"-Hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore. When the sun starts to shine like you had t- Ow!"I placed a hand on the spot where I was injured by the pillow.

"Shut the fuck up!"Janis laughed from the couch while I made waffles....for myself only. I don't share food.

"That's why I'm making waffles and you ain't getting shit."I smiled. I haven't seen Janis in a week so I decided to stop by today on my day off.

"I know I'm not. Oh, and someone texted you."She held up my phone. Is it Mr. K?

"Is it Mr. Kane?"He probably wanted to ask me something about the kids.

"No, your crush didn't text you. Someone name Gina did. She asked if you're up for a play date soon but I think you're a little old for that."

"It's for Darlene, you idiot. Tell her sure. And I don't think I have a real crush on him. I'm going through shark week so you know how I am. Remember I fell in love with that really cute Chinese food delivery guy?"I pointed a fork at her then turned off the stove since my perfect waffles were ready.

"He was cute. But you're probably right. Just don't crush on him too hard. I mean I can since I don't work for him soooo I can drool over him as much as I want because hot damn that man is beautiful!"She squealed over my insanely hot boss. But why are most rich guys so god damn beautiful?! I opened the kitchen drawer to get my favorite knife because it cuts everything so-What the fuck? What the fuck is this?

"Janis, what the fuck is this? Are these- are these underwear? MEN'S UNDERWEAR?"I took several steps back. I don't even want my knife anymore. The blue briefs can have it.

"Shit! That's where he left it. Hold on, I'll tell him to come get it. He's off today so he's home."She sighed and stood up to walk over to the door leaving me alone with it. Why would there be clothes in the kitchen? In the drawers too!...Ha, drawers in the drawers. But seriously, in the kitchen? Okay I know I had shoes in the cupboard before but it was an accident. I was dancing and I kicked off my shoes and one just went missing.

"-and you totally left them here."I heard Janis laugh as she was walking back into the apartment. A guy was behind her but he had his head down and then he looked up....oh my god.

"Toby?"

"Bonnie! Long time no see!"He approached me and gave me a hug. I patted his back and looked over to the drawer. Janis and Toby had sex. They did the nasty...They fucked.

"Dude...go and get your underwear off the silverware."I chuckled and he laughed. He walked over to the counter and removed the underwear from the draw."Jan... how did you not see it there? Do you not use your silverware?.... Oh wait I'm sorry, don't you use MY silverware because these are all mine..... And since when you two are a thing?"

"Since he tried to stick a post-it note on the door then write on it."Janis laughed as she sat back on the couch and Toby followed.

"That was my note!"I shouted as I cut my waffles with the fork. Fuck that knife. It was all tangled up in ball sweat and stuff... why would I think about that while I'm eating? Eh, I don't give a shit. I could eat a burger while watching someone do an open heart surgery and still have an appetite."And why wasn't I told this?"

"Shut up and eat.... it kind of slipped my mind to tell you....So Tobs are we still going to see Max Steel tomorrow?" She looked at him with big eyes filled with excitement. Ohhhh I know that look. I know it all too well. I don't wanna bother them but I have to ask.

"Why in the hell are y'all going to see that shit?" I asked causing Janis to sigh since she just told me to shut up.

"Because it's a movie no one wants to see so we can make out freely there." Janis smirked at him as he threw an arm around her shoulders.

"But that's a kids movie... they don't wanna see you guys simulate sex."

"We're going at a quarter to midnight."

"Then why not just stay ho-"

"Because I want to see it, okay!" She admitted and I burst out laughing. What a fucking loser!

"What a fucking loser!" Richie leaned on the doorway as he laughed. How long has he even been in here? Did they not close the door when they walked in?"Door was open so I let myself in."

"I thought you closed it."Jan pinched Toby's arm and his hand shot up to rub the spot. He groaned in pain then flicked her on her wrist.

"Hey, guy that lives down the hall!"Richie pointed at Toby who then pointed back at him.

"Guy that's always here!"

