The Babysitter ✯ Kellic

Chapter Eight

I need to add more characters to this story smh
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"Actually, I'm way taller than Vic. So you should call me his younger brother instead of his little brother," Mike says, chuckling. "But, yeah, that's me. Out of school, I've heard about you, Kellin." I would be scared, but I know he's just referencing hearing about me from Vic. I nod and smile.

"Vic is coming to pick you up today, isn't he?" I ask before taking a bite of my hamburger. Mike nods in confirmation, eating a handful of fries. "I guess you'll get to meet Copeland," I say. I mean, if Vic is coming to pick Mike up from school, he would have to be coming from my house. Meaning, he'd have to bring Copeland with him here.

When we went to the store to buy her more clothes and toys, we found this old baby seat packed away in my shit from when I first moved here. He'll have to put her in there again, even though she hates that thing. I can already picture the argumentive baby language from here. "That's your daughter, right?" Mike asks suddenly.

I nod, smiling. My friends, Nick and Gabe, sit across from me, plopping their trays down on the table. "Who's this?" Nick asks curiously.

"I'm Mike," Mike says, sticking his hand out for them to shake. That's such a formal greeting for a high school student. Granted, this student failed eighth grade, for some reason, and is a high school senior, but it's still odd. Regardless, Nick shakes his hand, Gabe following him.

"And how did you two meet?" Gabe asks, using a specific tone to insinuate that Mike and I are in a relationship. I chuckle and shake my head.

"You know Copeland's babysitter, Vic?" I ask Gabe and Nick. Gabe flashes me a confused look.

"I thought Vic was your boyfriend?" he teases, smirking. I shake my head and sigh. I feel Mike's eyes boring into me, but I avoid his gaze. "Wait, you two really aren't dating yet?" I resist punching Gabe in the face and instead just smile sarcastically at him.

"No, and we probably won't. Ever. The point of me even bringing Vic up is that Mike is his younger bother," I continue. Nick nods but Gabe still doesn't look entirely convinced that I'm telling him the truth. "I've hardly even mentioned Vic," I defend myself, "how would you even get the impression that we were a couple?" That earns laughter from both of my friends.

"If by 'hardly mention' you mean, 'never shut up about' then maybe you're being honest," Nick says through his laughter. I sit back slightly in my seat and cross my arms. Why are they acting like teenage girls? One of our other friends, Oli, comes and sits down next to me.

"Did Jordan kick you out of your own table again?" I question him, finally able to get the attention of myself for a moment. Oli looks up slightly from his slouched position and glares at me. He takes a deep breath and huffs it out, sitting up slightly.

"For your information, Kellin, I chose to leave," he practically growls through his thick british accent. His accent is so thick because he moved to America only three years ago. "And before you interrogate me on that one: I left because Lee was being a dick. Now drop it," he orders. One thing I've learned about Oli is that he's one of the nicest dudes until you piss him off. Then, you should probably get as far away from him as you can.

So, I dropped the subject. "Is it okay if one of my friends comes and sits with us?" Mike asks awkwardly. I nod and wave my hand, trying to signify that it's fine by me. And that's how I met Tony Perry, one of Mike's best friends as well as Vic's.

• • •

"Thanks for picking me up, bro," Mike says, climbing into the back of Vic's beaten down car. He sits next to Copeland and coos as soon as he sees her. "That's one cute baby," he says, causing Vic and I to laugh.

"Uh, thanks?" I reply awkwardly. Vic pulls out of the school's pickup line once I'm in the passenger seat. "Mike, ya know you could have had the passenger seat?" I say once we're on the road. "I mean, then you could have sat next to your brother, and I could have sat next to Cope." I see him shrug in the mirror.

"Yeah, Kellin and I hang out all the time," Vic teases me. I roll my eyes, smiling. "I live with you, but I'm with Kellin more."

"Actually, you're with Copeland more. Who would have guessed that your best friend would be a one year old girl," Mike points out, causing us all to laugh. "Is that a new level of friendship or a new level of loneliness, Vic?"

"Maybe a little bit of both."