Chapter Sixty Four
*
*
Waking up to Pumpkin’s loud sing-screaming wasn’t exactly how I planned to start this morning.
An annoyed groan escaped my mouth as I struggled with the pillows to block out my hearing abilities.
Sohow her voice only got louder. And louder. That cockroach. In her ears, she probably thought she sounded like Beyoncé.
I sat up, a steam of breath escaped my nostrils as I pushed off the covers. I was certain she was doing this on purpose!!!
That little she-devil!
Now, I was back to face reality and question all my terrible life decisions...
Like why the heck did I decide to kiss Kieran in the park yesterday?
Ugh!
My finger trailed my lips, the mory still vivid in my head.
What ca over ?
No, the real question was, what did I even want from Kieran?
This was no longer a prank, who was I kidding?
But how did he even turn gay overnight???!
No, the bigger question was when did his hate towards even turn to this... what should I even call it?
He’d never ntioned that he liked or anything.
I needed to call William, he would know how to help .
Just one and a half-day without him talking sense into , and life was already making decisions for .
The real problem was that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the knowledge that Kieran wanted to date .
I grabbed my new phone from the nightstand, still getting used to how sleek and expensive it felt in my hands.
The guilt over how much Kieran had spent was still there, but it was overshadowed by sothing else. Sothing that made want to smile like an idiot.
Ugh, I really need to call William.
I hit ’My Universe’ on FaceTi and it didn’t take long for William to respond.
I imdiately launched into my prepared lecture the mont his face appeared on my screen.
"Where the hell were you yesterday? I texted you like fifty tis! I called and you didn’t answer! Do you know how worried I was? I thought you’d been kidnapped by aliens or fallen into a sinkhole or—"
My rambling died in my throat as I actually looked at the screen.
Panic thickly mixed with concern replaced whatever I was feeling.
William’s face was puffy, his eyes red and swollen like he’d been crying for hours.
"What’s wrong? You’ve been crying?"
Who the hell made him cry?! I thought in outrage.
"What? No. It’s just allergies."
William’s gaze shifted away from the cara, his hand touching his face as though he had no idea what I was talking about.
"Allergies? Since when do you have allergies? You once ate an entire bag of flower petals on a dare and nothing happened."
"Since yesterday. Pollen and stuff." His voice was flat, totally unconvincing. Not that I would have believed him.
This was my best friend. I knew every expression he made, even when he was lying. And right now, he looked like soone had ripped his heart out and stomped on it.
"Will, what’s wrong? Really. Did sothing happen at the party? Is it your parents...?"
"I said it’s allergies, Oliver." His tone was sharper than I’d ever heard it directed at .
"Can we just drop it?"
The hurt hit square in the chest. In all our years of friendship, William had never shut out like this.
This was the first ti he’d ever hidden sothing from , and it felt like a betrayal.
"Fine," I said quietly, I didn’t have anything to do today anyway, so I would just have to stop by his house later.
Either way, I must know what was wrong with him and we will solve it together.
I could hear soone calling his na in the background.
"I have to go. Later" He was already reaching for the end call button, still not eting my eyes.
"Wait, Will—"
The screen went black.
I stared at my phone, worry gnawing at my stomach.
Why would my tough William cry?
What could possibly be so bad that he couldn’t tell ? I’d never seen him like this.
Or wait... Don’t tell he has already found out about Vince’s boyfriend?
This was the only thing I knew that could get him so depressed.
Poor William
I kicked my feet against my blankets in frustration, flopping backwards onto my pillow.
Pumpkin was still singing at the top of her voice, why couldn’t Mom inform her about the cost of a larynx surgery?
If it were disturbing the whole neighbourhood, I was certain Mom would have smacked with a pan.
I caught sight of the giant teddy bear sitting in the corner of my room, wearing a tiny bow tie that I had insisted on buying because "it looked distinguished."
The mory of yesterday’s package delivery made wince, my hand automatically going to my ears.
They were still a little sore.
-----
"OLIVER WEST!" Mom had shrieked when the delivery truck pulled up. "What in God’s na is all this?"
Box after box had been carried into our house. Clothes, electronics, skincare products, random kitchen appliances I didn’t even rember picking out, and that ridiculous oversized teddy bear that barely fit through the front door.
"I told you I was going shopping with Kieran!" I’d barely begun to explain when Mom grabbed my ear and twisted it like she was tuning a radio.
"I didn’t raise you to be this materialistic!" Mom had hissed, still maintaining her death grip on my ear. "What will the neighbours think? That we are relocating?"
"N-No. That I have a very generous b-boyfriend?" I’d squeaked, dancing on my tiptoes to relieve the pressure.
That had earned an even harder twist.
When Kieran had made his appearance beside , Mom had imdiately switched into apologetic hostess mode, releasing my poor ear to smooth down her dress.
"I’m so sorry about Oliver’s behaviour," She’d said sweetly while I rubbed my abused ears. "I taught him better than to take advantage of people’s kindness."
What?
Kieran was the one who had always taken advantage of ??!
How unfair.
"Kieran dear, you shouldn’t fall for his silliness, Oliver can be very immature most of the ti, but you’ve always been more intelligent"
WHAAAAT?
Academically, I guessed that was true, but she didn’t have to say it like that in front of him. I was way better than him in other things!
Was this so kind of humiliation ritual for ? Behind Mom’s back, I’d stuck my tongue out at her.
I was her real son! But she was shalessly taking Kieran’s side, making look as though I was so gold digger!
Kieran was the arrogant one who thought money solved everything, I’d only wanted to teach him a lesson, but who knew it would backfire on ?
It hadn’t ended there, what had really annoyed was how well Mom and Kieran got along.
She’d served him tea and homade cookies while lecturing about not letting kindness make spoiled.
To think she had never made tea in my entire life!
"Mrs. West, you raised him perfectly," Kieran had said with that charming smile that worked on everyone, and that everyone sadly included .
"He’s just... enthusiastic about shopping, and I don’t mind." He’d added while I glared at him.
"Enthusiastic? He bought a crystal tea kettle!" Mom had exclaid.
"It was on sale!" I’d protested weakly.
"For three hundred dollars! How could you spend money recklessly!"
Three hundred???!
I hadn’t bothered to check the price list of the things I’d gotten.
The evening had ended with Mom convincing Kieran to return everything and ask for a refund. And Kieran being the idiot he was had responded, "As long as Oliver is happy, I’m willing to do anything,"
Not only Mom, but even Pumpkin had looked at him with sympathy, making Kieran look like the devoted one who was yearning for true love, while they glared at like I was a cruel materialistic boyfriend who only cared about his money.
My phone pinged with a ssage, snapping out of the mory.
Kieran.
I opened it without thinking, then imdiately scread and launched myself off the bed so fast I nearly face-planted on the floor.
Reviews
All reviews (0)