"Bonnie!"Richie ran over to me and hugged me. Oh wow, I haven't seen Richie in so long. I would hug him back but I got this plate of waffles.

"Hey, Richie-Rich. How's it going?" I asked as he released me and I was reunited with my plate. Wow, this is the longest I've taken to finish my food.

"Nothing much, just my life spiraling out of control while I walk around with a smile. Basically, I'm the pilot of an out of control plane called my life. So.... pretty good actually." He laughed. This is classic Richie. He always says stuff like this when he had a bad day at work.

"What happened at the Dark Corner?"Janis sighed as she leaned into Toby. It's gonna take me a while to adjust. I look down at my plate and just stuffed the last remaining piece of waffle in my mouth. I placed the dish and fork in the sink to wash it. I'm a little messy but I hate to leave dishes in the sink.

"Fuckin' Monica! Oh my god, I hate her! And then all she did was flirt with every good-looking customer that walked in so, me and Robin had to do everything ourselves! I can't stand that witch."He flopped down aggressively on the couch next to Toby with crossed arms.

"Soooo now do you regret that you dated her?"I asked with a devilish smirk. I told him so! When they dated three years ago, I told him she was the devil! She always hated me because of me and Richie's friendship... He also told her about how we met so that added to the hatred. She most likely snitched on me because I was always hanging around her brother and I told her we were just friends. I just forgot to add in the with benefits part.

"I regret it every day of my fucking life!..... How's Rosanna doing?"

"What the fuck is with you and these toxic women? First Bitchy Bethany, then fucking Monica who I rather call Maleficent and now Rosanna, the woman who probably laughed when Mufasa died. What the hell is wrong with you!?"I grabbed the pillow from the floor and started to repeatedly beat him with it. I'm trying to knock some sense into or knock some stupid out.

"Ow! Ow! Stop it! I just think that she's nice..... deep down."He replied but finally snatched the pillow from my hands.

"You barely know her! She's like Monica with her dial set on Mega Bitch."Janis chuckled and I let out a hearty laugh because they don't even know how bad it is. It's so much worse. I then decided to fill them in on what happened the other day with Rosanna. Janis looked at me in disbelief after I told them the story."Wow. It's official. She outbitch Bethany."

"I don't even know who this is but I don't like her either. Did you tell your boss?" Toby asked me as I passed a hand over my face.

"No. I don't wanna bother Mr. Kane. I can handle Rosanna myself. So far, she doesn't even look at the kids. She just grills me now."

"Mr. Kane? That's a pretty cool last name. He's famous?"

"I guess. Nathaniel Kane is his whole name."

"Ohhhh I hear about him all the time, especially at work. I heard he's a really good guy. I met him one time at a meeting and he bought the whole office breakfast."Toby said with his arm wrapped around Janis. When I first met Mr. Kane I thought he would be a stuck up jerk but he's actually a pretty sweet guy. He's so down to earth and totally cool. And he bought breakfast. Buying me food will make me want to drop down on one knee and propose.

"He's a really sweet guy actually. He's been nothing but nice to me since I started working there. Oh and he's totally letting me redecorate my room which is why I came over becaaaause I need help." I beamed at the three of them hoping I was cute enough for them to help me. Yesterday while I was chilling in my room, I realized that it didn't have any personality. It wasn't me. It didn't scream out: BONNIE LIVES HERE. It just whispered: A girl sleeps in here. So that room needs a kick ass makeover.

"And here I thought it was because you missed me.... Fine." Janis rolled her eyes with a smirk. She loves to redecorate.

"Ooh ooh! I wanna help too!"Richie raised his hand like that one kid in class that knew all the answers... Fucking Jonas Delbecka. Ugggh! I hated him in high school because he swore he was so damn smart but guess who got valedictorian? Not me but some girl who was obviously smarter than him. Fuck you, Jonas, wherever you are. You probably have a more successful life than me but still, fuck you. After seven years, my hatred still lingers and it appears to have gotten stronger. Interesting."Bonnie?"

"Uh, y-yeah, sure. Now, I already got all the shit I wanted to use so, everyone off their asses and let's go!"I clapped my hands but they all groaned.

