh...” I picked up a pair of ugly Adidas sandals. “I found the perfect pair of sandals!” I imitated the squeal I'd made seconds before but quickly threw the shoes at the ground and kicked them when Nolan turned his back.

Then I decided I should follow him around like a super-fly spy. I remembered what happened last time and made the decision to make sure I could see at all times.

“Lunch break, Tom!” Nolan yelled towards my Dad. His name's Tom.

“It's not even eleven, yet, Nolan!” my Dad yelled back, but Nolan “couldn't hear him”. I snorted.

“Hey, uh, Phoebe?” I inquired. She looked away from the rack of converse. “I have to... go buy a Mountain Dew.” I beamed and then slid after him inconspicuously–after knocking over a stack of boxes.

---

Staring at leaves, I realized how boring Nolan was. Hmm... He was Cole's brother, so was he Parker's brother too? If not, then I'd just wasted half an hour. I mean, who cares about Cole's family. As long as Parker's involved, though.

I was sitting behind a huge plant, that actually hid my whole body, and watching Nolan eat pizza. I think that I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes, or something, because his pizza was suddenly gone and he was standing, as if to move to throw away his plate.

As he turned around, I stood up and walked around the plant, earning a strange look from a small child eating her pizza. I followed him back to Footlocker and then realized I'd just spent half an hour watching someone eat pizza.

I slumped against the wall. He didn't have any deep, dark secrets, so it seemed.

Phoebe jumped out of nowhere and I shrieked. She smiled. “Hey, took you long enough...” She trailed off. “Um... Where's the Mountain Dew?”

I looked around quickly. “Uh...” Panic-stricken, I called upon my amazing lying skills to get me out of this one. “Um... they were out!” I beamed. “That's also why I'm so late; see, I went into a blind rage after figuring out that I wasn't getting a Mountain Dew. I turned into the Hulk... started smashing things, was just generally green, and I was really buff. It was total catastrophe.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Oh... Okay...” She pulled something out of my hair and held it up questioningly. A leaf... Oh, yeah, from the plant that I'd been sitting behind while stalking Nolan! Ah, good times...

“Well, when you turn as green as I did as the Hulk, your hair starts to slowly become leaves. It's a sad life,” I sniffled.

She giggled and I wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from my forehead.

Another situation avoided by Callum: The Professional Situation Avoider.

---

author's note: okay, how pissed are you guys at me? i'm gone for months, and then i come back with this short crap? o.o i know, it IS short. but i didn't have the next scene finished yet and i was feeling guilty about not having this out yet... sorry? the next one will be out A LOT quicker because i'm already ¼ done with it.

jammi: it'd be awesome if her mom was really an assassin whose only goal in life was to kill her daughter... hmmm, maybe i should make a few changes to the plot... :D
lol, yeah. callum is the kind of person who tries to pretend things didn't happen. like... with cole... and her tripping and falling and her face being in places she didn't want her face to be... in her mind, that never even happened.
anyway, i really like nolan. in fact... i like cole, parker, and nolan. you'll find out about the whole family drama within the next two chapters. and hopefully they won't take as long to get out as this one! o.o