Mutiny Below

Jayce

There was a pounding at the front door that thudded through my head. Drinking last night was a bad idea. I groaned and buried my head under my pillow. After the knocking continued for a few more minutes I poked John’s side. He sighed and rolled out of bed. I snickered into the sheets as he stumbled from the room in just his boxers. Though I could have done without the hangover, I wouldn’t have dreamed of missing out on the fun from last night. After I avoided and forgot about Nick, things got fun fast.

“Put some clothes on.” Gemma grumbled as she entered the bedroom with John behind her. “Ugh! Get clothes on your naked ass too! We’ve got things to do.” Gemma jumped on to the bed and I flipped over to face her.

“What kind of things?” I scrunched my eyebrows together and rubbed at my eyes. I didn’t remember any previous plans.

“Nick called.” My stomach dropped and I slowly opened my eyes. John was at the dresser, pulling out clothes. I would have to learn not to flinch at the mention of his name. “Him and Halvo have band stuff to do and Halvo volunteered us as babysitters for the new girl.”

“Her name’s Natalia.” John threw a pile of clothes to me and frowned at Gemma.

“Her name’s Nat but for the time being, she’s the new girl.” Gemma rolled her eyes and John put his hands up in defense. “Anyway,” she stretched out the word and this time John rolled his eyes before leaving the room. “We’re taking her around town. Doing some ‘girl bonding’,” she shook her head. “I swear, Halvo’s more of a girl than we are.” I laughed. “So get your ass dressed. I figure we’ll take her to get some ice cream and then drive over to Scottsdale. See a few sights, pick Jess up and go shopping.”

I snorted. “You mean ditch us at the mall so you can make out with a Gomez.”

“Precisely.” She grinned wickedly before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

I shook my head and climbed out of bed. I put on the clothes John had given me and smirked when I noticed he’d left out a bra, probably on purpose. After dressing I threw my hair up in a ponytail and tiptoed to the bathroom to wash my face. I didn’t bother with fresh makeup since it was just going to be us girls anyway.

I found John in the kitchen, eating cereal in just his boxers, and gave him a goodbye kiss before following Gemma to the parking lot. I slipped my shoes on in her car as she drove to the other side of the complex.

My heart rate increased as I got out of the car and followed Gemma yet again up the familiar pathway. Eric’s place had the same layout as John and I’s and I’d been over here enough to know every crack in the wall. I breathed in relief as a very exhausted looking Eric answered the door. He grumbled a good morning and let us in.

Gemma went to the spare room, probably to wake Natalia up in the same fashion she woke me up, and I went to the kitchen. Eric made coffee and then hoisted himself up onto the counter. I giggled as he leaned his head back on the cupboard. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. I shook my head and got a glass of water with a few aspirin to numb the thudding in my brain.

I regretted leaving the safety of the kitchen and sleeping Halvo the second I walked into the living room. All hope of steering clear of Nick went out the window as the fake ginger plopped down on the couch. He didn’t notice me at first, but once he did, he stared. I crossed my arms uneasily.

After a minute of silence, he started to chuckle. “These blankets smell like you.” I scrunched my eyebrows together. How does he even know what I smell like? It was only one night. “So do you sleep with all your boyfriends friends?” He smirked and my mouth fell open. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to smack his pretty little face, but I couldn’t. He was justified in saying what he did. “I didn’t know John’s type was slut.” I closed my eyes and sighed.

“Tell Gemma I’m waiting in the car.” I whispered and left without another word. It was out of character, for sure, but I just couldn’t bring myself to scream at Nick. None of this was his fault. It was all my own doing and I would have to face it. Eventually.

The car was, of course, locked and the Arizona heat was stifling. Sweat beads were collecting on my body when Gemma finally came out of the apartment with Natalia trailing behind slowly. She looked severely distraught and Gemma was completely oblivious. I felt a little bad for the girl. Being uprooted from your home and thrown into a tight group of weird strangers was by no means fun for anyone.

On the drive to Scottsdale, I wondered about ways to help her feel a little more welcome. She was dead quiet in the back for the entire ride. I supposed I would be quiet too in a car with two brash girls, if I wasn’t so brash myself. I decided to try and make everyone seem less intimidating than they were. Gemma gave me the perfect opportunity when she put in Lines, Vines, and Trying Times.

I smirked and turned in my seat. Natalia’s big brown eyes looked back at me worriedly. I smiled. “Gemma’s a JoBro freak.”

Gemma scoffed. “Like you did not watch every episode of Jonas with me.”

“Because you tied me to a chair and forced me to.” I rolled my eyes and Gemma smirked.

“I can’t believe you fell for that ice cream scam every time.” I glared at her and then turned again to Natalia to explain.

“Gemma told me there was ice cream at Kenny’s and then she tied me to a chair when I came over for my promised ice cream.”

“She fell for it for all ten episodes of the season.”

“For the record, you did have a different person call me each week. It’s not my fault I was naïve enough to trust my friends.”

“Oh come on. You know your friends! We’re all sneaky bastards!” I smiled and glanced at the backseat. Natalia was laughing into her palm. Well at least I made Gemma and I approachale.

Now I just had to work on the guys, but how hard could that be?
They were all honest sweethearts behind the cursing and crude jokes.