I THREW THE LAST EMPTY BOTTLE OF BEER AWAY. Mom never cleaned up after herself when she threw herself a pity party, and I was sick of it. She acted like she was the only one who was hurting, when every time I tried to sleep, all I saw was blood—on him, on the knife, on me.

          I felt my temper rise when I noticed that Mom's car wasn't out front. It was a Sunday night, and we were supposed to sort through all of Dad's things. I guessed that I would have to do this, again, by myself. I slammed my fist on the counter in anger, and then my phone rang. I checked who it was, and my rage quickly subsided. If Calum didn't call, this house would've been flipped upside down.

          "Calum, hey," I said, closing my eyes. It had been a week and a half passed since our talk, and we were doing fine. Being friends was easier than I thought.

          "Hey, bud, what are you doing right now?" he asked.

          "Nothing, why?"

          "So, me and the guys were going to go bowling. You in?"

          I heard a noise in the background, and I sighed. Calum had tried to introduce me to them before, but I always shied away from the topic. Being the only girl in the group made me sort of uncomfortable. I was well aware of the stares men gave me when I walked by, and I didn't want to feel like that around Calum's friends.

          "I don't know, Calum," I told him as I moved from the kitchen to the living room to sit on the couch. "My mom isn't home, and I need to be here when she comes back."

          "She is grown, Val. Her bad choices weigh on her," he said. "You don't need to take care of her."

          "Yeah, well, I really don't feel like losing both of my parents at seventeen, Calum," I snapped, my anger resurfacing.

          He was silent. Then, "You were already pissed before I called, weren't you?"

          I sighed, hearing the worry in his voice. "I'm fine, okay? I didn't mean to get angry at you." I had two options: sit in my house and possibly wait for my time-bomb to go off, or take my mind off the fact that Mom was a terrible parent. The latter seemed like the safest option.

          "I'll go with you guys," I said. "But Calum, I don't think I can be alone tonight. I need you."

          "I'll be there," he said softly, and I silently thanked him. "We should be over in twenty, okay?"

          "Okay, just come in when you're here." We hung up the call, and I stared at my ceiling, tossing my phone to the side. I was finally going to meet Calum's friends. Well, Ashton and I were acquainted with work and school. A few days after I went to KFC, I received a phone call saying that I was hired. So far, I'd been there five times—Ashton being there for all of them.

          I tried to work on my "rude" persona, and being in customer service was an excellent way to help. And since our staff was so small, Ashton and I had been in more situations than I would've ever imagined. After a few encounters, I could admit that he was an alright dude and that I was just a bitch.

          In my room now, I decided on what to wear. I didn't want to attract too much attention. I was going to surround myself with guys, so I settled on a pink long sleeve and light blue jeans, and I threw in my heeled boots to give me height.

          I heard three knocks at my front door after I exited my bathroom and knew it was Calum. "Val, we're here!" he called out.

          My phone dinged as I was putting on my pants, and I glanced at it quickly, then did a double-take when I saw it was from Mom.

          Mom: You better be home going through your father's things.

          I sat down on my bed as smoke came from my ears. Was she serious? I didn't even know where she was, and she was getting in my ass about something we were supposed to do together.

          "Are you decent?" Calum asked, now outside my bedroom door.

          I dropped my phone, not wanting him to see that I was getting angry. "Yeah," I said after throwing on my shirt. My hands started to shake as I became more agitated, thinking about the text.

          He opened the door and leaned against the door frame. Feeling his eyes on me as I put on my shoes made me nervous, and I suddenly forgot how to tie them. Nervousness and anger didn't mix well within me, and Calum could tell. He looked back down the hallway before shutting the door, making us alone. Crouched down, his brown eyes were gazing into mine as he covered my trembling hands with his.

          "Remember when we went skating for your seventeenth birthday? You held onto the wall the entire time, and I actually went out and fell countless times?"

          I did remember, and it made me smile slightly. My hands were still shaking, but I tried to focus on the memory. "And my dad took a photo of us when I was on your back, and then we fell afterward."

          He laughed. "I had this huge bruise on my leg for the longest while you weren't even hurt."

          "Because you kept me from hitting the ground," I said, squeezing his hand, feeling better than before. "Thank you, Calum."

          He didn't ask me why I was upset, or to tell him about it later. All he did was smile, and that was enough.

          "Ready?" he whispered, and I nodded. I almost forgot about the people currently in my living room. I shook off my nerves as we walked out.

          The talking ceased when we came out, and I panicked inside. I wasn't a shy person, usually, but I felt so inferior to them. Nonetheless, I spoke. "Hello," I said bravely, holding eye contact with them. They scanned me from head to toe, and my cheeks erupted in fire.

          "Alright, Val, these are my best mates," Calum said, loud and proud.

          The one with the colored hair spoke first. His hair was cool, like a reverse skunk. From here, his green eyes were easy to see. "Wassup, Val. I'm Michael, and I'm the attractive one out of the group."

          If he was Michael, then the blonde one must've been Luke, who rolled his eyes at Michael's comment. He was a dreamboat, for sure. His quiffed, blonde hair was neat, and his blue eyes were sparkling. He seemed like your average good guy.

