Chapter 11: Blockhead #1 and Blockhead #3

“Morning,” Holly greeted me cheerfully as I approached my locker.

“Are you going to do this every day?” was my response.

“Every day until I get a cheerful smile and chirpy ‘morning’ back,” she informed me, “because that’s when I know something’s fishy going on.”

I stared at her in shock for a moment. That was the closest thing to an insult that I have ever heard leave Holly’s mouth. It was a very weak mean-spirited thing, but still. Maybe Uranus was rubbing off on her.

But Holly seemed to realize what she just said and quickly blurted out, “I’m sorry! That was mean. It’s not that you’re depressing, but –” Holly trailed off and ended with a long, “yeah . . .”

Never mind.

“You seem upset,” Holly commented when I didn’t reply to her but instead went to opening my locker and started to unpack my bag.

I groaned in response.

“Is it about the comment I said earlier? If it is, I didn’t mean to offend you in anyway. It’s just that I didn’t get my strudel this morning and my stomach has been secretly growling all morning. I think you can hear it even now, but anyways, that’s beside the point. I would beg for your forgiveness. Do you want to? Cuz’ I actually will-”

“Holly!” I had to shout over her long rambling, which had become progressively louder and now attracting glances from students passing by. “It’s not your fault,” I assured her when she had stopped.

Holly was still standing there giving me a look of guilt.

I sighed and decided to tell her. “My relatives are coming over for our annual, family reunion this weekend and my father decided to tell me only three days before they start arriving.”

“Isn’t family a good thing?” Holly asked, giving me a confused look.

“Not when one of your cousins has no idea you wear a suit,” I muttered quietly so no greedy ears could hear.

“Oh, so you’re basically under house-arrest?”

“Well, that’s not really the bad part. This particular relative has a pretty tight relationship with social networking and has no respect for me.”

“You could always hang out at my place,” Holly suggested. “Though, Trent is usually there.”

I gave her a grimace. “I’ll pass.”

“We’re not that bad, are we?”

“Please, you guys are like that annoying couple that won’t hang up on each other unless someone else does it.”

“Are you serious?” Holly asked panicked. “I thought couples were supposed to do that! Well, at least that’s what one of my friends told me.”

“There’s your problem.”

“You mean I could have hung up on him that whole time?!” Holly asked, appalled. “I spent fifteen minutes straight repeating that stupid ‘No, you hang up first,’ over the phone?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “You thought that it was some law for couples?” I asked between laughs.

“You got stuck in a vent!” Holly countered teasingly, blushing slightly from my statement.

“No, no I didn’t,” I objected. “This,” I motioned to my torso, “got stuck—not me.”

“Whatever, it still reminds of me Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

“Oh! The part where that kid gets stuck in the tube?”

“No, I was thinking more about Violet turning into that giant ball.”

“Psht, whatever,” I retorted lamely. “I think about it more like Nemo getting stuck in the cleaning pipe. That’s a comparison I’m willing to take.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. The way you guys both move is sort of funny to watch.”

“Shut up,” Jokingly, I commanded. “In this case you’re the octopus thing.”

“I do not ink.”

“That’s what she said,” I stated victoriously.

“Wha—uh—” Holly mumbled intelligently with an embarrassed look on her face and finished with a fake growl.

“Last words, I win,” I declared with a smug grin on my face as Holly glared at me playfully.

“I don’t see why everyone is so mean to you,” Holly commented with a thoughtful expression on her face.”You’re perfectly likeable.”

“Only to you,” I muttered under my breath.

“What? I didn’t catch that.”

“Nothing. Hey, look there’s your boyfriend!” I quickly changed the subject pointing to Uranus as he walked through the school doors. “See you in calc!” I called as I scurried away to homeroom.

On the way there, I couldn’t help but see that I actually was indeed less bitchy to Holly than to rest of the school population. Part of my mind wanted to accept that I now have a closer-than-acquaintance friend, another part wanted to think of roasting marshmallows. Holly was the fire and I was the marshmallow—the longer I hung out with her I could get burnt and taste icky, but maybe I was just over-thinking things.

