“So let me get this straight,” Kyla said as she opened her car’s door.  “We have to do this creepy stalker project, and you got assigned to Dannon?”

I hopped into Kyla’s car and nodded.  I leaned back, stretching my arms out.  The day couldn’t have finished fast enough.  I’d wanted to tell Kyla about the project in English, but class had been too hurried, too fast paced to get any talking what-so-ever in.  I hadn’t even had a chance to look at her.  It was rather annoying.  “Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” I mumbled, closing my eyes for a moment before reopening.

Kyla squealed.  “That’s so awesome!”

You would think that when someone said “creepy stalker” the reaction would be anything but “That’s so awesome!”  But, this was Kyla.  So, obviously her reaction would be that.  I sighed, shaking my head.  It shocked me how someone like Mrs. Carl could think of a project like that.  She must have been watching a movie or something.  That boring old lady wouldn’t be able to think of something this fun.  At least—I didn’t think so.

No, I did not just admit that I was kind of excited about this.

It was just your imagination!

“So are we going straight to my house today, or are you dragging me somewhere?” I asked, tossing Kyla a glance as she started the car and pulled out of the school’s parking lot.

Kyla grinned.  “Of course we’re going to your house.  I haven’t seen Garrett yet!”

She hadn’t?  I opened my mouth and closed it.  Oh yeah.  It never dawned on me that ever since Garrett arrived, only Dannon had seen him.  “Oh yeah,” I said, flashing my friend an apologetic smile before turning to look out the window.

I turned my attention to the project at hand.  How was I going to do this?  I had to question Dannon, that much was obvious.  At least we weren’t paired up while we were complete strangers.  This way it would be much easier to enjoy doing the project.  Who wanted to sit there talking about themselves to someone they didn’t know?

Hmm, what to do, what to do.

I could make a poster.  But what was so fun about that?  That was probably the least creative way to make a project.  A poster.  I hated it when teachers assigned posters for mainly that reason: they were so boring and every-day.

So, basically, I had to make something that stood out.  It wouldn’t be that hard.  All of the fangirls would be watching.  On the other hand, that’s what added so much pressure.

“Thinking about Dream Boy?” Kyla cooed.  “And speaking of which, have your parents found out about the apple yet?”

“No, they haven’t,” I replied, deciding not to acknowledge Kyla’s first comment.  “I plan to keep it that way.” 

Kyla laughed. “They’re going to find out sometime you know.  OMG you should totally put that in your project!  ‘I met Dannon because I chucked an apple at his head.’  Oh, I can just see their faces now!  Priceless!”

I shook my head, snorting.  “Yeah, right.  We both know full well that my mom and dad are going to want to look at the assignment before I pass it in.  I think I would like to go without being grounded for a little while.”    

Kyla shrugged.  “Whatever, man.  Who says you’re going to get grounded because of it, anyway?” 

I shot her a disbelieving look.  “You do know my parents, right?”

Kyla nodded, smiling in amusement.  “Yes, very much so.  Wasn’t your dad that clown in the circus that came to town a few months ago?  And your mom, gosh wasn’t she that cross-dressing man in that movie?  Which movie was it again?  It was either House Bunny or Anger Management.”

I slapped her shoulder.  “Not funny!” I exclaimed, even though I actually did find her comment funny.

Kyla laughed, slapping me back without turning away from the wheel.  “I thought it was pretty damn hilarious.”

I shook my head slightly, letting out a small laugh.  No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t act seriously with her.  Everything was a joke.  Everything was hilarious.  Everything was fun.  Well, that was, until something really important was going on.  “There’s something wrong with you,” I felt the need to inform her.

“I do not know why people bother wasting their breath telling me that over and over again,” Kyla mused, shaking her head.  “I believe telling me once gets your point across.  And how many times have you told me this?”

I laughed as Kyla spared a glance my way, wriggling her eyebrows.  “Well, it’s the second time today, so . . . about a thousand times.”

