Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf

The next morning, I woke up to my phone going off. At eight AM. I was just about ready to bust open some heads.

hey u wanna hang out 2day

It took a second to let the words settle in my head. I could tell from the shorthand usage that Puck was the one who had sent the message. But why in the world had he figured that it would be okay to ask me to hang out, never mind early in the morning?

What the hell are you doing up at eight in the morning? Haven’t you ever heard of sleep?

oh hey um ya but i couldnt sleep and thought tht u might wanna hang out maybe

I wasn’t sure what part of the awkardness that he left behind on Friday he didn’t understand, but maybe I’d be able to fix it before school the next day. Just imagining the looks on everyone’s faces if Puck and I said hi in the hallway, acting very civilly toward one another was good enough to make me text back.

Sure, but you’re gonna have to let me sleep more. Otherwise, I’m going to be angry and possibly kill you.

k

K? Was he kidding? I hated when people texted back with a simple k. Couldn’t he come up with a damn intelligent response for once in his life?

Unless he just wanted to let me go back to sleep. That would be nice of him. But I doubted it. He probably just didn’t want to talk anymore.

Grumbling slightly, I turned over and slapped a pillow over the side of my face, trying to block out the sunlight that was filling my room.

Of course, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Even after I tried for a half an hour, I just could not lose consciousness again.

Angrily, I snatched my phone back from my side table, slamming on the mini-keyboard a message to Puck.

Thanks a lot, asshole. You woke me up for good. I hope you’re happy.

i am pick u up in ten?

Ten? As in ten minutes? Uhh…sure?

I got up right then, throwing on a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. Sure, it wasn’t glamorous, but I had long surpassed having to look good for Puck. He had seen me first thing in the morning, after all, with my pajamas on and my hair a mess.

Remembering the short period of time that I’d lived at his house, I felt a pang in my stomach. Those were the good old days, when Puck and I got along great. Before he cheated on me…

I shook my head to get rid of the bad thoughts before throwing my hair up into a ponytail and shoving my cell phone into my pocket.

It wasn’t even nine o’clock when I settled down at the table, staring off into space with my cheek resting on my fist. Aileen was going around the kitchen, making herself an omelet for breakfast with cheese, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.

“Want one?” she questioned, flipping hers around in the pan.

“No, thanks,” I sighed, even though it smelled really amazing and made my stomach growl longingly. But I didn’t have enough time before Puck was supposed to arrive to eat. Unfortunately.

“Suit yourself,” she sing-songed, plating her breakfast and purposely sitting right across the table from me. Then, she took her sweet time between each bite, making more “mmmm” and “oh, wow, this is good” sounds than I’d ever cared to hear in my life.

After enduring five agonizing minutes of that, repeatedly punching my stomach to keep it from growling too loudly, Puck finally opened the front door.

“Gooood morning!” he exclaimed with a smile on his face before plopping down in the chair next to me.

Aileen smiled politely, but I shot him an angry look. I figured that he would have stayed in his car and beeped when he was ready for me to make an appearance. But apparently, that was too easy for him.

“So…are you hanging out with Puck today?” Aileen questioned, taking a sip of her steaming coffee.

“Yeah,” I responded. “I was just about to tell you when he got here, but apparently, I didn’t have to.” Another look in his direction from me.

He caught my gaze this time and smiled even wider. “You want to go now?”

“Sure,” I agreed, getting to my feet. “See you later, Aileen.”

“Not too late,” she reminded me as I shrugged on my denim jacket. “Remember, it’s a school night.”

“Yes, Mom,” I teased, grinning at her before slipping out the door after Puck.

It was quiet for a second before I finally sighed loudly, settling into the seat, and put my feet on his dashboard. “Why did you feel the need to come inside, huh?”

“Oh,” he answered, shrugging, “you know me. I just don’t like to be rude. You know.”

In spite of myself, I let out a loud laugh. “Yeah…you? Rude? I couldn’t imagine such a thing.”

He decided that it would be a good idea to let the whole subject drop at once, instead changing the subject. “So what are we going to do?”

“I dunno. After all, you’re the one who woke me up before I wanted to. You deserve to choose what we do. I haven’t even had coffee.”

“First order of business,” Puck started, turning on his direction, “get you coffee. ‘Cause it would kind of suck if you fell asleep in the middle of our little escapades today.”

“Someone discovered the existence of the dictionary!” My voice was light and joking, but he shot me an angry look, anyway. Thankfully, it quickly evolved into an amused expression.

“I guess I’ve just learned a couple of new words. If you want to know the truth though, I leaned ‘escapades’ from Ariella.”

“That…is pathetic.”

“I didn’t say I was proud.”

“But I can tell that you are."

“I’m proud that you noticed, not that I learned a new word from my kid sister.”

I laughed again, feeling a tingle in my stomach. It reminded me of what Kurt had to say the day before, about how I had to give Puck a second chance. Biting my lip, I turned back to him, feeling the distress tugging at my features.

“Puck, listen…”

He put up a finger, telling me to wait a second, as he ordered me a coffee in the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru, just the way I liked it. I kept my mouth shut until he handed over my iced drink, along with my straw.

“There. Get some caffeine, and maybe you’ll be in a better mood.”

I was going to argue, but he had a point, so I just sucked down a big gulp of the coffee. Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the sugar and caffeine kick-start my energy. After a couple of seconds, it seemed to work a little bit, and I was feeling more wide-awake.

“Oh,” Puck remembered, turning down another street, “what did you want to say?”

What did I want to say? Everything before the coffee was a little fuzzy. I narrowed my eyes as I turned to look at him, trying to bring back the memory.

Right when he looked over and his eyes met with mine, I recalled. “Um, I just had a proposition for you.”

“I’m listening,” he smirked. How could he already know what I was going to say? It was endearing and annoying at the same time.

“What would you think about me possibly giving you another chance?”