Chapter 10: Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

- Jordan -

She's not going to be on, I thought with a frown. Who the heck is going to be on at 7:35 in the morning, anyway? Only losers without lives are going to be on a.k.a. you.

PigeonRat signed on.

I looked over my contacts list. No one else I knew was on except for the one girl I've been wanting to talk to for a really long time.

Oh, God. Score!

PigeonRat - hope u havnt 4gtn about me

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Hmm, sorry. Who is this?

SHIT!

PigeonRat - o, uh nvm.

Damn it...

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Haha. Just kidding :) How are you?

Thank you Lord, Jesus Christ in heaven above!

PigeonRat - don't scare me like that :(

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Aww, poor wittle baby. Want a hug?

PigeonRat - as a matter o fact

PigeonRat - yes i do

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Haha. I'm really sorry then. So what are you doing up so early in the morning? Checking mail or something?

PigeonRat - nah, jus talkn 2 teh most beautiful woman on earth o course

NotAnotherPrettyFace - You're too damned cute!

PigeonRat - haha thx thx

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Jeez, Mr. Conceited xP

PigeonRat - u no u still heart me

NotAnotherPrettyFace - Whatever!!

PigeonRat - i missd talking 2 u. how've been?

NotAnotherPrettyFace - I have no idea, actually. My weekend was so weird.

PigeonRat - what a coinsidense (sp?) so was mine rofl

"Hey, is that Ella?"

I instantly came from out of my dreamlike state and looked up at my insane sister who was standing at my door. She had a wicked smile on her lips.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I exclaimed as I quickly typed in 'g2g' and signed off. God, I really wanted to keep talking to Derricka, too.

"I'm just saying that you had that same dopey look yesterday when you were with Ella. Gosh, you guys looked so damn cute under that tree!" she exclaimed while pinching my cheeks. I tried to pull away, but she had a tight hold on both of them.

"Ow, Libs, let go of my cheeks," I tried ordering while fighting off her attacks. "Are you insane?"

She rolled her eyes. "Gosh. After getting you this awesome crib, you should be on your hands and knees worshipping all that is Libby McClure, twerp," she said jokingly, while poking me in the stomach.

I pushed her hand away and tried to shove her off, but of course, being Libby, she wouldn't leave me alone.

"I don't love her. It's just... getting along with someone who's been my enemy for the past eight years is just fucking weird, you know. Things just keep changing, I just wish this wasn't one of them."

I expected a deep, sympathetic response from Libby. Instead, she flicked me on the forehead.

"Idiot." With that she walked out, leaving me all alone in my new room.

Great way to thank your older sister after she got you a place to stay, stupid ass!

I frowned as I took in my surroundings. Not that it was the best place to be in.

The walls were this awful faded lime green color that made me wonder if the previous owner of the room left because he/she had gone insane from seeing this awful shade of green everyday. Because I, for one, know that this room would make me go insane if I actually stayed here for a long period of time. Sleeping in it last night was hard enough.

My father, if you can call him that, kicked me out of the house, but he's supposed to leave next week for another eight months to France, so I just have to survive living in this room for a week.

You can bet that I'm counting down the days.

Six days, three hours, and approximately twenty minutes until I'm back home.

God, I'm actually counting the minutes, how pathetic.

"Hey, sexy, got a light?" I cringed at the deep Russian accent.

As I was saying, my dear sister may have found me a place to stay on very short notice without having to pay for anything, but there was a catch. A very disturbing catch.

"S-sorry Nik, I don't smoke," I answered while trying to avoid eye contact from his vulture-like stare.

Nik a.k.a. Nikoli Vitali had no problems about hitting on me the first moment we met. Let's just say that this guy is so out of the closet he's redecorating it. Heck, he even tried to kiss me on the lips when he greeted me at the door.

Nik called it Russian tradition; Libby called it an act of desperation. I just wanted to get the away from him before he tried it again.

He licked his lips slowly, "Pity, pity."

I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Some people play hard to get, but Nik was all too obvious. And, quite frankly, it scared me shitless. Sure, I've had stalkers before, but never one from my own gender. It was creepy, to say the least. And the fact that he only slept down the hall made me stop and praise God for whoever invented the door lock.

"Libby tells me you like women, yes?"

I slowly nodded. But I guess he had mistaken my slow reaction as if I were trying to hide something, because he continued with sympathetic eyes. "You can tell Nik, moy schoroschii. I understand," he sat down on my bed and patted the spot next to him.

What the hell does he mean by 'I can tell him'? Tell him what?

Slowly, I had a light bulb moment as the implications of his words donned on me.

Nooo. He can't mean?-- No-- There's no way that'd he'd think that I'm--

Oh shit.

I struggled not to dash out the door without being rude. I mean, this guy may have a thing for me, but he's still letting me stay for free. I'll have to deal with him for a while.

I cringed as I saw a smile form on his lips. "You know they say: women are for children, men are for pleasure."

