Chapter 17

            Jessie, Adrian, and I sat on the living room sectioned couch, listening to my Aunt's rules. Trent had yet to arrive, telling Adrian that he was making a stop to a store to purchase something. We promised my Aunt that we'd relay the rules to Trent once he arrived.

            "Since all of us have met, there is no point in introducing myself but I'll do it anyway. I'm Aunt Cherry, you can call me Cherry or Cheryl, whichever floats your goat. But since my nieces have decided to spring upon me such a dangerous event, I feel the need to be formal." My Aunt said, standing there like a military lieutenant. She addressed Jessie as her niece and Jessie smiled at that.

            "I've created a set of rules for this event that I expect you to follow. And I'll be coming out here every so often to check on you guys. There will be no kissing or making out. If you even dare to step further than sitting next to each other than I'll be out here with my knife and I'll cut off parts of you that make you a man." My Aunt threatened mainly Adrian.

            "And for you girls, I'm not going to make you change your clothes- seeing as you are in your own house, but just be cautious of how the guys look at you." She said, glaring between the three of us. I had to stifle a laugh. Jessie and I were wearing shorts and tank tops! That was casual sleepwear for people, wasn't it?

            "And if I come out here and see a pair of you missing, there will be a manhunt in this house and we will check every corner to every room and if you are found together or in close proximity, I will chop off all of the limbs that make you who you are." My Aunt continued threatening us.

            "I understand that this is a movie marathon and if someone happens to fall asleep, it's either on the couch or in one of the guest rooms. The girls will sleep in their room or on a separate couch!" She said, stomping her foot for good measure. I couldn't help but crack a smile at my funny Aunt pretending to be a drill sergeant. I could see Adrian's eyes lighting in fear as she glared at him.

            "Don't think I didn't know guys like you in High School, Adrian. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am- kind of guys. The guys that wanted only one thing from girls and we all know what that is, don't we?" She asked and I couldn't help but snort along with Jessie and Adrian even cracked a smile.

            "I can assure you that none of that will happen between Fiona and I. Jessie either," Adrian assured my Aunt and she gave him a suspicious look. "Unless you can't keep your hands off of me." Adrian whispered so only I could here. I laughed lightly. Like that'll happen.

            "What was that, Mr. Easton?" My Aunt asked and Adrian shook his head quickly. She nodded.

            "Back to what I was saying; as long as you follow those rules, then you're good and we won't have a problem. And with food, what's ours is yours- just know that we are running low and you guys have to go shopping for some more food tomorrow, no matter if you live here or not." My Aunt said, smirking at us as we nodded like little school children.

            Just as she was about to leave, the doorbell rang and she opened it to find a smiling Trent. He blinked up at my Aunt and said 'Hello.'

            "Hi, I'm Trent." He introduced, reaching his hand out. My Aunt shook his hand before opening the door for him to go to the living room. He had a large bag in his hand and I realized that it was from Wal-Mart.

            He approached the large living room table and dumped the bag onto the table. Candy came spewing out of the bag and I felt my mouth water at the sight of it. Jolly ranchers, lollipops, Kit-Kats, Hershey bars, Reeses, Twix bars, 100 grand bars, White chocolate, Air heads, Skittles, Starbursts, M&M's, and 3 Musketeers fell out of the bag. They spilled just beside the cupcakes and cans of soda that we fetched from the fridge moments before Adrian arrived. We also had a bowl of popcorn and Trent sat down on the double recliner, grinning at us.

            "I bought enough for all of us." He said, smiling as he started dividing up the candy. He bought 4 of each kind and he handed them out in little Ziploc bags. Adrian smirked, shaking his head.

            "He loves Ziploc bags." He whispered in my ear and Trent looked up, glaring at Adrian playfully.

            "I heard that." He muttered, opening his bag of candy. My Aunt left the room after giving us a signal that she'd be watching us. Adrian stood up and walked over to the DVD player with the stack of movies balancing in his hands. He picked through them before he asked us which movie we wanted to watch and we all decided on a ghost movie; Paranormal Activity 4.

