Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 5

And the yelling and arguing began.

Michael accused me of starting the fight first, but I told Viv that he was mocking me and wouldn't stop trying to seduce me. I told Michael that he was a pain in the ass, and he told me that I was a wanker, whatever that is.

We really kept sparring one another, which led the other birthday guests of Viv to whisper to each other -- quite loudly, in my opinion -- about my situation and Michael's.

Viv looked so baffled that she had to apologize to us. Oh, she didn't say that she just wanted Michael and I to get along (it was obviously a bad idea), because if she did, I'd wring her neck first-hand.

Frederick, on the other hand, was containing his laughter that was bottled up but he'd been covering his mouth with his fist, green eyes twinkling.

I'd tried to imagine him in the wilderness and all, but my thoughts were cut off by Michael's bark of, "You are not going to get a ride in my car, Fred." This biting statement made Frederick gape and protest.

I really didn't know what Michael's car was, but I didn't care. He had a Porsche before, but I guess he got bored with it. Bah. Nothing was satisfying enough for a spoiled, airheaded, rich kid like him.

Michael bade Viv good-bye, greeted her a happy birthday, and stormed out of her house. Girls and boys were eager to see what Michael's car was but they frowned since they hadn't seen it in the driveway at all.

Frederick whispered something in Viv's ear, but I couldn't hear a single thing. It had been too damn noisy.

After greeting her a happy birthday and telling me I did a swell job knocking Michael with my forehead and stomping on his foot, Frederick left the place quite happily.

I followed a few minutes after, since I really had to rest. Viv understood and said the party would soon be over anyway. I knew she thought everything was ruined.

I kind of felt very bad, but I wasn't in the mood to apologize.

?????

"Grams, I'm home!"

"Oh hello, sweetheart," my grandmother, Allie, greeted happily. She entered the room in her pink blouse and cream-colored trousers. "Do you want some cookies?"

I looked at the counter in front of me, seeing a display of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in a glass jar. I opened it and took one. When I chewed, my head pounded a bit.

In an instant, Grams came to my rescue and placed a benign hand on my forehead. "What's the matter, Keller?"

"I banged some jerk's forehead with mine," I explained uncharacteristically, finishing my cookie.

I saw my grandmother's brown eyes widen, but she smiled and shook her head. She took out an icepack from a drawer and placed several cubes of ice inside it from the fridge, handing it to me after she was done.

"You have quite a lump on the right corner of your head," she said, peering at my bruise. I squirmed. "How hard did you hit him, anyway?"

I leaned on the counter, the icepack on my forehead. "Hard."

Grams rolled her eyes. "I was hoping for you to be more specific, but I guess you are in such a bad mood right now to explain. Besides, your head hurts -- you need rest."

"Baaak, Keller ugly! Keller ugly!"

I narrowed my eyes as I looked over Gram's head (I was several inches taller than her), and saw her evil parrot's form sitting comfortably on his swing inside his birdcage. I really believe that my little brother, Tommy, taught the parrot everything vile about me.

Cookie, the stupid parrot, eyed me with beady black eyes. "Baaak," he said again. "Keller stupid! Keller ugly!"

"You wouldn't mind me killing Cookie, now, would you, Grams?" I asked through clenched teeth. Gram's eyes widened again, shaking her head.

"He's a gift your grandfather gave me," she mumbled, suddenly missing Gramps. I sighed.

I groaned and woke up to the sound of my clock. I rubbed my eyes and got off my bed, heading straight for my laptop. I left my email and messenger on, too.

I scanned the offline messages, then closed them all. It was all just stupid group chats passed on to one another. I then went for my school email and checked them all: there were events alerts and other messages, but when I saw my home ec teacher's note, I quickly clicked on it and read.

[Home Economics] New lesson, Flour Caring

From: Mr. Logan ([email protected])

Sent: Sun 4/3 6:27 PM

To: [email protected]

New Lesson in Home Ec

Students of St. George,

You are going to learn about caring for a baby tomorrow in my class. I want all of you to know that there will be partners involved in this lesson of ours and you're all going to cooperate.

There will be no complaining about the partnering plan. It's all set. Your grade depends on whether you and your partner will be cooperating together and doing a good job of caring for your "baby." If one fails, so will the other. So be prepared.

Enlisted on the bottom of the message is your new partner:

Mr. Michael Cutting

Thank you,