Chapter 11: Bang Bang

Chapter 11

Mickey 'Mike' Hollister

Bang Bang

The wedding has been called off.

Mum has said that in front of us while we were eating sushi. Eros loves sushi. He made it. Eros' mouth fell open as he tried to process what Mum just has said. I mean, I would feel the same if my fiancee told me the wedding isn't going to happen. At all.

The reason, it's still a mystery to us.

She said we had a lot to pay. We have a lot to take care of. But I think it's not really the reason.

The interesting part is that Eros is not really much affected about this. He just asked mum why and he agreed and went back to eating the sushis he made. I did, too. The sushis were too good.

Brad didn't understand, I guessed, what was happening, so he just kept eating his cereal. Not very good. He didn't like raw. But Eros did make him a special sushi. It was made of fruits. Brad liked that.

I was jealous.

Because he had a sushi made of fruit. And I didn't.

"Why did you cancel it?" I asked. Eros was in their room. My curiosity has feeding me with... curiosity? That's why it was growing.

"It's what you wanted," she just simply said as she gave me a shrug. There was no hint of 'Wait... let me think, I think I made a mistake' lingering in her voice. Is it? Is this what I wanted? "Plus, it's true that we've got a lot of bills to pay. The wedding can wait."

I almost said 'what bills?' but then Eros came in, who had a coffee in his hand. He sure likes coffee.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked us, his eyes darting to me, to mum, then back to me.

"Nothing, dear." Mum said before I could speak. "We were just having a chat."

"What he meant is, what was the topic," I grumbled and I swore I saw a faint smile crept up on Eros' lips. Which made me smile. Which scared the hell out of me.

Mum gave me a look of annoyance as she went over Eros to give him a hug and I had to look away because it was too much. It disgusted me. Everything happening in front of me was disgusting. I made a yuck face as I looked over them. Eros was looking at me intently, and he had this expression on his face that I couldn't quite read. It almost looked like he was telling me something through the expression.

That's when I decided everything was done. My work in this house was done. I'm going to leave for college. I'm just going to wait.

I stood up and took the plate and put it in the sink and washed it. We have this rule in this house that, 'after you eat, you better wash it'. That applies to all. Except Brad. Because he's a kid and he hardly knows everything.

I muttered a goodbye and just passed them without giving such attention. For all I know, that disgusting PDA would last for, like, about an hour or so. Because Mum is clingy. Do guys hate clingy? Definitely. Noah dumped Chelsie because she was clingy and a psycho. That or he fell madly in love with Gloss. Definitely the latter.

+++

I don't know if I would be happy that they are not going to get married. I feel happy. I feel not happy. Everything is confusing. Walking pass the vehicles that are made of riches, girls keep giving me flirty looks. But right now, I don't give a fuck. I don't want to be admired for today. I don't want to be seen at all.

So what I do is I head to the new building. There are two new buildings. The other one is being used right now. This building has a nicer view compared to the other one. From the windows, you can see the garden. I don't know what to call it. Because a garden should contain a lot of flowers, right? But this one doesn't have flowers. It has a green grass. I would call it a 'park' rather than 'garden'. But I keep using 'garden'.

Sometimes I am weird.

A voice. I hear a voice. It was a shout. It makes me whip my head to the direction. That's what the benefits of new, still unused buildings. Even if you whisper, it would echo. So what I do is I try to minimize the sound of the steps I'm making so they would not hear me.

Again, a voice echoes around the building. This time, it belongs to another person. And it's familiar. I think I have heard it so many times. That thick accent and all.

"Oh, for God's sake!" This one, definitely, belongs to my friend. Nero. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" He asks, almost spatting out the words. If it were made of weapons, it would be the bullets.

They are in a room. The door is open. So I take a peek. And I see Nero, who is pacing back and forth. He's with... the Russian guy, Derek. Derek has his head down, and he's fumbling his fingers.

"I just wanted to talk to you, you know." Derek says as he looks up and takes a look at Nero. "This is what you wanted. To make me leave. I'm going to leave. I don't know what happened between us, Nero. Everything just went down hill."

"Stop," Nero says in a tone that means he has had enough of bullshit. "I don't want to hear it."

"What happened?" Derek says monotonously.

"You fucking took advantage of me!" Nero bursts, glaring at Derek. "We were supposed to have fun that night. We were hanging out. And you just fucking kissed me. And you kept flirting with me. And my friends are making fun of me because of you. I'm the center of the attention. I don't want that. And that happened because of you. I hate you. You took advantage of me. You little, disgusting faggot!"

There's more to it. Nero's voice is venomous. Like anytime, Derek would die because of it. I don't mean to hear those words. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Nero said something I didn't like. It almost made me get out of hiding and punch him in the face. But I din't. I just stay there and look at Derek, who's about to cry. He's clutching the edge of the table, like his life depends on it.

"I'm sorry." Derek says, almost a whisper. Nero is looking at Derek with a guilty expression. Well, he should be.

"Oh, fuck this,"

That's when my eyes widen and my mouth hangs open. I nearly curse a word or gasp.

Because Nero grabs Derek's neck, lowers his face to Derek and his lips meet his. And all of a sudden, they are making out. Heavy and intense.

I didn't mean to watch the show, the drama. They are basically eating each other's faces. From here, I can tell they are breathless, and I hear Nero whispering. He's saying sorry and that Derek shouldn't leave. He also whispers that he's an asshole. And then again, they continue making out.

What I saw there, will stay there. I respect their privacy.

But the bottom line is, Nero is gay. Or yeah, he's gay. And totally likes Derek.

Everyone is turning gay, and I nearly laugh because I question myself, am I next?

Then my face pales. Am I going to be next?

This question stayed in my head the whole time.

Nero joins us. His hair is disheveled and his white shirt is wrinkled and I almost point it out but then I just shut my mouth.

"Hey, Nero!" Tommy chirps, smiling. "Where were you? Oh, hey. You made out with someone." He points out.

"Yeah, he definitely made out with someone." Jeric joins in. His index finger points to Nero's lips. So I take a look.

And clearly and obviously, Nero's lips are swollen and reddish. Nero's face turns red and he slaps Jeric's hand and Jeric mutters something I didn't catch.

That's when Beau, Gloss, and Derek join us.

It was awkward at first, but eventually, it faded. And now, Derek and Jeric are engaged in a talk. The jocks keep giving them these weird looks because they do not know what's happening. Even Noah and Gloss.

But they don't mind though.

They think Nero and Derek are just being friendly and all. But I do know what's happening between them. Nero looks at me and I give him a smirk and a thumbs up, which makes him confused. I just laugh and brush it off.

After school, I go to my Dad's house and I find him baking. As always. If he's not cooking, he's baking. His cookies and muffins are to die for. So when I get inside the house, the tempting smell of fresh baked cookies is hovering in the air and that makes my stomach grumble. I plop down on the stool and watch him work. There are freshly baked cookies in a medium-sized jar and I ask Dad why he's putting it in a jar.

"Son, Ms. Shanes begged me to bake her some cookies, in return, she's going on a date with me." He just says and I laugh. Like a booming laugh. Which makes his laugh.

"You're too old to go on a date," I state, getting a piece of cookie on a tray. I immediately put it down because it's hot.

"That's karma," he says nonchalantly and I roll my eyes and tsks softly. "Anyways, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework and school stuffs?"

"Nah," I try to sound like I don't care but nearly fail. "There's a distraction. Can't concentrate." Simple.

"Who is it?"

"Who is who?" I ask, giving him a confused look.

"The distraction,"

"What made you think it's a person instead of a thing?"

"Because I know my son very well."