            Although, I'd already seen this movie, I found it funny instead of scary. He dimmed the lights down before he approached the couch, sitting closer than he was before, that's for sure. I jumped at a few parts because I still had that reflex and Adrian laughed beside me. He was close enough to me that if he moved half an inch, we'd be touching and my Aunt would Swanton Bomb between us.

            The movie continued playing when I needed to refill the popcorn; I'd been eating it like a pig. Adrian stood up, deciding to join me on this magical adventure. Taking the bowl out of my hands, he grabbed a bag of the popcorn and took it out of the plastic and placed it into the microwave, clicking the buttons, giving it 3 minutes to cook. Like me, he carried his bag of candy to the kitchen and I searched through mine. I ate my Crunch bar and I frowned.

            "What?" He asked, looking at my bag and me. I held up my bag.

            "I unknowingly ate my Crunch bar." I frowned, digging around for something else in the bag that would taste equally as good.

            "Want to trade?" He asked me and I shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "I'll give you a crunch bar if you give me your Airhead." He said, holding out the Crunch bar. I retracted the Airhead from my bag and handed it to him, grabbing the Crunch bar quickly so he couldn't take it back.

            "Funny how they name a candy after you." I snorted wittily. He laughed before shaking his head. 

            "Yeah, that a lot of people suck on." He laughed and I felt myself urging to vomit. I nodded.

            "Yeah, like grown men and old ladies." I said, rolling my eyes.

            "I'll take what I can get." He shrugged and I cringed. "So, what's on your bucket list?"

            "You know, stuff." I shrugged simply. What was I going to say? 'Get my first kiss, get a boyfriend, carve my name on a tree?' I would sound like a lonely idiot.

            "Stuff Fiona, Things." Adrian quoted Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. I couldn't help the smile form on my face.

            "Did you seriously just quote The Walking Dead?" I asked he smiled and nodded childishly. 

            "But what's on your Bucket List, maybe I could help you eliminate some things." He offered and I snorted, shaking my head. Yeah, like dance in the rain, kissing me, and going on a date with me? No thanks.

            "I don't think you'd want to do that. Besides, you already helped me eliminate one already." I laughed and he rolled his eyes.

            "Which one? And what do you have on there?" He asked and I shook my head, refusing to explain to him. He'd probably cringe and then laugh at the revelation of my never happening first kiss.

            "I'm only telling you about the scary movie marathon, you helped me with that one. You won't figure out whats on my list, either." I announced.

            "I'll eventually find out." He smirked as he removed the popcorn from the microwave, 1 second before it beeped. He poured it into the bowl, disposing the buttery bag into the trash can. We walked back into the living room to see the two friends watching the movie and discussing rather deeply, their feelings on how terrible the movie is.

            "There's only 20 minutes left. At least let it finish and then we'll change it. It isn't classified as a marathon if we don't finish at least one movie. It's almost 12:45 A.M." I said, smiling at the clock. I placed my hand in the bowl of popcorn to meet Adrian's. He smirked at me, pulling out a big handful of popcorn and stuffing it in his mouth. I rolled my eyes at his immaturity before I did the same thing. He rolled his eyes at me but couldn't contain the smile breaking onto his face. I laughed before turning back to the pair who was staring weirdly at us.

            "What?" I asked through a mouthful of popcorn. Adrian burst into laughter as a few pieces flew out of my mouth unattractively and in an unladylike fashion. If my parents were here, they'd throw a fit. If my parents were here, they guys wouldn't be here and Jessie and I would have to be quiet or else they wouldn't be able to sleep.

            "Guys, stop flirting and let's watch the movie. It's getting awkward." Jessie announced, throwing a bottle cap at us. I wrinkled my nose at her, moving away from Adrian. We weren't flirting.

            Throughout the last few minutes of the movie, Adrian kept sitting closer to me when I kept moving away. Eventually, I decided to sit on the floor and he stretched his feet out on the couch and I frowned, looking at the occupied spaces on the 6 cushion couch. Adrian took up 3 and Jessie took up 2, while Trent, so far- he's my favorite, took up a measly one. I decided to get up from the floor, seeing as it was growing to be uncomfortable, and sit on Adrian's legs.

            "Your Aunt will kill me if she sees this." Adrian warned me and I smiled evilly.

