Chapter Three
Discussions
“Now
play nice, children,” Dad said jokingly as I placed some snacks on the couch
for us while Ethan swapped computer games. Seriously, does he really think I’m
going to sit here and clap while he gets the highest score?
“Aren’t
we a little old for that Ethan?”
“You
might be, I’m not.”
After
he reached a high score he texted his friend Ariel.
Ariel lives close by but has headed so far down the emo road she may not
ever return. I’ve barely ever seen her wear an actual color. She’s not open to
a makeover even though I’ve tried to help her.
“She’s coming over,” Ethan announced.
“Great,”
I added, even though it wasn’t great.
Ariel
is a science geek who also likes computer games and I think she has a crush on
Ethan although he seems blissfully unaware of it. They’ve known each other
since grade school. It’s really quite nauseating to be around them since they
practically finish off each other’s sentences.
“Oh
Honey, I hope we won’t miss Phoebe too much while she’s on her vacation,” my
father said as he headed up to his study. “I hope she and Mark return soon. They
are far more than neighbors now since your sister married Mark’s other cousin –
they are family.”
Did
I mention I have a much older sister, Maya? Yes, I did. Well, she’s married and
lives in New York with yet another Knightly, Mark’s older half-brother, Harris,
who he didn’t grow up with and barely knows.
“Now,
don’t wake me up too early in the morning. Goodnight Honey,” Daddy said as he kissed
the top of my head. “Night Ethan, say hello to Ariel. Try not to spill any of
Sugarplum’s food on the couch, Honey.”
Sugarplum is my French bulldog rescue dog. She was rescued just as some
horrible mean ignorant person started trying to rip one of her toenails out
just to watch her cry and yelp in pain. Thankfully she was saved because of the
Bel Air School District Rescue Squad of
which I am a founding member. It’s called We
Love Dogs but now we help cats as well, so we’re changing it to: We love Animals. I’m going to brainstorm
my socials once we start school. We totally need to cast our net wider – there
are all sorts of endangered species that need our help.
The minute I saw Sugarplum abandoned near a garbage bin yelping in his
cardboard box, paws bloodied, I just had to have him. His paws were cleaned and
bandaged and eventually they healed.
He
needs extra love (which he definitely gets from me) but on special occasions I
get his toenails painted bright blue (with non-toxic doggy friendly nail
polish) so he only has to look up at the sky to remember how special he is. Of
course, Ethan had to tell me that dogs don’t see color but I choose not to believe
that.
Sugarplum nuzzled into the crook of my arm as dad left the room.
“‘Night Daddy, don’t worry about me,” I said.
“Oh,
it’s not you I’m worried about Honey, it’s Ethan; I fear you might eat him
alive while I’m asleep.”
“Of
course I won’t, Daddy. Ethan is used to my argumentative ways. At least I have
an opinion. You taught me that.”
“Exactly,”
Ethan said, “it’s good training for the United Nations…”
He laughed at his own joke. I bet Ethan
doesn’t think I’m smart enough to get into the United Nations. Well, I could
just show him.
My
father leaned over and kissed me goodnight on the cheek again in his kind and
warm way. He is the best father I know and I am extremely blessed to have him.
Meanwhile, Ethan decided to try out my dad’s
Xbox again and ate more dessert while waiting for Ariel to text him. He totally
acts like he owns this house, and I don’t really blame him. We’ve been hanging
out together my whole life, even longer than him and the wonderful Ariel. He’s
like the carpet, honestly.
“Ariel
can’t wait to hang out – with both of us. You really have to try to stabilize
those mood swings, Honey,” Ethan said, pressing the remote control. “You need
to get over your sister getting married before you.”
“My
sister is ancient but who ever thought your eldest brother would settle down?”
I spoke as if I was thinking aloud. “Of course, I’m happy that she’s married
even if I think the match is unsuitable. There is no spark between them in my
opinion. But, at least they’ll be loyal to each other. After all, she’s boring
and so is he. Perhaps like really does meet like but there is little comfort in
having conjured up the match myself,” I snapped to Ethan.
I
was annoyed I’d played cupid with Ethan and Ariel, too. After all, I’d introduced
the pair of them, unwittingly, in elementary school. When Ariel and I were
fighting over a copy of The Very Hungry
Caterpillar, Ethan interceded. That’s how they met. They were so unsuited,
romantically. I think that’s why Ariel is relegated to the ‘friend zone.’ I’m
going to have to speak to her about that, explain to her that Ethan just isn’t
the one. It’s been obvious in recent months that Ariel thinks of Ethan as more
than a friend when, he’s just not that into her.
“I
would never have introduced you and Ariel had I known how wrong you’d both be
for each other,” I mused.
“Boo
hoo Honey. We’re just friends and Ariel’s cool with that. So am I. There’s
nothing lost, but your sister and my brother? That was just a lucky guess.”
“It
was not. You can’t overlook the role I played as matchmaker even if they are
seriously boring as a couple. I was integral to their union.”
Ethan flicked the channel as he munched on a piece of watermelon.
“Doubt
it, they were into each other from the moment they met. I caught them bumping
uglies in the closet a year ago.”
“Too much information.”
Ethan laughed and switched channels.
“Well,
you can’t deny I got Phoebe and Mark together. Right from the start I pointed
out all of Phoebe’s perfectly lovely qualities.”
“Things
Mark was no doubt aware of from the start,” Ethan said under his breath as he
sipped his drink. “You made nothing more
than a lucky guess, Honey.”