“You see?  Think of all the oxygen you’ve deprived of the world with your pointless chatter!”

“Didn’t you just create a pointless conversation?” I countered.

Kyla paused before answering.  I laughed, my eyes shooting up to the ceiling.  She really needed practice at these play-arguments.  She always did great until the very end where it really counted: getting the last word.  “Shut up,” she murmured finally, turning up the radio and blasting it.  That was her way of saying, “Even though you technically got the last word, I’m going to sit here in denial, blasting music to say words for me.  So, in a way, I have won.  Ha!”

Yeah, well my poor friend, it just didn’t work out that way.  “You’ve lost again,” I said loudly, hoping to be heard over the radio, “but congratulations on making it further this time.”         

Kyla slapped my shoulder.  “Buttface.”

“Buttear.”

“Butteyebrow!”

Kyla and I had this thing where we took the word “butt” and put a different suffix at the end—if you didn’t notice already.  If you could have butthead and buttface—which sounded all right to me—then why couldn’t you take any other body part and do the same thing?  On a day when we were both hyper, we decided to test the question.  It stuck ever since.

I was about to reply, but Barbie Girl happened to belt out suddenly, cutting me off.  I scrounged around in my pocket, pulling out my cell phone and bringing it to my ear.  “You’ve got to stop calling me while I’m in a vehicle, Barone,” I teased lightly.  “You’re becoming quite obsessive.

Dannon chuckled softly.  “Don’t worry.  This is a quick call.  I happen to have an appointment.”

Oh.  Okay then.  “What do you want, then?” I asked, pushing down the bubbling curiosity about his appointment.  Another one?  I never knew anyone who had as many appointments as this guy did.  Was his dad germ-phobic or something?  Or did he just like keeping all the appointments meshed up in the same time period?  If that was the case, that really sucked for Dannon.

“When will you learn to be nice to him?” Kyla demanded.

I glanced over at her, prying the phone away from my ear.  “Never,” I answered simply, bringing the phone back to my ear right as the word “project” was said.  My eyebrows crinkled together.  Dannon had continued talking while I’d pulled the phone away.  Wow.  Just my luck.

“What?” I asked as Dannon finished what he was saying.  “Sorry, I totally missed that.”

Dannon’s tone was light as he repeated what he’d said before.  “When do you want to meet for the project?”

“Well, tomorrow you have a game, so Saturday maybe?”  I paused, smiling.  “We do have two months, you know.”

“Procrastinator!” Dannon teased.  “You’ll never pass with that attitude.”

“Sure I will.”  I grinned.

Dannon breathed in like he was about to reply, but then he stopped.  I listened carefully, trying to hear what was going on in the background.  Was his dad talking to him?  Probably.  I could hear what sounded like a voice. 

“I’m coming!” Dannon called suddenly, answering my question.  His voice turned to me.  “Hey, Bri, I have to go.  I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

I smiled slightly.  “’Kay.  Bye.”

“Bye!”

He hung up, and I followed his lead.  I tossed the phone in the air, catching it, before sliding it into my pocket.  I curled forward for a moment, stretching out my toes.  As I fell back, I heard Kyla burst into small fits of giggles.  I turned.  “What?” I asked skeptically, cocking an eyebrow.  What could she possibly have to laugh at? 

“You two are just so cute!  And you’re both sooo in denial.  You should have heard the way you said, ‘’Kay.  Bye.’”  She laughed harder.  “Gosh, I’m so glad you listened to me,” she said with a sigh as her laughter began to recede.

I rolled my eyes, bonking my head on the window.  She was being ridiculous.  Resorting to analyzing the way I said goodbye?  That seemed a little desperate for the apple to work.  No offense to her, of course.

However, there was one thing that I couldn’t argue with her on: I was glad I listened to her, too.

