Chapter 18: Say It Ain't So

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I walked down the stairs and headed towards the couches. The crew greeted me with nods, before I threw myself face first on the empty beanbag.

"What the hell happened to you?" I heard Connie ask.

"I met Halo's family."

I wasn't the least bit prepared, too. It felt like I was a trapped mouse, not being able to refuse the dinner invitation at all.

Halo gave me the chance to back out, but I didn't wanna be a wuss. I knew the moment I stepped foot inside that house, that I wasn't gonna get out easily. Coach Buckley knew it. Hence, why he wanted me to come in his home. Sneaky old man.

It was beyond awkward at the dining table. It wasn't just because I saw Meadow, Halo's ten-year-old sister, twerking in her pajamas. Halo thought it was hilarious. But me? I was goddamn scarred for life.

Sure, Halo's grandma was super sweet and shit. But even Mrs. Buckley couldn't tone down her husband's keen eyes on me all night.

They were polite, asking things about my family and school. Coach Buckley even mentioned football a couple of times. But I couldn't help but feel that he wasn't done talking to me. And I was right.

Right after dinner, I offered to help out with the dishes but Mrs. Buckley waved her hand dismissively and said I was the guest. He took that opportunity and asked me to come out with him to the backyard. My guts told me to run for it. But I didn't. Call it pride.

"Were you aware of Halo's relation to me?" he asked then, carefully watching me.

I met his stare head on. His intimidation tactics would've worked on anybody else. But I grew up with a manipulative, deceitful bunch of people. Nobody really scared me anymore.

"No, sir," I answered. Thank God for the inner politeness my whacked folks drilled in me. It came in handy sometimes.

"Son," he began, sighing and shaking his head, "I'm not sure what's going on with you. And I sure as hell don't know a lot about you. But from what I do know, it's not any good." His eyes squinted. "Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

My jaw clenched, my hands turning into fists.

"Yes," I bit out.

"Good," he said, with a hard nod. "Now I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt, because you deserve it." He pointed to me. "Don't screw it up."

Whoa, hold up. I thought he was gonna say that I should stay away from Halo. Huh. There was more to the stern-looking old man, after all.

"I won't," I assured him.

"You better, because I'm not about to stop my granddaughter from seeing whomever she wants to see." He took a step towards me and with a threatening glare, he added, "But for the love of God, son. Don't drag her in your mess."

What the fuck do I say to that?

Good thing he wasn't waiting for a reply, because he turned his back to me and headed back to the house. I could swear I even heard him mutter, "At least you got balls unlike the last one." To which, I wanted to say, "Balls of steel, sir."

But I didn't. He might chase me with a bat if I did.

"Well, that escalated quickly," snorted Alfie, bringing me back to the present.

I rolled over so I could lay on my back.

"Her Pops is the basketball coach," I informed them.

None answered for a long while. They probably had shock etched on their faces. The only thing I could hear was Eric Cartman's voice from the TV.

"I noticed they have the same last name," finally said Frisco. "But I didn't think . . ."

"I bet he's her grandpa," concluded Alfie. "He's way too fucking old to be her dad."

"Yeah," I sighed, and rubbed my face. I didn't get to ask her what happened with her parents. It wasn't mentioned during dinner even once. "I saw Scout, too," I said quietly, my eyes wandering to the ceiling and staring at nothing.

"You feel bad for him, don't you?" guessed Connie.

I glanced at her and saw that she was studying my face. I didn't give her an answer. I just looked away and tried not to think about it.

"He does," breathed out Alfie, lowering his bottle of beer and hanging his head. "We all do. We just don't wanna fucking admit it."

Nobody spoke for a good minute or two.

"He's an idiot and all," I started, "but his so called friends are fucktards."

It wasn't that hard to figure out. They didn't tell Scout about their plan because they knew he'd be against it. Simple as that.

But if they really respected him, they would've respected his decision, too. That said a whole lot about them. Unless they were listening to someone else.

Who was running the show? Who were they following if not really Scout?

That shit was still a mystery.

"Are we gonna go on with the revenge, or what?" asked Kurt, with a frown.

I turned my head and looked him in the eye. "Of course, dumbass." I sat up, and added, "Let's just try not to include the poor sucker as much in the damage we're about to cause."

Frisco raised a hand. "What about Halo?"

My eyes switched to him. "What about her?"

"She's the granddaughter of Coach Buckley," he reasoned, "whose team's starting line up we're about to destroy."

"That's a different matter," I told him firmly. My eyes traveled to each of them. "Leave her out of this, you hear?"

I didn't just say that because Coach Buckley asked me to. I seriously didn't give a shit what he thought. Honestly, I didn't wanna involve Halo in this chaos. She was in a different part of my life - the good part.

When the crew nodded, I stood up and went to the bar to get myself a drink. I sensed someone following me from behind, clearly wanting to talk away from the others. Based on the light steps, I was pretty damn sure it was Connie.

"And Snow?"

Yep. It was her, all right.

"What?" I merely said, not bothering to turn and face her.

"Her twin is innocent," she pointed out. Her cold tone didn't escape me. It was obvious she wasn't really into the conversation but she felt like she had to say it or else no one would.

