Lolly [Sweet Taboo Series]

Chapter 1 | Eye Candy

15 YEARS OLD

Loletta hurried out of her English class to meet her best friend, Robyn. They'd always meet up after school to catch the bus together, and since it was a Friday, Robyn would be going to her house for tea. It was a ritual, though Lolly had a hunch that part of the reason Robyn wanted to come over every week was more to peak at her brother and his best friend than for her brother's lasagna. She couldn't blame her. She could vouch for at least Liam's good looks. Loletta would be the first to admit that the crush she, herself, had developed for him was unconventional. 

Out of the rest of Parker's friends, Liam was the nicest to her. He would talk to her and make her laugh, which was worlds apart from how her brother's other friends would treat her. They were very distant... as if she was more of a nuisance. Of course it wasn't an obvious distaste - if Parker had caught one of his friends disrespecting his sister then all hell would break loose. It was just a feeling that she got when they were around.

But then again, what twenty-one year old would want to make friends with their best friends fifteen year old sister? It had fleeted through Lolly's mind that his nice persona might just be part of his nature. Still... his affection caused her to venture into an unsavoury territory which confused her feelings.

Lolly greeted Robyn with a large smile as she approached and engulfed her in a side hug. The bus ride home only took ten minutes, and they talked a lot about what they were going to do during their sleepover. Typically the sleepovers would be filled with discussions about homework, and then they would break to watch old movies while eating snacks that would make their stomachs feel like they were about to burst.

"Are you excited for movie night?!" Robyn exclaimed as they climbed onto the yellow bus.

"Of course! When am I ever not excited about 80's night?" Lolly nodded and gave her excited reply as they found a seat at the back of the bus.

Loletta was an old movie fanatic, and so was Robyn. It was part of the reason why they were friends, and was the first conversation they'd had. Lolly had seen two pins on her bag that had quotes from the movie 'Heathers' and had been eager to make a friend who shared the same passion as her. Turned out Robyn was also pretty awesome too. She'd invited her round to have a marathon on classics like 'Blazing Saddles' and 'A Streetcar Named Desire', and so their friendship began.

"Will your brother be there?" She asked while giving Lolly a side glance.

"Yeah, and Liam too. I think they're watching a soccer game tonight so they'll be up pretty much the whole night."

Lolly didn't miss how her friend perked up at the mention of her brother. Mind you, she could also tell that her friends crush on her brother was fleeting. Had Robyn actually had a higher affinity to her brother, they would not be having this casual conversation on the back of the bus - her crushes tended to be kept more private or accidentally blurted out whilst suffering from a severe case of 'tired tongue', in which she was so tired after a night of movie marathons she didn't even realise she was talking but ended up spilling all her secrets.

"Great! We can steal all of their snacks."

"My brother will not be happy about that. You know how he gets about his food."

"Yeah, but Liam will be there to protect you from his wrath. That's what usually happens when your brothers annoyed with you. Liam comes to the rescue."

Lolly narrowed her eyes at her. "Does not."

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

Robyn gave her a pointed stare.

Despite Lolly's protests, she knew that that was the case. It fell under the criteria of him being nice to her. Whenever Lolly messed up and Liam knew about it, he'd always cover for her. Like the time she accidentally left the backyard gate open letting their dog, Poppy, out to roam the streets unattended. Parker had been furious. She'd almost taken the full brunt of his anger until Liam stepped in claiming that he had gone into the backyard to retrieve the car keys that he'd left by the pool but must have forgotten to close the gate behind him.