          "I'm Luke, the tall one," he introduced himself. Though they were all tall, Luke had them beat by a couple more inches. "Ignore Michael's comment. His ego is way too high."

          I laughed. "I'm Valentine, and I guess I'm the only girl."

          "No shame in that," Michael said, waving it off. "At least we'll intimidate the bad guys."

          "So, what's the move after bowling?" Luke asked.

          Calum shrugged. "I don't know yet."

          An idea popped in my head. "Well, we can come back here and chill," I suggested. The more people I had here, the less likely I would want to explode. "But if you guys stay here, I'm going to need to get food. So, it's either take-out or the grocery store."

          "Grocery store adventures sound way more fun," Ashton, who I completely forgot about, said. Like his friends, Ashton was also insanely attractive. His light brown, curly hair was held in place by a bandana, and his hazel-green eyes were a showstopper.

          I glanced at him for a quick second. It would be rude to ignore his presence, but then again, I was already rude to him before but without context. Being crude wasn't a personality trait I wanted to be described as, so I should just start being kind and give him a chance.

          When I caught his eye, I gave him a short wave. It was a small gesture, but a nice one. In return, he waved back. At least the awkward part was over now.

          "Ready to go?" Ashton asked everyone, swinging his keys around his finger.

          I was the last one to walk out, making sure the door was still unlocked. I lived on the outskirts of town without any neighbors, so we didn't get many visitors. Sometimes the mailman forgot about us, so there shouldn't be anyone breaking in anytime soon.

          Luke, Calum, and I were in the back of Ashton's SUV; Michael sat passenger, and Ashton drove. It felt weird, being surrounded by tall people. It was like going to a tree farm.

          "So, Val—Can I call you that?" Luke started off, to which I nodded. "So, Val, how'd you meet Calum?"

          I laughed lightly, thinking back. "It was the middle of tenth grade, during fall, and there was this construction site tour. I ended up getting lost and ran into him. He managed to prevent my head from getting cut off from all the board planks flying around."

          "That was you?" Michael asked with a laugh, turning around. He hit Calum on his leg. "I was there! I remember him blabbering about a hot girl he saw."

          I peered over at Calum with a raised brow.

          "Real funny, Michael," Calum said with a roll of his eyes. "You know that was you because you noticed someone way older than you."

          "Alright, alright," Michael laughed. "You still said you ran into a hot chick."

          "Well, have you seen Val? You can't look me in the eyes and tell me she's not hot," Calum said, and my face heated.

          Embarrassed, I changed the subject. "Uh, so, Ashton, what made you want to take Culinary Arts this year?" We were both in the class, so it was a good conversation starter. Plus, he barely spoke the entire time, and it was helpful to let him say something.

          He glanced up at the rear-view mirror, meeting my gaze. Shivers ran down my spine, and I shook them away.

          "Well, it seemed interesting to know the history behind the food we eat," he replied. "Plus, the other extracurricular activities didn't seem as entertaining. Who wouldn't want to play around with food all day?"

          "I agree," I said with a shake of my head.

          We arrived at the alley and made our way inside. A whiff of overly-greased pizza and foot odor smacked us right in the face, and I smiled. There was nothing like the bowling alley. It wasn't packed, which was a good thing. Calum and Luke were the ones to pay because of a bet they made before they arrived at my house.

          "Shoe size, please," the lady asked me.

          "Five," I told her. She handed them to me, and I slightly smiled when I noticed they had laces. I couldn't stand the sound of Velcro; it made my ears bleed.

          "Fair warning: I'm not holding back," Michael announced while putting on his shoes.

          I laughed. "There's no way you can beat me," I challenged him. "My dad took me to his tournaments all the time. I kick ass."

          "Are you willing to bet on that?"

          "Place your wager," I said smirking. I wasn't the betting type, but I was willing to have fun tonight. Plus, I became cocky when I knew I was the best at something.

          "Ten bucks, I'll win," Michael said, sticking out his hand.

          "Okay, but you owe me double if you lose." We shook on it.

          "You're on."

          "Alright, Michael," Luke said, "you're first."

          Michael shot me a glance as I took my seat. He grabbed a ball and lined himself up with the lane, which was his first mistake. He smoothly ran it down, knocking down all but one pin, then finished with a spare.

          "Try it," he said to me.

          I picked out my seven-weight ball and walked up to the black line. Dad taught me that you wanted to bowl at an angle to avoid the gutter. That meant that I had to move more to my left since I was right-handed. Then, pick the third pin from the opposite side you're on and twist your hand as you bowl.

          Undoubtedly, I made a strike, making me ahead of Michael by a point. I flipped my hair over my shoulder as I walked past him. "Get on my level."

          He fake yawned. "Beginner's luck."

          I took the available seat next to Calum after he gave me a high-five. "Badass," he said, and I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

          "Game on."

: : : : : : : : : : : :

So, bananas are cool ...  Anyways, thoughts on the chapter? Was it good? Probably not, but whatever.

How's you guys' lives going? Mine is going pretty banana. You know, not too hard, easy to chew. We should all strive to be bananas 🍌