Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 45

**Kapittel 45**

***Vanessa***

**"But I don't feel like talking about it right now."**

**"Bummer,”** Nikki mumbled under her breath like she was disappointed, which earned her a light smack on the arm from Harley. "Hey!" she interjected, rubbing her arm.

"You two are a pain in the asses. You guys can't just force her to open up." He shook his head at his two nosy siblings, and a loud disappointed sigh reverberated through the line. He then looked at me. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, Van. Don't listen to them, they're just speaking nonsense."

"But in all seriousness though, Van. If you aren't comfortable talking about it then we'll wait," Seandhe added.

"Harley's right, Van. Sorry for forcing you into telling the truth." It was Nikki who apologized, seeming to realize her mistake. "But when they hurt and make you cry again, just tell us and we'll beat their asses," she said, folding her sleeve up to her shoulder and showing off her toned arm, one that I was envious of her.

She tended to work out together with her brothers, so she's got that pretty toned body that I want on myself. Meanwhile, I was so busy moping and living a sedentary life that a little fat grew on my low belly. I guess I should start hitting the gym sometimes.

"That's right! I'll give 'em a taste of a move I learned at training recently," Seandhe added, suddenly standing up and began throwing flashy yet forceful punches in the air and shuffling his feet. I laughed when he said some onomatopoetic noises in every move he made.

"You mean, that kick where you put too much force that it made you fall and embarrass yourself in front of everyone?" Harley asked which made us all release a peal of laughter, except for Seandhe of course.

"You didn't have to tell her that!" he said, his ears red with embarrassment.

"Thank you, guys," I said, smiling widely. I opened the vanity drawer and finally found my comb.

We got to catch up on things that happened in the afternoon. Nikki and Harley embarrassed Seandhe further by telling me how he slipped "majestically" when trying a new move during training. We had only been away from each other for days and talked a few hours ago, and I couldn't help but still missed them. I wanted to see them face-to-face and hug them tight. I needed it.

Our conversations rolled from one thing to another then it went on about viral videos on social media, and thank God they didn't seem to see my video on TikTok though. Well, Georgia did mention that it kept getting deleted, but got reposted every time on the school's Reddit. Hopefully, it wasn't posted in others as well.

While I got to avoid sharing them about the incident earlier, they also made me feel better. It still lingered in my mind no matter how much I tried to forget it though. I was still enraged, to be honest. I wasn't just angry with him, but at myself as well. Everything was like a bomb that dropped and exploded. Things just happened in a blink of an eye, I let my emotions get the best of me, and I ended up hurting myself. The memory of Dad telling me that he hated me frowning before he died. How come I remembered about that just now?

Unlike in the shower in which time seemed to pass slowly, our little hang-out happened so fast that it was already time for dinner.

"How do I look?" I asked them and angled my face from side to side to give them a good look at my face. No wonder Nikki sensed that I was crying, my eyes were all puffy and swelling red. Here I was, stupid enough to believe that the shower could handle it. I couldn't let Mom see me like this and get sad, I had to conceal it with makeup.

"Mighty fine...?" Nikki answered with a raised brow as if it was the dumbest question asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I meant do I still look like I cried?"

"Yeah. The color-correcting concealer did well." Now we were talking.

"Vanessa!" Mom's voice echoed. "Come and eat dinner before it gets cold!"

"I'm on my way, mom!" I quickly answered, scrambling on my seat and putting my makeup back in the drawer. "Just give me a few!" I said.

"Hurry up," Seandhe pressured. He knew that I hated getting pressured, and always taunted me about it.

"I am, so shut it." I stuck my tongue out and combed my hair one last time. While combing my hair earlier, I somehow thought that my friends were like a comb. They were willing to help me detangle the twists and knots life purposely made for whatever's sake. I was glad that they were always there for me, especially when I needed them most and was too afraid to tell them. I guess this was what Nikki implied about having a connection as part of being friends.

"Speaking of, aren't you guys supposed to eat dinner at this time too?" I asked, tucking my tresses behind my ear for a finishing touch.

"We already did. You were too busy with your makeup to notice that were slurping on Chinese," Seandhe replied nonchalantly.

"I see," I murmured while picking up the phone. I should bid them goodbye before I get down.

"What are you having for dinner?" it was Harley who asked.

"That, I don't know."

"I bet it's something good. You know Mrs. H cooks well."

"Yeah, unlike mom who puts less than a pinch of spice in every food," Seandhe complained, tapping his stomach.

"Yeah, and that's why we don't let you cook either," Nikki retorted.

"You!" My burly friend was quick to get on his feet and was ready to charge her. So did his sister, running behind Harley for cover.

"Hey, hey!" Harley went between them, trying to de-escalate the situation. "Knock it off, you two."

"What? It's true, your food tastes like it's unseasoned too!" Nikki continued to taunt her brother who was trying to claw her, and the other was protecting her from behind.

I have already seen the three of them argue lots of times, and it never failed to amuse me. Jay, Katherine, and I would even make bets sometimes about who would win. But tonight felt different since I was seeing this online, it might be because the lovebirds weren't present as well.

"Oh yeah? Well, your chicken alfredo sucks!" Seandhe voiced which caused her to gasp, and furrow her eyebrows. Of course, Nikki's favorite was chicken alfredo, and always took pride in how she made them deliciously, which she did. "You did not just say my chicken alfredo sucks!"

"Oh no," he made an obviously fake gasp. "I just did!"

"Come here and let me smack your ass!"

"No, you come here, and let me smack you!"

"Coward!"

"Doesn't that make you one too?!"

"You two, stop!" Harley squawked at the top of his voice. He was tired of restraining his siblings from tearing each other. If he did back down even for a second, surely there'd be blood. "This is giving me a headache." "Harls, you decide! Which is better my cooking or hers?" Seandhe asked.

"Y'all are giving me the hot seat now?" he asked his twin, glaring at him absurdly.

"Just answer it!" Nikki cajoled.

"Uh..." Harley hesitated, he knew that if he would pick a side, it would definitely insinuate discord with the other. "Let Van decide!" Damn, he transferred the hot seat to me!

The two immediately hovered over the camera and insisted which I thought best. I stared at them ridiculously and was about ridicule to give a reply when a message popped. Thank God, the universe, and all the odds! "Hang on, a friend just texted," I tried to avoid the contest.

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that!" Now their attitude changed. They crossed their arms simultaneously, looking at each with raised brows.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Oh nothing, it's just that it looks like we're getting replaced in no time," Nikki retorted.

"You guys are so dramatic." I gave them the bombastic side jokingly, before tapping on the text.

It was Asher, asking about what happened to me being called to the Guidance Counselor. I immediately stretched my thumbs and answered that I was tasked to do community service as punishment. **From:** ***Asher***

*Wow.*

**From:** ***Asher***

*You were tasked to do community service.*

Okay... why did he seem surprised?

"Who is it?" Harley asked.

"It's Asher. He was asking about what happened earlier."

"You mean, what made you cry?" Seandhe asked.

"Yea- no! No." I glared at him over the line. He got me again.

"See we are getting replaced." Nikki began to feign tears and bawled loudly. "You're getting to telling him about that stuff, and you don't tell it to us."

"Nikki," Harley bellowed her name, his voice octaves lower than his normal one. It sounded like a father warning his child.

"I was just kidding!"

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my works, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**