it's Jordy Baan's birthday...how could I not have a surprise update??
"A triple date?"
"Yes. Me, Flynn, you, Jake, Elliott and his friend."
"Nora, I don't know," I sigh. "I don't want to lead Jake on by inviting him on a date. Plus, Elliott and I haven't been on the same page in awhile, so things will just be awkward."
'Elliott and I haven't been on the same page' is my euphemism for 'I rejected him and we're both pretending like nothing is wrong but we both know something is wrong.' We've just been friendly towards one another, like normal. Elliott makes a few flirtatious comments, but that's just him. There's this tension that follows us whenever we're together that causes me to suffocate.
She pouts. "But I really want you to be there! Elliott is inviting some girl that Flynn doesn't know and I don't want to be stuck with her while Flynn and Elliott are bromancing the whole night."
"Why don't you just tell Flynn that you don't want to go with them? Just go on a regular date with him."
"I can't! We're keeping things casual. Intimacy just doesn't happen during double dates," she states factually. "Can't you just ask Abraham?"
"I barely know Abraham," I remind.
"What better place to get to a know a guy than on a triple date?"
"I could think of a couple places, actually." I place my hands on my hips. "How badly do you want me to come?"
"So, so, so badly!"
I sigh, deciding that it wouldn't be that bad to go on this "triple date." It's really more of a hangout than a date. If I were to invite Jake, that would give him the impression that I wanted to see him romantically. Also, Elliott doesn't seem to like Jake very much. I now know why.
I don't want to rub a relationship with another guy in Elliott's face. He seemed genuinely upset after I told him we couldn't be together a few days ago. Although he hasn't acted it this entire week, I could imagine he's still hurting. I am.
"Fine. I'll go as long as Addison can watch the kids," I say officially. "What are we doing?"
"Going to dinner at six-thirty and then a drive-in movie," she explains. "It'll be so much fun. I promise."
"Yeah, yeah." I pick up Beth from her highchair and hold her in my arms. "I'll call Abraham and ask if he wants to come with."
Nora does a little happy dance before lunging to give me a quick hug. "You're the best! I'll come over to help you pick an outfit later! Now, I better get back home before Jett burns our house to the ground."
"Bye, Nora."
She leaves through the front door, a smile on her face. I send a text to Abraham and ask if he'd want to come with me tonight. I notice the many texts I've received from Jake over this last week. He keeps asking me to hang out or go to dinner with him. I come up with excuse after excuse.
There's someone else, I imagine myself finally being able to admit.
But there isn't right now. There is no Elliott and Ivy, something I can only blame on myself. I have thought about trying to distract myself by putting effort into a relationship with Jake, but that would just be me wasting his time. He should find someone who wants to be with him the same way I want to be with Elliott.
In the family room, Mike, Addison, and Jonas are watching a movie. The younger kids are at camp today. I set Bethany down in her playpen before going upstairs to take a shower.
Mike told me he talked to Addison about everything we had talked about a few night ago. He said things went well and Addison even gave him a kiss. Although I'd prefer they kept their lips to themselves, I'm happy he was able to clear things up. I hated the idea of Addison resenting me. Since their talk, I've noticed a lot of the old Addison in the way she would ask me for advice and have conversations me like a sister.
Stepping into the shower, I let the warm water hit my skin. I've started to realize that the shower is the best place for my alone time. With the lock on the door and the water covering up any noise, I am isolated from the hectic Kennedy family.
Apparently, today I forgot to lock the door.
"Ivy, I can't find my razor anywhere," Elliott's tired voice speaks as he starts rummaging through the bathroom doors. "I've looked everywhere for the damn thing."
I widen my eyes and peek my head out to look at him, turning off the water and covering my body with the shower curtain. "What are you doing in here?"
"Looking for my razor," he answers simply. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes, there is," I say with an eye roll. "Get out."
He grins. "There is no need to be rude, Red. I'm honestly just looking for my razor. You know what," he pauses and walks closer to the shower, "it's probably in there!"
"Elliott!" I yell when he threatens to pull back the shower curtain.
