Slightly Less Badass

~Chapter Twenty Nine~

The picture really seems to complete the room. I fix it so it's not crooked then take a step back to admire it. Cameron's friend had gone a step further than just sending it to me. He printed it off and framed it. When I tried to pay him for it he denied the money and called it a housewarming gift. So instead of uselessly arguing with him I accepted the gift and hung it immediately after he left. Now it hung in our living room above the couch.
Just as I go to adjust it again, there's a knock on the door. I groan and walk over to open in. I know who it is before I even see their face.
"Hello Mother," I say as she steps through the door. She doesn't reply as she looks around in surprise. She steps fully into the living room and turns in a small circle.
"You- you painted without me," she says.
"I didn't paint everything. I left a few rooms for you. Actually, I left more rooms for you then I intended."
She crinkles her nose as says, "You painted your living room blue?"
"I like this blue so I don't wanna hear any criticism."
Mom just shakes her head and disappears to examine the other rooms. I sit down on the couch and wait for her to return a few minutes later. She looked like she couldn't decided if she was angry or amazed. She sits down next to me without a word.
"Well?" I prompt. She still doesn't say anything so I continue, "Let's get the lecturing over with now so I don't have to listen to it all day."
"It looks great. Everything looks really good so far. I can't believe you guys managed all of this in one day," she eventually says.
"Well when my parents suddenly disappeared on a mysterious trip with no warning, we figured we should do as much as possible."
"We didn't disappear mysteriously. We told all three of you several times when we were leaving and why," is all she has to say in reply.
"That is a false statement. None of us knew where you went."
Mom rolls her eyes. She says, "Just because you don't listen doesn't mean we didn't tell you."
Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "Whatever," I say. Mom looks like she's about to say something else but my phone starts ringing. I pick it up and see that it's Rina. I don't know who else I was expecting.
"Hello," I say.
"Mira you have to come over right now!" she yells.
"Why?"
"Because I have a surprise for you. Just get over here right now."
I hold the phone slightly away from my mouth.
"Mom can I go over to Rina's house?" I whisper. Mom glares at me.
"No. We've got things to finish up here," she whispers back.
"My Mommy says I can't," I tell Rina.
"Well being your mommy with you. I don't care. Just get your butt over here."
She hangs up. I shrug and stand up.
"Are you coming or not? She says she has a surprise," I say to Mom. With an overly dramatic sigh, Mom stands up and follows me to the door.

Before I have a chance to knock on Rina's front door, it's flung open to reveal Rina smiling creepily. She grabs my arm and pulls me inside.
"What is you problem?" I demand.
"It's a surprise."
"Could you be any more vague?"
"Maybe..."
She leads me into her kitchen and tells me to sit down at the table. Then she refuses to show me the surprise until Mom and I both shut our eyes. I'm skeptical but obey anyway.
I hear her leave the room then return a few seconds later. She laughs her evil laugh and puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Okay open your eyes," she whispers excitedly.
"Is something going to jump out and attack me because if so then I'm not opening-"
"Just open your damn eyes," a voice says. A voice that most certainly wasn't Rina or Mom's.
I open my eyes to see two slightly familiar faces smiling down at me.
"May I present your wedding co-planner and your wedding dress maker," Rina announces. I smile politely as I attempt to figure out who these two girls are.
"Aw come on, don't tell me you've already forgotten about us. It hasn't been that long," the girl with short wavy brown hair.
"....Liz? Hannah? Is that really you? Ohmygosh!" I yell and jump up excitedly.
"Took you long enough to figure it out," says Hannah as they both hug me. As soon as we pull out of the hug, Mom pulls them in for another one.
"Nice to see you again, girls," she says.
"Nice to see you too," they both say. Mom has that look on her face. The annoying look that she gets right before she starts gushing and starting a conversation that goes on forever.
"It's been forever," I say, quickly cutting Mom off. "Where have you been? How have you been? What are you guys doing here?"
"We're here for the wedding silly. Or did you forget to invite us?" Liz questions jokingly.
"Well considering I don't even have a date picked yet..."
"That's okay. You're forgiven. Now come on, I hear you have a dog," Hannah says, leaving the room quickly.