I turned beet red.

Oh my God, he's going to rape me in my sleep!

"Umm, Nik, I just forgot I have to go visit my girlfriend before school," emphasizing the word as if my life depended on it. "I-I'll see you later," I picked up my backpack and dashed out of the room.

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh God.

I nearly plowed down Libby on my way out of the apartment building.

"Whoa, JD, are you trying to kill me?" she squeaked with hands on both my shoulders trying to hold me still. "Don't answer that."

"Your friend in there just hit on me."

Libby giggled. "Well, I was pretty skeptical when he only said 'sure' after I showed him your picture. But, don't worry about Nik. He's pretty harmless. He couldn't kill a fly; they pretty much scare him."

I blanched. "Libby, please..."

"Fine. Fine. Want me to drive you somewhere before school? Like a place with a park? And a tree?" she added with a suggestive smirk.

"No!" I exclaimed. I frowned at her. "God, stop analyzing me in your head."

She threw up her hands with a smile still on her lips. "Look, bro. I'm just trying to speed up your first relationship with a girl that has an IQ bigger than her chest size. Call me a catalyst for love, if you will. Cupid's right hand woman minus the flashy wings."

I rolled my eyes as we entered her car. "Drop it, Libby."

"I know. I know," she said sheepishly. "I just wanted you to forget about you know..." she paused, waiting for me to react.

"Yeah... Do they miss me?" I said, trying to change the subject away from my half-assed excuse of a father.

Libby gave me a Mona Lisa half-smile, but she continued. "Well, Dina thought aliens ate you for breakfast. She wouldn't stop crying until I proved to her that aliens didn't exist. Micah, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the fact that you were gone until Dina ran at him screaming 'aliens ate JD!' on the top of her lungs. Micah then called the Jersey boys next door, Lucas and Logan, and last I heard they're planning a secret agent scheme in day care to save you from behind enemy lines. It was damn cute. Seriously some double 'o' seven status going on there. When I took them to the day care place, they were wearing spy gear, and even stole some dark glasses from God knows where--"

"--Lib."

She stopped talking and waited until we reached a stop sign before she looked at me. "Mom's not talking to dad. I think you put the nail to the divorce coffin. She actually asked me about divorce lawyers."

My eyes lit up in disbelief. I hated the guy for sure, but divorce?

"Are you fucking serious?"

My parents were actually getting divorced because of me? Shit.

She nodded. "Look, JD, it's not something you should lose sleep over. It's really not about you."

I couldn't help but stare at her. Sure, she's the calm, responsible one, but she looked too damn together. Here I was freaking out about our parents and she's just acting as if it's normal.

"Kid, you have really no idea how many times she called my in the middle of class just so she could cry on the phone complaining about him. If I ever charged her for our sessions I'd be a millionaire. So, yeah, I'm not freaking out. I've seen it coming for years. I'm just proud of her for finally going through with it. It's about time she stood up for something. God knows they've been fighting for ages. If it wasn't for Dina, Mom probably would have divorced him years ago."

I kept my eyes on the road.

My parents were finally getting divorced.

Shit.

"Jeez, this week just keeps getting better and better for you, huh?" Libby said with a laugh.

I looked out the window to watch her drive us closer to my school. "You have no idea..."

"Oh, hey! There's your lover girl."

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up about Ella already."

Libby grinned broadly. "I love how you think I'm talking about her, which I'm not. But consider this duly noted in my notebook." She giggled again.

I flushed, "Leave me alone, Lib." I closed the car door and looked at her through my open window. "Thanks for the ride."

"No probs, loser. Luv yah," she said with a wink before peeling out of sight.

I smirked as I made my way to the school grounds. It was completely empty so it would give me time to think.

"Jordan!"

Or not.

I turned to find Frankie running towards me with Johnny and Trent behind him.

"Hey," I greeted, "What are you doing here so early?"

Frankie grinned. "We all got detention for skipping sixth period yesterday. It was Adrian's idea, but he skipped detention too."

I nodded as he waved the guys to hurry up.

"Hey man," Trent greeted with a handshake.

"I heard what happened with the parentals," Johnny said after greeting me with a handshake too.

"How much did you hear?"

"Your dad called yesterday and practically called my mom a whore. He told her that she should be happy that I tainted you." Johnny put an arm over me and laughed. "Shit man, I'm happy he called. My parents completely forgot about what I did."

"Fucker," I grinded out between clenched teeth.

Johnny frowned. "Dude, calm down, I never liked him either."

We all sat there in silence.

"I punched him," I confessed with my eyes stuck on my shoes.

"WHAT?!" they all exclaimed with jaws dropped in disbelief.

"He said that I was forbidden from hanging out with you guys and a lot of other shit. I don't know. It just happened so fast. Next thing I know, I punched my own father and he locked me out of the house."

Once again we all sat there in silence.