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

“Kyla!” Garrett bellowed, pounding down the stairs as we entered the house.  “OMG, I’ve missed you!”

Kyla threw her arms out, laughing merrily.  “OMG Garrett, I’ve missed you, too!”

I watched as they hugged each other, Garrett spinning her around in circles.  I shut the door behind me, kicking off my shoes and sighing lightly.  It was like a couple reuniting after years of separation.  Though, thankfully, this was a brother-sister kind of thing going on here.  I would have to object majorly if these two even thought of getting together.  They would have insane children.  In reality, I was just looking out for my unborn nephews and nieces.  I was a hero, really.

“So, I heard you met Dannon,” Kyla said slowly, wriggling her eyebrows as they pulled away.

I glared as they side-glanced me.  Seriously?  It wasn’t like I was invisible or anything!  Or maybe I was.  I mean, I could very well be the invisible man in the film Monsters v.s Aliens.  I was probably dead in a chair right now, and I was an apparition.  Such a sad, miserable life.  And it continued after death, too.  Now that was just depressing.

“Oh, yes I did,” Garrett said dramatically.  “And let me just say that they have some major chemistry going on here.  You know, when he ‘accidentally’ slept over here, I woke up to them practically cuddling on the floor.  I was so adorable.”

I shoved him, scowling.  “We were not!” I shrieked.

“And then I wanted to make her play football, but Dannon wouldn’t let me.  They shared this significant glance.”

Kyla slid her gaze over to me, grinning like a maniac.  I could see it in her eyes, what she was thinking: The apple’s powers, mwahahahaha!  What she said, though, was this: “Interesting.”

Suffice enough. She probably didn’t know that Garrett knew about the apple.

“Dude that’s not even the best part!” Garrett hollered, grabbing onto Kyla’s arms and shaking her twice before letting her go.  Kyla instantly came to attention, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared Garrett down, waiting for him to continue.  Let’s not forget the huge smile on both of their faces.  At my expense, of course.

I stared at him, trying to comprehend.  Not the best part?  What else was there to talk about?  I froze as I finally realized.  Oh gosh.  No, no, no, no, no!  Don’t talk about Wal—

“She totally got jealous at Wal-Mart.”  Garrett grinned.  “It was hilarious!”

I was going to kill him.  I was going to be polite and do it when we didn’t have any guests over, but if he kept it up, I was going to skip the politeness and go straight for his throat.  “Garrett,” I muttered under my breath, shooting a scowl in his direction.

“Jealous, huh?”  Kyla shot me a pointed look.  It seemed like I owed her details.  Again.

“I wasn’t jealous!” I denied, crossing my arms irritably across my chest.

“She doesn’t even know what jealousy is,” Garrett said, dismissing my comment.  “Anyway, there was this girl, right?  Her name was Mikayla.  And she knew Dannon.  So, Dannon was talking to her, and all of a sudden, Brianne was pissed.  She looked like she could—”

“I did not!” I stomped my foot.  “I told you it was because we were standing in the middle of the aisle—probably getting thirty dirty looks, by the way.”

“Yeah, and I’m fat and work with elves.”

How come everyone accused Santa of being fat?  Sure, he ate a lot of food the day before Christmas, but didn’t he have a whole year to work it off?  And, he didn’t even eat all the cookies.  He took a bite and left.  So, technically, he wasn’t gaining much at all.

“Whatever,” I muttered.  “Will you just drop it?  I wasn’t jealous, we weren’t cozy, and we’re just friends.”

At this, they both laughed heartily.  I scoffed, turning on my heel and heading toward the kitchen.  Whatever.  They could sit there and talk about me all they wanted.  But I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to them while they did.

Why did everyone care so much anyway?  Why did it matter that I had a guy in my life?  Why did it matter that we hung out a lot?  Why did we have to like each other because of it?  Obviously, the world hadn’t gotten past the “if you’re friends with a guy you have to be obsessed with him” thing.  I could not wait until the world grew up and got over it.

