She's the girl that no one ever knows,

And I say hi, but she's too shy to say hello

She's just waiting for that ONE to take her hand and shake her up

I bet I could...

Chapter 22 – How to Lose Your Best Buds in Ten Seconds

I ran my eyes around the house, remembering not to step on the skateboard lying on the floor. Not to mention the toy cars, miniature monsters trucks and naked Barbie dolls. Someone would trip on that and crush their skull. That’d probably leave bloodstains everywhere. Not very kid friendly.

“Have you always been this... many?” Nate asked Chuck while eyeing at the three little blond kids—two boys, ages three and six and a four year-old girl in a Batman costume—running around the cluttered living room.

The Fergusons’ house was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It should be, considering that eleven people live there—eight kids, the parents and Grandpa Tom. I’d heard before that Chuck and Reed had many siblings. I just didn’t expect this many.

Chuck just shrugged, leading us to the couch.

“Dave’s already moved to Boston last year. Got a scholarship—he’s a nerd,” he said ruefully as if being a nerd was some kind of crime. “That leaves the two of us,” he pointed to Reed then began counting with his fingers. “Lance, Kate, Mark, Pearl and Geoff.”

We made ourselves fit in the couch which was near to impossible. After being shoved off the edge, Ricky just sat miserably on the carpeted floor. Like him, Nate and I were a bit uneasy being here. Reed and Chuck didn’t seem to like us being here either.

“Mom’s kicking us out of the house before the year ends,” Reed muttered. “So they’d have the house all to themselves.” He let out a sarcastic snigger.

Just then, a blond woman in her early forties peered at us from the adjacent kitchen. With a smile, she wiped her hands on her apron and started unfolding the sleeves of her shirt.

“Want some snacks?” the woman asked.

“No Mom,” Chuck said, letting out a tired sigh. “We won’t stay long.”

Reed ran up the stairs and gestured for us to follow before his mom could say another word. We did, throwing rueful glances at Mrs. Ferguson. As we moved along the hallway, we passed by an open door. Kate, a blond freckled girl about twelve or thirteen was glaring at us as she got up from her pink four-poster and slammed the door shut. Before she did, I caught a glance of a small table where a big framed picture of me—Leon Walden, specifically—was sitting surrounded by several vigil candles and Wiccan symbols. Seriously weird. A shiver just ran down my spine and I had to walk faster to get away from Kate’s doorstep as soon as possible.

Reed sniggered, opening a door to the left with a sign saying Beware of Hotties. “Kate’s going to freak if she knew who you really are,” he said to me.

“Psshyeah,” Chuck agreed, chuckling. “Right after she ties you on a chair and locks you up in the attic.” He knotted his brows. “Where she keeps Ginger.”

“Who’s Ginger?” Ricky asked as we piled into the room and made ourselves comfortable on the lower bunk of the double deck.

Chuck stared blankly for a while then blinked thrice. “Our cat. Who’s been dead for seven years.”

Plastered on the walls were posters of football teams, video games, girls in swim suits and stuff. A dart board hung lopsidedly in a corner with the darts pinned on the wall in all places except the target. I gazed at the pictures of different bands. Led Zeppelin. The Rolling Stones. Beatles.

“I’ve always wanted to be a lead guitarist,” Reed mentioned when he saw me looking.

Chuck dragged a wooden chair from a study table and slumped on it, flipping a vintage Amazing Spiderman comic book. “Yeah. And I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “But they haven’t invented a space helmet that won’t mess up my hair.”

If he was kidding us or not, I couldn’t really tell.

“I’ve always wanted to blow up Hawaii,” Nathan butted in, casually inspecting his nails. “But we couldn’t always have what we wanted, could we?”

“What did the people of Hawaii ever do to you?” Ricky just stared at us as if asking if Nathan was serious or not. Either that or he was doubting my brother’s mental health. Honestly, even I didn’t have a clue.

Nathan just shrugged. “Nothing. I just hate grass skirts. And pineapple in pizza.”

“Me too,” Chuck said. “Is there a college for terrorists?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s none, dude,” Ricky replied nervously, like he was rethinking his decision of hanging out with us.

“Oh, too bad,” he said. “Back to being an astronaut then.”

“Dude,” I joined the conversation. “I think you have to get an astrophysics degree or something to be an astronaut. You have to be really good at Math and Science.”

“I do?” He lifted his gaze from the comic book he was skimming then exchanged looks with Reed. “Nerd,” they chorused in a mocking tone.

“Oh, bummer,” Chuck mumbled mostly to himself while gaping at the Kobe Bryant poster on the ceiling. “Better find other career options then. Something that doesn’t involve numbers. And letters… A Formula One racer then,” he decided, nodding.

“Claire does races,” Nathan suggested, possibly to humor Chuck.

The Ferguson brothers stumbled from their seats, scooting beside Nate at the mention of Claire’s name. Again, Ricky was thrown off onto the floor. After whining, he opened his laptop and started typing who-knows-what while muttering grudgingly to himself.

