The Problem Child

The Baseball Cap

It has been almost half an hour since the group reached Charlie's place. But Conner have not stopped talking about his favourite fictional charecter, a red-headed archer who wears the same baseball cap as him. Joshua was interested to hear him rant for the first few minutes but soon, the babbling became unbearable that Conner had started listing out the guy's hobbies and favorites.

Right now, Joshua looked like a piece of rock with a fake smile plastered on, nodding his head every now and then, even though he didn't totally understand a thing Conner was saying. He didn't really have the heart to say it to the face of Conner, but he really wished that someone could actually make him shut up for good.

Charlie was trying hard to stifle his laughter every time he looked at his best friend's face, as he helped Trevor bandage the wounds. And of course, Trevor kept slapping away his hands and made annoyed and disapproving grunts everytime he tried to get anywhere near him. It was like he was allergic to being taken care of.

He couldn't help, but wonder why Trevor liked picking up fights with everyone he saw. The guy's whole body was covered in purple marks and long faded scars. And he couldn't help but worry.

Conner's blabbering had become so unbearable to even Trevor, who had been listeneing to it on a daily basis. He had to put a stop to it. If he wouldn't, no one could. When Trevor felt it was okay enough to move his hands, he whacked Conner on the back of his head. Ouch. It still hurt to move!

"Stop drooling over your daddy Harper, Kon. You are going to give them nightmares for the rest of their lives" Trevor said in a low voice.

He winced as Charlie tightened the bandage in his legs. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn't feeling like biting the guy's head off for making him seem like a weakling.

He didn't like being covered in bandages like that. But despite his protests, the nerds just wouldn't let him be. It made him look like a centuries old Egyptian mummy. And he hated it.

He felt suffocated...

He was going to rip all of these bandages off of him when they finally leave him alone...

Conner stuck out his tongue out at Trevor and put on a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. Josh chuckled at how childish the guy behaved. That was when Conner remembered something. He bounced himself on the ploppy couch as he started to speak.

"Ooh.... I just remembered, I don't know your names. I'll introduce myself first. I am Conner McWillus and he is Trevor Hillinger" he beamed, grinning showing all thirty two of his teeth.

"I knew already" Charlie smiled. He had done his research the very first day they crossed paths.

"Ew, creep" Trevor mumbled, only to earn a nudge from Conner. "He meant, 'Aw, that's so cute!'" Conner said, all cheerful, sending a silent glare Conner's way.

"Hm... The names suit you. Trevor and Connor" Josh said in a quiet voice, more to himself than anyone, putting on a thinking face.

"It's Conner" Trevor scowled.

"Uh.. Sounds pretty same to me" Josh couldn't tell what exactly the difference was.

"No. You said Connor. With an 'O'. My name is Conner with an 'E'. Details, hunny, details" Conner said, pinching his fingers together, for the last part.

It was an Italian gesture he learned a few weeks ago. And now, he do it every now and then, though it didn't fit the situation. The truth was, he didn't even know what that's supposed to mean. He just thought it was a cool gesture.

Who cares anyway...

"Gah, whatever" Josh rolled his eyes "I'm Joshua Carmel. You can call me Josh, or Joe"

"Joshua Stupid" Trevor mumbled, only to have completely ignored by Josh.

"Charlie Carlton"

"Charles"

"C'mon, dude. Stop with all the formality. They are our friends now! Maybe we can try being nerds like them. Or they can start picking up fights like us" Conner said throwing his arms up in the air.

"Hey, we are not nerds!" Josh protested.

"Huh-uh" Conner's face was growing mischievous as he foresaw a perfect way to tease two poor little nerds."You say that like you don't have a favorite teacher, like you don't have your heart broken when the teacher ignores you for a second... Like I am going to believe that!" He said teasingly.

"That's not true! Why would I ever get heart broken over something as silly as that?!"

Conner opened his mouth to say more, but was stopped by the ringing of his phone. He checked the number and froze in his spot. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"You good, Kon?" Trevor asked, trying to sneak a peek into Kon's screen.

'Mama', it read.

Trevor knew it would hurt for him to move a muscle. But he would never waste a chance to tease his buddy. So he grinned with all the little might he had. "Come on, Connie-boy, pick up!" He said with mock enthusiasm.

Conner glared at Trevor and turned to Charlie with his puppy eyes.

"Hey Cha" he said in the most innocent and sweet voice he could do.

"Yeah?" Charlie was confused at the sudden change in Conner's tone of voice.

"You live alone, don't you?" He asked, blinking a little faster to bring out his innocent face.

"Yeaah?"

"And you wouldn't mind having someone over for the night, do you?" Conner squeaked out.

"Er... No?" Charlie had a faint idea where this was going.

"Fine. Perfect!" Conner beamed and he answered the call.

"Hey mom! I'm staying at a friend's place for the night and I wouldn't be back for dinner, if you still serve, that is. Sorry, I didn't tell you earlier. I love you, mumma and byyeee!" He said in one breath and ended the call, dropping the phone onto his laps.

He looked like he just won an Olympics medal. His grin was threatening to tear his face in half.

"So, Trevor! You are staying too, right? Come on Charlie, show me to my room. I'm tired!" Conner pulled Charlie up to his feet and started to drag him further into the house.

Before Trevor could even register what was happening, Conner was long gone, pulling Charlie along with him.

"Well.... You guys stay. I'll see you in the morning at school, I guess, Bye" Josh started to stand up, amused by the crazy friend he earned just a few hours ago. "Charlie, I'm leaving!" He shouted out "Good night!"

From somewhere within the house, Trevor heard a "Yeah, Good night, buddy" and the front door closed with a low click. He was all alone in the room to sit and wonder why he was sleeping over at someone else's place when he could just go back to his hole.

Right, Conner. That's why.