"So?"

"She was right when she said he was."

"Get to the point."

"What's stopping you from getting back together with her?"

I stilled for a moment, then I opened the fridge and scanned the beverages. I grabbed a can of my favorite drink, Coke. Then, I placed it on the counter between us.

"Look, I don't blame her for siding with her brother. I get it," I admitted nonchalantly, shrugging a shoulder. I clicked the can open, and raised my head so she could see how serious I was. "But she broke my trust, Connie." I paused, glancing down on my drink. "That's not the only thing she broke."

"Exactly."

The conviction in her voice made me return my eyes on her.

"She didn't choose you," she reminded me, a bit angrily. "Always remember that."

Connie can be so sweet. You know, healing my wounds by rubbing salt on it.

"I never forget," I deadpanned.

She nodded once. "Good." With that, she turned around and left me.

Confused at the sudden outburst, I followed her.

"What the fuck was that about?" I demanded.

She stopped walking and shrugged. "Just because."

My eyes narrowed. "You don't just ask something without a meaning behind it."

"True," she considered thoughtfully. "Oh, well," she muttered, then went on towards the couches where everyone were.

"Yo, we're not done," I called.

"Wait!" exclaimed Alfie suddenly, stretching his arms out as he looked at everyone in the room. "No one asked about our boy Oz's slave date with Halo yet!"

I stared at him with a bored face.

"Yeah," agreed Kurt, sitting up and facing me. "When are you gonna bring her here, man? Can she cook?"

"Let's find out what happened today first, ya big donk!" argued Alfie, throwing him a chip. It landed on Kurt's shirt, which he picked up and ate.

"What's a donk?" asked Frisco, frowning in confusion.

And so, they went on with their mindless bickering. I just stood there, wondering why was it that whenever Halo's name was mentioned, they go all jungle monkeys.

"Alright, that's it!" I yelled over their loud voices. "What the hell's up?"

They looked at me with their well-played innocent faces.

"You think I don't catch your little looks lately?" I laughed humorlessly.

It started that day when I let Halo borrow a book of mine. When I got to practice, I was fucking around with Alfie then he and Kurt exchanged looks. The next time it happened was when I began using Shade again. Not to mention that day when we bumped into each other and the crew got all friendly with her. I could go on and on.

"I ignored it at first," I admitted, "but now it's irking the fuck outta me. Now spill."

The four of them exchanged glances. Alfie shrugged.

"It's got something to do with Halo," finally confessed Frisco.

"Yeah, no shit," I snorted.

"Don't take it the wrong way, dude," said Alfie seriously, scratching his head. "It's just that you're turning back to your old self 'cause of her."

I blinked. "Say what?" I asked, dumbfounded.

He smiled crookedly and waved a hand to me. "C'mon, you're joking more, laughing more, smiling more. You're not a bore anymore. Damn it, I'm turning poetic."

"Don't do that shit again," I told him. My ears almost bled from all that mores.

"What Alfie's trying to say is," explained Connie, rolling her eyes, "you don't look like a shitfaced zombie ever since you met Halo."

The fuck is a shitfaced zombie?

"You're having fun again," grinned Kurt, reaching out his long arm and punching me on the shoulder. "Oh, and Shade is back in our daily lives."

"You don't send everyone death glares anymore as well," added Frisco, smiling.

Their smiles creeped me out so much that I couldn't say anything. Even if I wanted to, no words would come out. It wasn't all the time my friends turned mushy like this. Yeah, this was already considered fucking mushy.

I just stood there like a goddamn dimwit, unable to move my ass off.

"Look, Oz," sighed Alfie, standing up and walking over to where I stood frozen. "I love you, man. You're my best friend." He paused and patted my shoulder. "But mopey you sucks ass." He chuckled and shook his head. "We tried everything to cheer you up - bring that grin of yours back to your fugly face."

"It never worked," said Frisco, shrugging.

Kurt raised his drink up. "Until now."

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed," scoffed my best friend.

Yeah, of course I noticed. I just chose to ignore it because if I didn't, it would make me realize how fucking pathetic I've been for the past year.

I slumped down on the empty couch, letting everything sink in. It was safe to say that I was confused as fuck. Alfie sat beside me while Connie settled on the other side. I recalled something Alfie said, making me face him. I swiftly put my arm around his head before he could get away, and gave him a noogie.

"Hey!" he yelped, struggling to pull away from my grip. "What the hell, Oz? Stop!"

"My face ain't fugly, jackass," I stated.

He burst out laughing at that, while I couldn't help but grin.

"You still wonder why we like Halo so much?" asked Connie, smiling as she watched us. She leaned closer, and whispered, "She brought our Oz back."


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Aw :">

For y'all who hate Oz for being such a jerk, thank you for proving my point. He IS a jerk. It ain't called Cruel Me for nothin'. Haha! If anything, you're letting me know that I'm doing it right. So really, no sarcasm, thank you! :)

Also, to those who like/love him... Well, thanks to y'all as well. You probably see something in him, so you try to understand his side. Not many people do so (at least in his life). Thanks for that. :)

JUST... THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. (And no, it's far from over. I'm just being emotional.)

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