“I’m fine,” I muttered for what felt like the thousandth time.

 I glared at Britain from my spot on Britain’s bedroom floor.  He stood before me, a worried expression on his face.  He was even worse than Dannon!  And Dannon was pretty bad.  For the past two hours the two of them had been hovering over me, asking me if I felt light headed or if I hurt anywhere.  At first it was amusing, but now?  Now I just wanted to clank their heads together so they would be unconscious.  That way they’d shut up, even if just for a moment.

Kyla rolled her eyes from her spot next to me.  She, unlike the boys, had gotten the hint that I was okay after our hug.  She hadn’t asked me anything, for which I was immensely grateful for.  “Guys, if I hear that sentence come out of your mouths one more time I’m going to kill you,” she said bluntly, looking at her toes as she did her toe nails.  She borrowed some of Aunt Jill’s nail polish, promising to return it as soon as she was done.  I think Aunt Jill and I both knew that Kyla was going to forget to return it the second she finished her pinky toe.  Aunt Jill would never see the nail polish again.

“Shh!” Britain snapped.  “My mom will kill us if she hears any threats.”

“Oh yeah.  Forgot.”

We all looked up as my dad appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a crestfallen expression on his face.  I immediately knew that we weren’t going home tonight.  Translation?  I was going to be missing school tomorrow.  Insert sarcastic yay! here.

“Um, guys,” he mumbled slowly as though he was afraid to tell us whatever he was going to say.  We all watched silently as he mustered the courage to say the words we were dreading.  “The car still isn’t working.”

“Quick question,” Kyla piped up before anyone could say anything.  “Why didn’t you just call someone to come and fix it?”

My dad grinned, bringing a hand through his curls.  They bounced through his fingertips, reminding me of little springs.  “Well, Kyla,” he said, a hint of laughter still obvious in his voice, “we were attempting to fix it ourselves.”

“Well that was stupid!” she exclaimed, going back to work on her nails.  “Your child’s education is on the line, you know.”

That made him laugh.  Oh yeah, Dad.  Laugh at your daughter’s failure.  I see how you are.

“I will call someone tomorrow.  Everyone still has to go to bed by ten because Britain here is going to school tomorrow.”  My dad smiled as Britain groaned.  “Yeah, your mom said so.  Sorry, bud.”

“Dam—darn it,” Britain muttered under his breath, amending his words when he realized an adult was present.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just start to swear,” my dad mused, pushing away from the door frame.  He stood out in the hall now, his arms crossed lightly over his chest in amusement.

“Okay, you do that.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes.  I glanced at Dannon, surprised to see that he already had his phone to his ear, eyes at the ceiling.  Unlike yesterday there wasn’t any sadness in his eyes.  It was like he expected this to happen.  Though, I had to say, I wasn’t really all that surprised either.

“Dad,” he murmured as his father answered the phone.  “They couldn’t get the car fixed.”  There was a pause.  “Yeah.  Sorry about the appointment.”  Another pause.  “Yeah, I know.  Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow?”  Pause.  “I love you, too.  Bye.”

He hung up the phone and pocketed it, tossing a smile at me.  I gave him a small smile back before standing up and patting my pants.  “So,” I said.  “What’s for dinner?”

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“I call shotgun!” Britain roared as we all ventured down the hill toward the vehicles below.  Aunt Jill, being the woman that she was, informed us that we were eating out.  In a restaurant.  Every single one of us.

“Britain, be careful!” Aunt Jill called.  She trotted down the hill hand in hand with Uncle Rick.

“I will, Ma!” Britain shouted, not being careful at all as he raced down the hill, trying his hardest to be the first one down so he could be in the front seat.  I could have raced after him, but I really didn’t feel like it.  And, besides, what was the point?  I’d end up in the middle anyway.  That was just how things worked.

“I cannot believe we’re going out to eat,” Kyla said from beside me, shaking her head.  “They do realize how many children they have, right?”

“Sometimes I wonder,” I replied, grinning.  “This isn’t the first time we go out.”

“How are we all supposed to fit into the car?” Dannon asked from my other side.

