The Rebellious Host | ✓

Jamie

Ian stops me as I'm leaving to go help Melanie do dishes. "Hey, Jamie." He says.

"Hey, Ian. What's up?" I shove my hands into my pockets.

He shrugs. "Nothing much. What're you up to?"

"Dishes with Mel." I tell him.

"Me too." We start to pick up a few plates.

"Alexis seems nice." I say.

He nods. "She's alright. I don't really know her." We join Mel in the kitchen, where she's already up to her elbows in soapy water, scrubbing away at a pot. "So what's up with you and Laina?" he asks. We start working on the dishes with Mel in between us.

"Yeah, Jamie. What is up with you two?" Melanie adds. "You've been...distant."

I shrug, staring down at the plate in my hands. "Nothing. We just haven't talked in a while." I plunge my hands into the water, scrubbing at the plate.

Mel raises her eyebrows but says nothing. Ian glances over at me. "Nothing?" He snorts. "You two keep looking at each other."

"I'm trying to figure her out. She's changed a lot since I last saw her." 

Mel nods in agreement. "She has. But so have you."

Ian grins. "Were you always taller than her?"

Melanie shakes her head. "Nope. She used to be taller than him. Then after like, fifth grade, she just stopped growing."

"Ah." Ian nods. He looks at me. "Were you two in the same grade or something?"

"I was one grade higher than her." I tell him. "Off of the topic of me and Laina, what's up with you and Wanda, Ian?"

He flushes. "Nothing. Why?"

Melanie rolls her eyes. "Nothing? My God, Ian. You like her, she likes you- it's obvious." Ian narrows his eyes. "You seem to forget that she was in my head when you two met. And for the first part of your relationship."

"Well, what about you and Jared?" Ian replies. "Something's going on there."

Mel blushes. "Jared and I-" she stops herself. "You are an ass, Ian O'Shea."

"Hey, watch the language. There's a kid here." He gestures to me.

I raise my eyebrows at him. "I've heard Jared and Kyle say worse, Ian. And my sister has called people worse."

"Yeah, Ian." Melanie sticks her tongue out at him. "And anyway, your mouth isn't the cleanest."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, Stryder."

"You realize there are two of us here, right?" My sister says. "That means that you could be talking to my brother."

Someone walks in. "Are you two fighting again?" Jared. Not unexpected.

"Oh, this is normal too?" Laina asks. "Wow, all of you are just at each others' throats, huh?"

"You should hear them with Kyle." I tell her. "Ian broke his nose once."

She appears beside me. "Oh? And whose nose have you broken?" I see her flash a smile. "Please tell me you broke Jared's. He deserves it."

Jared kisses Mel on the cheek. "Hey! Not nice."

She smirks at him. "You do."

Ian nods. "I can agree with that." He looks over at her. "You know, I like you, kid."

She gives him a huge grin. "I know. Who doesn't?"

I raise my hand, and she smacks me in the back of the head. "Ow." I mutter.

"You deserved that, Jamie."

"Like your brother deserves a broken nose?"

"Yup."

"I can arrange that." Ian says.

"My God, O'Shea. Shut up."

Laina lets out a snort.

"So what would happen if we called you Lainey?" Ian asks.

"She would murder you in your sleep." I tell him. They all turn to look at me, and I shrug. "I tried it once. It was not pleasant."

Laina grins. "I almost successfully killed him."

"Almost?" Jared asks.

She nods. "Then I decided that it would be pointless. I mean, back then he was a sweet little kid." She eyes me with fake distaste. "Don't know what happened to him."

Melanie throws her head back and laughs. "He grew up." She says. "That's what happens to all boys."

Ian and Jared pretend to look offended. I elbow my sister. "Not cool, Mel." I say.

Laina grabs my elbow and drags me away. "We're leaving!" She shouts.

"Should they have a chaperone?" Ian wonders out loud.

"Nah," Melanie says. I don't hear the rest of her statement.

Laina drags me out and back to the glow worm room. "No one will bother us here, right?" She whispers.

I swallow. "Right." I whisper back.

We sit down on the rocks and stare at the glow worms. "So. About last night..."

"What about it?" I don't look at her.

"The whole, 'what the heck is going on with us?' part." She says.

"Oh. Right." I knew it the whole time, of course.

"I think it's because..." she trails off. "Because we haven't seen each other in like, three years, and we don't know anything about each other anymore."

I nod. "Yeah. I think so too."

"So... what did you do for the past few years?" She seems genuinely curious. I fill her in on everything. After I finish, she tells me what happened to her. I'm not sure when, but sometime after her story we both fall asleep on the rocks.