“Well,
we shall see about that. This whole month is all about the lead up to Dance
Party Fangdango – everyone gets to take someone and it’s so much better if that
someone is fun and a good match. I have my eye on couples I’d like to see
together already. You should know I don’t think you and Gigi are going to make
it.”
“Well, maybe we already have.”
“Sure.
Whatever.”
“And what would you know, Honey? You give all the good advice but you’ve
never dated anyone.”
“I’m
not dating until I’m sixteen. I like to keep my mind clear of distractions. Anyway, I’m waiting until I’m older to meet
college boys. I want Mr Right, not Mr Right Now.”
Ethan nearly choked on his soda.
“But,
I have someone in mind for the new girl…” ‘The New Girl’, I’d just heard about
via text from Jessica was named Hilary and had just arrived from San Francisco.
“Doesn’t one of daddy’s friends have a son who’s transferring along with you?”
I hinted.
“If
you’re thinking about Flynn Elton , you should be warned. He’s not what you
think. His older brother was in my class. My father worked with his father in
Singapore… Flynn’s younger than me but I heard he’s a player. He only dates
girls with money from the right social climbing families…”
Ethan’s
family had always been one of the wealthiest in Los Angeles and he’d never seen
any sense in only talking to people because they had money. But he’d noticed
not everyone had as good a value system as him. He really thought people like Flynn’s
mom were kind of a joke. Flynn’s mom warned her son only to date girls whose
father’s owned companies, according to Ethan.
“There is nothing wrong with being wealthy,” I said, “as long as you use
your wealth to do good things.”
“Oh,
ho hum, the voice of teen wisdom speaks.”
“At
least I have values,” I argued.
“You
should stay out of other people’s love lives and worry more about your own.
You’ve been single your entire life, Honey. I think there’s a reason for that.”
“Yeah,
‘cos like, I’m barely sixteen. I have other matches to make before my own.”
“Whatever.
My point being… you don’t know anything.”
“I’m very perceptive if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed. Even so, Maria met her husband when she was sixteen,
she was telling me all about it yesterday. You’re getting up there,” Ethan
joked.
“A
single girl of good character who keeps her finances in order is always welcome
at any party…”
“Mmm…
Where do you get all of your awesome advice? Jane Austen?”
“Of
course.”
Ethan just smiled sarcastically.
“Perhaps
it’s time you played matchmaker for yourself. You should get busy with your own
dating plans or you’ll have no one to take you to Dance Fangdango.”
“As
it happens I’m on the committee, so I don’t have to take anyone.”
“Well,
color me in!” Ethan said sarcastically.
“No
thank you. You are not on my short list.”
“Newsflash;
I think you’re going to find most
sixteen year old guys are more interested in finding legal ways to get wasted
than being on your ‘shortlist’ Honey.”
“Not
at all. I already have at least half a dozen messages in direct connection to
this topic: Who is Taking Who to the winter
dance?”
I
flicked on my web page just to prove it.
“I
cannot believe there are starving people in the world and you think this stuff
is important.”
I
could tell Ethan was jealous.
“Of
course, that’s true Ethan, but why do you always have to be such a killjoy? You
know full well I founded an animal shelter and last year the Princesses raised
funds during a bachelor and bachelorette auction that went towards building a
school in South East Asia for abandoned children.”
“South
East Asia? I thought it was Brazil.”
“Well,
that too,” I said, “I spread myself too thin.”
“Not
likely,” Ethan said, helping himself to another bowl of dessert as Ariel
knocked on the door.
“You
should eat up. No man likes a skinny woman.”
“Oh
please,” I sighed.
“Anyway, what makes you think you could find the right person for Flynn?”
“I’ve
already found her,” I said as I circled Hilary’s name on my short list of new
arrivals at Sunrise High. (I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking, how
did I get hold of that? I volunteered to help Mrs Myers organize the school
office, it’s not my fault really that I was privy to some private stuff – I’d
never tell anyone.)
“Honey, I’m pretty sure Flynn knows how to
fend for himself in matters of romance.”
He
said the word ‘romance’ like he was making fun of it.
“I
think we can both be assured teenage boys know very little about finding their
perfect match.”
Ethan just shrugged and said, ‘get real Honey – open your eyes. Some
girls might be obsessed with relationships but guys are only interested in one
thing… maybe two,” Ethan shrugged.
I
wondered what the second thing was.
“You
need a reality check,” Ethan added, before continuing with trying to reach his
highest game score ever.
There was a buzz at the door just as I was considering the appropriate
response.
It
was Gigi. Ariel was with her. They had arrived for Ethan’s gaming group and to
basically interrupt our discussion.
Ethan was at the door in a nano-second.
Though
I have to admit Ethan Knightly comes from a lineage of extremely hot Bel Air
bachelors, he clearly isn’t the least bit interested in dating anyone for
longer than about a week. Poor Gigi. She smiled sweetly, I smiled in return.
In
the light of the gaming screen, Ethan Knightly is seriously not bad – his looks
verge from cute boy to seriously ridiculously cute boy: dark hair (it runs in
the family), blue eyes, hot and muscular chest from all of his athletics
training and swimming at the beach during summer and not too much gaming...
Snap out of it Honey Woodhouse, I thought. You have far more important
work to do than re-imagining your neighbor is hot. The world, your world, the
cul de sac of Bel Air that leads to Sunrise and the halls of Sunrise High
School – they all need you.
Of
course, I was slightly deluded but it is only in hindsight that this became
apparent to me. I guess that’s what ‘delusion’ is.
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