Sugar

chapter 7

Though it seemed like I wanted to avoid my ex best friend, I actually enjoyed his company. I had forgotten how much fun I had with him, and how I could easily put a smile on his face.

The next few days went by with the four of us spending time together. We went bowling, and played on the X-box at home. Aunt Barbara took us shopping and Uncle Norman did barbecues for us.

Today was Sunday, and the adults and Jessica were going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. It wasn't close to the town, but Joey was willing to drive them in his SUV. That left the three of us to order pizza home and watch The Big Bang Theory reruns on TV.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" My aunt fretted, while they were leaving. I groaned. "Aunt Barbara, I'm seventeen years old! And Brandon's going to be there; we'll be fine," I smiled convincingly.

On the other side of the room, Mike - Brandon's father - was drilling instructions into his son's head. I don't understand why they don't trust us. It's not like we're going to throw a party and trash the whole house.

"Have fun and be safe!" They called out before leaving. Gritting my teeth, I called out that we would. When they finally left, I collapsed on the couch. "I thought they would get us a baby sitter," I laughed.

Max grinned, "you know what we should do? We actually should have a party. A wild one. But we need to clean up before they get back."

I didn't like his idea one bit. If we did have a party, he would probably call only his friends. And I was in charge. If anything happened I would get blamed. I would lose the trust of my aunt and uncle and everyone else.

"No," I said, softly. Max stared at me like I was mental, "What?"

"No," I repeated, more loudly, "We're not going to have a party. You may get off free but we're the ones who are going to get screwed."

Brandon looked annoyed. "I think it's okay, Nat. I mean, I'll cover for you. Trust me."

The only thing that registered in my mind was that he called me Nat. He's not called me that since more than three years ago. I didn't respond for a long time. I was lost in 'dreaming about Brandon land'.

"Uh, Natalie?"

"Oh. I, um, you guys do whatever you want," I said, getting up and walking away. I wish Jessica was here. She would have been on my side. But she loved The Cheesecake Factory, and she would rather go there than hang out with us.

No one followed me to my room. Sulking, I pulled on a sweatshirt over my trackpants and decided to go out. When I walked downstairs in my Converse, the boys stared at me.

"You look like a homeless person," my cousin snorted. I glared at him and he stopped giggling. Brandon stood up and came to me.

"Nat, stay?" He asked, pouting. I could feel myself melting under his gaze. Brandon grabbed my hand and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. But seeing the smirk on his face, I pulled my hand away.

Sorry, but I'm not a pushover anymore. "You guys do what ever you want to do, but if you get yelled at, it's not my fault," I said, before leaving.

I pulled the hood up on my head and started walking to the park. When I reached, I sat down on the park bench, and looked at the people around. I didn't have a phone, so I couldn't entertain myself.

After sitting in silence for half an hour, I was close to dying of boredom. Sighing, I walked to the local coffee shop and decided to buy something. I had about ten bucks on me, so I bought a small hot chocolate and looked at the people around.
When I checked my watch again, I realised I had been out for about an hour and half. I started walking back home, my hands buried in my sweatshirt pockets. When I approached the cabin, I saw that there were at least seven cars parked on the street.