"Are we even friends?"Toby smirked as I picked up the pillow. I am armed and I know how to use this thing."I guess I can see which colors of paint and decorations compliment each other, just don't beat me."

"I hope it wouldn't come to that. Now, let's go whores. We got some interior designing to do."I placed both hands on my hips with a small. This is gonna be fun!

***

Fuck this shit.

Fuck it.

"Richie, what the hell?! Move the dresser away from the window! Don't block it!"Janis yelled at him waving the paintbrush around frantically, splashing some pink paint on Toby.

"Janis... I swear to god... if you keep yelling, I'm gonna jump through the shit. Bonnie has all her unnecessary stuff in here so it's heavy. Some fucking help would be nice!"Richie complained as he tried to move the dresser. The shit had wheels. We were so happy when we got here, now it's a screaming match. Mr. Kane and the kids weren't home so thank god they weren't hearing all of this. I hope the kids are having fun at their mother's house... I miss them.

"You are such a pussy. Go and move the pillows or something. If you can handle those."She rolled her eyes and continued to paint the walls with Toby. We each had our assigned job. Toby and Janis painted, I handled the lights for my bed and Richie was supposed to rearrange the furniture. So far this is a shit show and it's been three hours. The room is fully painted but Janis felt it wasn't right.

"Fuck you."Richie murmured loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm sorry, did you say 'please beat my ass'?"She turned around and started to walk over to him. Oh, fuck me. Not this shit again. My grip on the string lights in my hand tightened as I watched the argument unfold.

"Guys. I have not eaten in an hour and I am very, very irritated. If another fucking person talks, I swear I will strangle the three of you with these god damn lights all at the same time. Okay?" I said and back to fucking with these dumb ass lights, the sole reason for my frustration.

"But I didn't do anything."Toby said and I just took a deep breath."Dude, give me the lights."

"Why?"

"So I can fix it for you. My sister had these on her bed and I did it for her. I got it."Toby walked over and took it from out my hands and I felt like a weight had been lifted. Like I feel free. Now I have nothing to do. My instruments are in order, I already mapped out where my posters are going when the paint dries, I know where to put my rug. So now what?...I looked at the still struggling Richie. I gently shoved him out of the way and lifted the dresser and pulled it away from the window.

"Go and place some of the neon signs on the dry wall. Wall one. When wall two dries, we'll put the posters. Do not touch the fuck one. I got it."I pulled the dresser some over more. I left that little bench in front of bed because it was so cute but I got two lounge chairs, one pink and the other black. After another two hours, almost everything was complete. I'm actually surprised that wall one and two dried. I needed them to put up my unnecessary shit. We looked at the room in awe. The tv was above the fireplace still and I keep the bed by the wall but everything was different. The pink walls, the various neon signs, the white rug. This was me.

"Time for the finishing touch."I beamed holding the sign in my hands. I remember when I got this. I was a freshman in college. After a night of getting high, we all took a trip to the thrift shop and splurged. Out of everything there, this was the only thing I got. The Fuck Sign. The main one that started the collection and it's only right I put it in an appropriate place: right above my bed.

"Haha! Nice. I totally get it."Richie laughed then looked down at his phone."Shit, I gotta head out. I have a night shift tonight."

"And I am tired as fuck."Janis said as Toby threw an arm around her. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.

"You guys are pretty cool. I thought I was going to kill one of you today but I was wrong. The stress got to me, man."Toby laughed with the rest of us. We stood in the center of the room, pink paint splatters decorated our attire but we laughed. We had a rough time at one point but we overcame it and had an awesome day.

"Totally. Let's all hang out next week. My treat."I hugged them all. I wasn't normally a hugger but I missed seeing Jan and Richie every day. Causing mischief at work with Richie and dancing on the balcony at 5 am with Janis. I miss those times. And now we have a new addition which will be dope and we'll make new memories.

"I say we should go to the tattoo parlor again. I need new ink."Richie ruffled his hair and Toby almost did the same but remember the paint on his hands.

