kitten

Chapter Nine Daisies, Strawberries, Cigarettes and Tiny Liqour Bottles

Chapter song: Screen by Twenty One Pilots

"Hi Luke," I say standing at his door. "Kitten, what a surprise!" he winks letting me up the stairs. "Ashton, Mikey, Cal this is Maisie-Marie, you can call her Maze for short though." A curly haired boy waves at me though the other two have their eyes glued to the screen in front of them.

"Maze?" Luke calls from the kitchen. "Yeah," I try to be loud enough for him to hear but not too loud. "Wanna come help me with something?" he responds. I walk towards the kitchen to see what he needs. "Want something to drink?" he asks. I shake me head. He nods.

***

Sitting on the couch squished between Ashton and Calum I watch Luke and Mikey battle over whatever game they're currently playing. "So you're Toulouse's little sister?" Calum asks. "Yep," I confirm. "He's cool, I didn't know he had a little sister. But I mean I've only met him 3 times really," Calum says trying to make conversation. "Oh yeah, he uh- does, because I mean, here I am," I awkwardly gesture to myself.

"Calum stop making her feel awkward, talk about something else," Luke demands over his shoulder. Calum rolls his eyes.

"Where have you been?" Toulouse asks casually as I open the door. "With some friends," I tell him.
"Sounds fun."

"It was."

"Good."

"Yeah."

I stand there for another second or two before running up to my room. I immediately close my eyes for a nap. Though my nap is cut short when my buzzing phone wakes me.

"Hello?"

"Hiya, what are you doing right now?" Luke's voice is excited and not at all groggy from a nap he may or may not have taken. "Sleeping," I tell him closing my eyes stuffing my face into my pillow. "Oh, good nothing important. The boys and I want you to come down to the cliff with us," he sounds so happy I can't say no. "Great! we'll be there in 10," he tells me hanging the phone up.

I slowly stand up and head to my dresser. I pull on a pair of black jeans and a white top. I throw on my converse and head out the window. I run to the black truck parked by the backyard and climb in when Luke opens the driver's side door. Once I successfully climb over his lap across the center console and into the passenger seat he puts the car in gear and we drive off.

"What an entrance, she's a keeper this one," Ashton says to Luke who nods in agreement. I roll my eyes and tell Luke to "Shut up and drive."

"Bossy," Michael whispers and Calum snickers. "Just gonna take it?" Calum asks as Luke starts on the main road. "I've learned that the more I tell her what to do the harder she resists, well in day to day directions anyways." He winks at me. I give him a scowl in return.

After about 30 minutes of driving I have the audacity to ask, "Where the hell are we even going and are we there yet?"

"No one likes a whiner," Ashton pipes up from the backseat. "Hey now, I like this whiner," Luke says putting a hand on my thigh. "I'm gonna puke," Michael informs the car. "You're just jealous because you haven't gotten laid in three months," Calum chuckles and Luke joins in. "And our little Luke here is getting some," Ashton reminds Michael. "You guys suck," Michael addresses. We all snicker at his comment.

"So, here's a fun game, we all need to guess what each other hates and loves to smell and then at the end we say what we really do hate and love to smell," Ashton suggests. "What the fuck kinda game is that?" Calum asks. "I'll have you know it's the most popular game played by children on road trips in the Netherlands," Ashton tells him. "Fine then, I reckon you hate the smell of gasoline, and love the smell of fresh drumsticks," Calum guesses.