“There’s more than one car, you ding dong.”  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.  “They have four cars, all of them mini vans.  I think we’ll all fit.”

Suddenly someone slapped my hands, causing me to cry out in shock and pain.  “Brianne, be nice!” Kyla hissed, shooting me a pointed look.

“I don’t want to,” I said simply, sticking my nose and stalking forward.  After a few moments I let my head fall and I began to laugh.  Dannon and Kyla laughed along with me, hurrying to catch up.

“Britain, which car are you getting in?” I inquired as we arrived at the bottom of the hill.  Britain pouted, obviously deflated that he wouldn’t be getting the front seat.

“What does it matter?”  He sighed woefully.  “The front seat is no longer mine!”

“It was never yours in the first place,” Uncle Dorner said from behind us.  We all twisted around to see him standing there, an amused expression on his face as he grinned at Britain.  “Now let’s go, Drama Queen, older kids have been designated to ride with me.”

So older kids had their own ride, huh?  I couldn’t say I didn’t love that.  I mean, I loved my younger cousins and all, but riding in a car with them was usually hell.  By the time we reached the end of the road, I’d want to shoot myself.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you losers.”

I turned around slowly, settling a glare on Maria.  She stood there, one hip jutted out to the side, applying lip stick to her already lip-stick-covered lips.  She puckered them before folding her lips into each other, making sure the lip stick covered the entirety of her lips.  She glowered back at me before setting the lip stick back into her purse.  “No one said you had to come with us.”  I pointed to the minivan where Lexi, Vincent, Hartin, and a couple others were piling into.  “You could always go with them.  I’m sure you’d be more welcome.”

Maria scoffed, pushing past me and stomping toward the car.  “I’m not sitting in the middle,” she snapped, twirling around and setting a cold glare in my direction.  “I say you should get it.”

“Aw, you want to sit next to me?” I cooed, rolling my eyes.  “That’s so sweet, Maria.”

“Girls, stop fighting and get in the car,” Uncle Dorner said, heading toward the driver’s seat.  As my eyes met his, he gave me a wink.  I snorted out a laugh as I followed the others toward the car.  Looked like he was on my side of the battle.  Maria had no followers.  Poor her.

In the end, Kyla, Maria, and I were in the back while Britain and Dannon sat in the middle.  I, of course, was stuck in the middle.  It didn’t really make sense this time because Maria was smaller than me.  She was such a spoiled brat.

“I don’t get why I’m stuck in this car,” Maria whined, pouting out the window as we made our way toward the main road.  Uncle Dorner declared a moment ago that we were going to Burger King.  It made complete sense.  The food was cheaper and little kids loved it.  It was a win-win.

“Because someone wanted to make my life a living hell,” I snapped.

“Brianne, language,” Uncle Dorner teased from the front.  He didn’t really care that I swore.  He never did.  He was one of the most laid back uncles ever.

I stuck my tongue out at him.  “Yeah, because you’re such an angel.”

Uncle Dorner laughed.  “I am!”

I leaned forward to where Britain and Dannon were sitting.  I tired of the conversations of the back seat.  Maria did nothing but whine, and Kyla was silent.  It was an unusual occurrence, her being silent and all.  But when she didn’t feel like talking, there was no way to get her to.  “Hello,” I said, well more like sang.

“Hi,” they said simultaneously.

I leaned forward more, whispering, “I’ll give one of you ten bucks to switch places with me.”

“Ten bucks?”

It was Britain.  I turned to face him and nodded.  “Yeah, ten bucks.  And you’ll receive the joy of standing up in the car.”  I wriggled my eyebrows.  “So, whatcha think?”

“I think it would be more tempting if it was twenty bucks.”  Britain flashed a devilish smile at me.

I rolled my eyes.  “Fi—”

“Brianne, what are you doing?”

I turned, barely tossing a glance in Kyla’s direction.  Apparently she felt like talking now.  She probably didn’t hear anything said until this point.  She had real talent when it came to blocking people out.  “I’m bribing my cousin to switch spots with me,” I replied smoothly. 

