𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | chase davenport

( 006. ) | just because you're accurate doesn't mean you're interesting

THE SECOND CHER WAS OUT THE DOOR, Bree chastised Chase. "Are you stupid?" She asked.

Chase's head snapped in her direction. "No! You know I'm not, Bree," Annoyance seethed from his voice.

Bree rolled her eyes. "You are hopeless, Chase. Bragging about how smart you are to the girl you like isn't going to make her like you." She now stood face to face with Chase, gesturing wildly. "Actually, you probably just drove her off! Who, by the way, is one of the only two friends we've made other than Leo! We're going to be social pariah!"

Chase shook his head. "I didn't drive her off. She was fine the rest of dinner! Besides, she started it." He responded, pointedly ignoring Bree's accusation. Feeding into Bree's wayward way of thinking was like adding tinder to a flame: it only made the flames more powerful, until the flames swallowed you whole. Or in Bree's case, left you debating for hours on end until you had nothing left to retaliate with.

Bree's face pinched. "All you had to do was not call yourself the "smartest man in the world,"" She protested, lowering her voice to an ugly pitch as she imitated him.

"Yeah, not a good call man," Leo added, grimacing.

"It's true though! I wasn't lying," Chase flailed, wide eyes manically darting between his siblings, trying to spot an ounce of sympathy for him. There was none.

"She doesn't know about our bionics, genius! And if you keep talking that way, it might not stay that way. Also, she's our friend. Maybe treat her like one." Bree chastised, folding her arms. "I actually like her, y'know. I want her to stick around."

Chase's features softened. "I want her to stay too." He paused, gaze landing on the ground. "Should I apologize?"

A resounding synchronization of "Yes," responses were heard from the other Davenport's, even Adam, who was busying himself with eating handfuls of jerky from a bucket.

"You too, Adam?" Chase asked.

Adam nodded, his hold on the jerky bucket reminiscent of how a mother held a baby. "I mean," He shrugged. "why not, doesn't hurt,"

Chase sighed. Damn, maybe he had messed up. He had to fix things fast, before it ruined his newfound friendship with her. With a newfound determination, Chase conceded, "Okay, I'll talk to her. Tomorrow, at school,"

Bree's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, okay. Good," She responded, surprise evident.

And Chase kept his promise. Well, he meant to. He really did. Once he saw Cher, with Justine leaning on the locker beside hers, he was ready to apologize. Before he could, an unfamiliar boy strided to Cher, striking a conversation with her.

Justine spotted the Davenports, shooting them a pointed eyebrow raise as she muttered a quick goodbye to the other two. She joined the family, staring at the pair.

"Who is that?" Chase asked, watching as Cher beamed at the boy. Her demeanor seemed softer and lighter around him, her leaning towards him.

Bree snorted. "You don't know?" She asked, doubtful. Upon a minute glance at Chase's blank, struck expression, her question was answered. "Oh, of course, you don't,"

Justine leaned in, keeping her voice low enough that only the Davenports and Dooley could hear her. "That's Brett, Cher's crush." There was a slight distaste to her tone, clearly not fond of Cher's pick.

"That's her crush?" Chase asked, his tone matching Justine's. It didn't make sense to him at first. The boy didn't seem particularly smart from the way he carried himself, and with how small his backpack was, it definitely wasn't carrying all the textbooks he needed for class. There was no way he could keep up with Cher's intellect. He was clearly a jock, the points of his soccer cleats jabbing through the material of his drawstring bag. But, he was a relatively attractive brunet, and tall to boot. He supposed a cheerleader being into a jock shouldn't have surprised him, even with how smart Cher was.