He laughs and holds his hands up innocently. "I wasn't actually going to do it! Can you check for me?"
I sigh and look around, finding a dark blue razor on the shower shelf. "Here." I stick the razor right in front of him. "Now you can go."
"But I'm having a good time right here," he says and sits on the closed toilet after taking his razor. "So, you're going with Abraham tonight?"
"We're not having a conversation while I'm in the shower."
"I promise, Ivy, the fact that you're naked in there is the last thing on my mind," he says, his smile still plastered on his face. "If it makes you feel better, I can take off all my clothes too."
I bite my tongue, holding in the urge to throw a bottle of shampoo at him. "You need to go."
"Fine," he caves. "Just let me shave first."
"You don't even have facial hair. You're like a pre-pubescent teenager," I say.
He raises an eyebrow. "It's pretty brave of you to be throwing out insults when you're the one naked in the shower."
"You just can't stop thinking about me being naked, can you?" I ask plainly.
"So what if I can't?" he challenges, looking at me with his mesmerizing eyes.
I open my mouth, unable to think of a witty response. Leave it Elliott to make me act a fool as I stand in the shower with my mouth hung open.
He laughs, turning to look in the mirror to start shaving the non-existent facial hair. I frown and debate just continuing my shower with Elliott in the room, the cold air making me shiver.
Just as I'm about to turn on the water, my ringtone starts the play loudly through the bathroom. Before I can even stop him, Elliott answers the phone.
"Hello?"
"Elliott, give me the phone right now!"
"This is Elliott. I'm a friend of Ivy's," he speaks into the phone.
"Hardly," I mutter.
Elliott mouths, "ouch." He continues to listen intently to the other person on the line.
"Who is it?" I ask loudly.
He places a finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. "She can't come to the phone right now. May I ask who is speaking?"
I clench my jaw and glance to where my towel sits on the floor. It won't be that much of a reach for me to get and take my phone from Elliott.
Able to grab my towel, I wrap it securely around my body before stepping out of the shower. Elliott's eyes widen and he is quick to leave the bathroom. I chase after him, my anger growing. He goes into his room and I make it just before he closes the door. His room is a complete mess and I end up slipping on a pile of photos that are scattered on the floor. I take Elliott down with me, landing on top of his chest. Luckily, my towel stayed in place.
"This is a fortunate position," he says with a smirk. "She wants to talk to you." He hands me my phone.
I place it to my ear, worried to find out who is on the other line. "Hello?"
"Who is that boy?"
Mom. I sigh heavily, glaring at Elliott. "Hi, mom. I'm sorry. He's one of the kids I'm nannying."
"Kid?" Elliott whisper-screams, his face right next to mine.
I move off his chest and stand up. "Is everything okay?"
"Well, not really," she says. "It's Steve."
"What happened? Is he hurt?" Not that I actually care too much about Steve, I still don't want him hurt or anything.
"No, no." She sighs heavily. "He-he left me. I don't know what to do!"
I raise my eyebrows, not too shocked by this. My mom never has had a good track record with her boyfriends. Steve was nice and everything, but I had a feeling he wouldn't last.
"I'm so sorry," I say and glance at Elliott who is already looking me intently. I turn around and leave the room to have privacy. "Come home."
"I don't want to go back to that place! Steve and I have so many memories in that house! It's where we made love numerous times!"
I shut my eyes briefly as I step into the guest room. "Not something I ever want to hear, mom."
"Sorry," she mumbles. "I'm just so overwhelmed right now. I don't know what to do."
I put the phone on speaker as I change into clothes. "Please just come home. I can help you get over him. I always do."
"I miss your father, Ivy," she sighs.
"Don't," I say sternly, pulling my shirt over my head. "Do not call him!"
"Who said I was going to call him?" she asks in offense.
"You do it every time!" I exasperate. "We both know he isn't worth it."
"You're right," she says. "You're always right. I'll get a flight home as soon as possible."
"Good!" Once I'm dressed, I take my phone and go to sit on my bed. "Call me when you get home."
"Okay."
She hangs up.
