Chapter 12

Carrie Bradshaw and Lisa Simpson often keep journals to record the exciting twists going on in their crazy lives, but let's face it. There's nothing remotely exciting about living with six other kids and a social worker with no social life.

While Carrie has her fabulous Manolos and Manhattan mishaps, I'm stuck with Kimiko's obsession for glitter and the boys' urge to crack jokes about farts and how shorter Claire Wilson's skirts have gotten since eighth grade. 

"Seriously, she tried to pick up a pen in Bio class, and I could totally see through it." Tommy was telling the guys while we hung in Mike's lounge. It was totally bigger than our former home's, with different couches, and a large seventy-inch TV had Transformers: Dark of the Moon playing. 

Jay chuckled. "Tom, you're such a perv."

Tommy shrugged defensively. "Dude, it literally happened right in front of me!"

"What color?" Jay asked.

"What?" Tommy replied.

"I'm calling your bull, Tom." Jay spun his new basketball on a fingertip, which I think is impressive by the way. "Spill." 

Tommy's lips curled, a sly grin spreading. "She went commando."

I bit my lip, fighting a grimace while pretending not to look away from my Seventeen magazine. 

Jay and Noah hooted, and their laughter erupted. Jay threw his head back.

"Dude," Jay drawled. "I think those skirts should be a crime."

"If you're gay," Noah replied.

"Man, shut up," Jay said mid-laugh.

"You guys are pigs," I commented.

"Settle your claws, ice queen," Tommy replied. 

Noah turned in my direction. "Oh, have you been sitting there the entire time?"

I rolled my eyes. 

"Where'd you go after school today?" Tommy asked. 

"I believe that's none of your business, Thomas." I replied.

"Beth saw you hitch a ride with that creep, Ross Anderson." Jay said. "On his Harley."

I frowned as the boys, including Noah, who didn't care about much, turned to me with protective glances.

I closed the magazine and crossed my arms. How did Beth manage to see us? Sometimes that girl creeped me out. "So, you three are big on the gossip column."

"Whatever," Noah said dismissively. 

"Didn't he just split up with Oregano?" Jay asked. 

Tommy's lips lifted up in a smirk. "It's Sage."

"Yeah I figured her name was a herb or something." Jay shrugged, and looked at me. "Seriously Mil, if you're smart, you'd steer clear of Ross Anderson's crap."

I glared at Jay, and felt annoyed.

"Oh!" I spat, my voice rising over Optimus on the screen. I stood glaring at all three of them. "So it's cute when Noah has puppy eyes on Mike's Personal Assistant, but God forbid I hang out with Ross because I'm clearly an idiot!"

"Excuse me?" Noah blurted, his attention drawing back to the conversation. "Don't drag me into this." 

Jay exhaled and ran a hand over his shaven head. "I didn't mean it that way Mil. You are smart but this time you're not thinking clearly."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not thinking clearly?"

Jay's words tumbled out in a rush. "I mean, Ross has a way of... making girls do... Anyway, you're... you're usually smarter than that."

My annoyance flared. "So, you're saying I'm smart, but I'm not smart enough to make my own decisions?"

At this point Tommy was signaling Jay to shut up. 

Jay shook his head. "No, Mil, that's not what I meant."

Tommy snickered. "Sounds like that's exactly what you meant, Jay."

Noah chimed in, "Yeah, nice recovery, Jay."

Tommy whistled.

Noah hid a silent laugh.

Jay's dark eyes shifted between us, realizing his mistake. "Can I just start again?" He asked sheepishly. 

"Let me make this clear, idiots; mind your own damn business!" I growled at them and stomped out of the living room.

"For the record, I liked her pre-puberty." I heard Noah murmur.

"Shut up Garcia," Jay responded.

I marched to my bedroom. Daphne was bobbing her head to music on her headphones, frowning as I dropped on my bed with a thud.

"Okay, what did Jay do this time?" Daphne asked as she removed her headphones.

"Can you believe he thinks Ross is bad news?" I said. "I mean, they don't even roll together."

"I mean, Jay usually hangs with the basketball kids," Daphne crossed her legs. "They've got some serious connections."

I pushed a strand of hair away from my face. "Whatever."

I've had a crush on Ross Anderson since ninth grade when we were paired together for a Midsummer Night's Dream play... I mean, it was just for our English Lit teacher Mr. Norris to explain the context, but I felt a connection between Ross and I. 

The way he looked at me as we read our lines, how he stumbled over the words was cute and everyone laughed and I was smitten...sure he started seeing Sage at the time but apparently that did nothing for me. 

Moving into Mike Russo's house was any kid's dream, sure I lost most of my stuff, but the mansion was literally what I'd wanted my dream home to be. He was a pretty great guy, sometimes I see him sneaking glances at Christine...

"Damn, I almost forgot." Daphne broke through my thoughts. "Ms. Thompson's book report is due tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes. Ms. Thompson was basically the meanest teacher in school, she made babies cry. "If I could write a poem for her class it'd be Ode to procrastination."

"No kidding." Daphne replied. "How long have you been waiting to use that one?"

I looked at Daphne. "Could you help a girl out?"

Millie narrowed her eyes on me. "Uh uh, no way."

"Who's my favorite person in the whole world?"

"I'll take a wild guess and say Ross Anderson."

"Shut up. I mean, you could be a great poet like Emily Bronte."

"Actually she's... Stop with the puppy eyes, I hate you. Fine, you owe me."

I sent her an air kiss and laid back, facing the ceiling as I heard Daphne typing. 

"It's kind of scary, what happened to Christine and Mike earlier." Daphne said.

My heart sank remembering the clip from the news. "Pro tip: always carry a china dish around for safety."

"Yeah, I saw Beth grab one from the kitchen, and the housekeeper nearly had a stroke." Daphne said and we shared a giggle. 

My phone buzzed on my nightstand. Ross's name flashed on the screen along with a simple text.

Hey, how are you?

My heart skipped a beat.