The Bad Boy Next Door Stole My Diary | Completed

Chapter 25: Fire and K-Pop

"Duke," I giggled. "Cut it out," I continued laughing. "Stop kissing me," I continued to giggle like a weirdo. I opened my eyes slowly to see not Duke but Dexter licking my face like there is no tomorrow. I let out a yell, scaring Dexter off of my bed. "You're not Duke!" I shouted at Dexter as I pointed at him. Dexter sat there with his tongue hanging out. I jumped off my bed and started searching for a towel to wipe the dog slobber off of my face.
"No, he's not but I could give you better than dog kisses," I heard Duke say from his window. I roll my eyes and walk over to my window, using a towel to wipe the dog slobber off of my face. "Have a good dream?"
"Why would I? It was you in my dream and you're a nightmare," I said as I smirked at him.
"Really? Because it sounded like you enjoyed my kissing in your dream," Duke said sending me a wink and a smirk. "Duke, cut it out!" Duke mimicked me in a high pitch voice while making kissy lips.
I opened my mouth in disgust. I let out a sigh. "You heard everything I said...didn't you?" I asked regretting leaving my window open.
Duke leaned on his windowsill. "Mhm," Duke said smirking. "You know we could do more than just-"
"Bye, perverted monkey," I said as I wiggled my fingers and closed my window. I stuck my tongue out and closed my curtains. I continued wiping off the dog slobber. "Ew, now I know how Lucy feels when Snoopy licks her." I walked over to my dresser to see that Gramma left a note for me along with my pills and water:
Have a good day, honey! Gramps and I will be home late tomorrow night. You're free to have you're friends over. Just open the bakery for a little while and close it before evening.
                                                     ~Gramma xoxo
I smile at the note and look at my pills. I think I'll be alright for a few hours without taking them. I'm about to jump into the shower until I see a box of hair dye sitting on my dresser. I've been really meaning to get my hair done but I don't have the time or money to get it done professionally. And I wanted it dyed an unnatural color. This calls for the girl that dyes her hair nonstop.
"Okay I can only stay for a little while and then I have to go out and spend 'quality family time' with my parents," Nicky said rolling her eyes at her parents quote as she spun around in my desk chair. I invited Nicky over immediately to dye my hair since shes good with this stuff. I mean the girl is a pro when it comes to her own hair.
"Hey, as long as you can dye my hair I'm okay with however long you stay," I say smiling at Nicky. She grins at me and leads me to my bathroom.
"Alright, so I grabbed these two colors and I think I may be able to make your hair look awesome," Nicky said as she began unboxing the hair dye.
"'You think'?" I questioned her.
She turned around and faced me with a deadpanned face. "Do you trust me or not?" Nicky asked growing impatient.
I gave up and smiled. "Work your magic, Nic," I said as I sit down in the chair for her to do my hair.
"Excellent," Nicky exaggerated as she yanked on the glove's wrist and let it snap her back in the wrist. I jumped as the wrist of the glove snapped her in the wrist. I widen my eyes. What am I getting myself into? We spent an hour in the chemical smelling bathroom putting the dye in and then spending more time to wash it out. After Nicky blowed dried my hair she stood me up and face me to the mirror. "And you are done," Nicky said.
I stared at the mirror in awe at my pink-purple ombré hair. Nicky curled the bottom of my hair so now it looks even better. "Nicky this is awesome!" I said asI hugged her.
"I take cash, pizza, or cookies," Nicky asked expecting me to pay her.
I rolled my eyes and laughed at her. "Let's go downstairs and I'll give you a box of cookies," I gave in. I heard her whisper a 'yes' as she threw a fist pump in the air. We went into the bakery's kitchen and I threw chocolate chip cookies into a box for her. "And here you go," I said as I handed her the box.
"Are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself?" Nicky asked. "You can come with me and my parents to walk around history museums," Nicky said trying to make it sound interesting even though she damn well knows it'll be boring.
"Yeah, I think I'll pass that opportunity up," I said as I walked her to the door.
