We Won't Back Down

Chapter 17

Athena Elwell

Shelia, Dahlia, Lex, Mrs. Green and I all sat like the Knights of the Round Table in the Green’s household kitchen in silence and darkness. We all glowered at the kitchen entrance when Max slipped in and flipped on the light switch. When he turned around to see the five of us ladies sitting around the table, our hands folded and pressed over our noses glaring in his general direction, he jumped and shrieked like frail eight-year-old girl.
“Hellooo Maxwell.” Sheila greeted him and kept her composure through the hilarious scene. I and Lex on the other hand weren’t so lucky in this department. We doubled over in laughter, completely ruining any seriousness and suspense that we had created boding in the dark before he came in. It was just too damn priceless.
Max caught his breath finally and approached the table, giving his mother a questionable look. “Mom? What is going here? Elwells, Drummer girl, what the hell are you doing my kitchen?” Max asked once he pulled out a chair and slung his bag down in the seat while standing behind it, raising an eyebrow at all of us.
“Maxwell, this is Lex and as for what they are doing here, I shall let Sheila take the floor.” She explains as Sheila took a long drink of her Monster.
“I have received a disturbing text message from you and it does not make me happy for several reasons.” She makes him sit down in the chair as she stands above him. “For one, you were eavesdropping on a private matter. Two, you were in the shop past hours the time we said. And three…you know too much and that makes you a liability.”
She handled her Mafia Don role very well; it was just too bad that she wasn’t dressed for the occasion because I think Max would be blushing with how close she was to him. In fact, you could almost see the blush forming the closer and closer that she got to his face, it was freaking adorable!
“If you are worried about me spilling to the guys about your band, you don’t have to worry about that…I would not do that to you guys” he smiled at her and I could hear his mom start to giggle.
“Ohhh, you two are so damn cute!” she started squealing and both Sheila and Max’s face turned to one of pure shock and horror.
“MOM!” Max yelled, his hair covering the bright red blush now covering his cheeks.
“What?! You and Sheila would make me some beautiful grandbabies. I want grandbabies, Maxwell!” She stood up and pointed her finger at Max. Awkward…
“Mom, stop!” he cupped his face with his hands in an attempt to conceal the darker shade of red developing on his cheeks.
“You’re my only son, and I don’t have a daughter. What’s a daughter? Sheila is the closest I’ve ever had a daughter. Someone who treats their mother with respect instead of refusing to give me grandbabies.” she went on.” She continued.
“Incest?” Lex added her input.
“Mom, please!” He begged her standing up and shoving himself away from the table.
“All those hours of agonizing labor and this is how you treat me? I pushed your fat little bum out of my vagina!” she bellowed without mercy. I felt so bad for him, though it was quite hilarious and entertaining to watch.
“MOOOOMMM!” he seethed and fled to the other room in attempts to get away. But she followed.
“No Maxwell! You are going to hear this!” her motherly banter became muffled as she lectured Max in the living room. We all just sat there and stared at each other for a moment.
“Well, at least we know he wouldn’t blow our cover.” Lex said and Dahlia shook her head from left to right.
“Not completely. We’ve known Max for a long time and there is no telling just how true he’ll hold to his word.”
“We’re just going to have to trust him for now. We have bigger fish to fry with our parents coming town.” Sheila brought that fun fact to our attention. It was that exact moment that my pants began to vibrate. I pulled out my phone and whose name decided to light up the screen? Of course it was none other than Craig.

Hey Athena, I was wondering if you wanted to
come to my house and watch movies and all that?
Since I won’t be seeing much more of you once you
stop helping me out around the house.

I stared at the screen, dumfounded at what I was reading on my cellphone… was Craig Mabbitt asking me out on a date? No…he couldn’t be, that would be too out of character for him. I was racking my brain, trying to come up with a reply to this, when Sheila leaned over and chuckled.
“Got a hot date with Craig-e-poo?”
“Craig-e-poo?” I asked looking at her, my eyes wide and a blush crawled its way up my face. She may hate pet names being given to her or hearing them, but she teased the fuck out of him and anyone if she got the chance.
“Hey, he’s called us both some really fucked up shit, I am simply just repaying the favor.” She stated and she wasn’t wrong there. I was either “Athena-beamer” or “that bitch who I used to be friends with for some reason”. That was when we weren’t close anymore.
“True, but it’s not a date!” I exclaimed, seeing that both Lex and Dahlia were snickering at the fact that I was so red. “What? Two friends can’t hang out together without it being so personal?”
“When it’s Craig, no, not really because he has a hard on for you!” Dahlia points out and our mouths just dropped open. “Oh come on, it’s not like you didn’t already know this. He always has, even when you two were acting that you hated each other.”
“Acting…I have no idea what you are talking about.” I stated, walking out of the back door and sat on the porch, so I could have some piece away from my sisters and their torture.

Yeah, I will have them drop me off once
we are done hanging out here at Max’s
house. Shouldn’t be too much longer.

He texted back almost instantly, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin since I wasn’t expecting it.

Alrighty, I can’t wait to see you…I
have a surprise for you, though you
aren’t getting it until later.

