first.
Classic 90's teen movies, a two-liter bottle of pop and freshly painted pigs. This was Friday night.
Every Friday night. I have seen Molly Ringwald turn 16 about a hundred times, Heath Ledger win Julia Stiles' heart about a million and seen Reese Witherspoon take revenge on Sarah Michelle Gellar so many times I could reenact the whole movie of Cruel Intentions word for word and play every cast members role without effort. I am seventeen years old and I haven't done a damn thing with my teenage years. In fact, my life is so boring the last truly eventful thing I could speak about was when I went up a cup size last summer and forgot to get a new bathing suit so my nipple popped out at a kid at the pool. I laid in horror every night for a week after seeing that kids smug face.
Chelsea hobbles into the room trying not to mess up her painted toes while holding a bowl of pretzels. "So since last week we watched Heathers I was thinking we'd go for something a little cuter today and see My Date With the President's Daughter. I know Disney, but it's really good and we technically haven't watched it together yet, so it's something new!" She say in her chipper voice that she usually squeaks out.
I don't say anything, instead I just give a light groan as a signal of acceptance and Chelsea squeals in delight. "Great, I haven't seen this in ages!"
"Chels, you're idea of ages is like two weeks."
"And I haven't seen it in two weeks!"
My eyes roll as I reach for my cup. "I'm gonna get a drink, want one?" I ask lifting myself from my bed.
"Nope, I've got some pop left. Oh bring up the almonds I forgot them," she says as she starts to get the movie going.
I slip on my fuzzy house slippers and close my room door behind me. Since me and Chelsea are the only ones home and awake most of the lights are out except for a couple that give just enough light to go to and from where we need to be. Most nights were like this, my parents were sleep by 9 promptly every night and my brother was out until sun came up if at all.
My parents were mediocre on their best days. They're the kind of people who had kids because they thought it was the thing to do when they got married and bought a house, not so much because they were actually excited about the idea of having kids. They were more preoccupied with their careers and frankly, their crumbling marriage.
Our house had six bedrooms and of the six, four were occupied. One for me, one for my brother and one each for my mom and dad. They've been sleeping in different beds for about two years now and when me and Romeo, my other brother, first brought it up they pretended like they didn't hear the question. In fact they ignored our question so many times we gave up asking. At this point we're just waiting for them to push their prides to the side and just get it over with.
The stillness in our house was nauseating, I guess that's why Romeo prefers to stay out all day and night.
I trot down the steps a little quicker than normal and drag my feet into the kitchen. I hadn't realized all day just how tired I was until just now and if I was going to keep up tradition with Chelsea I needed a cup of joe to keep me going through the night. And maybe a snack with a little more sugar than pretzels and almonds.
Once I step in the kitchen I find myself making a pot of coffee rather than just a cup in case I need to venture down again after the movie or even during it. I scoop in almost double the amount of grinds that a normal person does and pop it into the machine before pressing start. Done with that I begin to search the cupboards for some chocolate or anything of the like.
Before I could find any I hear the back door swing open with a bang and the sound of laughter follows.
"I'm fucking starved, you got anything to grub on?" I can hear a very familiar voice howl as the two boys stamped their way into the kitchen through the back door. I could hear Romeo and Bobby before I could see them, as loud as they are I'm surprised I didn't hear them driving up to the house.
Once the boys came into view I could feel a very familiar sinking feeling in my chest. Romeo looked fine, a bit bushy haired with wrinkled clothes and possibly high, but his normal bright face was all intact.
However, "porky! Haven't seen you in a whole 24 hours!" Bobby called smiling brightly almost as if the mustache of blood he was rocking like a new fashion trend was nothing to be too concerned with.
"What the hell?" I seethed immediately grabbing a clean dish towel from the drawer closest to the sink and running warm water over it.
"Why is it you two idiots go out and get into these fights every other night and always come home expecting me to nurse you back to health?" I asked as I began to ring out the excess water and walk over to my brother's best friend who at this point was just as much my brother as Romeo was.
"I had nothing to do with this one," Romeo said putting his hands in the air as he scooted past me and walked to the fridge.
"Ah, Princess, it's not that big a deal. Where I live it's eat or be eaten, and I simply had a hefty meal tonight," Bobby said smirking as I cleaned his beat, bruised and bloodied face with the towel. He had a couple of small cuts here and there on his cheek that I tried avoiding, at least just then until I could get some disinfectant and bandages. The main goal at the moment was to clean the dried blood that covered the lower portion of his face.
"I told him not to Belly, I told him you'd be pissed," Romeo said from behind me, from the sound of his voice it seemed like he had a stuffed mouth. I let out a brief sigh and gentled my strokes on Bobby's face.