I sigh and fall back so my back is fully against the bed. My mother is the epitome of a damsel in distress. She doesn't know how to handle herself in situations like these. Usually, she just ends up drunk calling my dad who answers every time as if he has been waiting for her call.
There's a small knock on my door before Elliott enters and sits on the end of my bed.
"So, that was your mom?"
"Yeah," I answer. "Her boyfriend left her in Alaska."
"Harsh," he comments. "Is she coming home?"
I shrug. "I can't say for sure. She never really takes the advice I give her."
He nods and picks at the comforter. "Well, I should apologize for taking your phone. I was half-expecting it to be Jake Acker."
"And that makes it okay?"
"Yeah, I think it does," he says.
I shake my head and sit up on the bed. "Well, thanks to you I didn't get to rinse and repeat." I check the time on my phone. "I have to go."
"Where?"
"I'm going to pick up the kids at camp," I say and stand up. "I don't suppose you'd want to come with?"
"No, no, trust me when I say that is the exact thing I want to do most. Sadly, I promised Flynn I'd help paint his little brother's room." He stands up from my bed. "Also something I just couldn't wait to do!"
I smile. "See you tonight then."
After I picked up the kids from camp, Nora was over to pick out our outfits for tonight. Apparently the restaurant is fancy. I googled it and that's the impression I got from the images. We both pick dresses, hers a white one and mine black. The white shows off her tan skin, whereas the black stands out against my pale skin.
Nora wears heels with her dress, something I shamefully didn't bring to my babysitting job. Luckily, we're pretty close in shoe size so I'm able to borrow a pair of her heels.
"I might twist an ankle in these," I say and look down at the tall heels. "For what occasions do you wear these?"
"If I'm not in slippers," Nora pauses, "I'm in heels."
I laugh and look at my reflection in the full-length mirror. Addison came in and did my makeup, excited to be part of the girl talk. I feel out-of-place in an outfit like this, but at the same time I feel beautiful.
"Flynn and Abraham are coming to pick us up in five minutes," Nora says after reading a text off her phone, tucking one of her curls behind her ear.
We head downstairs. I go a lot slower than Nora, one step at a time to assure I don't break my leg like Addison.
"You two look so beautiful," Addison says with a warm smile, Mike at her side.
"Thanks, Ad," I say. "You sure you're okay staying home to watch the kids?"
"Definitely," she assures. "I promise we won't throw a party without you knowing. I mean, Jett is coming over which is a party in itself though."
Nora laughs. "Hopefully he won't cause any trouble."
"Jonas, did you take my watch?" Elliott yells as he comes downstairs, dressed in a denim jacket with a gray shirt and dark pants. It's a little casual if you ask me. I assume he hasn't changed for the restaurant yet.
He stops when he sees us all standing by the front door. His eyes fall to me immediately, looking up-and-down before locking with mine. With his mouth slightly open, he mutters, "holy fuck."
I blush and tilt my head down so no one notices. They all notice.
The doorbell rings, luckily ending the awkward moment just as it began. Flynn and Abraham are standing at the front porch. The boys are in t-shirts and jeans, completely casual.
"Uh, Ivy, I thought you said the restaurant was fancy," Nora whispers after peering at the two through the window.
"That's the impression Google gave me," I defend. "We can just change."
She sighs and looks down at her dress. "But I look so good! And we don't have time to rethink our entire outfits!"
I roll my eyes and open the front door. Flynn's eyes light up when he sees Nora. He steps forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. Abraham gives me a high-five.
"Why are you two so dressed up?" Flynn asks. "I mean, you both look great but it's just a pizza parlor and then a drive-in."
"Blame Ivy," Nora says and takes Flynn's hand as they walk to the car.
"Bye, guys!" I say to the kids, already noticing that Elliott has since gone. "Well, Abraham, I can guess that this night is going to be more awkward than that time you sneezed in the middle of my speech and I forgot all the words because of it."
At the pizza parlor, Nora and I get weird looks from the people in the place who are mostly in sweats. We probably look like escorts or something.
"So, Flynn, what color did your little brother pick for you to paint his walls?" I ask as we sit down at a large circle booth in the corner.
