One Big Sweet Mistake

Chapter 9

Alex was a lot nicer to me since that homework night. He let me teach him some subjects he was not good at, so when Gemma phoned me to make sure everything was okay, I could give her a satisfying answer. Let alone the math, that boy even did much better in physics than me. He just had to stop messing around and be more serious.

By the way, it seemed like Alex had infected me with his games addiction. He taught me how to play The Sims 3 and now I could not stop facing my laptop. He also showed his collection of CDs, which filled up the most part of his closet. Last night we even played Guitar Hero until dawn. I could barely walk to the bathroom this morning because I was too sleepy. It explained how I got these creepy black circles around my eyes. Concealer would not even help. Oh shit, I looked extremely ugly today. From now on, I had to be stricter in dealing with Alex. I ruled, not him.

“Hey, isn’t she hot?” I turned to Nicholas, staring at him with a weird look. He was definitely checking out Trisha Clancy, the sophomore year girl whose hair would remind you to Paris Hilton. She was kind of famous at school. Her all shocking pink outfit was just so head-turning. Poor girl, she must have been a victim of High School Musical. I was quite sure she was trying to copycat Sharpay Evans. Ew. Don’t get me wrong. Not that I was a big fan of such movie,...um, I just often picked random stuff in DVD rental. Okay, never mind.

“Well, yea...she is,” I said. It was awkward saying my own sex was ‘hot’; it made me feel like I was really a lesbian.

“You think so? Damn, look at her legs.”

No, Nicholas, hello? Hello? I was not sure this was an appropriate topic to talk about when you were with a girl who probably liked you. Wait, he thought I was into my own kind. Dammit. I swore Nick’s expression was just gross when that Trisha girl passed in front of us. He was literally drooling.

“Nicholas Weatherby, are you with me?” I nudged his ribs, trying to get him back on earth.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Where were we?”

“We were discussing about when we’re going to start to make our project paper.”

“How about tonight? The sooner the better. Give me your address and I’ll come at seven,” Nick said.

“What? No, I can’t. I have something to do. Maybe we have to find another time.”

Actually I was just not sure Gemma allowed me to have a guest. I should ask her permission first. Besides, I would be busy with Lola at the evening. Nick shrugged.

“Okay then, just text me. Catch you later.”  

“Wait, I wanna ask something.”

“What?”

“Do you have any sister?”

“Um, yeah. I have a little sister named Madison. Why is that?”

“Just asking. I gotta go now, see ya.”

Ah, so her name was Madison. Madison Weatherby. It just made me more curious.

Two days ago...

Lucy did not work on weekends and it meant I had to take care of Lola 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday. I should have asked Gemma clearly about my job desk because I totally felt like a maid at the moment. Alex was not a go-down-and-help type of boy, thus all the house chores became my responsibility. It was heaps annoying, but at least being here was much better than staying with Joey.

“Alex, wake up. It’s nine o’clock already!” I shouted in front of his room, holding a broom. Then I realized that he was not curling under his blanket as usual. His room was empty and there was no sign of his existence.

“Weird...I didn’t see him going out...” I mumbled. I still had so many things to do, so I just went to the kitchen and fed Lola.

“Palk...palk...” she said, pointing at the window.

“Palk? What is that? Lolz, what do you want?” I frowned, trying to understand what she said. After a few minutes, I finally got it. She wanted to have a stroll outside.

“Okay, then. Come on, let’s catch some fresh air! You’re suffocated in here, huh?” I lifted her tiny body up into my chest and put on my sandals.

Lola looked very happy as we walked down the street, enjoying the warmth of the morning sunshine. When we were passing the baseball field, she suddenly struggled until I almost dropped her from my arms.

“Bubba!” she exclaimed. I looked around in confusion and my eyes caught Alex standing at the fence. I was about to call him, but he looked so lost in thought. The boy was staring at a girl who just beat the ball and ran across the field. That girl was slim and had a long dark-brown hair, which tied up highly oh her head, forming a perfect ponytail. The spectators shrieked as she successively landed on the base before the other girl got a chance to tackle her foot. A second later, the sound of people cheering and clapping hands were echoing around me. It was not the game which drew my attention, but Alex.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I patted his back. He startled.

“Nothing,” answered him. He was suddenly nervous when the baseball girl stared at our direction and smiled at him. I blinked my eyes in shock as I saw him blushing.

“Whoah. Is she your POI? Person of interest?” I giggled, teasing him. The girl waved her hand at Alex, but he did not reply to her and even ran away immediately. Shocking! Was he just being shy?

“Alex!” I called out. It was no use because he already disappeared at the junction. I turned back to the girl. She was now busy chatting with her peers. From afar, I saw the back of her shirt and above the 8 number printed on it, there was written ‘Weatherby M’.