Mystery Boy

Jacky lived on the opposite side of the street, about seven houses down from Ronnie and I. He had a little front porch that sat in front of a chipped and faded yellow house. Jacky stopped walking when we got to the front yard and he pulled his hand away from mine gently. He glanced at the house and then turned to face me.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, biting my lip.

Jacky nodded slightly, kicking at the grass in his yard.

"Well, I better get back home," I murmured, looking down the street to my house where I knew my Dad was waiting. I looked back to Jacky and reached up on my tippy-toes so that I was tall enough to wrap my arms around his neck. Jacky froze for a minute and then I felt him lightly place his hands on my lower back, hugging me too.

I pulled away and smiled at him before turning and walking back the way we came. My car was parked in the driveway as I walked up. As I passed Ronnie's house, I frowned, missing my new puppy already. I sighed and walked through Ronnie's yard. I ran my fingers over my car as I walked past it. When I got to the front door, I pushed it open and walked in.

Everyone was already sitting at the kitchen table and their eyes turned to me when I shut the front door. "Where have you been? I called for you twenty minutes ago," my dad said, standing up from his chair and grabbing another plate and setting it on the table, letting it clank against the wood, showing that he wasn't too happy.

"Sorry," I muttered, pursing my lips as I sat down in the chair, filling my plate with mashed potatoes and a piece of chicken. I started to eat my food as Ina sent my father a pointed look. I looked between the two with confusion in my eyes. The boys, Taite, Decklan, and Easton were quiet, eating their food and apparently minding their own business for once.

"Why were you holding hands with Jacky?"

I looked up to Ina with shock on my face. "What?"

"Ina, no," my father murmured under his breath.

Ina looked to my Dad and said, "It's okay, Tom," then she looked to me, "Why were you holding hands with Jacky?'

I scoffed and tucked my hair behind my ears. "I don't think that's any of your business," I told her, putting my fork down and sitting back in my chair, "Anyways, how do you know that I was holding hands with Jacky? Were you watching me?"

Ina coughed in surprise. She set her napkin down and rested her hands on the table before looking at me. She sat across from me and looked at me with something I had never seen before. "Airea," Ina said my name, "I'm not trying to get into your personal business, I just like to know what is going on with the kids in this house."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "It's not my choice to be in this house," I growled, "Just leave me alone." I turned and walked away, going to the small bedroom that Decklan and I were sharing. I grabbed a pair of pajamas, my phone charger, and keys before I turned to leave the room. "I'm staying next door!" I called as I tromped through the living room, knowing that all eyes were on me. My father didn't put up a fight and luckily neither did Ina. I slammed the door shut behind me and marched over to Ronnie's house.

I knocked on the door and waited a moment. It was pulled open and a boy I hadn't seen before was standing on the other side. "Uh, hi," I murmured, realizing that this must be Ronnie's other brother, "I'm Airea," I continued. The boy, who was older than Ronnie and I, pushed the door open wider and nodded for me to come in. When I entered I could see Ronnie sitting at the kitchen table. Charming with sitting on the floor by his chair, sniffing the air.

The dog looked over towards me and started to bark. I grinned and cooed to him, causing the three guys at the table to look up to me. Ronnie stood up when he saw me. "What are you doing back here?"

"That family is just..." I trailed off and made a motion with my hands that said that they were driving me crazy.

Ronnie chuckled and nodded. "Did you eat?" he questioned.

"I'm okay," I told him, not wanting to impose on their dinner. "I'll just wait in your room, take your time."

Ronnie rolled his eyes at me and went to get another plate. He handed it to me and told me to have a seat. I was sitting between Riley and Ronnie's father. When I didn't pile any food on my plate, Russel laughed and grabbed it from me. He piled some pizza and spaghetti onto it, along with a piece of garlic bread. I smiled as Russel set it in front of me.

Riley hopped up and fiddled through a drawer and then came back and sat next to me, setting a fork down by my plate. "Thank you," I told them, smiling at everyone as Ronnie's older brother, Brad, sat down and continued to eat.

When we were all done, we rinsed off our plates and stuck them in the dishwasher before Ronnie nodded towards his room. "Come on Charming," I called as I followed behind Ronnie.

Ronnie and I both sat on his bed, Charming rolling around on Ronnie's blankets. I rubbed his stomach as Ronnie looked at me strangely.