Nah, I could never taste nasty—that’s what she said.

:::x:::O:::x:::

My periods seemed to go by quicker today. Holly even shut up in math, probably scared of getting another detention, but hey, it worked. Though, Ms. Houston didn’t seem to keen of me and would purposely call on me to read random things. She even made me read the copyright page.

Physics was another story. Apparently Uranus is in that class as well and I haven’t noticed until Mr. Rivera made me join a group with him.

“What don’t you get?!” I half-shouted for the fifth time, looking at Uranus in frustration. “This is simple vector addition!”

“Stop yelling at me!” Uranus demanded.

“Stop being stupid!” I retorted at him.

“Stop being a know-it-all!”

“Stop insulting me!”

“Then help me!”

“I am!”

“Well, you’re not doing a very good job then!”

“Maybe you’re just stupid!”

“Maybe you’re just a know-it-all!”

“Stop insulting me!” For a second, I felt the sensation of déjà vu even though it only happened fifteen seconds ago.

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!”

Both Uranus and I looked away from each other and towards the third member of our group. Odd, I’ve never heard him talk before. He just sits at the back of the classroom, looking dark and mysterious.

“Liam,” Uranus started with a startled expression on his face, “did you just speak?”

“I thought you were mute,” I admitted sheepishly.

“You guys are both stupid.” Liam then went silent again and slumped in his seat, still watching the both of us. “Do the problem,” he said in an almost-threatening voice, as if he was going to hurt us if we didn’t work amicably.

Mr. Rivera chose that moment to come over to our group. “How’s that problem going, guys?”

“Good,” Uranus and I answered together, almost immediately, taking a moment to glance at each other awkwardly.

“O-kay then. Keep working,” Mr. Rivera said slowly and in confusion went to the next group.

“So you just take the components, add them up, and then you construct another triangle from the sum?” Uranus asked, continuing the problem.

I sighed, “No—wait, yes!” I grinned cheerfully. “You’re getting it!” I declared happily.

“I am?”

“Yup.”

“Really?” Uranus kept asking doubtfully.

“I’m pretty positive.”

“Just do the next problem,” Liam snapped suddenly.

“Does this mean you’re doing your own homework now?” I whispered to him.

“Nope.”

“Asshole.”

“I know.”

When I had made sure Mr. Rivera wasn’t looking our direction, I smacked Uranus (still funny) in the head.

“Ow!” Uranus cried in pain, causing other students to stare at him with curiosity. “Sorry, I stubbed my toe . . . on my chair,” he responded awkwardly.

They other students eventually stopped staring at him and I silently snickered next to him.

“Shut up, meatball,” Uranus snapped at me.

“Meatball?” I questioned in disgust.

“Yes, Meatball,” he repeated smugly. “I figured that it suits you. I mean you look like one right now.”

I stood there appalled for a moment before responding. “Okay, one, I do not look like a brown sphere covered in marinara sauce. Two, I’m a vegetarian. And lastly, you suck at dubbing nicknames.”

“Says the person who calls me Cashier Guy.”

“Hey, it’s officially Uranus and Asshole now,” I told him matter-of-factly, getting flustered at the lame attempt of a nickname. “Man, I really hit the nail on the head with ‘Asshole’, huh? Who would have thought that it was so close to one of your actual name?”

I could tell Uranus was losing some of his already short temper.

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed at me. “Someone might hear.”

“What?” I played dumb. “That your middle name is URANUS?” I continued, intentionally emphasizing his name.

“What’s that, Serena? Your middle name is Gurthel?” Uranus replied, louder than I had said it.

“What?! No, it isn’t!” I denied, ready to hit him again, but Mr. Rivera was already giving us a disapproving look.

“How’s that for a nickname, Gurthel? It’s a mixture of Gertrude and Ethel,” he explained proudly.

“Well, you’re an Assbutt,” I retorted lamely. “Mine’s better since you can actually tell what it’s a combination of.”