S-surprise? What in the world was with him today? Boys, I just didn’t understand what they were thinking at times.
We left from Max’s house about five minutes later, telling both Max and his teasing mother goodbye and started off towards Craig’s. And that is when my sister’s teasing started up again.
“Use that if things get hot.” Dahlia tossed a Trojan condom back to me and it landed in my lap. My eyes widened with mortification. I was horrified that they even considered I would commit such an unsanitary act with…with…with THAT!
“You have got to be shitting me! Dahlia, come on! You know very well that is the LAST thing on either of our minds.” I stated as if I was positive of that declaration.
“Ohhh relax Athena, you know we have to give you some shit for voluntarily spending quality time with Craig-e-poo.” Sheila replied for Dahlia between giggle fits. Jerks.
“Seriously Athena, lighten up. I know you wouldn’t go that far, but it is nice to be prepared for those occasions just in case. Especially with how much sexual tension that you guys have racked up over the years.” I saw her evil grin spread from one ear to the other in the rear view mirror. That was it! I couldn’t handle it.
“OH WOULD YOU PAH-LEEEEASE SHUT THE HOLE IN YOUR FACE!” I practically shouted, but they only found satisfaction in my freak out. A roar of laughter erupted within the vehicle and I could the heat in my cheeks burning my face red.
“Alright, alright geez. Calm yourself Athena, we’re just messing with you.” Sheila attempted to play innocent. They knew the reason I hated talking about sexual things concerning Craig. In case it hasn’t been explained, Craig and I used to be really close. He was the beat to my drum, he was the pick to my guitar and whatever metaphorical bullshit you can think of. He and I did everything together. We laughed together, we cried together, I was there for him and he used to be there for me.
We got to the point in our Sophomore year where we were on the verge of dating and I was stupid enough to believe my childish dreams would come true. Everything was fine and we were doing great until he went to one of his first high school parties. He tried to get me to go and I refused because I didn’t want to get caught up in that crowd being extremely intolerant of alcohol and drugs. That night he hooked up with a senior girl, both of them being pretty heavily under the influence. I only found out because a guy I didn’t even know from another school snapped a photo of it and a girl I knew from my school that was friends with him gave the guy my number. He sent it to me and said they thought I should know what I was getting myself into. After that I went through stages of depression and refused to talk to him. I gave him no explanation. Sure he didn’t quite cheat on me because we weren’t exactly officially together, but it was still pretty shitty and I was pretty damaged for a long while afterwards. I guess I never quite got over it completely. He didn’t understand why I was being so cold towards him and he revolted by giving me the same treatment. It was just a big mess and we had resented each other’s existence since. Until apparently now…
“Your chariot has arrived at your destination, please exit the vehicle and enjoy your date.” Lex said from the passenger seat, giving me a look of apology for my sisters and their behavior. I said my goodbyes to them and walked up the driveway, letting myself into the house as I always did after school. I had to keep reminding myself that things were different than two years ago and that we were friends again.
“Craig-e…Craig I’m here!” I yelled up the stairs and started walking up, wondering what the big surprise was. I opened his door to find his room made into a huge blanket and pillow fort, like those you would see in movies, but more extreme.
“Athena? You’re here?” Craig’s voice appeared from somewhere within the fort and he popped his head out, hair all crazy and I couldn’t help but bust up laughing from the sight.
“Craig this is fantastic!” I exclaimed, watching as he got out of the fort, opening the flap so I could crawl in and my mouth dropped open. There was a Pizza Hut box in the middle, along with multiple two liters of Mountain Dew and root beer. He also had a projector and his laptop set up on the wall and The Lion King title screen was playing over and over again as it waited patiently. He remembered our favorite childhood movie!
“I figured you would appreciate this, it is all for you… a way of thanking you for everything you have done for me, even though we haven’t been that close these last two years.” He smiled as he sat next to me, pizza box in front of us and he opened the box, revealing a stuffed crust, double pepperoni pizza and I about died of happiness.
“Craig, this is amazing, thank you!” I whispered hugging him, excitement covering the previous worry and anger that had been lacing my voice. He hugged me back, laying his head in the crook of my neck and it just felt right with him being right there. It felt like home, something I had not felt in a long time since my parents were always gone.
“No need to thank me.” He said, making us up a plate and turning on the movie. We watched the movie, not in silence like most people would get, but singing along and laughing at all the funny parts, just like old times. Somewhere between Mufasa getting murdered by Scar and Simba running away to that faraway place, Craig’s hand slid its way into my hand, causing a strange electricity between us.
I looked at him, shock appearing on my face and jumped a little, seeing how close his face was to mine. Something was pulling me towards him, no matter how much I tried to fight it and I did until that moment that our lips met and it was like someone had turned the lights on after so long. Like, a million fireflies had made their way into our little world that we had all to ourselves and it was all ours to witness. It wasn’t a sloppy kiss with all the tongue, just a sweet and simple one and lasted almost a minute, but it felt like a lifetime.
My cellphone broke out in song with Roll a D6 ,which was the ringtone I had set up for Sheila. What the hell did she want at a time like this?

Hey, sorry to interrupt, you know I wouldn’t
in any other case, but our parents are on their
way from the airport, you have to get here
ASAP!

I felt my heart stop right then and there, my gaze stuck to my phone like glue.
“My parents are on their way home…Craig I need you to take me home.” I said apologetically and he nodded in understanding, though I caught a small glimpse of disappointment. We hauled ass (as fast as we could with Craig in the condition he was in) to his car and he sped off down the road. It would be one thing for them to get there before me, but if they saw that I was dropped off by a boy…they would for sure send me to boarding school. I said my goodbyes to Craig as he pulled into the parking lot, bolting out of his car and making my way up the stairs to our apartment.
I threw open the door, catching my breath that I had been holding and instantly regretted that breath as it just got caught in my throat. My parents were standing there in the living room and they did not look happy.

Fuck.