“You mean your red-head, superhot, not nerdy older sister?” Chuck asked, grinning wildly.

“Yes,” my brother replied smugly. “She does car races, horse races, polo. Not official ones though. She isn’t a professional but she knows all about cars, engines, carburettors… that sort of lot.”

Ricky looked up at them, suddenly interested. “Do you think she can help Martha?” When he said Martha, he meant the broken old truck. Go figure.

With a snort, Nathan gave him a pat on the shoulder, speaking slowly like he was talking to a three year-old. “Mate, I said Claire is a car geek. Not a miracle worker.”

Elton John’s Your Song filled the room, giving us a start. All of them shot glances at me, then to my breast pocket.

And you can tell everybody that this is your song

It may be quite simple but now that it’s done

I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind

That I put down in words

How wonderful life is when you in this world

I wacked myself on the head when I realized it was my cell phone ringing. And the worse part? Moira was calling.

What now? I grumbled silently. Heaving a deep breath, I answered it.

“Hello. Leon’s not here,” I muttered in a forced pleasant tone as I pressed the phone on my ear. I glanced at the date indicator on my celestial wrist watch. Which Sarah gave me. On my birthday. Yeah. Sarah. My girlfriend. That thought got me snickering at the ceiling. So not cool. “Please call again after... ten years,” I added clearing my throat when the guys threw me probing looks.

“Since when did you afford a sense of humor?” Moira retorted half-heartedly. “About your new song...”

“About that...” I mumbled wryly. “It may take a little more time before I can finish—“

“Your producers loved it!” Moira trilled, cutting me off. “Actually, they are so crazy about it they want you to record your next album A-S-A-P! You probably can do much better with the vocals, but who’s to complain? Not only that, Leon! They’re sending you on a world tour. Are you hearing this? A world—“

“What new song?” I snapped before she could rave on. I pinched the bridge of my nose, my forehead creasing on its own.

“Your new song,” my manager answered, the excitement from her voice fading away. “Your song, Insane. You know, the one that goes like this. How can I tell you when I know you won’t hear? These three words... La-la-la-la-da-da... That song.”

A vein throbbed on my forehead. My angry gland was just about to blow up. Assuming there was one. This had Nate written all over it.

“Okay,” I breathed out, my hand tightening around the mobile phone while imagining that I was strangling my brother. “Tell them I’ll be there once I get this cast off. Then we’ll negotiate.”

“But I thought you had it taken off—oh, so that was Nate. No hurries, Leon. But the sooner, the better,” Moira replied in an apologetic tone as if this was her fault. “And Leon...”

“Yeah,” I grunted, eager to hang up to get Nate six feet under the ground.

I heard her sigh. “Megan’s run away.”

“Run away? What do you mean ran away?!” I shouted on the phone, forgetting that I wasn’t in my own room. “What do you mean, Moira?” I hissed.

“I had her live with me so I can look out for her,” she replied, sounding unsure. “I... I reckoned she was getting better with the therapy. Although, these last few days, I noticed she has been trying to get your location from me. Of course, I didn’t say anything. But yesterday, she just didn’t come home.” I heard her sigh. “I’m so sorry, Leon. I’ve already sent investigators to find her. Whatever she did or might do, Megan is still my niece but... please be careful.”

I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I will. Call me if anything comes up,” I replied, putting the gadget down. It was as if I swallowed my heart. My first thought was to get home. To get to Sarah as fast as I could.

Wordlessly, I stood up and hurried to the door. The guys tried to call me back but I ignored them, literally jumping down the wooden stairs, three steps at a time. I heard them following me to the living room where I had to skip out of the little kids’ way before busting out the front door. I was panicking once I reached the sidewalk. It’d be a long way back to Sarah. Why had Martha died? Of all the time in the world, why now?

Ugh, crud. I’m losing it.

“Leon!” Reed called, jogging over to me. “What’s the matter, man?”

“Megan,” I mumbled angrily. “She’s back.”

“Who’s Megan?” Chuck blurted out in between the gasping as he caught up with us.

Nathan came behind him smirking at me. “Please don’t mind my little sister. She’s PMS-ing. Either that or I forgot to feed her medication this morning.”

That totally ticked me off. Without thinking twice, I punched him on the face. He was staggering backward when I snatched his collar and pinned him to the ground. He didn’t fight back. I hated it when he didn’t fight back. Made me feel like I was the bad guy. Nathan coughed, spat blood to the ground and sneered crookedly. He could barely open his eyes. Amazing how much energy he put in annoying the hell out of me. Nate knew Moira called about the song. Which he stole.

“What do you want, huh?” I tugged his collar up, watching his head loll like he just broke his neck. But the wolf’s smile on his face told me that he was okay. Sadly. “What more could you possibly want from me?!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

When he didn’t answer, I dropped him and scrambled to my feet. Exasperatedly, I ran a hand over my head. The guys were watching us but I didn’t care at the moment. Nate and I had to settle this here and now. I had enough.