“Cinderbrains.”

“Playdohhead.”

“Pimplenose.”

“Zitface.”

At this point, I didn’t really have another nickname, but to be fair I did already have two other nicknames for him. I couldn’t keep a straight face on while insulting him, which made him crack a smile at my attempt in biting my tongue so I wouldn’t smile.

“Alright, do you guys want a nickname?!” Liam sat up again and yelled at us. “You can be blockhead number one and you can be blockhead number 3! Now shut up and do the work.”

“What happened to blockhead number two?” I stupidly asked.

“You're going to find out if you don't shut up,” he replied threateningly, shoving his homework in my face. “You want to stay here, in one piece, do my work.”

“But-but,” I sputtered in shock. This was truly the first time I’ve ever been intimidated at this school.

Well, there was that time when I caught the principal sneaking into the girls’ restroom and told me he would ruin my future if I told anyone, but yeah. That’s a story for another time.

Liam didn’t say anything, but merely raised his eyebrows a bit, daring me to go on.

I silently gulped and nodded in fear. Slightly shaky, I turned away from Liam, who had gone back to his original uncaring form, and picked up my pencil from the table.

In the corner of my eye I saw Uranus give me a brief look of pity, but it soon faded.

“So, vectors?”

:::x:::O:::x:::

At lunch, I had fully recovered my previous shakiness and was pondering ways to plot revenge Liam. He seemed to be the mysterious guy, so a symbolic death would be best. Maybe I could shove the homework down his throat. Or a poem. Or maybe a song.

“Hi, Serena!” a chirpy voice snapped me out of my violent train of thought.

“Holly, not to be rude or anything, but don’t you have better friends to hang out with? Or maybe flirting with Uranus?” I asked a little too bluntly for my liking, but I was new at this.

Ignoring my questions Holly sat down across from me. “That last sentence sounded really creepy,” she commented, while softly laughing.

“I’m serious, Holly. You don’t have to eat lunch with me.”

“But you’re actually interesting to talk to. All of my other friends mainly talk about you.”

“Oh, I’m flattered,” I said sarcastically.

“You shouldn’t. They say horrible things.” Holly gave me the same look of pity Uranus had given me earlier,

“Holly, I’ve dealt with this since sophomore year. Do you really think that insults actually hurt me now?”

Holly still continued to give me that look. “But they aren’t true,” she continued.

“Holly, I knew the consequences of doing this and I accept them,” I answered seriously. See, this is what happens when I tell people. I get pity.

Holly huffed, but she thankfully decided to give up. “So, has anyone asked you yet?”

I stared at her in confusion. “Asked me what?”

“To the dance.”

“There’s a dance?”

“Yes, Rena. There’s a dance,” Holly confirmed as if she was talking to a three-year-old. “Remember, we went dress-shopping on Monday.”

Then it all came rushing back to me. Shopping- ugh, even the thought of it made me tremble, the root of all of this, but for some reason, I was happy it did happen.

“Okay, what’s with the smile?” Holly asked, giving me a look of suspicion.

“Nothing,” I replied quickly, biting my tongue to stop myself from smiling. “I thought you wanted me to be happier, anyways.”

“Yes, but that was a creepy smile.”

“You’re a creepy smile,” I retorted lamely.

“I am not—hey!”

“Hay is for horses.”

“No, you side-tracked me. Do you have a date?”

“Yeah, it’s December eleventh.”

“Rena,” Holly said warningly.

I rolled my eyes before responded sarcastically, “Yes, Holly, I, the girl whom other girls at this school can write two walls of negative things with, has a date. His name is Bob and he’s my imaginary friend.”

“But they’re not true,” Holly whispered quietly, as if she was saying it more to herself than me. “None of them are true.”

I panicked for a second. Did she know something? “I,” I started to interrupt her out-loud thinking, but a piece of paper was shoved in front of me.

“Here.”

I looked up to see Uranus sitting next to Holly and then looked down at the paper. It was the physics homework for tonight and on the side he had written ‘only for today’.