“Why?” Kyla mused.  “Oh!  You wanna sit next to Dannon?  Aw that’s so sweet!”  She giggled at the expression on my face.  “What?  You make it look bad.”

“For your information,” I drawled, “I’m only bribing him because I don’t want to sit back here with Little Miss Spoiled over here.”

“I can hear, you know,” Maria snapped.

“I don’t care, you know,” I retorted.

After shooting a pointed look in Kyla’s direction, my attention returned to Britain.  He sat there, waiting patiently.  “You’ve got a deal,” I said, flashing a smile at him.

Britain grinned and began unbuckling his seat belt.  I followed his lead, scooting forward in my seat.  It was then that I realized we really didn’t have a plan for this.  The vehicle was moving, Maria’s feet were covering the entryway, and we were both too tall to move around in a vehicle like this.

Wow, I really thought this through.

“How are we going to do this?” Britain asked, voicing what I was thinking.

I thought multiple ideas over in my head before deciding on the most practical one.  “You go around, and I’ll hop over the seat.”

Britain nodded.  “Okie dok!”

That was so odd coming from a boy’s mouth.  Biting back a sarcastic remark, I watched as Britain struggled through the tiny pathway to the back seat.  As he grew closer, I climbed over the middle seat—with much difficulty, might I add—and plopped next to Dannon.

“I should be yelling at you children right now,” Uncle Dorner mused from the front seat, looking at us from the rearview mirror.

“But you won’t because you’re an amazing uncle.”

“Yeah, okay.”  Uncle Dorner looked away from the rearview mirror and turned on the radio, studiously tuning us all out.

I sat back, relaxing in my new seat.  I glanced at Dannon and sighed.  He was staring at me, an amused smile pricking up at the top of his lips. 

“Nothing.”  Dannon smiled and looked forward.

“What’s that smile for?” My eyes narrowed.  “You’re suspicious.”

Dannon turned his gaze back to me, his smile growing.  I bit my lip to keep from laughing.  There was something about his expression that was down-right hilarious.  I couldn’t put my finger on what.  It just was.  “How so?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I don’t know yet.”  I grinned.  “But I’ll figure it out.”

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“I want my usual,” I informed my mom before turning and heading toward a booth in the back, the only place where you were entirely surrounded by windows.  Kyla and I planned this out already.  She and I would sit on one side, while Britain and Dannon (“Aw, come on, Brianne!  He has to sit with us!”) would sit on the other.  I saw a number of flaws in this particular plan, but whatever. 

I flopped into a booth at random, pushing in as far as I could, stretching my legs out on the free space on the bench.  I watched with uninterested eyes as the kids told their parents what food they wanted and then sat in seats near mine.  It was really convenient that the place was pretty much deserted excluding a single table with an old man reading the newspaper as he chewed loudly on some fries.  Our family took up a lot of room.

I let my legs fall as Kyla pushed her way beside me.  “I cannot believe they chose Burger King,” she mused, gesturing to the swarm of family members, shouting and hollering what they wanted ordered for themselves.  Someone really should have written a list before coming.  Just saying.

“It happens to be the favorite of the young ones,” I replied, bringing a hand through my hair.  I hadn’t exactly brushed it today.  As I dragged my fingers through the locks, I could feel the knots. 

“Oh, trying to fix our hair for the man, are we?”  Kyla wriggled her eyebrows.  “I’m so glad you threw that apple.  I mean, who would have thought that we would be able to sleep in the same room as Dannon?”  She clutched her heart dramatically.  “Man, if we actually had a social life, this would be some major gossip.”

I stared at her, my jaw working.  Why did that stupid apple have to be applied to every single thing that went on in my life?  Why couldn’t I do or say anything to Dannon without “the prophecy coming true”?  Why couldn’t Kyla just let this go?  “I swear to gosh, I’m going to ignore you forever if you keep bringing up this apple crap,” I seethed, sending her a glare.

“You’re so melodramatic,” Kyla teased, laughing as though what I’d said was the most hilarious thing to ever fall out of my mouth.

I stared at her.  “I’m melodramatic?  Me?  You have got to be kidding me.”

