Crush on my English Teacher's Daughter

Chapter 14.

I felt like banging my head on the table because of the noise coming from the neighbours. "How on earth do you survive?" I asked Mia, who speared a ravioli with her fork and popped it in her mouth. She shrugged. "I guess I'm used to it." She said.

There was a crash. Then a bang and a yelp. A sound like a bull frog had learnt how to sing. Then someone cursed with words so colourful I had to cringe.

"Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your family! Dishonor on your cow!" The voice of a boy said.

"You are part of this family you little weasel. Now get over here. And you are not Mushu!"Chantelle's  voice said.

"Do you want to go over?" Mia asked. I nodded. "They're really fun neighbours. " I swallowed. "Sure they are."  We abandoned our little meal and went over to Brooke's  house.

The house was considerably bigger than Mia's. The rich green lawn was littered with all kinds of toys. Cobble stones led to the front door. Brooke's blue Toyota was parked in the driveway.  All kinds of flowers grew together near the  white fences.

A German Shepherd burst out of the door with a teddy bear in its maw.  A little girl of about nine with her hair flying in every direction followed.

"Foolish dog!" She screeched and ran after the dog. I kicked a squeaky bear out of my way and headed towards the front door with Mia.

"The house is huge." I breathed.  "Yeah, they had an extension made because everyone demanded their own room." Mia informed me. "You should have heard the screams yesterday. "

We heard Brooke screech from somewhere inside."Kevin! Not the piano! Hey you-" she was cut off by a loud bang. "Oh my God. You- you.... Why you little- Get back here or I promise the Man upstairs you'll die a middle schooler. I swear it!" She said and the giggling boy burst out holding an iPad with a blue cover.

I recognised the face on the screen.

Declan.

I  was right.

Brooke burst out a second later and tackled the boy, Kevin, to the ground and wrenched the iPad from his hands.

"Hello." She waved at us. "You guys can come in. It's not as disastrous in there like out here."She eyed the messy lawn. The little girl came back with the teddy bear and dog. "Dinner's almost ready. " Brooke told us, ushering us in. 

It didn't have any fancy decorations inside. Just normal, warm furniture. I could smell something cooking from the kitchen. A curving staircase dominated the left wall and behind the couch, on a raised dias, stood a black polished mahogany  grand piano. After that, a wall with floor to ceiling windows and sliding glass doors led to the garden. The Tv was on, showing Bugs bunny.

I grinned and sat in the soft cream coloured sofa, watching my favourite cartoon.

"You're such a big baby." Mia said. "Bugs Bunny?" I shrugged. "It's my favourite. " She rolled her eyes and sat down beside me. "I prefer Barbie to this honestly. " She said.

"No wonder you get along so well with Brooke. " I mumbled.

"I'm sorry what was that?"

"Nothing. "

"Uh-huh. Sure."

I shook my head.

"Thanks for helping me with my assignment. " She said after a few minutes. Before I could respond, Kevin sat down beside me.

"Mia is that your boyfriend?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. I blushed while Mia scowled. "No. You obnoxious little boy. " She snapped and turned her attention to the Tv.

"Obnoxious," A voice mused behind me. I turned to find Brooke rubbing her chin. "Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

She proceeded to take something out of her breast pocket to her mouth and blew hard into it.

A refree's  whistle.

I rubbed my ears as footsteps pounded the stairs and stopped in front of her. Chantelle looking bored, Kevin still grinning from ear to ear and the little girl still looking pissed.  The dog came down and stood in front of Brooke, wagging its tail and panting.

She glared at it. "Runner, go to your bed right now or so help me God I'll turn you into beef jerky. " She said. The dog whimpered and scampered off the the kitchen.

I felt bad for it.

Brooke turned to her siblings. "You two," she pointed to Kevin and the little girl. "Get your junk off the lawn and into your rooms. Chantelle and I will clean this place up. Dismissed. " She blew her whistle again and everyone left to do their job.

"You need to get rid of that whistle. Don't you know you're going to damage their eardrums?" I asked, rubbing my ears again.  She grinned at me. "That's sorta the whole point. " She said. "Can we help?" Mia asked.  Brooke grinned at us. "Of course!"

I think her reply was a little too enthusiastic.

After we finished cleaning up, we settled for lasagna and juice in the living room watching The Pacifier. I never knew Vin Diesl could be so domestic.  But he was cool.

I tried to stretch and regretted it immediately. I winced. "Are you okay?" Mia asked. I felt my heart swell with warm. She cared. I was tempted to cool but decided against it. She would probably think I was weird, if not weirder.

"Nothing I can't handle. " I said sitting up straight, relieved to find the pain in my back had disappeared. Mia got up and I followed suit. "I should get going. " She said. "Me too." Brooke nodded without glancing in our direction. "Take care you two, see you tomorrow. " She said absent-mindedly.

The corners of my mouth twitched upwards. Tomorrow was Saturday but if she thought we could meet then cool. It meant I could see Mia. I grinned. "Great. Maybe Mia and I could help you settle in." I said. Mia nodded her agreement.

Brooke glanced at us but said nothing. "Fine. But you'd better start going before your dad bites your head off." She finally said. 

I blushed. "See ya later." I said and rushed out of the house and jogged down the street.

If dad was home then I would be minced  meat.

Scratch that.

I don't even know what minced meet is.