            "Let her see this, please." I raised an eyebrow quickly. He laughed, vibrating his legs, causing me to shake. I smacked at his knee.

            "Stop that." I informed him, watching as Jessie walked over to the movie pile and grabbing a movie, glaring at me and placing it into the DVD.

            I heard the familiar tune to 'It' pop onto the screen and I literally covered my ears with the pillow. As a kid, I feared taking bubble baths, worrying that I'd get sucked down the drain.

            "Are you scared of clowns?" Adrian asked, suddenly lifting me off of his legs for a second before placing me onto the cushion and sitting normally beside me.

            "No, just this particular one." I said, retracting the pillow from my ears. Jessie smirked at me whilst winking and I glowered at her, angrily.

            "Amazing." Adrian teased and I punched his shoulder.          

          "Shut up." I muttered, leaning back into the couch. I couldn't help but smell the air surrounding me which smelled like Adrian. He smelled good and I couldn't help but nearly inhale the couch cushions that he previously sat on.

            I also couldn't help but notice that he was looking away from the screen as often as possible. He even noticed my smelling of the cushions but he kept his mouth closed and eyes away from the screen. I smirked to myself.

            "Are you scared of clowns?" I inquired and he snorted, shaking his head. I smiled innocently.

            "Then why don't you watch it? With me?" I asked, blinking innocently and puckering my lower lip. He sighed, nodding as his eyes turned towards the screen.

            When a clown jumped on the screen, Adrian let out a girly scream before burying his head in my neck while I laughed loudly. He was breathing heavily when he sat up. Trent even pauses the movie while we laughed loudly, occasionally looking at Adrian who was glaring at us.

            "It's not funny! It just caught me off guard, that's all." Adrian tried to defend his manliness which was hanging from a thread as we chopped at it with scissors.

            "Yeah, whatever you say, Easton." I laugh out as he scoots to the other side of the couch, lying down. He just grunted before he took his phone out.

            When the movie ended, Easton finally sat up, changing the movie to a less creepy one. He gladly sat back onto the couch. It was a comedy and humor with two of my favorite actors- Marlon and Shawn Wayans. It was called 'The Haunted House.'

            I found myself laughing a lot throughout this movie and towards the ending; I realized that two people were asleep. I heard snoring and I felt Adrian tap my shoulder. He pointed to Trent who was slumped onto Jessie's shoulder and she was the snorer. I wanted to laugh as she slid and hit her head onto a couch cushion. Her falling caused Trent to fall but he caught himself and slumped to the other side.

            I walked over to the DVD player and ejected the movie, walking over and grabbing the 3 cupcakes that were left and the cans of soda and bringing them to the kitchen. I walked into the living room to see Adrian remaking the couches and picking up the bits of trash on the floor. I felt my eyes widen. Adrian Easton? Picking up trash? He might as well practice for his future. I walked to the table and grabbed their candy bags, along with mine. They can't blame me! They fell asleep!

            The two of us awkwardly walked upstairs and I turned to go to the bathroom when Adrian pointed to a window.

            "Does this go to the roof?" He asked and I nodded silently, slipping into the bathroom. When I exited the bathroom, I saw that the window was open and Adrian was sitting out there with the candy. I crawled out of the window and whispered to him.

            "What are you doing out here?" I asked, watching as the dark sky began to get lighter.

            "Watching the sun rise," He said, smiling at me cheekily. "Care to join me?" He asked as he leaned back, kicking his feet onto one another. I shrugged, lying down a good three feet beside him. He turned on his side.

            "What was that all about in the lunch room?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

            "You were right." I muttered under my breath. Adrian smirked.

            "About what?" He asked, honestly sounding curious and not doing it just to make me repeat myself.

            "You were right about the whole him only wanting to get me into bed, he accidentally texted me instead of Foreman," I told him. Adrian narrowed his eyes. "You can say 'I told you so'." I said, shrugging.

            "I'm not going to say 'I told you so.' Believe it or not, I'm not that mean," He instructed me, not even sounding the slightest bit tired and I, on the other hand, was yawning and stretching like a cat. "Besides, Ethan is a jerk. He may seem nice but then again, don't all players?"