“What exactly is she supposed to be kidding about?”

We both looked up to see Britain and Dannon grinning at us.  Dannon slid into the booth, scooting over until he was in front of me.  He smiled at me before turning and watching as Britain settled into the booth as well.

“I believe that is none of your business.”  I scowled.  “How long have you been standing there, anyway?”

I prayed silently that they didn’t stand there long enough to hear Kyla going on about the apple business.  I would die if Dannon found out.  I had no idea what he would do with the information, but it obviously wouldn’t be good.  I had a feeling he wouldn’t spread it around school—I mean he just didn’t seem like the type of guy.  But still.  Dannon finding out was a huge no-no.

“Long enough to hear ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’” Britain replied, his eyebrows rising.  “Why?  Are you hiding something from us?”

I was going to throttle him.  I really was.

I sighed deeply, leaning back in the booth as far as I possibly good.  I shot a glare in his direction before saying, “Yes.  We were hiding our surprise birthday party for you.  But, you caught us.  Sorry.”  I smiled blandly at him.  “Guess there’s no more birthday party for you.”

Britain didn’t look at all convinced.  “Okay, for one, my birthday was like a month ago.”  He rolled his eyes.  “And two, that does not explain what we heard at all.”

I scoffed.  “Of course it does!  Kyla was giving me this ridiculous thought on how to prepare for your party.  And, by the way, a surprise party is when the person we’re throwing it for doesn’t expect it.  So ha!”  I smiled smugly at him, crossing my arms over my chest.  There.  Perfect cover up, complete.

“Oh, great story.”  Britain clapped his hands together sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes.  In all the years that I’d known him, he’d never clapped his hands sarcastically like that.  It was a new trait.  A rather annoying one.  “You are no longer allowed to hang out with Dannon,” I announced, pointing an accusing finger in Dannon’s direction.  “You, you stupid, popular, apple-denter you, are rubbing off on him.”

Dannon laughed.  “Apple-denter?  That’s a new one.”

“Question!” Kyla exclaimed suddenly.  We all turned to her, waiting for her to continue.  She flipped her hair dramatically, settling a cool gaze on me.  “Why do you get to bring the apple up and not me?”

The answer to that question could not be told in front of the boys, so I simply settled with a, “Because I’m allowed to.”  I looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of something else to say, and spotted a piece of gum stuck on one of the tiles.  “How in holy hell did someone get that up there?”

“Oh yeah, change the—”

Kyla cut off as they all tilted their heads upwards, seeing the piece of gum.  Oh yeah, we were all mature.  Seventeen-year-olds—well, and a sixteen-year-old—staring at a piece of blueberry gum (I’m so skilled I know what flavor it is), wondering how it got there.

“Is that blueberry?” Kyla inquired, squinting to get a better look at it.

“Indeed,” I replied, nodding slightly.

“How could someone manage to get that up there?” Dannon breathed.

I tore my eyes away from the gum to give him a glance.  “I believe we established that question already.”

I recoiled when a sharp slap was given to my shoulder.  My poor shoulder.  Always getting slapped for my mouth’s actions.  I think that was a little unfair, don’t you?  But, then again, I’d rather get hit on the shoulder than on the mouth. . . .

“Brianne, when will you learn to be nice?” Kyla, the slapper hissed.

I rubbed my shoulder, scowling at her.  “Never if violence is the punishment.”

“So you’re saying you enjoy violence.”  Kyla scoffed.  “Well, that’s nice to hear.”

“Maybe,” Britain cut through our conversation, his eyes still trained on the ceiling, “someone choked so hard on their gum that when someone gave them the Heimlich it flew up to the ceiling.”

I stared at him for a long time before answering.  “Are all men in high school complete idiots?”

“Are all women so moody?” Britain retorted.

I chose to disregard Britain’s comment completely and continued as though he hadn’t spoken.  “It would go forward if it came out of a choking person.  They must have thrown it.”

From the corner of my eye I saw Dannon, shake his head.  He smiled, glancing up at the ceiling again before turning his attention to me.  “How would it stick though?” he challenged.

“What are you guys doing?”

