Chapter 23 Cute House Elves and Hot Boys
“Don’t look at me, I look ugly!”
“That’s not true, you’re fucking beautiful,” Adrian soothes but his brown eyes seem to be holding back his amusement. He turns around to give a glaring and silently seething Drew, a pointed look.
“Yeah, anyone would be lucky to have you,” Drew coughs awkwardly. He shifts on his shoes until he’s leaning against the kitchen counter, his eyes looking at anything but not at anyone. I can still feel his slight anger from earlier before we all ended up in the kitchen. The tension from Sammy’s room is still very much present, oh so very present. Even now, I can feel Drew glaring at the three of us, Adrian pretends to ignore it, Sammy keeps giving me pleading looks and I just avoid eye contact with the blue eyed
“Really?” Lucas looks up with a faint smile on his face. See Adrian, Sammy and I were about to get our asses tore by Drew’s dark side, him having found out about Sammy’s little pregnancy scare, when a scream saved us from his anger. We tore out of Sammy’s room like our lives depended on it which knowing Drew, they kind of did. Nothing prepared us for the sight waiting for us in the kitchen, Lucas leaning over a frying pan, something sizzling on the stove before catching fire. The flames rising up high before we were able to douse them out with the extinguisher, sadly, nothing could be done for Lucas’s eyebrows, which both are now halfway gone. Lucas is currently sitting on top of the kitchen counter cupping his hands over his brows. The area around his eyes intensely red, I think he should put some ointment on that.
“Yeah, Lucas you’re the definition of a stud,” I pipe up cheerfully. The poor idiot has been sulking for half an hour going on and on about what was, he started to sound like Rapunzel’s song from Tangled, which he didn’t miss to sing. I’ve never seen the usually upbeat Lucas seem so down. As soon as those words come out I notice Sammy shake her head frantically while Drew just seems bored and raises an eyebrow. I think he’s giving me the silent treatment but I can’t be quite sure.
“You really think so Khloe?” he looks up with a beaming smile, he’s like a little kid. I nod, giving him a smile of my own. He jumps down from the counter before giving me a tight hug.
“I’m prettier than all of you,” he turns on his feet pointing towards Adrian and Drew, even Sammy. Well, at least he doesn’t have self-esteem problems. His brown eyes have none of that sadness from before, he starts dancing and singing along to Kelis’s Milkshake. I just hope he really doesn’t bring any boys to our yard.
“What were you even doing cooking?” I ask curiously. All of us turn to face a sheepish looking Lucas. He begins to shift nervously and scratching the back of his neck.
“Well, uhm, Kohl and I had a bet on whose cooking could woo a girl,” he looks down at his worn Converse. It would have something to do with my brother.
“And what girl would you be wooing?” Adrian smirks. Hm, who could it be because as far as I know Lucas is the more promiscuous one of the group?
“Oh look it’s Kurt Cobain,” Lucas points behind us.
“We’re not going to fall for that,” Sammy scowls at him. Strangely enough, Kohl walks into the kitchen dressed as Kurt Cobain for some odd reason even I’m terrified to ask. Out of the corner of my eye I see Adrian holding a fist to his mouth, holding in his laughter.
“Why?” is all Drew says as he looks my brother up and down.
“Turns out that cooking shit doesn’t really work on girls, so I’m working on a new technique,” Kohl shrugs as if this should be obvious. I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head at him. The blond wig hangs precariously off his stupid little head. I also think he did a poor job of scribbling some bad work of stubble on his face. All in all, he is no Kurt Cobain; I just hope he doesn’t try to sing. I don’t know if his love for Nirvana brought this on, or if he really is trying to impress some poor soul out there. Either way I feel sorry for them both.
“How do I look Khloe?” Kohl turns to me with a stupid smile on his face, his brown eyes expectant.
“Yeah, I’d rather get beat up by Drew right now,” I mutter but something tells me he heard. Adrian chuckles loudly, Sammy smiles and Drew just gives me a deadpan look.
“I think you three and I still have something to talk about,” Drew states, his gaze meeting all of ours while Kohl and Lucas remain oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. Each complimenting the other on their new looks. It’s a strange friendship, the one those two have.
“I just remembered there’s supposed to be a marathon of Charmed reruns that I should really get to watching,” I mumble, desperately trying to make my escape. It’s not a lie. I never miss an episode no matter how many times I’ve already watched them. I think it’s pretty obvious I live my life vicariously through fictional characters.
“Yeah, Adrian and I have some things to talk about,” Sammy replies.