Without asking permission, she stomps across the two yards and goes into my house. Of course the door was unlocked (I always forget to lock it) so all she had to do was push it open. The rest of us trail after her. She stands in the doorway and looks around. Before I can tell her which way to go, Jay walks down the hallway towards us. He had a very large slice of cake in a plate and was shoving it in his mouth. When he talks, his words are muffled.
"Hey some neighbor just brought over cake-"
He stops when he notices I'm not alone.
"I've come to inspect your dog," Hannah announces to him. He looks questioningly at me.
"Remember Hannah and Liz? Well they're in town. Apparently they'd prefer to spend time with Magnus instead of me," I say.
"Show me the dog," Hannah demands.
With his mouth still full of cake, Jay says,"He's in the bedroom."

As we walk past Jay, I stick my fingers in the icing of his cake.
"Decent but not as good as mine," I comment. He's smart to nod in agreement. I lead the way up the stairs and to my bedroom. My dog was sitting in front of our full body mirror staring at his own reflection. As soon as we step into the room, he lets out a small bark and comes running towards us. Before I can reach down and pet him, Hannah picks him up. Without even looking at me, she turns and walks out of the room with my dog still in her arms. Me, Mom, Liz, and Rina trail after her, curious.

She walks past Jay- who's still enjoying his cake- and towards the front door.
"Well thanks for the new dog," she says over her shoulder as she reaches for the door knob. "I'll be going now."
"Um no," Rina says. She grabs ahold of Magnus before Hannah can take another step.
"This dog was a lot of money and it's not for you," she says.
"Darn," Hannah pouts.
"We've been here five minutes and you're already going to get out kicked out of their house," Liz says.
"They're not gonna kick us out. They adore us to much," Hannah says and throws her arm around me.
"That's debatable. You just tried to steal my dog," I reply as I shove her arm off of me.
"I have to pee," she announces. "Where is your toilet?"
"Down the hallway. Second door on the left," Jay answers. She disappears down the hallway.
"Would ya close the door please?" I ask Liz.
She reaches out to close it but before she can someone pushes their way in.
"Honey I'm home!" Jacob shouts. Eliza walks in behind him.
"Oh and I brought the annoying one," he mutters.
"Oh shut up. You're the one that dragged me here because you were too lazy to drive," Eliza complains.
"Why are you here?" I question.
"I heard there was cake. Show me the cake," Jacob declares.
"Ya I said I was eating cake. I never said come over and eat my cake though," Jay says. Jacob notices that Jay has one bite of cake left. Immediately he walks over and shoves that last bite into his mouth. He makes a face and swallows.
"This is not the cake I was expecting." He looks at me accusingly.
"It's not my cake. Some new neighbor brought it over. There's more in the kitchen," I say. He leaves the room.
"Is this how your day usually goes?" Liz asks. She was smiling in amusement.
"No usually Mom isn't here and David..."
Before I could finish my sentence the front door opened again and David walks in.
"What a coincidence. Right on time. Now everyone's here. By the way, you people really should knock."
"Well I can't paint with so many people here," says Mom. "Text me when your house isn't being used as an orphanage."
With that she turns and leaves. She looked upset but I don't know what I did to upset her this time so I'll worry about that later. Jacob enters with several plates of cake balances on his arms. I'm tempted to trip him but decide against it when he silently starts handing out the plates.
With all of our mouths now full of cake, we sit down on the couches in the living room.
"Who are all of you people?" Hannah demands, returning from the bathroom. There's a hint of panic in her expression as she looks around.
"I'm Jacob. We've met," he says and holds up the last plate of cake. She gratefully takes it and sits next to me.
"Introductions are not necessary at this moment," she says and then shoves a large bite of cake into her mouth.