"You have a tattoo?"Toby asked him.

"Yeah. We all do. Jan has the most."Richie said as Janis raised both arms to showcase. Both arms had tattoos of random things but the most notable was the sign of the Deathly Hallows. We all had it but each of had a heavily accented symbol, like one was darker than the other two. For Janis, her Elder Wand line was the darkest. Richie's Resurrection Stone circle was darker than the others and my Cloak of Invisibility triangle was the darkest one of the three symbols. We each had our own symbols to represent and we each had it on our wrist. I think we have three matching tattoos. Three or four I believe. I have another matching tattoo but just not with them....But on my other wrist is a small alien while on my forearm has the Nirvana smiley with 'Come As You Are' next to it. I have a few hidden ones too. I can't believe I never spoke about this before."Our favorite is the Harry Potter tattoos we got because we all love that shit."

"That is cool as shit. Not a fan of getting a tattoo myself but I love seeing it on others. It's amazing."Toby rubbed Janis' arms with that same smile and she looked up at them. I'm actually really happy for her. Toby seems like a good guy, I mean he barely knew me and he helped redecorate my room. Some people just don't do that. He's one of the good ones and so is Janis.

"So, tattoos next week. Solid. I'll see you soon. I love you."I hugged them once more.

"I love you too."Jan and Richie said in unison as Toby was stuck in between the hug, just looking at us.

"Uhhh....nice to...meet you...again?"He raised a brow to which we laughed. We said our goodbyes and they all left. Now it was just me and my room. My room. I'm just happy thinking about it. It feels like me. It looks like me. It is me. I'm in love with this room.

An hour later, I was putting up my posters. Still in my pink paint splatter overalls, I did my thing. I have amazing friends. They did all of this. Fucking dope ass people. God bless their parents for having unprotected sex and living in California. At the bottom of my poster box, I saw this one particular painting. The painting of a couple, a girl and a boy, holding hands, both with wild curly hair. The girl had a brown skin tone while his own was pale. The sky was purple orange and pink as they stood on a beach walking towards the ocean, footprints trailing behind them in the sand. I haven't looked at this in years but seeing this made me smile madly. While putting the painting up by the window, I heard the downstairs door open and shut.

"Bonnie? Are you here?" Mr. Kane called out and I heard the kids too... it's Saturday, what are they doing here?

"Up here! Come on up, I wanna show you guys something!"I beamed as I heard them rushing up the stairs. Darlene rushed in first and her eyes lit up. She was followed by Rebecca then Troy and finally their father.

"Woooooow! It's so cool! And pretty and pink and colorful! What does that say?"Darlene pointed at my fuck sign and I quickly scooped her up into my arms. Can not explain that to her.

"PINK! It's freaking pink!"Rebecca squealed while Troy rolled his eyes at her.

"Cool, look at that poster wall."He smiled as he walked over to it and Rebecca followed.

"This is amazing, Bonnie. Did you get professionals?"Mr. Kane asked as the kids wandered around the room. Troy and Rebecca ogled the posters, pointing out which movies they've seen and liked while Darlene looked at my plethora of signs over my shoulders.

"Nah, just some awesome losers. My best friends came over and helped."I smiled at him.

"Janis and Richie, right? That's so nice of them. You all did a fantastic job. This room really fits your personality."He showed off that breathtaking smile causing me to blush. Fuuuuck.

"Thank you. But how come the kids are here? They didn't go with their mom?"I asked as Darlene looked at my ear by lifting my hair up.

"Their mother was busy today so I just spent the day with them. We ate, went shopping, I took them on a boat ride, went to the park. Regular things. I just had a really great time with them. It's been a while since I hung out with them."He said as he brushed Darlene's hair but she was focused.

"Pizza!"She shouted. Oh fuck."Pizza! Why is there a pizza behind your ear?"

"Go look at the pretty lights, Darlene!"I set her down and she took off. Damn, she's fast. I looked back up at Mr. Kane who wore a smirk.