“I think the two of you have done enough talking,” Drew bites back and I don’t miss the triumphant smirk that passes through Adrian’s face before he schools his features once again. He must really want his face to meet Drew’s fist, not like it hasn’t happened before. I shudder at that awful memory when Drew had the gall to separate Lucy and me. I’ve forgiven him since then but that scenario will be used to win future fights, which I don’t doubt we will have.
“Well, bye,” I wave in fake enthusiasm before heading for the door. An iron grip grabs hold of my wrist just as I was about to push the door open.
“I don’t think so,” Drew hisses before grabbing Adrian’s ear and dragging the both of us with him. “Sam, I better not have to come get you myself,” he calls out. I don’t even get a chance to turn around and see if she followed, but the quiet pitter patter of feet behind
“Drew, you really know how to treat a lady,” I grumble sarcastically as he roughly pushes Adrian and I into his bedroom. The second time I’ve been in here today, might I add.
“Yes, I also know how to treat liars,” he retorts with an eye roll.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“We didn’t lie to you, they kept this from the both of us,” Adrian pitches in quickly before moving over to stand by Drew’s side. I turn to give Sammy the ‘your boyfriend’s a wimp’ look. We really communicate through our eyes, it’s a girl thing. I think.
“I don’t really want to hear anything from you just yet, Casanova,” Drew snaps. Somebody didn’t put sugar in their cereal this morning.
“Look Drew, we could listen to you lecture us for hour but we all know we’re not really going to listen to you. So, how about I let you drive me to the store cause I never got to buy that present,” I try to diffuse the situation with pure and raw honesty. The glare tells me my comment hasn’t been well appreciated.
“You’re going to let me drive you to the mall?” he takes on an incredulous tone.
“Yep,” I nod before grabbing his hand and dragging him with me. I send a ‘you owe me’ look to Sammy and Adrian, who are both left smirking behind us. I don’t know why, they’re weird. I look back at Drew when he lets me drag him out effortlessly, but he’s just giving me an odd look. “You unlock it with your keys,” I urge when we make it to his car and he just stands there with the same stupid look on his face. He snaps out of it and we both climb into the black car. Before I can even put my belt on, he revs the engine and speeds out of the driveway causing my head to bang on the dashboard. “Thank you for that,” I groan, rubbing my forehead.
“You’re welcome,” he smirks. The drive goes silent and all the while I shift uncomfortably in my seat, worried that he’s planning on taking me out into the forest and my doom. I think we’ve established that I have an overactive imagination. I catch him trying to keep a smirk off his face and I just know he knows he’s making me uncomfortable. I sigh in relief when we pull up to the very public, crowded place lingering with many possible eye witnesses.
“So, where are we heading?” he asks as we walk past the crowded entrance doors. I instinctively shift closer to him, all these people giving me the creeps. At least this time we made it into the mall instead of being hauled out by a band of bandits.
“What’s going to happen to Kai?” I ask as I head to a cute little toy store. We get some looks as we roam the store aimlessly, but that might have to do with the fact that Drew seems to scowl at everything. I pick up a cute looking house elf from a nearby shelf. I notice he completely ignores my question.
“No, this will most probably scare her,” he takes it out of my hand and puts it back.
“Scare her, that right there is Dobby from Harry Potter,” I exclaim.
“How about a nice little doll?” he drags me away from the shelf.
“A doll, are you insinuating that because she is a girl she will only play with Barbies and artificial make up?” I bring my arms across my chest with a scowl on my face, my feet deeply rooted to the ground.
“What, no. I just think she would prefer a doll than to a scary looking goblin,” he shrugs exasperatedly. No he didn’t.
“We’re having a movie night tomorrow. A Harry Potter marathon because you obviously don’t know the difference between a goblin and a house elf,” I get all up in his face. It is after my little rant that I notice I was screaming and a lot of people in the store giving me odd looks. Though I do smile when a man a couple of feet away screams ‘Hell yeah’.
“Khloe, can you calm down?” Drew looks around warily. I humph and turn back around, grabbing the little Dobby doll off the shelf.
“Go ahead Drew, buy her your little doll and we’ll see which she likes better,” I smile innocently, knowing he won’t resist a challenge. He smirks before grabbing a cutesy set of a doll and castle, loser. We were about to leave when I notice the minion stuffed bears, I grab two before heading to the register. “They’re for Lucy,” I answer the silent question when Drew raises an eyebrow at my minions. Well, at least one of them is for Lucy. We walk out of the store with all of our bags in Drew’s hands. I walk to a small jewelry store with Drew in tow.
“Isn’t it sexist to get her jewelry Drew because she’s a girl?” I hear Drew mock from behind me in a pitchy voice.