            "I guess you're right." I muttered.

            "Aren't' I always? That act you pulled earned you a few fans, just so you know." He replied and I furrowed my eyebrows as I adjusted myself so I was propped up onto my elbow.

            "What?" I asked, slightly confused.

            "The guys that actually attended Baseball practice seemed to like you." He muttered, shaking his head.

            "Huh?" I asked, still confused. Was he being sarcastic?

            "The guys at Baseball practice seemed to find you amusing and, I quote, 'hot and unique.'" He informed. I couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. Hot and unique? Adrian stared at me as I laughed even more, starting to feel loopy. I was in that stage where I laughed at everything. Adrian seemed like he did this whole all-nighter every day.  

            "That's funny. Good one," I breathed, letting out another chuckle. He started to say something about not kidding but I pointed at the sun rise. The colors were beautiful and the sun finally came out but I felt my eyes slowly closing as I drifted off into a semi sleep. The words appeared in my mind almost immediately. "Two." Before I could hear his confused reply, I dove straight into dream land. 

Bucket List

1. Go on a real first date (with someone I actually like) for a picnic, I like picnics.
2. Get kicked out of a store, one I don't go to because they might ban me and I can't have that.
3. Skip school for a day and go out, not stay home.
4. Go on a rollercoaster at an amusement park, one that my instinct says 'No' to.
5. Dye my hair a crazy color, for example; dying the tips red or blue. Or maybe even a streak. (Or two.)
6. Dance in the rain with someone, hopefully a guy... who has abs, and happens to be shirtless but I'll settle for Jessie if I have to.
7. Go to a drive in movie. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
8. Throw a drink in someone's face because they're a jerk.
9. Pull an all-nighter and watch the sun rise on the roof, it seems fun.
10. Carve my name into a tree and hopefully it'll stay there.
11. Go laser tagging, it seems amazing; lasers and tag.
12. Have a paint fight... an accidental one.
13. Go through a drive through on foot, it'll tick off the worker and it'll be fun!
14. Have a nerf gun fight, if I can get my hands on some.
15. Jump into a pool with all of my clothes on, or maybe get pushed. Ha, kidding.
16. Play Hide n Seek at midnight, its dark and fun. You have to play it with people you know though; you can't play with an ex-convict because they can shank you.
17. Have a shopping cart race at Wal-Mart or any other large department store.
18. Go swimming at Midnight, it sounds adventurous and dangerous.
19. Buy white Converse and have people sign them, hopefully there isn't anything bad on it, though. I may want to wear them to school.
20. Go to the Zoo, I've never been there and I really want to go.
21. Take pictures in a photo booth with either a guy that I like or a friend, it seems fun. 22. Play Hide N Seek in a store. If you get caught by a store clerk, pull a Velma. 'My glasses, I can't see without my glasses.'
23. Have a scary movie marathon.
24. Have boys vs. girl's water balloon fight... probably won't happen. But one can dream, right?
25. Have someone win me a giant stuffed animal. And again, one can dream, right?
26. Get a boyfriend... and I repeat, one can dream!

Adrian's Point of View

            The urge to pull a prank on Fiona was strong as I sat up, letting the sunlight hit my face. I needed sleep, that was for sure. I learned a lot about Fiona today, one of those things being that she isn't as naïve as I thought. She most likely knew what Ethan was planning, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. She was lying on the roof tiling, cuddling up against my side. I can't just leave her out to get cold. I sighed, realizing what I had to do.

            Lifting her up, bridal style, I carried her upstairs to her room silently. As bad as that may sound, it was the honest truth. That is what I'm doing. She muttered something as she snuggled deeper into my chest awkwardly. I found myself smiling at her as I laid her down onto her bed. I grabbed the covers and placed them onto her as she cuddled up against the blanket. I watched as she slept for a minute and then, when I felt like the ultimate creep, I looked away.

            I noticed the 'For Now- Bucket List' on the floor, I had the urge to scrape my eyes over it but I realized that it'd be wrong. I walked out of her room, rather than climbing into my own window, I found the nearest guest room, which was right across from her room and I crawled into bed, not even bothering to take off my shirt or pajama bottoms like I'd do at home. I just slept.