“What’s with the creepy smile?” Uranus gave me the exact same look Holly had given me.

“See!” she exclaimed victoriously. “I told you your smile was creepy!”

“My smile is not creepy!” I defended myself.

“Rena, when I find you a date, please don’t smile like that,” Holly totally ignored me with a knowing smile planted on her face.

“Hah, as if anyone would date her.”

Holly hit Uranus, from what I could see, pretty hardly. “Trent, do you really want me to tell your ping pong buddies that your middle name is Uranus?”

I nearly choked on my peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, laughing. Did I just hear her correctly? “You play ping pong?”

“Yes,” Holly quickly answered for her boyfriend, who was now reddening. “But, that’s not the point. What do you think of Martin?”

“Who?” I asked when the thought of Uranus playing ping pong died down.

“You know. The guy on the Arithmates? He’s about your height with glasses.”

“Oh! Rude Boy,” I said the unofficial name in disgust. “Yeah, I don’t like him.”

“Plus, he’s out of your league,” Uranus snickered.

“Shut up.”

“Yeah, Trent. Hush. Do you have any suggestions?”

“How about a mop? I’m pretty sure that’s more of your—” Uranus was interrupted by Holly hitting him, once again, on his arm.

“Hey, I have a suggestion,” I piped in. “How about I stay at home and eat Ben & Jerry’s?”

“No, Rena, you have to go! It’s junior year,” Holly begged me with her doe-like eyes.

I feel like I couldn’t say no. I mean she got someone fired for me and she hits Uranus. I reluctantly agreed, shaking my head slowly. “But no date,” I quickly added.

“You couldn’t have gotten one—” Holly quickly hit him on the head. “Holly, stop hitting me,” he whined.

“Stop being so mean then. She hasn’t done anything to you.”

“But she calls me Uranus.”

“Do you want me to start calling you Uranus as well?”

“No, please don’t.”

“Then stop.”

“But—”

“Hey, Uranus, can you pass me the salt?”

“Holly, don’t make me—”

“How’s the weather today, Uranus?”

“Holly.”

“Uranus.”

“Please.”

“No, Uranus.”

“Holly.”

“Ur—”

“Fine!” Uranus said grudgingly and looked at me. “I’m sorry for my inexcusable behavior, Serena. Will you forgive me?”

“Tell her that she’s pretty,” Holly whispered to him. “Oh, and add feeling.”

I was amused. I probably had my ‘creepy’ smile on again too. They were like children. It was cute, but then again, I felt that wave of jealousy for not having somebody to have feelings for.

“Serena, I beg for your forgiveness, for I didn’t mean to undermine your beauty and grace,” Uranus choked on the last few words, which I found amusing. “Will you accept my apology? For a thousand suns will die if I don’t have your pardon. So, for the sake of a thousand suns, accept my dearest and humblest apology. Or else I will forever be in your debt.”

I almost laughed at his attempt to add ‘feeling’ into it. He sort of looked bored and embarrassed while reciting it so, of course, I had to give him my honest answer.

“No.”

:::x:::O:::x

Author’s Note:

Hi! I’m tired, so forgive any mistakes.

I almost kicked myself this week for being so unreliable for you guys :( I’m so ashamed of myself. I am really sorry that I couldn’t update. Like I said, I was writing an essay. But I shall TRY to update another chapter tomorrow.

Anyways, DOUBLE DIGITS! AND OMG. I have 170+ fans now. So, I wanted to take the time to thank all of you for reading, commenting, fanning, and voting. I know 170 isn’t a lot compared to some other authors on here, but it really does mean a lot to me. Thanks you guys for being so understanding of my random update times. But, sigh. I’m back to #900 or something. Oh well. One day you’re relatively close then you fail. But, yeah, it’s nearly 5 AM and I can’t think straight, so I’m going to bed. Night!

Lawl. What’s up with Liam?

Anyone know any lame jokes? I’m in the mood for fake laughing :)