"I have a pizza tattoo behind my ear."I said as he stifled a laugh. I glared at him and he let out a chuckle.

"I know about the Harry Potter one, the Nirvana and the alien. I had no idea about the pizza." He smirked once again and I playfully rolled my eyes.

"I have more but those are my secret tattoos. But I got a pizza because my dad would take to me this pizza place after a huge recital to celebrate. I loved it especially hanging with my dad."

"Wow. That's a really cute story. I thought it was because you like pizza."He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, that too."I laughed with him and I just noticed a few things about him. Whenever he laughed, the corner of his eyes crinkles and you can see his laugh lines more. He had such a nice and infectious laugh whereas mine sounds like a mating walrus. Or a monkey. He peered over my shoulder and stared at the wall. I turned to follow his gaze and he was staring at the painting. My painting.

"Wow, that is amazing. Where'd you get it?" He stared at it in awe as the kids looked over at it for a split second. He walked over to it to get a better look."Look at the detailing in this. The hair, the footprints, the sky, the ocean, the sand- oh god, this is amazing!"

"It's pretty!" Rebecca gushed as she flopped into my lounge chair.

"Pretty dope. Who made it? Wait there's a signature...who's W.M?" Troy asked looking closer at his as Mr. Kane continued to analyze it.

"The artist, duh." I scoffed as Troy shrugged.

"Well, whoever he is, he's pretty damn talented. The girl in the painting actually reminds me of you, Bonnie. With the curly hair and all." Mr. Kane smiled as I gave him a half smile.

"That's why I bought it, I guess." I folded my arms across my chest as I looked away from the painting.

"Okay, so I have great news. Kids, come here."He said as they came and stood next to me. Mr. Kane looked at the four of us with that mischievous smile that his children all inherited. Damn that smile."For Christmas, we're all going to Italy!"

With that, the kids burst into cheers. They all seemed so happy but I stood still. The country I dreamed about traveling to and I couldn't go.

"Mr. Kane.... as much as I would love to, I can't. I spend Christmas with my family every year."I tried my best to smile through my disappointment but Mr. Kane's smile never left.

"Bring them. Christmas is about family so I want you to bring your family too." Oh my god! I can bring them! My parents always wanted to go to Italy but they never were able to. Before I knew it, I wrapped my arms around Mr. Kane and hugged him tightly. He was taken back by it but wrapped his arms around my small waist.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how badly I want to go! I'm so excited and my family will be ecstatic! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I jumped up and down and we were still hugging. I let go of him but his arms were still around my waist. I looked at him and he looked at me causing him to let go. His face was as red as something really red. I don't know what to compare it to but shit, was he blushing."This means so much to me. Thank you, Mr. Kane. I can't thank you enough."

"It's no problem. It was a trip I thought we all deserved. Maybe the next trip will be Scotland, I don't know but we're gonna get out of your hair for the night so you can enjoy your room."He smiled as he bent down to pick up Darlene."Goodnight."

"Goodnight."I smiled back. I told the kids goodnight too then they were out of the room. I rushed to my phone and created group chat with my siblings and our parents.

'How does Italy sound this Christmas?'I texted as I waited for a response. The first to respond was my dad.

'Italian food 4 xmas? Wtf!!'

'Bonnie no. We already turned down your McDonald's idea last yr' My mom recalled the epic fail. I didn't feel like helping last year! I was exhausted for the entire year!

'😂😂😂' Cali usually only responds in emojis. Jesus Christ, use your words.

'Why r u texting me' Of course that was dumb ass, Zeke.

'OMG WERE GOING TO ITALY FOR CHRISTMAS WITH MY BOSS' FAMILY'

'Holy shit.... im in.' My dad replied back first.

'I'm in. No questions asked. Idc.' Zeke replied.

'Ohhhh I'm so going!' Cali responded.

'Momma, you in???' I texted.

'I mean it'll be a little weird to be with another family but it's a free trip, fuck it, I'm going!'

Aaaaaand the Sinclair's are going to mother fucking Italy...in two months. Still awesome though.