Living With The Emerson Girls

Chapter 6

~Zachary's Point of View~ 

The days that followed were uneventful. Brooklyn left, scowling all the way. I was glad she was gone. It made me realize that being with her cut me off from the opportunity of being with someone... better. 

Oh and... I got a call from my mother. 

"Hello?" I said, not bothering to look at caller id. I put the phone on speaker, and continued killing more opponents on Modern Warfare 3. 

"Hi Zachy! How's my dashing boy?" My mother chirped on the other line. So I take back what I said about my parents being completely ignorant. They were just busy, that's all. 

"Mom... I told you not to call me that." I said, feeling my cheeks burn. I glanced back when I heard footsteps. Ariel. She stood in the doorway of the game room, amused. 

"Oh I know sweetie, it's just that sometimes I forget that my little boy is all grown up... And you are handsome. Like your father." She said.

I quickly paused the game and took the phone off speaker, before she could say something even worse. 

"Mom... Stop." I whispered. "How's everything in... Where are you? Rome?"

"Paris, Zachary." She corrected me, mumbling something to herself. I heard my dad in the background, probably typing up some monotonous presentation for work. 

"How is it?" 

"Oh it's nice you know... Historic, very beautiful... Zachary I need to go, but I'll call you later okay? Love you." She hung up without warning, not even giving me a chance to say goodbye. 

"So... Dashing boy?" Ariel said, holding back a giggle. I turned an even darker shade, and growled. 

"Stop. It's embarrassing." 

"No, it's not." 

I merely glared at her. 

"It's kind of cute actually. You getting all mad over something so small. And of course the nickname. Dashing boy." She said, plopping down onto a purple chair as she uttered the stupid pet name my mom had for me.

I froze. She used the "C" word. 

What did she think I was? Some kind of puppy? Of course, my mom had to ruin this for me. 

"Cute? You think I'm... cute?" 

She nodded. 

"Why?" I said. 

"I just told you why."

 I narrowed my eyes at her, conveying the message. 

 "Oh I get it, it degrades your manhood." 

I ignored her, picking up the controller again, and went to resume the game, when Ariel shifted in her seat, as her phone made a noise.

She looked at it, groaned, then quickly slid her fingers across her iPhone. She typed quickly, her eyebrows making little movements with every jerk of the hand. Slamming the phone across the table, she crossed her arms and slumped in her chair. 

"Is everything okay...?" I asked her. 

"My partner bailed on me. We were supposed to surf together in this local competition this Saturday. Nothing big. But it's like, our tradition." She bit her lip. 

"Well I happen to be a master of waves. I could help you out if you want." 

"You would do that?" 

I shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, if you want." 

"Cool. Thanks. It's at ten in the morning. Do you think you can handle that, Dashing boy?"