Vallery's POV

"So. Andy."

"She's... Nice, isn't she?"

Nice. Mhm. That was the word I'd use to describe her... In a parallel universe maybe.

And 'nice' wasn't the first thing that came to Raiden's mind either; I knew him better than that.

Or at least I thought I knew him, because the boy I knew would've told me about Andy.

What was he hiding anyway?

"She's pretty hot." I threw in casually, my arms still crossed over my chest.

"Is she?" He swiped his palms over his jeans again. "I haven't noticed."

"Oh, I'm sure you hooked up with her because of her brain." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, she does take AP everything. She's probably met Nat already."

So she was hot and smart?

I silently cussed her and her tight curves. She was definitely curvier than me.

"And I bet she has a great personality too." I smiled with my lips clamped.

"She takes part in several charity organizations." He lowered his head and ruffled the back of his hair.

Oh, great! She was Mother effin' Teresa too. If Mother Teresa was a sexy as Hell bombshell who'd taken AP everything at high school and did casual hook-ups.

It was casual, right?

"So how often do you two get together?"

"Look, Val, I get you don't like her..."

"Why wouldn't I like her? She seems like such a stand up, clever gal. Can't wait to get to know her better at the party," I chirped and untangled my arms to playfully - or so I intended - punch him on the shoulder. He winced and stepped back.

"What was that for?" He rubbed the contact spot.

"Sorry. Guess I don't know my own strength. Maybe I should warn Andy to be gentle with you on Friday."

"Just because we are both going to the same party, it doesn't mean we'll hook up," he said.

"Why not? She's hot, she wants you and you are obviously attracted to her."

"I'm not that attracted."

"Really?" My hands were folded in front of my chest again. "Then how come you've never told me about her?"

"I've never... I don't..." He shrugged suddenly, the motion resembling an epileptic convulsion. "I just don't tell you everything." He muttered.

"You told me about other girls you've kissed," I pointed out. "So how come you didn't mention Andrea?"

"Andy." He corrected.

"Whatever." I waved him off.

"Why is this such a big deal for you?" He took the same stance as me, arms across his chest.

"It's not," I lied without batting an eye.

"Then why do you keep bringing it up, Vallery?"

"Because you keep tiptoeing around the topic, Raiden."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do!"

"Don't!"

"Why aren't you two in class?"

"Shut up!" We both ordered, turning to the side to whoever had spoken... Only to be met with the largest, fittest African-American dude I'd seen in person.

"Sorry, Coach." Raiden tried to amend.

"Mhm." The coach crossed his arms, muscles bulging under a tight, light blue t-shirt.

And there we were the three of us, silently staring from one to the other in the empty hallway, each with arms atop of our chest.

"Well?" Coach whatever-his-name-was raised a dark eyebrow at me and Raiden.

Darn, he was hot... For an old dude.

"Come on, Val." Raiden prompted quietly and grabbed me by the wrist once more, pulling me toward whatever class we were supposed to be having right now.

As we walked, I swirled back to the man who'd interrupted us. He was standing at the same spot, in the same position, except for his head turned sideways and towards us, giving me a view of his healthy profile.

"Here we are." Raiden let go of me and reached for the handle of the door he'd stopped by.

"Coach's got a nice butt," I commented and he froze.

"Coach... He's old... And he works here." He hissed. "How... You know who else's got a nice butt?" He looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Andy."

And he stormed into the room.

*****

"For the last time, Raiden: I was not sleeping." I opened the front door and dumped my backpack into our hallway. The two boys followed me inside. "I was just testing my notebook for drool resistance."

"While also snoring?" He sneered.

"I was checking the acoustic in the classroom." I gave him a flat smile.

"What's going on between you two today?" My brother asked, carefully placing his jacket on our hanger. "You haven't stopped arguing since after lunch break."

"Nothing," Raiden and I replied at the same time.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" My twin closed the door.

"Believe whatever you want, bro." I headed for the kitchen to wash my hands. "We are invited to a party, by the way. It's on..."

"Friday." He finished for me and turned the tap back on after I was finished with it. "I met Andy in my AP classes and she told me."

Andy, I growled in my head.

"She's nice, isn't she?" I tried to imitate Raiden's tone from earlier and neighbor boy glared at me while putting liquid soap on his hands. I stuck my tongue at him.

