Slightly Less Badass

~Chapter One~

My life is a mess. Sure I've got a very successful bakery but other than that, everything sucks. As I finished icing my last batch of cupcakes I kept staring nervously at the clock. Rina is supposed to be here at 5:30 and for the first time ever I didn't want to see my best friend. She just got back from her one month European trip with her husband David and she was coming over to tell me all about it. I hear the bell jingle, letting me know someone's entered the shop, and I turn around to see who it was, expecting Rina. I'm happily surprised to see it's not her.
"Hi."
I jump over the counter and fling myself at Jacob. He immediately wraps his arms around me as I hug him tightly. Once we got over our prank war Jacob and I became best friends. Sometimes it seems like him and I are closer than Rina and I. But that's preposterous because no one could come between Rina and I.
"Hello," I reply.
"Is Rina here yet?" he asks and looks around the small bakery.
"Ya she's just hiding behind that chair over there," I retort sarcastically. This place is very small and there's definitely no where to hide someone.
"No need to be sassy."
"Well then don't ask stupid question."
I walk back around the counter and start eating one of my cupcakes. Jacob raises and eyebrow as he glances at the pile of used cupcake wrappers I had laying there.
"How many of those have you eaten?" he questions.
"Um.. Only about four or five. Maybe six."
"Six? I think you need to save some room for dinner."
He attempts to take the delicious cupcake from me. Key word is attempts. I slap his hand away and quickly shove the rest of the cake into my mouth.
"Okay I think you need to chill with the cupcakes," he tells me. Then, not even two seconds later, steals one of my freshly baked cupcakes and puts the whole thing in his mouth. Before I can say anything he takes another one and shoves that into his mouth too.
"Hypocrite," I mutter. "And I eat when I'm nervous."
"Why are you- Oh." He glances down at my left hand where my diamond ring was. Wearing engagement ring made me feel like a liar. I unscrew it from my finger and set it on the counter. We both stare at it as if it's going to do some magical trick.
"You haven't told her that you and Jay called off the engagement?"
"We didn't call off the engagement. Did Jay say the wedding was canceled?" I ask. I can hear the panic in my voice and I quickly blink away my tears. Jay and I are just fighting and my naïve mind was still hoping we could fix things. It was unlikely but I still have hope. Jacob's eyes widen slightly and he quickly steps forward and engulfs me in another tight hug.
"No of course he didn't say that. Everything will be fine."
"You're lying." My voice is muffled from my pressing my face into his warm jacket.
"I'm not. But you still need to tell Rina what happened."
I look up at him and frown. He's the only person, besides my parents, that I've told about what happened between Jay and I. I didn't want to bother Rina with my problems while she was enjoying her trip. I reach up and touch his brown hair.
"I don't like your hair this short," I tell him. He sighs dramatically.
"Way to avoid the topic. And you've been telling me you don't like my hair for three years."
"That's because it looks stupid. Kinda like your face."
He laughs and tries to pull out of the hug but that just causes me to hug him even tighter.
"You're very mature, you know that?" he says.
"Mira is always mature."
Jacob and I turn around to see Rina. I immediately let go of Jacob and run over to Rina. We stand there, squealing and hugging each other, for several long seconds. Soon Jacob joins our hug, smushing both of us.
"It's great to see you guys too," I hear David say. That makes me feel slightly guilty that I didn't even realize he was here.
"Hello David. Welcome home," I yell.
"Hello Mira."
We finally pull out of our hug after what feels like an hour later. The first thing Rina does is walk behind my counter and grab a cupcake. David and Jacob do the same.
"Why is everyone stealing my cupcakes? Those were hard work," I say in frustration. Nobody seems to hear me as they lick the icing off. Once they've each eaten another one Rina finally starts telling me about her trip.
"It's sounds wonderful," I say after she finishes describing everything they saw and did. David and his family are all really fancy lawyers so his family is super rich. Rina and him have been taking all sorts of vacations lately.
"Oh it was. I wish you were there. David why didn't we take my best friend?" Rina demands.
"Because it was to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary?" I almost laugh at how scared David suddenly looks. Rina is scary when she's mad.
"So?"
"So you decided that we could take her another time."
Rina considers this for a moment before nodding. She seems satisfied with his answer and turns back to me.
"We'll take you next time," she promises.
"Hey what about me?" Jacob chimes in.
"We can all go."
"Sounds like a plan."
I suddenly pout as I look at my three friends. David has a buzz cut, Jacob's hair is nearly a buzz cut, and Rina recently got all of her hair chopped off so now it came to just above her shoulders. I look down at my long blonde hair that almost reaches my waist. Actually, it probably does reach my waist when it's straightened.
"You all have short hair. Why?" I ask.
"That was a random question. It's called the adult look," Rina replies. She yanks at my curls. "When are you going to join the club?"
"Never. It was hard work growing it this long. I'm not ready for the adult look yet."
"Dork. Okay ready to go to dinner?"
"Ya but I need to go and shower first," I say as I look down at myself. I'm covered in flour and icing. "Can someone drive me home? Cameron wrecked my car so.."
"Then how did you get here?" David asks.
"My mother."
"Why was he using your car? What happened to his car?" asks Rina. I roll my eyes. I have an idiot for a brother.
"He wrecked his car."
"Ha dummy. I assume he isn't hurt?"
"Nah he's fine. Didn't get a scratch. So who's gonna drive me home?"