"What?" I asked, drawing out the word and wiping my face, as if I still had food on it.

Ronnie chuckled and shook his head. "I heard that now you're dating Jacky."

I coughed and shook my head. I looked to make sure Ronnie's door was closed before I answered. "Well, I wouldn't have had to say that if your brother didn't ask me out," I said pointedly, making Ronnie laugh.

"Riley asked you out?" he said between laughter, "I can't believe it."

"Oh shut up," I cried as I smacked his arm.

Ronnie was sitting cross-legged and leaning forward with laughter, his hair falling into his brown eyes. He ran his fingers through his locks as he sat up straight and asked, "Why didn't you just say no?"

I faltered for a minute, stuttering. "I don't know!" I finally claimed, "He's your brother! I didn't want to be rude!" I defended, pulling my puppy into my arms.

Ronnie chuckled again. "Well, now he thinks you're deeply in love with Jacky."

I groaned and fell backwards, letting my head crash into the end of Ronnie's bed. "This sucks," I muttered, covering my face with my hands.

Ronnie laughed, "Jacky's not that bad."

"That's not what I meant," I told him, "I just don't want to be in love with anyone right now. I've been here two days."

Ronnie stood up. "Wanna go out?" he questioned, slipping into his shoes.

I looked up to him and asked, "What?"

"You and me," he said, "We can go pick up Jacky and then go to a party that a friend is throwing." He slid on his jacket and motioned for me to get up.

I sat up and looked at him dumbly. "With my car?"

Ronnie blinked at me and nodded slowly. "Do I look like I have a car?"

I coughed, "Do you realize how much trouble I'll be in if I take off and go to some party in a city that I've never been to before?"

Ronnie chuckled, "That's why you're with me. I grew up here, remember?"

I sighed and threw myself back down onto Ronnie's bed. "What about tomorrow?"

"What about tomorrow?" Ronnie repeated, running his fingers through his hair.

I just looked at him, wondering if he really could be that dense or if he was just trying to rile me up. When Ronnie didn't say anything, I murmured, "School."

"Oh," Ronnie exclaimed, "Don't worry about it."

I stood up, giving in. Ronnie grinned and started walking towards the door. I coughed, causing him to look back to me. "What now?" he asked, sighing.

"First; I need a jacket. Second; What are we going to do with Charming? We can't leave him alone, he'll get scared," I told him, sitting back down on the bed and wrapping my arms around the pudgy dog.

Ronnie rolled his eyes at me and went to pick Charming up. "Grab a jacket out of the closet," Ronnie told me as he started to walk out of the room. I reached in and grabbed a random black hoodie. I pulled it on and then followed Ronnie across the hall.

"Riley," Ronnie called, making the younger boy turn around and look up to us from the computer.

"Yeah?"

Ronnie set Charming down on the floor. "We need you to dog-sit," I told Riley, putting my most 'charming' smile on my face, "Please," I added, sticking my hands in the baggy hoodie.

Riley shrugged and got down on the floor. "Sure," he said with a shrug, "I love dogs." Then he looked up to us as we stood side by side. "Where are you two going?"

Ronnie flicked his hand at him and told him, "Mind your business." I waved goodbye as Ronnie turned and walked out of the room. I pulled the black hood over my head as I followed Ronnie out of the house. I pulled my keys out of my back pocket and hit the button that would unlock the car doors. I slid into the driver's seat quickly as Ronnie did the same. I turned the car on, thankful that it was quiet, and backed out of the driveway. I took off down the road towards Jacky's as Ronnie called him and told him to get outside.

I stopped the car in the street outside Jacky's house. A couple minutes later the lanky boy came stumbling out the front door, messing with his hair. He climbed in Ronnie's side and buckled up. Ronnie started giving me directions on where to go and I listened, my nerves rising as we got closer and closer to our destination.

I knew when we were at the party before we were even there. We were in a nice neighborhood and there were people spilling out of every door of the house. I could hear the music from down the street and see all the cars parked outside.

"If my car gets so much as a scratch on it, you are in serious trouble, Ronnie," I threatened as I parked a little farther away from the house.

"Yeah, yeah," Ronnie murmured, walking over to me and slinking his arm over my shoulders, "Just relax," he told me, "Have some fun tonight because soon we're headed to hell."

"Great," I grumbled, letting Ronnie and Jacky lead me into the house.