"Good job," Trent said, breaking the quiet. We all looked up at him. "Look, no offence, but your dad is a bastard. So he doesn't physically abuse you guys, he's been mentally treating your family, and everyone else like shit. I say you should have knocked some sense into him earlier. So yeah, good job."

And this was the non-violent guy of the group? Shit man.

Frankie fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I never liked him... and we all know that I like everyone."

"Leave it to Frankie to simplify everything," Johnny said with a laugh. "Jordan, don't go cutting your wrists over him. So what if your dad sucks, at least your mom is probably one of the best out there. Second to mine, for sure."

I punched Johnny in the arm. "Keep dreaming."

We continued pointing out how much of a bastard my 'dad' was, that by the time the bell rang I realized that my family and everyone else was better off without him. At least there'd be less drama.


By first period, I had my feet propped up in the empty seat in front of me and a smile was spread across my face. Life just seemed to get brighter. I was actually early for class, I even beat Ella.

I was about to toss a wad of paper at the back of her head when Mr. Peters whistled to garner the class's attention. "I know it's early in the day and that your brains are probably still mush from the last exam, but I want you to get with your assigned partners at your stations. I'm going to assign the next lab. You can find instructional papers near your stations."

I looked around the class as everyone walked past me.

Who was my partner again? Was it Mai Lee or Molly? Or was it Melanie?

Oh, fuck. Where the hell is she?

After realizing that she wasn't in the room, I walked over to Mr. Peters's desk. "Mr. P., my partner isn't in this class anymore."

Mr. Peters quickly scanned the room. "Join Simon and Donahue at station five."

I turned my head to find Ella, who already had her bug-eyed goggles on her face, and a kid from the football team standing at station five.

Yay me...

I walked over to them and grimaced when I heard Ella laughing at something the stupid little bench warmer said.

"Mr. P. told me to join you guys," I said nonchalantly as I stood next to Ella. She looked rather annoyed, and nothing could have made me happier.

"Oh, hey, Jordan," Seth Simon greeted with a dorky smile. I wanted to hit him on the head; his voice was beyond grating.

I grunted back a reply and ditched them to get my goggles and a notebook.

When I got back, I found him tying Ella's apron.

I snorted at the sight.

"Well, isn't this cute?" I interrupted.

Ella glared at me. "Oh, shut up."

"What? I'm just saying--"

"One person from each station, please pick up this paper," Mr. Peters interrupted while holding up a stack of paper in the air.

I quickly eyed Seth, who instantaneously ran to get a paper without a single word being exchanged.

I smirked. This guy's way too easy!

"Damn it, Jordan. You should have gotten the paper," Ella growled. "Don't you even have the slightest bit of common courtesy? Seth is a good guy. He'll do whatever you say because he's scared of you. Don't dare abuse him!"

I glared back at her. "It wasn't like I meant to do it on purpose, I just looked at him for God's sake, Ella. It's not my fault he has no spine."

She rolled her eyes.

I actually smiled when she turned her back at me. Predicatable Ella was undoubtedly annoyed. Well, at least some things never change. I've had just about enough of things changing.

Having my enemy back was just the thing I needed to bring things back to normalcy. So, thank God for her.

Holy crap! I can't believe I just fucking thought that. Someone seriously needs to shoot me in the head before I start going crazy.

I looked over at Seth as he trotted back, beaming at Ella's direction.

I snorted. Maybe someone could shoot him, too. What a loser...


Author Note:

Thanks to my betas for this chapter: Mel, Rizu and Carli.
Thanks to my readers for not giving up on me.
But mostly thanks to my reviewers for supporting me: Mi.Ishi, Endowment's Seraph, ldr.of.pnk, archangelmistress, aznxdragonxluv, Rizu Herd, CookieNCreme, C. Regeling, Aella88, SkepticCritic(s), Lyrical.Love, SilverAlexis, siddika, ItalianQT, Rya, eliza-smiles, beloved18, Liquid-Sorrow, Forget-The-Sorrow, JuSt tRy, sarah, R. A. Faith, Ms.Romantic, Rah, itse, sm babee, A Dark White Rose, Ayumiko, xxSilverMoonxx, Grape, devil's-fav-angel, cursed-x-oblivion, sam the bear, sum1 special, akuya-san, icequeen401, Twinkle Star Bell, Sylvia Marri, bluz, Bimbo-Trouble, Katara Rinsho. I'm busy so I'll try to respond to each and every one of you in a PM. It'll just take me a long of time to get around to it, but know that I love you all :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S / SINGLE AWARENESS DAY! Here's some chocolate :)

PS. I deleted the chapter here so that there wouldn't be an annoying author's note in the middle. Basically, I said that my dad took away the internet because of my grades (I nearly failed Math, Science, and Spanish and that's very bad when your parents are the stereotypical Asian parents). I had to earn a straight A in all my classes before he'd give us internet again. So, yes, sorry about the (one year) disappearance!