I huffed as I crossed the threshold into the kitchen.  I stormed toward the freezer, throwing it open and grabbing the ice cream tote.  I wanted an apple, but if Kyla or Garrett came in here and saw me with one, they’d just give me havoc.  So, instead of taking the healthy route, I decided to look like I was binging.  Was it really better?  I think yes!

After gathering my “binging” supplies, I scooped some ice cream out of the tote and dumped it into my lovely little ice cream cup.  My mom, deciding to waste some money, bought cups specifically for ice cream.  “If I see you using a regular cup for ice cream, you will be punished severely!” were her words.  Wasn’t she such a nice mother?  Punishing her kids because of cups?

“Brianne, where did you go?” Kyla called out playfully.

Instead of answering her, I put the lid back on the ice cream and reopened the freezer, sticking it back inside.  Grumbling under my breath about my brother and Kyla both, I grabbed my spoon, my ice cream, and leaned against the counter.  With an irritated scowl in the living room’s general direction, I scooped some ice cream out of my cup and got read to plop it into my mouth.

Kyla entered the room right as I was about to take a bite.  She grinned, shaking her head as I paused, mid-bite.  “Ice cream, eh?” she asked, snorting.  “I thought you were on a health kick.”

Bull.  She knew I got over that health kick two months ago.  Maybe she thought that throwing it in my face would get me back on track.  Nope.  Never. 

I rolled my eyes, sticking the spoon in my mouth.  I watched her with narrowed eyes as I swallowed the ice cream.  “I wanted to eat something healthy,” I drawled, “but someone likes to hold certain fruits against me.”

Kyla laughed.  “So, you’re saying that the only fruit your body is able to take is an apple?  Not bananas . . . um . . . or any other fruit?”

I rolled my eyes again.  “Nice try.”

Kyla groaned.  “Shut up!  You know what I mean.”

“I do in fact know what you are talking about.  And I believe that I told you years ago that apples are pretty much the only fruit I eat.  And now, since you’re a butthead, I cannot eat them.”

I sighed woefully, putting more ice cream into my mouth.  Kyla rolled her eyes, moving toward the freezer to grab some ice cream toward herself.  I stared at her.  I could just picture it now: she’d grab some ice cream, get a cup, a spoon, and then she’d forget to put the ice cream back.  And then, knowing me, I’d be a genius and forget to pick up after her.  So then the ice cream would stay out and melt.

Lovely.

“You can still eat them,” Kyla said with a shrug.

“No, I can’t.”  I shook my head.  “Not without you guys making comments anyway.”

Kyla snorted.  “You’re such a drama queen, you know that?”

I nodded, smiling as I ate my delicious ice cream.  I loved ice cream so damn much.  I loved the way it melted in your mouth, the way it always left you wanting more.  I loved how it was something that pretty much everyone understood.  Ice cream.  Loved by all.  Almost.

Kyla sighed, obviously deciding to drop the subject.  “Anyway, what’s up with Dannon?”

“He has an appointment,” I replied, leaning back further—if that was even possible—into the counter and taking another small spoon full of ice cream.

Kyla raised an eyebrow.  “That guy has way too many appointments if you ask me.”

I nodded in agreement.  “I know right?  And we’re going to the football game tomorrow.”

Kyla squealed in delight.  I watched without much interest as she jumped up and down, clapping her hands. How could someone have that much excitement for a sports game?  I couldn’t fathom.  “Seriously?” she exclaimed.  “What finally made you change your mind?  OMG I totally have a guess, but it’ll only piss you off if I say it.  Oh my gosh, Oliver’s going to be there too!”

I held up a hand to shut her up.  Magically, it did.  I glanced at my hand, kind of awed.  Did I have some wondrous powers that I had no idea about?  Awesome!  “I’m only going because Dannon told Garrett that we had to,” I explained.  “And Garrett’s not letting me stay home.”