Flynn looks at me as if I grew a second head. "I didn't paint my little brother's walls. Why'd you think that?"
I raise an eyebrow suspiciously. Why did Elliott lie? I wonder what he was hiding from me. "Well, Elliott said that-"
"What the hell is he wearing?" Abraham laughs, his eyes set on someone at the front.
We all turn to look, interested to see for ourselves. Walking in with a pretty brunette, Elliott is dressed in a tuxedo. The girl is in ripped-jean shorts and a tank top. She doesn't look exactly pleased to be walking in with Elliott.
I can't help but smile. He must've changed into a tuxedo so Nora and I wouldn't be so out of place. Also, he looks very handsome in that tuxedo.
"Hey," he greets casually and slides into the booth next to Flynn. His brunette friend sits next to him. "This is Kami."
"Kami, don't take offense to this. It is truly an honor to meet you, but," Flynn pauses and looks to Elliott, "what the hell, man?"
"Google gave me the impression that this place was fancy," Elliott explains, winking slyly to me.
Flynn shakes his head and changes the topic to his adventure with the pickle. I try to pay attention, but in my peripheral vision I can see Elliott is looking at me. Whenever I turn to look at him, he glances towards Kami, who gives him weird looks each and every time.
In just a few minutes, this date becomes very third wheel for everyone who isn't Nora and Flynn. The two are lost in conversation with one another, not even touching their pizza. At one point, I debate eating Nora's slice.
The four of us third wheelers sit in an awkward silence. Kami is a bit cold, not wishing to speak to any of us. Abraham is well-aware of Elliott and I'm pretty sure he's scared of him too. In an attempt to get this party started, I google the 25 best conversation starters. Abraham and I decide on one together.
"So," I say excitedly, "if you guys had a theme song, what would it be?"
Elliott looks at me with slight amusement, since he's still too cool to just smile at me in front of his friends. "You go first."
"Okay!" I stop to think. "I'd say Work Bitch by Britney Spears because I'm always working."
Abraham and Elliott both laugh, while Kami just sort of eyes me.
"I'll go. Mine would definitely be Hot Stuff by Donna Summer because..." He trails off to wave his hand around his face.
I laugh. "Very suiting. What about you, Kami? What would your theme song be?"
She looks at me with a bored face. "I don't know. This is stupid."
"Okay..." I turn to Elliott. "Why don't you go while Kami thinks a little bit more?"
Elliott smiles. "Right. Well, I think mine would be You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones." He looks at me, his smile sweet yet pained.
"Why?" Abraham asks in confusion.
"Because she says I'm not worth it," he answers, breaking our eye contact to look at Abraham.
I frown and look down at my plate.
"Kami, why would you say such a thing?" Abraham asks jokingly, since it's pretty obvious Elliott and Kami have no connection.
She looks at Abraham with squinted eyes. "I'd say my theme song at this point would be I Don't Fuck with You by Big Sean."
We all stare at her with wide eyes. Even Flynn and Nora stop to look at her. She just smiles and eats her pizza. Elliott laughs and throws an arm over her shoulders, which she immediately hits off.
Once everyone is finished eating, we go to the drive-in to catch the movie. Elliott drops Kami off per her request. He meets us at the drive-in after dropping her off.
"Abraham, Ivy, come in my car," Elliott says when he finally arrives. "I have candy."
"Well, you know I'm there," Abraham says and hops out of Flynn's trunk to go to Elliott's.
I laugh and follow Abraham to Elliott's car. We all decided it was best to leave Flynn and Nora alone. Although Nora had been saying she wanted a triple date to avoid intimacy, she practically kicked me out of their car.
Elliott, Abraham, and I climb into the trunk of Elliott's car. He has leftover blankets from the fourth still in there. I'm squished in the middle of both boys. Imagine if Jake had been here.
"So, Liott, Kami seemed sweet," Abraham says before the movie starts. "How'd you meet?"
"She's Yogi's ex-girlfriend," he explains. "I owed him a favor."
"And the favor was taking his ex on a date?" I ask in confusion.
"A triple date," he clarifies. "She hates socializing and can't stand people younger than her."
"How old is she?"