“Jewelry can have sentimental value and be worn by both, guys and girls,” I snap. We wait for around an hour as they engrave Lucy’s name into the small charm bracelet I bought with her birthstone on it. Beat that, Drew. After having the bracelet wrapped we stepped out and unable to resist myself I scurry on into the bookstore conveniently placed by the jewelry store. Drew rolls his eyes before following me in. I’m immediately drawn to the YA section, can you blame me? I notice the new release for Shatter Me has been placed on the top shelf and desperately jump to get it. Curse my short frame, Drew just smirks and whistles looking away.
“Here, let me,” a deep voice states before the book appears in my line of vision. I beam up and finally notice the guy that helped me in the name of literature. My breath hitches as I notice he looks just like Jared Padalecki also known as, Sam Winchester. His green hazel-ish eyes give me a knowing look, as if he knows who he looks like.
“Thank you,” I breathe out.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” I blush looking down at my feet at the smile that framed those Supernatural look-alike features.
“Khloe,” I manage to squeak out as I look up his tall frame. He even has Jared’s height.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he leans on the bookshelf right in front of me, placing one booted foot against the frame gently. I notice the tattoo on his wrist which just makes him hotter. “It means strength,” he adds when he notices me looking.
“Oh, and no, I don’t,”
“Yes, she does and he’s standing right here,” I finally remember that I was here with Drew.
“What, you’re not my-,” I manage to get out before he cuts me off again.
“Bye,” he glared at the beautiful specimen in from of me.
“Fine, here,” he places something in my hand before strutting away and I stare longingly at his figure. I wonder if he knows someone who looks like Dean. That’d be heaven on earth. I look down at the cigarette he placed in my hand and notice something’s scribbled on it, his name and phone number. Derek, it suits him. I smile before pocketing it and looking up at Drew. “Let’s go,” I hold up the book in a motion that I’m going to go pay for it. I’ve grown accustomed to his glares but the one he’s giving me right now seems a bit more dangerous.
“What, why are you staring at me like that, are you mad?” I ask him alarmed.
“You were flirting with him,” he sneers the last part in
“I was not, I was merely answering a couple of questions honestly,” I correct. I don’t think that counts as flirting, does it? I head over to the cash register with a sulking Drew by my side. I don’t know why he’s so mad.
“Let me ask you something, in your eyes who’s hotter, him or me?” Drew suddenly speaks as we put the bags in the trunk of the car.
“Let’s not do this Drew,” I mutter before climbing inside the car and putting my seat belt on.
“We’re not leaving until you answer my questions honestly,” he snaps looking out the windshield.
“The only reason I paid attention was because he looked like Jared Padalecki from Supernatural,” I explain.
“Whose hotter, Khloe?”
“I don’t feel safe answering that question,” I protest. The answer is pretty clear but it’s the consequences my answer would bring that worries me.
“Yeah, right now you’re not so safe if you don’t answer the question,” he retorts, his blue eyes finally locking into mine. I roll my eyes with a heavy sigh.
“Lift your shirt up,” I motion with my hand towards his black long sleeved shirt.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Lift it up Drew, you want an answer, lift it up,” I snap my fingers. He smirks before making a show of lifting his shirt up, Magic Mike wannabe. His prominent abs come into view and I nod. “You, you’re hotter,” I look out the window so he doesn’t see me blushing. I don’t want to give the narcissistic bastard the satisfaction. He chuckles before turning the car on and driving out of the mall. All the while he has a goofy smile on his face that’s so bright I can’t help but smile myself. When we walk through the door I notice the whole living room’s been decorated in black and purple with cute balloons strewn around. “How?” I ask with a smile on my face.
“I had already arranged for some people to come fix the place for tonight,” Drew shrugs. Aww, he’s so adorable. I place the presents on the table already filling up with wrapped bags and boxes. I give him a questioning look.
“It’s just us and Ruby, but we went a little crazy with her presents,” he explains. Claire places the cake on what looks to be the refreshment table before hurrying out of the place and to who knows where. Lucas and Kohl come downstairs hauling a huge box down the stairs, laughing about some inside joke. When the notice us, they start cackling like mad men almost dropping their package. I give them both crazy looks. I head upstairs to freshen up and change and when I come back down the guys are all moving around animatedly. The guys look up when I come down and start snickering when they notice me, Lucas and Kohl being the main ones. Although we all know Adrian doesn’t hold back, but the only one who seems as oblivious as me is Drew.
“Lift it up Drew, lift it up,” Adrian mimic my voice with a smirk.
“Who’s hotter Khloe, huh?” Lucas imitates Drew. My eyes widen and I glare in Drew’s direction.