“That’s right,” I nodded, answering my own question. “Run to Dad and tell him how I broke your pretty face. That’d be good. I’m sure he’d blame me again. If it makes you any happier, fly to LA now. Pretend you’re me and go on a world tour, I don’t care!” I said poking his chest while he was getting up.

Chuck intercepted, tearing me away from Nathan. “That’s enough, bro. Chill. We’re all brothers here,” he said.

I thrashed from Chuck’s grip and shoved him away, throwing him a glare as I did. “Don’t give me that. Utter crap, man! D’you think I’m so stupid?” I pointed a finger at him. “You. All of you. I know you’re with Nate on this so don’t act all dumb and innocent on me.”

Chuck disappointedly shook his head and glanced at Nathan and Reed. The look on his face said he was with my brother in this. They all knew. Out of nowhere, Ricky raised his hand like he would in a classroom whenever the teacher asks a question.

“So, does this mean we’re disbanded?”

“There’s no band to begin with,” I retorted. “Nate’s just using all of you to get what he wants.”

“You’re lying,” Reed muttered, his hands fisted on his sides. I never saw him get serious about anything. It was a first. I guess this really meant so much to him. “Nate. Say he’s lying.”

Casually, my brother straightened his shirt and shrugged his question off. “No one has been coerced to do anything against his will, Leon. Let’s be realistic here, shall we? Don’t be hypocrites. We’re all using each other,” he said with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “Reed and Chuck hang with us because they hope to leech off us and perhaps get a break in Hollywood. Likewise, Ricky’s got no choice but to stick with us since he has no life. Doesn’t make him much less of a chump, but it’s a start. It’s the harsh, ugly truth. Live with it.”

Reed looked devastated, staring at the ground. Then, angrily, he lunged towards Nathan. If Chuck hadn’t caught him before he collided with my brother, I was sure it was going to be ugly. Reed tried to kick and writhe away from his brother’s grip while shouting swear words I never knew existed in his vocabulary.

“C’mon, bro,” Chuck hushed him darkly. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You know what, Nate?” Reed said as he shrugged his brother’s hands off of him. “You’re right. We’re just using you. By enduring being with you losers, we thought we can actually get somewhere. But the thing is I hated every second of it. Just thinking of it makes me want to puke. So you two keep your stupid fame and get lost.”

As we both watched Reed and Chuck storm back to their parents’ house, Ricky started to say something, hesitated and walked away.

I wanted to dial Sarah’s number. Warn her. See if she’s okay. But her phone was long gone with the accident, along with our pictures, our messages and her memories.

Two hours of playing Dead or Alive in my X-Box. Sarah kept winning. She was starting to get suspicious. Normally, I’d let her win one in every eight or nine games. But my head was so messed up, I couldn’t even concentrate. Somehow, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d brought a disaster—Nate—in Hopkinton. Chuck and Reed stuck with me even though they didn’t know I was some super famous guy from Hollywood. And now, I’d blown everything.

“Are you okay?” Sarah asked, elbowing me gently.

“Yeah,” I said blinking.

“I almost forgot. A car stopped by your house this morning.”

“Did you see who it was?” I asked, maybe a bit too quickly that her eyes narrowed.

“Uh, a girl. Tall, red hair,” she answered. “I can’t be sure. Only seen her through the window. Why, are you expecting someone—“

“No,” I cut her off, watching her expression turn from worried to disappointed. Frantically, I took her hand, meeting her questioning eyes. Megan found me. Found us.

“Leon? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I gently kissed her forehead and embraced her tightly.

She cringed for a fraction of a second then reluctantly rested her head on my chest. “Y-you’re acting really… weird,” she mumbled, looking up at me through her long lashes.

“Everything’s going to be alright, Sarah. I swear I’ll keep you safe,” I whispered, leaning down to give her lips a kiss which didn’t last more than two seconds since she was clutching around my arm so hard, it almost went numb. No rush. Be gentle. I reminded myself.

“I know that,” she replied with a slight smile. That rare smile only for me. A sign that she trusted me. That she loved me.

Without knowing it, I was smiling back. I finally had met my match. Who would’ve thought? The nerdy girl from the local park sidewalk was the only one who could tame The Leon Walden—artist, musician, actor and most importantly, rebel. Now, putty in her hands. Talk about blows in my early manhood.

That night, Sarah lost twenty seven consecutive rounds. She stomped on my foot and stormed out of my house right after realizing I’d been going easy on her for the past fifty games. Ugh, girls.

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Okay. I'm sober now. I think. And I'm back for real. I hope. I'm in a new kind of therapy and hoping for the best. Before you go all RAWR! and GRRR! on me, please understand that I'd to catch up with uh... life itself since I've been mostly hikikomori for the last 3 weeks. I really missed you guys and well, writing. And I wanna thank you for still being there.... (hello? Hello? Anyone?) even if I'm slacking. Okay well, I'll shut up now. Updates will be around Thursday.

Jaa~!