It's Just Rae

Chapter Nine

“I’m about to jump through the screen and give Scrat that stupid nut myself!” I declared grumpily as the scraggly squirrel from Ice Age shimmied across the screen. Since my mom’s had to be at work, I’ve been on Addy duty, which basically means sitting on the couch with my sister watching movies all day since the doctor basically banned her from getting up. She’s been home from the hospital for two weeks now, and after fourteen days of sitting around watching TV it’s really starting to wear on our nerves. 

All the outside contact we’ve had has been through texting and the occasional friend stopping by to join us in our movie watching for a few hours. Sam’s been over a few times to see Addy. They’re kind-of-sort-of an item now, but it’s not definite. He’s clearly head-over-skateboard for her, though. Delainee’s stopped by a couple of times to bring us British chick-flicks that never made it over to the States. Logan even drops in every once in a while, but I usually go over to his and Delainee’s house to visit after Mom and Dad get home from work, so the two of them don’t really have to visit.

Scrat’s still trying unsuccessfully to capture that stupid nut when my phone rings. A glance at the caller ID tells me it’s Delainee.

“Hey Dels, what’s up?”

“You will not believe this. A pair of twins from America just moved in next door to Drew and Kendall.” I recently learned that Kendall lives with his cousin, Drew, but they don’t go to the same school. Kendall comes to the public school with us, and Drew goes to the private school.

“That is so weird!”

“I know! That’s why you should come meet us all at the peach. Kay?” Forget Addy staying at home! This boredom is about to kill me. Throwing safety and obedience out the window, I reply with a resounding yes, we’ll be there in ten minutes. I hang up and tell Addy the fabulous news.  We’re immediately up and out the door. Well, as immediately as we could be with Addy on crutches.  As we’re crossing the first intersection, Addy’s BlackBerry chimes. When she laughs, I can’t help but ask what the message was.

“Logan dared Sam to act like a total perv to one of the new girls,” she announces, laughing.

“So, act normal?”

“Yeah, pretty much! Except he wanted to make sure I was okay with it first.”

“That’s sweet… in this weird, twisted sort of way. I mean, he basically said, ‘I’m gonna throw myself at some other girl, but it’s cool because Logan’s paying me. Just wanted you to know.’” That remark earns me a laugh from Addy. By the time we’re done cracking about the bet, we’re at the park.

Charley, Tricky, Callie, Zach, Tara, and James are already gathered under a huge tree. We all sit and wait for Dels, Logan, Kendall and the rest of the crowd to arrive. When they finally approach, Tricky and Charley rush up to greet them. The rest of us wander up behind them, taking our time.

Addy and I are really pretty excited to meet these two. I mean, what are the odds that a set of twins our age from America would move here just a few months after us? There’s one who’s tanned, blonde, and sporty-looking called Tinley, and one who’s a pretty brunette, dressed to the nines, called Nadia. I notice Drew staring at Tinley on several occasions; however, Tinley spends more time glancing worriedly at Sam. He must have picked her to flirt with, then.  Sam’s subtly made his way over to Addy, standing next to her in a way that would lead you to believe they’re just… standing there. You’d have to be staring (like I am) to realize that they’re actually holding hands.

After we all make our introductions, Logan nudges his way out of the back of the pack to come stand with me. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips, which earns a round of catcalls from all the guys. The blood all rushes to my cheeks. I can’t help it, I kind of hate PDA. It makes me feel like I’m forcing everyone to be involved in my relationship, even if they don’t want to be.  Logan wraps an arm around me. “What?” he asks the other guys, “Never seen a guy kiss his girlfriend before?” That shuts them up.