Flowers and Pop Rocks

20

p o p p y

I never expected myself to be bringing Caleb home on a late Friday night.

Correction, very early Saturday morning.

He had a lot to drink, and I offered to drive him home. He was clearly not fit to drive, and I was sure his dad would appreciate it if I just made him come back for his car in the morning instead of allowing him to drive home intoxicated.

"Your hair is so long," he marveled, poking my cousin's hair from the back seat.

Angel also had some drinks throughout the night, but she didn't seem as drunk as the giggly boy behind her.

"You know what, new guy? You have great hair too," she complimented him. "That is a "haircut every month" type of style, I just know it. My ex had the same hair."

"What's he up to now?" Caleb wondered, popping his head in between mine and Angel's.

Their conversation was incredibly amusing to listen to.

I just knew that if Sabrina were in the car with us, she'd yell at them to stop. She only liked the quiet when she got drunk. That didn't really pair up with high school parties well, did it?

Thankfully, however, she hitched a ride with someone else, allowing me to enjoy the conversation as my driving entertainment.

"Eh, who knows?" she shrugged. "But if it were up to me, falling off a cliff or on a deserted island far away from here."

"Bad break up?" he guessed.

"Yeah, bad cheater."

He started to laugh, and I glanced at the rearview mirror just to see what was going on. What just happened?

"Whoever that guy is, he's a joke," he continued laughing. "If Poppy is any basis on the looks of your family, it's really his loss."

Caleb still seemed to be shocked that Angel and I were related, but what surprised me was that he was comparing me to my model of a cousin.

"I mean, I'm right here so you don't have to guess what I look like, but it's true," Angel agreed. "How insecure was he that he chose to cheat on me with some try hard Barbie, you know?"

"Is it that Summer Rowland girl?" he asked.

"Hey, how'd you know?" she giggled. The alcohol was really getting to her.

He laughed with her. "Lucky guess? She's the girl who sprays that strawberry perfume like nobody's business. It's hard to miss her."

Those two were a great pair when drunk. They seemed to be having a whole lot of fun.

"Don't remind me," she rolled her eyes. "My ex was a senior, and I was just a junior, so I tried really hard to keep that relationship alive, and he barely tried hiding that he cheated. That perfume ruined everything."

"And every time she smells it, she gags," I chimed in. "Angel's ex was great friends with her brother. He was the one who found out first. Angel found out just five minutes later."

Caleb cringed. "Serves him right."

"And that's why my brother banned me from dating anyone for the time being," she explained. "That's okay though. To be honest, I needed the break."

Soon later, we arrived at Caleb's place.

Mr. Harris was surprised when I appeared at his front door at one in the morning, but he understood when he saw my car and my cousin dragging Caleb out of it.