My Lovely Jerk {Completed}

Chapter - 8

Five Years Earlier: 2008

“Elle, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Randall asked me as he ran his hand through the sand that surrounded us in the sandbox we were in. His eyes glanced over in my direction as he showed me he was seriously asking for an answer. Removing his hand from the cream colored sand, Randall remained silent.

“I dunno, I haven’t really thought about it, Randall. I’m just in the sixth grade!” I told him as I flipped over a bucket that I had just filled up with sand. I lifted the bucket up, hoping that all the sand would stay up. I smiled in happiness when it did. With excitement coursing through me, I knew I was about to build the biggest sand castle ever.

“Come on, Elle, you don’t have any idea what it is you want to be? Like a doctor or a lawyer! Oh, I know! You can be a-”

“Cowgirl. I think that is what I want to be,” I replied to Randall with a straight face. “I mean I love horses and-”

“How can you be a cowgirl when you are afraid of snakes? Don’t you know there are snakes on farms? They will eat you whole, Elle ... You know what? Maybe, you are right. We are in sixth grade, so we have time ... So tell me, what did you think of that new girl at school today?” Randall asked with soft inquisitive eyes.

“Kat Bonnet?”

“Yeah, that girl. She seemed nice, I liked her Power Rangers backpack,” Randall commented as he once again started to run his hands through the sand. He looked deep in thought and I knew he was thinking about other things about Kat that stood out to him. “She was very friendly too ... do you think we should befriend her?”

I shrugged my small shoulders at his suggestion. “I don’t know, we have a good friendship with just me and you-”

“I know, I know. I’m not asking to make her our best friend. Just to be friendly and hang out with her at school ... it seems no one really is welcoming her to our school...”

“Yeah, okay. But, I will not ever invite her to my house! You shouldn’t do the same. I really just want it to be me and you, Randall. Best friends till the end of time.”

Randall outreached his left hand, “I can pinky promise to that.”

Smiling I gave Randall a pinky promise. Yet, as we sat there under the evening sky, I knew that this Kat girl wasn’t just going to be a school mate of ours ... she would worm our way into our close knit friendship. Thing was, I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea.

“Aren’t you two a little old to play in the sandbox?” My brother, Peter, questioned as he walked over to us.

I squinted my eyes as the sun started to blind me. Soon, Randall and I unlinked our pinkies as I sighed at my annoying older brother. “What do you want, Peter?” I asked him with irritation leaking in my voice.

He put his right hand in a bag of Doritos he was clutching in his left hand. Taking a handful out of chips, he shoved them all in his mouth. He knew I hated the sound of chips being chewed and yet here he was, standing mere feet from me, obnoxiously munching on chips. “Just seeing what you two are up too,” Peter stated with a mouthful.

I looked away from him for the sight of the inside of his mouth coated with crushed chips and saliva disgusted me. “Go away, Peter,” I barked at him as I started to refill my bucket with sand. In the corner of my eye, I saw Peter move. Looking over at him, I saw an evil glint in his eyes.

Marching over to me, Peter kicked what progress I had made so far when it came to my sandcastle. He gave a deep throated laugh as he looked down on me.