"I think so. She's very clever." My brother pulled some veggies out of the fridge. "Don't you like her, Val?"

"Raiden seems to like her enough to stick his tongue inside her mouth," I replied.

My brother paused as he was rummaging through the dish cabinet and looked at me.

"Oh."

He then went back to getting the things he needed.

"At least I'm not flirting with the Coach," the redhead threw in.

Three plates crashed against the kitchen tile.

"Vallery!" Nathaniel was completely ignoring the mess he'd made, his horrified gaze upon me.

"All I said was that he has a nice butt. Not in front of him," I added in an attempt to ease my sibling's worries.

Nat sighed and shook his head, leaning down to pick the bigger pieces of china before heading to the closet to get a broom for the smaller ones.

"Snitch." I muttered at Raiden when we were alone in the room.

"What are you going to do? Put another snake in my bed?"

"Don't tempt me." I narrowed my eyes at him and for a moment I saw a flicker of fear in them.

The time the reptile had glided over his Batman pajamas was not the fondest childhood memory he had and yes, I may have had something to do with the cold-blooded creature ending up under Raiden's sheets.

"Just try it." He foolishly dared me, but I couldn't help being a bit impressed with his gall. He knew better than most the consequences of lying a challenge before me.

"It's a war."

"No, no, no." Nathaniel walked into the kitchen and pointed the broom at us. "You are not recommencing the Reed-O'Brien wars."

"But... But he challenged me, Nat!" I pointed at Raiden who grinned at me and waived.

The little cheek!

"I don't care who challenged whom over what, when, where or why; no wars. That's final."

"Not making any promises." I raised my hands.

"Neither am I," Raiden added.

"Ouch!" I shouted and jumped when the softer end of the broom hit me on the butt. Raiden doubled in laughter only to be promptly cut off with a smack against his own behind from Nat's weapon of choice.

"I have enough on my plate to run around fixing your messes. Mom's sick, Hunter's moving here and I have to deal with dad's reaction to that, not to mention I have to share with a whole new audience that I am gay and have a boyfriend." He threw the broom to the floor while Raiden and I stared wide-eyed at his outburst. "Either treat each other right or just kill each other in your stupid wars so that I at least won't have to deal with you!"

"Sorry," my childhood friend and I muttered in unison.

"It wasn't going to be a full-out war, just a few friendly pranks," I said.

"You know, just gluing Val's hand to her face while she sleeps or something stupid like that," Ray-Ray added.

"I would've gotten more creative than that," I commented and my neighbor gave me a pointed look.

"We are supposed to make Nat feel better, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but... Glue? I guess it is a classic... But you obviously lack imagination, Ray-Ray." I smirked.

"No, I don't." He pouted.

"Yes, you do." My grin became bigger.

"No, I don't." He crossed his arm over his chest.

"Yep, you do." I playfully stuck my tongue at him.

"No, I..."

"Oh, will you cut it out?" My brother sighed. "At least you are back to arguing like children and not really arguing."

"You know we can't stay mad at each other for long." I shrugged.

"No matter what." Raiden agreed.

My sibling picked up the broom and began swiping the broken china with it.

"I'm making vegetable broth after I clean up," he said.

"And I'm ordering pizza and fries from Mark's," I chirped.

"Mark's deliver fries?" Raiden mused aloud.

"Well, they make both and technically they don't make fries deliveries, but since I'm ordering pizza and they'll be coming anyway..."

"I just said I'm cooking," Nat reminded me.

"Yeah, but broth always leaves me hungry."

"I'm trying to make us something healthy, Val."

"Pizza's healthy."

Both boys snorted, but that did not discourage me.

"It is. It has cheese which is good for the bones and I read somewhere that corn is good for your brain cells."

"And the fries?" Raiden asked.

"Well, I can't eat only healthy stuff, can I, Ray-Ray?"

He giggled and headed for the living room.

*****

A/N: So... Nat losing it: what did you think of that?

And what about the rest of the chapter?

Val's reaction to Andy? Raiden's reaction to Val's comment on the coach? Any thoughts on those?

Would you like for the Reed-O'Brien wars to recommence or do you prefer Val and Ray-Ray getting along?

Please support this chapter with a VOTE if you enjoyed it and have a great time wattpading!