We all turned to see Uncle Rick standing there with two trays of food.  He set them gingerly on our table before stepping back as though he was afraid he would catch something contagious from us.  We all laughed at him as he shook his head disbelievingly, his hands going to his hips.  “Frankly, I don’t want to know,” he mused, grinning at us.

“Then why’d you ask?” I mused.

Uncle Rick paused, pondering on how to answer the question.  We all waited patiently, amused expressions on our faces.  After a long moment of deep thinking, Uncle Rick sighed, shrugging.  “That’s a very good question.  Good day.”

With that, Uncle Rick turned and trotted to where the adults were scrambling to get trays together.

We all grabbed our bags and began munching on the deliciously horrible food for our bodies.  I glanced at Dannon’s food.  I shook my head, my gaze shifting between the differences of our meals.  He always made me look like such a pig!  I cocked an eyebrow at him, pointing at his selected food.  “A salad?” I asked, my eyebrows raising even higher.  “We come to Burger King and you get a salad?”

Wasn’t Burger King the place people went to to avoid healthy food?  What was the point of getting healthy food at a fast food restaurant?  Dannon seriously baffled me.

“I like salad,” Dannon said with a shrug.

“Yeah, Brianne, he likes salad.”  Kyla pointed her fork at me.  “Stop hating on him.”

“Yeah, Brianne, stop hating on him,” Britain decided to join in with a laugh.

I laughed under my breath, not able to help but feel amused.  The expressions on their faces and the way they spoke were just so damn hilarious!  I smiled at them, stuffing my very unhealthy hamburger into my mouth.  “Okie dokie,” I said, my mouth completely full.  Even though I didn’t mean what I said, and I probably would begin hating on him the second we walked out the door—heck, probably before—I could still smile and pretend that I did.

I looked over at Dannon.  He was munching on his salad, a content smile on his face.  I smiled back, noting that he had salad dressing all over the sides of his mouth.  Ha ha, Dannon.  Ha ha.

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“That was probably the worst dinner I’ve ever had!” Maria hissed as we climbed into the van.  “I got stuck eating with all the younger kids while you guys were in Heaven, laughing your asses away.”

I flopped into the middle seat beside Dannon, studiously ignoring Maria’s rant.  She’d been whining the second we stepped into the parking lot, apparently not able to hold in her frustrations any longer.  We all just shared secret I-really-don’t-care looks at each other, waiting silently for her to finish.

“Maria!” Uncle Dorner reprimanded as the curse slid from Maria’s mouth.

Maria flipped her hair dramatically, huffing as she buckled herself into her seat.  “Oh, Brianne gets to swear and I don’t?” she snapped, shooting a death glare in her uncle’s direction.  “I think there’s a little biased going on here!”

I watched as Kyla sat up straight in her seat, pushing her hair off her shoulder.  “Maria,” she drawled, “let me ask you something.”  Her eyes bored into Maria’s icily.  “Are you on your period?”

I burst into a fit of laughter along with everyone else as Maria’s face transitioned from ghostly pale to tomato red.  I clutched the hand rest beside me, leaning forward, my eyes closed as I giggled.  The horrified expression on Maria’s face appeared before my closed eyelids, making me laugh harder.  Damn.  If I didn’t love Kyla before, I sure did now!

“Shut up, all of you!” Maria hissed, finally finding her voice.  “Kyla, that was a really stupid question.”

My laughter subsided and I twisted around just in time to see Kyla smile meanly.  “So you are.”  Her smile grew.  “Nice to know.”

As Maria and Kyla began to bicker, I turned back in my seat, stretching out my arms and arching out my back.  My eyes landed on Dannon’s cell phone as he closed it and sighed.  My eyebrows came together as a spark of curiosity buzzed through me.  “Who are you texting?” I inquired.  I hadn’t even realized he brought his phone.  But, then again, why wouldn’t he?  It’s not like he’d leave it at the house.

“My dad,” he said simply.  He looked up and smiled at my expression—which was a jaw-dropping, shocked kind of look by the way.  “What?  You expected someone else?”