"I'm not pissed, I'm worried," I explained grabbing his chin and moving his face so I could better reach the small bits of red liquid that dried on his jaw.
Romeo and Bobby had been bestfriends for almost as long as me and Chelsea have, with the exception of the first year they met. We all met in when me and Chelsea were in fifth grade and Bobby and Romeo were in sixth. Chelsea and Bobby had lived here their whole lives, their parents too.
Only reason me and Bobby ended up here was because our dad thought he could rebuilt the city into something nicer, so he sold all his property in Michigan and dragged us out here for a better future. And I guess it worked out, he now owns what feels like every high value real estate in the area, and my mom's career sky rocketed too as a her dentistry practice continues to expand since before everyone had to travel 30 minutes out to the next nearest dentist. But, unfortunately for me and Romeo, our parents exploding careers came at the expense of putting us on the back burner.
Instead they hired the first babysitter they could find and that just so happened to be Ms. Lauren, Bobby and Chelsea's mom, the best thing to ever happen to me and Romeo. She was the mom that everyone needed in their life, the mom that was everyone's mom. She would play board games with us, watch movies, take us to the park and roller skating, she held us when we cried and scolded us when we needed to get our shit together. And she still does.
When Ms. Lauren first introduced us all me and Chelsea clicked instantly, I think we were both really lonely and gave each other everything we both needed at the time, plus a mild obsession with the same celebrity's also gave us some common ground. However, Bobby and Romeo acted like the other was the worst person they'd ever met when in reality I think they were each just really jealous of each other. Bobby thought it was better to be rich whether his parents cared about him or not and Romeo really just wanted a mom that held him the way Ms. Lauren held us. And, although Mr. David wasn't around much because he slaved away at two jobs to provide for his family and allow Ms. Lauren to stay home with her children, I think Romeo was really jealous of when he would bring him and Bobby to the local baseball field to practice their pitches and swings.
It wasn't until about and year and a half later until they realized they were an unstoppable combination and from then they were inseparable. And from then me and Chelsea have had a world of headaches. They run around town pretending like they own the place, like nothing and no one can touch them and unfortunately not everyone in the town appreciates their arrogance.
"Worried? About that lowlife?" Romeo asked before dropping a chuckle.
"Fuck you Roe, don't be mad Belly pays me more attention," Bobby said flipping Romeo the bird.
"I pay you more attention because you're more careless and have a death wish." Romeo appeared next to me slapping the first aid kit down on the counter before brushing past me and Bobby again.
"Death wish is fuckin' right. Guess who this idiot managed to piss off this time B. A fuckin' Casinelli."
Now my hand grabbed Bobby's face tightly and I threw the rag onto the counter next to me. "A Casinelli Bobby?" I asked my face twisting up. Frustration rushed through my body like the Amazon River.
"You fucked with a Casinelli?" I asked making him look me in the eye. Bobby's hand brushed mine off of his face before allowing his eyes to roll.
"Yeah, so? Why does everyone act like the fuckin' Casinelli's are gods? They're a bunch of hood rats that pick on people weaker than them," he said grabbing the first aid kit before following Romeo to the living room.
"This isn't a joke, I'm serious you have to be more careful," I expressed trying to get through his thick head.
"Fuck Bell, you're like a mother. Who cares if he gets a couple of bumps and bruises? Bobby over here is built different, I've seen this man take a pipe to the head and still stand," Romeo said throwing an arm around Bobby's shoulders with a small chuckle at the end. My eyes almost rolled to the back of my head and my fists balled up as my frustration built up.
"I wish you guys would remember that everything you guys do affects me too."
"Hush Belly, Northern Hood rats never trickle down South. Just like Southern Novelties never travel up North," Bobby explained waving a hand as if blowing away the idea that it was the other way around.
"Yeah, but we sure do meet in the middle a lot, for basically all things entertaining in this town," I tried to plead my case, but again the boys brushed away my feelings.
"Please, when do you ever leave the house?" Bobby asked back towards me as both the boys flopped down onto the couch.
"Hey Bobby, hey Roe," Chelsea said with a bright smile and she popped her head around the corner.
"Hey," the two said in sync before getting excited and punching each other on the shoulder. "Jinx!"
"Jinx again!"
Chelsea let out a bubbly laugh and walked to my side, "So this is why you're taking so long." Chelsea tapped her finger on the brewing coffee pot and flashed me a smile.
"Sorry, I needed some energy," I explained with a small sigh before going through the fridge to grab some creamer.
"Don't be, I just really wanted some almonds," she said as she grabbed the bowl from the counter. "See you upstairs."
"Ugh, forgot it's Friday night. When are you guys gonna get a new tradition?" Romeo said as he shuffled through TV shows from the couch.
"When they stop making rom coms," I said flipping the fridge door closed.