Elliott shrugs. "Twenty-eight?"
"No wonder she hated me. My mom always says that I act eight, not eighteen!" Abraham laughs.
I smile. "How'd you even get her to agree to go on a date with you?"
"Must've been my pre-pubescent lack of facial hair," he jokes.
I shake my head, laughing at Abraham's evident confusion. The movie starts briefly afterwards. It's Jumanji, a movie I have seen one too many times with Mikey. I guess it can never really be too many times.
Apparently Elliott has seen it a bunch of times as well, for he is talking non-stop. He comments on just about everything. It doesn't really bother me, but Abraham can't stand it. He ends up leaving for Flynn's car.
"Look at what you did!" I scold. "You are especially annoying today."
"Thanks." He sits up from his original position to rest his back against the side of his car to face me instead of the movie.
I mimic him and do the same on the opposite side. "But at the same time you're being especially sweet."
"Yeah?"
"With the tuxedo thing," I say. "Thanks for that."
"Eh, it was no big deal. I just thought about how the girl I am supposed to be taking on dates is dressed up, so I should be too."
I frown. "I thought we got past all of this. We're just friends, nothing more."
"Okay, yeah, I know," he sighs. "Your beauty is just making me act like a fool, Red."
Yeah, I know the feeling. I turn to watch the movie, not wanting to continue this conversation. I wish I could ignore any feelings towards Elliott and just move on. It would fix almost everything. But even if I could, he couldn't. He'd be there egging me on everyday, as he has been doing today. The amount of self-control I am using right now could cause me to explode.
Elliott continues to narrate the entire movie, as if nothing happened. I watch him as he talks, his mouth looking as kissable as ever. Whenever he laughs at his own jokes, his smile widens and his eyes crinkle like some sort of masterpiece.
When the movie finishes, Abraham comes back to our car for a ride home. He says that Flynn and Nora deserve alone time, especially since he crashed the whole thing.
Elliott has the car ride blaring on our drive home, making sure that no one can hear one another for a conversation. I sit in the passenger's seat and enjoy the view of the forest as we drive past. We drop off Abraham and head home.
Remembering something I needed to ask him, I shut off his radio and look at him curiously. "I know you weren't painting with Flynn today."
"What?"
"I asked him about it. I know you lied to me," I say. "Where were you?"
"Does it really matter?" he asks, glancing from me to the road.
I shrug. "I don't know. I just wonder why you would lie to me."
"I knew you'd ask me a bunch of questions that I probably wouldn't have the answer for," he explains. "You tend to ask a lot of questions, Red."
"Well, since I'm so good at it, let me ask. Where were you?"
"With my dad," he answers. "I see him every once in awhile."
"Oh." I don't really know whether I'm stepping into sensitive territory or not. "That's good."
He laughs, "sure. I sort of hate the guy though. He's fixing me up with a job at his company though."
"That is good!" I exclaim. "Is it a summer internship type of thing?"
"No, actually, it's like a rest of my life type of thing," he admits.
I nod, a little surprised. I don't know why I assumed he'd be going to college, even if it were just community college. I know he failed Spanish, but he still graduated.
"Let's go inside. There may be another party in there that's just waiting for us to bust it," he says.
I laugh and step out of the car, holding my heels in my hands. We go inside to find all the kids asleep on the couch, the credits to some movie rolling on the screen. Mikey must've gone home, since he is no longer here.
"Should we just leave them here?" I ask, not quite sure if I should carry them upstairs or not.
"Yeah," Elliott decides. "We'll have a family sleepover." He lies down on the couch, pulling Ethan onto his lap to cuddle.
I internally scream at the cuteness before lying on one of the couches as well.
"Ivy," Elliott whispers randomly.
"Yeah?"
"I didn't lose my razor."
~~
AN:
my theme song is I'm Just A Kid by Simple Plan. what's yours?
I start school tomorrow so goodbye old life of happiness
ask me questions about this book or about me & I will answer (unless it's too personal I'm very guarded when it comes to being catfished or stalked or something)
though who doesn't secretly want to be catfished so they could meet nev & max am I right or am I right
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