Flowers and Pop Rocks

13

p o p p y

Speaking to Blake and Levi with Angel right beside me was honestly the most fun I'd had in a family gathering since... ever.

I was laughing so much that my other cousins started to stare at me like I was crazy.

The crazed Angel beside me wheezing like a hyena on crack wasn't really helping my case.

"Poppy, your grandmother said you just left when she was talking to you."

Just hearing my mom's voice triggered my fight or flight response, making me throw the phone into Angel's hands before she could see who I was talking to.

She wasn't exactly happy to find out that I had a boyfriend the last time, so if she saw me talking to a boy, she might take it the wrong way.

"Yeah, I was going to finish our conversation later," I replied, once she was in front of me. "Angel just had to call me for something."

"Call you for what?" she scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Homework!" Angel blurted. "Aunt Mel, you know Levi, right? He was just asking about our Calculus homework, and I didn't know what to say. I thought Poppy might know."

She flipped the phone over to show Levi grinning at the screen. "Hi, sorry to bother you."

My mom immediately smiled. "No problem, Levi. It's nice to see you again. Poppy was just a little occupied when you called, but no worries."

"Thanks, Poppy's my savior. I'm gonna fail Calculus without her," he gushed.

He was lying, of course. We were in the same class, and I knew for a fact that he was getting straight A's. Levi really didn't seem like a smart guy, but he was.

"I'm glad she's being helpful," my mom smiled kindly. "Well, I'll go now. I have to help prepare the food."

"Bye, mom," I waved as she walked away.

I let out a sigh of relief and slumped on the couch. "She almost gave me a heart attack."

"Why was I suddenly shoved out?" Blake came back into the frame with a frown on his face.

"Clearly, you don't know Poppy's mom," Levi shook his head. "I've never seen a more overprotective mother."

"There's a lot more where that came from in this family. Let's hope Nana never finds out about you," Angel warned.

I felt a hand on my head, making me look up in confusion. When I realized who it was, my eyes immediately lit up, and I jumped out of the couch.

"Asher! I didn't know you were coming."

"Missed you too, Popcorn," he returned the sentiment.

"And here's another one," my cousin rolled her eyes once she saw her brother. "What took you so long, Ash?"

"Got held up at school," he shrugged. "What are you guys up to now?"

I pointed at the phone to see Levi waving. "Talking to some friends."

"Long time no see, bro."

Asher grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, man. I trust that you're not letting some random idiot take my seat at our table."

"If by "random idiot" you mean him, then yeah, a random idiot took your seat," Blake joked, popping in to say hi.

"Ey, Nixon, what's up?" Asher greeted. "I knew you'd have to be involved if Lev was torturing these two."

Blake laughed with Asher, earning a punch from his own cousin. "You were the one who wanted to call, idiot."

Someone called out to Asher just before he was about to say something. "One sec, I'll be back."