“What the hell did you tell them?” I hiss at him.
“I didn’t say anything,” he holds his hands up. I shake my head and walk past him before picking up Lucy. She’s beaming and I think she knows today’s all about her and her birthday.
“You guys should really stop putting your phones in your butt pockets,” Adrian rolls his eyes.
“You butt called him,” I realize, he must’ve accidentally dialed when we were having that discussion in the car. Drew looks at me sheepishly before we head to sit on the couch. Lucy takes a couple of bites of cake, the one Drew made. Apparently my paranoia of her not being able to eat cake was wrong, the doctor reassured me. Drew surprisingly made a very good cake. We converse about everything and nothing while making funny faces at Lucy, a couple of times I catch Drew giving me weirder than usual looks but I shrug him off. My eyes light up when I notice a perky brunette heading my way.
“Hey Ruby,” I greet her with a smile.
“Hey Khloe, Drew, Lucy,” she begins to coo at Lucy and the baby immediately basks in the attention given to her. I smile at the beautiful sight. It’s good that Ruby was filled in on everything since she was taken by Drew’s dad, though I don’t believe for a second that he really is the villain in this story. Ruby swears up and down that he’s nothing but a sweetheart as well.
“Hey Ruby,” Lucas comes over with a smile.
“Hey,” she smiles at him before her attention returns to the baby in my hands. I notice the slight frown on Lucas’s face and can’t help but wonder if she’s the girl he’s set out to impress. Out of the corner of my eye I see Kohl talking animatedly with Kim, who seems to be trying to catch every word as he speaks a mile a minute. At least he’s no longer dressed as Kurt Cobain, or his version of him. The party goes on with minor incidents. By minor I mean Kohl tripping and managing to dump the punch bowl on himself when Kim made a grab for a napkin and accidentally brushed their hands together. I never thought of my brother as a romanticist, but perhaps he has an inner one that’s locked in some dark part of his mind. Lucas continues to try and strike up a conversation with Ruby and only makes a fool out of himself. Especially when his eyes shamelessly roam over her chest, players, the lot of them.
“He doesn’t seem to notice that Ruby’s trying not to laugh at his missing eyebrows,” Drew leans in to whisper before grabbing Lucy and placing her on his leg. I smile. I turn around to face him and notice how close his face is, eyes locking onto one another. I look down and notice our hands have intertwined themselves as if by some force of nature or magnetic pull. It makes me wonder if this whole ordeal had not occurred would we have ever really crossed paths. I’d like to think so.
“Yeah,” I breathe out and I don’t even remember him asking a question. He leans in to peck the corner of my mouth until the flash of a camera snaps us out of our own little world. I pull away with a blush overtaking my features.
“I have a question for you,” he states. I nod with a mouthful of cake. “Do you like tattoos?” he smirks. I roll my eyes knowing he’s referring to the tattoo on Derek. I nod with a careless shrug, tattoos are hot.
“Why,” I take a sip of sparkling strawberry lemonade.
“Want to see mine?” he smirks. Whoa, I didn’t know he had a tattoo. I nod, a little too eagerly might I add. He leans in to whisper in my ear.
“Too bad, you shouldn’t have flirted with Derek,” he chuckles at the scowl on my face.
“Then I won’t let you see mine,” I shrug.
“You don’t have one,” he looks at me curiously. I could have a tattoo, if you count the ones you buy at the store and only last like an hour instead of the day the package ensures. But I could have one. He adjusts himself on the couch and pulls down the collar of his shirt until his shoulder blade comes into view. Respice, Adspice, Prospice…
“What does it mean?” I whisper as I let my finger trail over the three words before letting my hand fall to my side.
“It’s Latin for ‘look behind, look here, look ahead’ or ‘past, present and future,'” he explains as he turns to face me once again, securing his hold on Lucy. I’m not going to admit it out loud but that tattoo just makes him even hotter now, and that seemed pretty impossible to begin with.
“I like it,” I smile up at him. I find myself thinking that I like it a lot, the entire package. We resume to open presents in front of Lucy, her smiles letting us know if she likes them before it’s time for the little doll and Dobby debacle. I scream in Drew’s face when she hugs her little Dobby doll, unwilling to let it go and knocking the doll Drew put in her line of vision down. I’m not going to admit to him that I knew I’d win because we’ve been watching Harry Potter movies together behind his back. Then he’ll think I cheated, which I didn’t. It’s only the mere fact that cute little Dobby beats any doll, at least in mine and Lucy’s eyes. I laugh when I notice that he actually began to pout, big bad Drew pouting.
Yeah, I definitely like this life a lot.