"I will let's go."
"Thanks Jacob."
Rina follows us out the door and walks over to Jacob's car. David gives her a questioning look and gestures to their car.
"I'm going to go with them," she tell him. I might be imagining things but David almost looks relieved as he quickly climbs into his car and drives away. The car ride is peacefully silent for several minutes. But, alas, we can never stay quiet for long. Rina opens her big mouth and disrupts the silence.
"Jacob you're going the wrong way."
"No I'm not."
"Um ya you are."
"No this is the right way," I reassure her.
"No your apartment is the other way. This is the direction of your parents house."
Oh, right. I still haven't told her that I moved out of Jay and I'd apartment and moved back into my old room at my parents place. Again, my life is a mess. Jacob takes his eyes off of the road long enough to look at me.
"If you don't tell her then I am," he says gently. I knew I needed to tell her but I didn't want to. If I told her then it made the situation real and I don't want it to be real.
"Jacob," I pout. He looks at me again, with that same pitying but stern look. I sigh and look out the window, refusing to look at anyone.
"I moved back home."
"You what?"
I clear my throat and say it slightly louder. "I moved back home."
"Why?"
I don't say anything for a few seconds. I could feel her gaze on me but I still refuse to look over at her.
"Do you want me to tell her?" Jacob asks me. I simply nod my head. I'm thankful to see that we're in my driveway. I quickly jump out before I can hear him say anything.
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"We're taking a vacation!"
That cheery, loud voice is the first thing I hear the next morning. I love Rina, I do, but sometimes I really want to murder her. Sunday is my one day a week where I get to sleep in and she comes bursting into my bedroom all happy and obnoxiously loud. I play dead in hopes that she'll go away and that I can go back to sleep. It seems that today is not my lucky day though.
"Wake up you lazy bum!" she yells and then starts poking me. My voice is muffled from my comfy pillow but I talk loudly enough for her to hear me.
"Get. Out."
"Never. Now get up so I can talk to you."
She doesn't stop poking and prodding at my until I'm in a sitting position. I refuse to open my eyes. She tries to pry them open, poking me a lot in the process, but I squeeze them shut and shove her away.
"My ears work just fine. I don't need to see you to hear you," I tell her.
"Whatever. Just came over to tell you that I have planned something spectacular but oh wells."
My bed squeaks slightly as she stands up. I can tell she's waiting for me to open my eyes and be excited but I don't take the bait. Instead I lay back down and snuggle closer to my pillow.
"Close the door on your way out," I mutter. I hear her sigh dramatically. Before I know what's happening, I'm on the floor.
"Stop being boring and listen to me," she whines.
"Geez attention seeker. What time is it?"
"8:08."
"In the morning? Ugh. Just let me sleep," I groan. I then curl up into a ball on the floor. It's kinda comfortable down here.
"Would you pretty please just get up and let me tell you the good news?"
"Is the good news that you brought me a donut? Cause that's the only reason I will even consider getting up."
"Three glazed donuts with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles. Just how you like it." I can hear the smugness in her voice. I groan very loudly and consider my options. After laying on the floor for a few more seconds, I reluctantly pull myself back onto the bed and into a sitting position. I greedily take the bag of donuts from her and start shoving them into my mouth. Rina gives me a little look of disgust.
"How are you not fat? I mean you eat stuff all the time at your bakery and I never see you eat something remotely healthy. And we all know you're too lazy to exercise."
"Since when are you a health nut?" I ask in between bites.
"I'm not but still. It's kinda gross."
"Don't judge me. Once I saw you eat a container of cotton candy, seven fun sized Skittle bags, three slices of pizza, and a half a bar of chocolate in under two hours."
"Don't judge me," she echoes. "Anyway I came to tell you about the vacation I planned for us."
"How random of you."
"Thank you so what do you think?"
"I haven't been on a real vacation in over three years. I can't afford it unless my family offers to pay."
"What do you mean by a real vacation?" she questions.
"A vacation without my family."
"Oh. Well don't worry about paying for it. Jacob and David are paying. We're going to go to David's family's beach house in Florida. It's the coolest place I've ever stayed it. You'll love it."
She seemed so excited that I felt almost guilty popping her bubble.
"You just came back from a vacation, why go on another? Plus doesn't David need to get back to work? Plus what about my work? My bakery can't be ran without me."
I knew I was being annoying but I couldn't help it. These were legitimate questions that I'm sure she hadn't thought out yet. I was surprise when she proved me wrong.
"David doesn't have any big cases going on so he's good. Jacob said he hasn't used his vacation days yet so he can go. And I'm sure you can find someone trustworthy enough to run the bakery. If not, it can afford to be closed for two weeks."
"I can't close it for two weeks. Business is slow enough as it is!"
"Then don't you worry about it. I'll find someone to run it for you. You deserve a break from work. You've been working nonstop since you opened that place four years ago. All you need to worry about is what clothes you're going to bring. Have everything packed and ready by Tuesday night. We'll be gone for two weeks and I'm sure we'll all be too lazy to do laundry so pack lots of clothes. Kay bye."
Before I could make any more arguments or point out any more flaws, she jumps quickly off of the bed and hurries out of the room. I tempted to yell after her to voice my concerns but I'm too tired. Eh, I'll just call her later. For now, my bed is calling my name. With that, I curl back up into the warmth of my sheets and happily fall back asleep within seconds