Hulk Girl

Chapter Fourteen

Huh? What just...happened? My mind went blank and it was like the capability to think suddenly vanished at the single word that came out of Carter.

Boyfriend?

That was a million miles away from what I actually had in mind. I thought he was going to say that Kieran was our houseboy, someone who Nana commands to do all the errands she has, like this one, which was coming to get me.

"Boyfriend?" I, Kieran and Thea all spoke in unison as we stared at Carter.

"Yes," Carter said, trying his best to look intact and composed. The only one giving him away was his hard grip on my arm that he was holding.

"The deception!" Thea cried, looking between me and Carter. "I thought you two were fated to be together!"

"As bestfriends," he answered, having a strained smile that looked like he was constipated.

Thea turned to me, "When you were six, you told me you'd marry Carter."

"I was six..." That was the only thing I could say as I stared at her. My mind was still undergoing maintanance.

She hung her head in defeat for a moment before looking up and zeroing her gaze on Kieran, whose expression wasn't giving anything away. "Since when? Since when did you steal Cece away from my boy?"

Beside me I could see Carter giving signals to Kieran to not say anything. Carter said, "Just a few months ago, Mom. Now can we stop--"

"Cecilia, my dear, what does this boy have that my son doesn't?"

Well, for a start, he's straight, was what I wanted to answer but bit my tounge. I wouldn't expose Carter; I'd let him do it himself. Instead I said, "He's... uh, a toad."

Crap.

"What?"

Behind Thea, Kieran's eyes became stormy. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under. Carter panicked beside me and tried to save me, "Uh, she meant that he owns a pet toad! She must have confused the two, ha ha ha..."

"You like amphibians, Cece?" Thea asked, a confused look on her face. "You hate anything slimy."

In this situation, we could all do without Thea's photographic memory. She must be remembering the good ol' times of a seven year old me nearly bursting her vein when something slimy had touched me.

Ahead of me, I felt dread when I saw Kieran's eyes lit up. His eyes seemed to say, 'Oh yes, Cecilia, this is your moment to shine.'

And he did just that. With what seemed like an innocent look, he said, "Oh, she likes anything slimy, actually. She takes my toad every night and cuddles with him. She has a hard time sleeping when she doesn't get to coat her lips with his slime."

"Wh-Wha--" I started to protest at this turn of events when Carter cut me off.

"Yeah, that's right, Mom! Since I don't like amphibians, Cece can't connect with me. Kieran's someone she can connect with!"

By this time, Thea was looking at me in a way that made me want to repeatedly pummel the angelic smile on Kieran's face.

I didn't even get to defend my pride, what's with Carter backing up the idiot's statement. I swore, I'm going to get them for humiliating me in front of Thea!

Carter clapped his hands once and announced, "Now that's settled, Kieran, weren't you going to take Cece home?"

"Ah, yes," He said. "My toad probably miss her kisses now."