I gaped at him.  Expected someone else?  The list of people that had crossed my mind was enormous, but I didn’t think he’d be texting his dad.  “Do you text anyone else?” I wondered aloud.

Dannon shook his head.

My jaw unhinged and my mouth dropped.  He didn’t text anyone?  That was so hard to believe.  Not one single person in LHS—hell, the United States—only text one person on their cell phone.  I hated texting and I still text more than one person.  “You don’t text anyone else?” My eyes, which were already so wide I thought they were going to pop out of my skull, widened more.  “Someone as popular as you has to have connections.”

Dannon chuckled, shaking his head.  “You watch too many movies.”  He sighed, a small smile perched on his lips.  “I don’t text people unless I have to, and I barely have anyone in my contacts.”

I cocked an eyebrow.  “I find that seriously hard to believe.”

Dannon grinned, his eyes lighting up.  He held up his phone and tossed it to me in one slick movement.  I caught it easily, holding it out in front of me.  “Don’t believe me?” Dannon teased.  “Check it out.”

I flipped his phone open.  Unlike everyone else at his school, he didn’t have a really advanced phone.  It was the basic flip-phone with a dial pad.  My eyebrows rose as I tried to maneuver his phone.  How fast could he text on this thing?

Oh yeah.  He hated texting. 

Finally finding his contacts list, I scrolled through them.  There were about five people in there, including his number and 911.  I shot a disbelieving look in his direction before tossing his phone back.  The only person from school that was in his contacts was Oliver.  Not Shelley.  Not Garner.  Not any of the other crew members.  Not anyone else from the school.  Just Oliver. 

“That’s so . . . weird,” I mumbled, shaking my head.  “I even have more contacts than that.”

“You do have a pretty big family,” Dannon reminded me, his smile remaining on his face.  “Mine’s miniscule compared to yours.”

I stared at him.  “How big is yours?”

“My dad.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

I blinked.  I didn’t have an answer to that.  I mean, how could you possibly answer when your family was over six times bigger than someone else’s?  I looked away from him, trying to gather my thoughts.  But, those thoughts were disrupted when Dannon put his hand on my shoulder.

“Bri, it’s okay,” he reassured me.

I glanced at him and smiled slightly when I saw the smile on his face.  “Yeah,” I murmured.

Dannon grinned, flipping his phone within his hands.  “You think I need more contacts in my phone?”

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as I nodded.  “You need a social life out of school,” I teased.

“Yo, Britain!  Put your number in.”  Dannon passed his phone over his head, right in front of where Britain sat.  I shook my head and laughed.  What was he going to do?  Get the numbers of everyone in the car?  I seriously hoped he wasn’t planning on getting Maria’s number.  She’d make his life a living hell.

“Done.”

Britain was about to hand the phone back, but Dannon stopped him, gesturing to Kyla.  “Give it to Kyla.”

I glanced at Kyla.  She hopped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly.  “Ooh!” she squealed.  “I get to give you my number?”

leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes for a moment before reopening them.  “Oh boy,” I muttered, smiling in amusement.  Kyla hopped as though dancing to a melody as she punched her number into Dannon’s cellular device.  “You just made her dreams come true.”

Dannon chuckled, settling his gaze on me.  “You’re next.”

I stared at him.  “What?”

“You’re going to put your number in.”  It wasn’t a question.  So, obviously, I had no choice.  What if I didn’t want Dannon to have my number?  What if I’d rather him have a social life with everyone but me?  Well, apparently, it didn’t matter what I thought.

Sigh.  “And what if I don’t want you to have my number?” I challenged.

Dannon’s lips twitched.  “But you will.”

Kyla handed me his phone, shooting me a gleeful look.  I sighed, accepting the phone and flipping it open.  “Fine!” I grumbled in defeat even though I really didn’t put up that much of a fight.  I wasn’t as bothered with him having my number as I would have been a couple days ago.  Maybe Dannon was right.  I would get used to his impossible-ness.

Hell must have been freezing over.

“Happy?” I mumbled as I handed him back his phone.

Dannon pocketed his phone, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.  “Actually, yes.”