Kyla smiled.  “The guys in your life are so fascinating.

Fascinating, no.  Annoying, yes.

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

Dannon called later that night to make sure that Garrett and the family remembered that we were supposed to be attending the football game.  Garrett, who’d taken the phone away from me against its will, promised that he would be there, front row.  So, it looked like I would be sitting with Shelley and them.  He was so lucky that I knew who they were now.  Otherwise, Garrett would be a puddle of goo.

He also had the nerve of hanging up the phone without handing it back to me first.  I hadn’t even finished what I was saying!  We were in the middle of setting up the time we were going to meet on Saturday.  From the looks of it, it was going to be after the movies and shopping.  Once glance at my parents and I realized that they didn’t even know I had Saturday plans.  Oops.  Must have slipped my mind.

“Oh yeah, Mom, can I go to the movies and shopping with a group of friends on Saturday?”

My mom looked up from the book she was reading in shock.  How she thought she was going to be able to read with me and Garrett in the room, I didn’t have a clue.  Maybe she thought that because she was wrapped up in her blanket on the couch she’d be able to concentrate.  Oddly, it worked for the most part.  Though, there were times when I caught irritated looks shot at both Garrett and I as we bickered.

“A group of friends?” she asked, her eyes wide and her mouth wide open.

“Close the jaw, Ma,” I teased with a snicker.  “Yes, a group of friends.  Dannon’s group invited Kyla and I to the movies and then to the mall.”

My mom gaped, still not comprehending.  She stared for a long time before stuttering, “You didn’t mention making new friends!”

“I kind of made them today,” I said, feeling awkward as I rubbed my arms.  I felt like a spotlight was cast over my head as I stood in front of the couch, looking down at my mom.  The sudden urge to collapse onto one of the cushions beside my mom was so strong that I almost couldn’t fight it.  I eyed the free spot, biting my lip.

Suddenly, my mom wasn’t sitting on the couch anymore.  Her book went flying, landing safely—thankfully—on the cushion my mom had been sitting in seconds before, while her blanket flew over it.  And then my mom was wrapping her arms around me, squeezing me tightly as she shrieked into my ear, “This is so awesome!”

Odd.  So very odd.  Since when did people get hugged for asking to go shopping and to the movies?  Did ones parent usually get excited when they had to pay for a child to hang out with friends all day?  Well, then again, I hadn’t asked my mom for money yet.  Maybe she’d be less excited then.  Yeah, that was probably it.

“Mom, I’m glad you’re showing so much unneeded enthusiasm, but could you please let go of me?” I asked, struggling to escape my mother’s grip.

My mom let go, a bright smile on her face.  “This enthusiasm is too needed!  The only friend you’ve ever seemed to have is Kyla.  And now, add in Dannon, and you have lots of friends!”

I scoffed.  “Yeah, okay.”  I placed my hands on my hips, teetering back on my heels.  “And, um, can I have some money for Saturday?”

My mom nodded instantly, patting around her pockets as though she was going to hand me the money right here, right now.  “Yes, yes.  Of course!  You probably need fifteen for the movie and . . . fifty for shopping?  Done!”

My jaw almost dropped.  She was giving me sixty-five dollars, just like that?  “Are you feeling okay?” I murmured softly.  “You’re acting odd.”

My mom waved my question away.  “I’m fine, dear.  Oh my gosh!  Tomorrow, we’re pre-shopping!  We’re going to find you something to wear for the football game and for the group trip.”

Before I could open my mouth to argue, my mom skipped—yes, skipped—out of the room, singing a happy song at the top of her lungs.

So, instead of trying to convince her that the amount of money that she’d offered to give me was outrageous (I mean, I loved the offer.  But I didn’t need that much.), I simply gaped after her.  What I didn’t get was . . . she was taking me shopping . . . to go shopping?  Where exactly was the point in that?

The hormones must have really been working on her today.