"You'll be missing out on a lot of World War I and II stuff," Nicky sarcastically said in an exciting voice.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Bye, Nic," I said as I watched her leave. I looked at the clock on the wall to see that I still had a lot of time until I had to open up the bakery. What could I do to keep myself occupied? I head to my room remembering that I had some K-Pop stuff that I received for my birthday. I could remodel my room. I ran to my closet and pulled out all of the bags that had my gifts in them. I took out all of the albums and merchandise I received, along with some string lights. I put up string lights that had clips on them so that I could hang pictures. I hung pictures of Seventeen, pictures with my friends and family at events, and some pictures I took when I traveled around the world with my grandparents. Every year we go to a different country for summer vacation. I've been to Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Russia, Korea, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Canada. I would like to travel to the Philippines or Ecuador for our next vacation. I also put the selfie of me and Duke up on the wall lights. I'll never forget that crazy week.
    I continue hanging up the pictures and placing my albums on my shelves. Seventeen is my favorite group! My bias is Vernon Hanson Chwe. Originally, it was Wonwoo but I don't know, Vernon just made me want to choose him as my bias. I think I have a Seventeen problem. As I hang up the lights and put all of my Seventeen, BTS, GOT7, Red Velvet, Big Bang, Black Pink, EXO, and Twice photos and albums up, I realized it's time for me to open the bakery up. I take one last look at my room before I head downstairs. Looking good!
    I run to the bakery and turn the 'closed' sign around to 'open' and waited for the customers to come in. And sure enough I was getting customers into the bakery left and right. Once the amount of customers coming in died down I ran into the kitchen to start making more pastries. "Alright and I'll leave you in the oven for a little while," I said as I closed the oven. I ran back to the counter to start taking orders again.
"Have a nice day!" I said as I watched a customer leave the bakery. I put my elbows on the counter and took in a deep breath. I had the windows opened today since it was so nice out. It felt good to have fresh air come into the bakery. I grab a magazine from the table behind me and begin reading it.
The bell on the door rings as another person walks into the bakery, interrupting me from reading about Kylie Jenner.  "Hey, chica," Duke greets me. He walks over to the counter and leans on it. "Still thinking about that kiss you had in your dream with me?" Duke asked winking at me.
"Sure, whatever you want to think," I said as I rolled my eyes, focusing on the gossip on Kylie Jenner.
Duke stared at me through squinted eyes. He examined me, looking up and down. He looked back at my face. I moved my eyes away from the magazine, slowly, and looked up at him. "Something's different about you," Duke said still examining me. I waited for him to point out my hair. He stood up straight and pointed at me, serious face. "Did your boobs get smaller?" Duke asked seriously.
My face went red and I crossed my arms over my chest immediately. Duke began laughing hysterically. "Not funny you perverted monkey," I whined as I slapped his arm. I got a few concerning looks from my customers as I called Duke a perverted monkey. I make myself cringe in so many ways.
Duke continued to laugh. "Eh, it was a lil' funny," Duke said grinning. "Nice hair color though," Duke said finally pointing out my hair color.
"Thanks. That means a lot more than my boob size," I said, deadpanned.
"Are you sure your bo-"
"Duke!" I shouted. I widened my eyes showing him that there were other people in the bakery giving him weird looks. He stared at all of them and shrugged. This boy has no shame, I swear.
"Do you smell something burning?" A lady asked her husband as she took a sip of her coffee.
The husband sniffed a couple of times and looked at his wife concerned. "Yeah, I do smell something burning," the man said.
I looked around to see other customers sniffing and talking about smoke. "Miss, is something burning in the kitchen?" A young lady asked me.
I sniffed the air a couple of times. I do smell something burning. I looked at Duke who was also sniffing. He nodded. My eyes shot opened. "Crap! The cupcakes!" I shouted as I ran into the kitchen. "AH!" I let out a scream. The whole oven was on fire. The fire alarm went off and everybody evacuated the bakery. I ran to the the sink, grabbing a bowl, and filled the bowl up with water. Duke ran to the doorway and stood there in panic. He ran away and ran back into the kitchen with the fire extinguisher aiming at the oven. As he ran in he collided with the frame of the doorway. I managed to stifle in my laugh. He aimed at the oven and use the fire extinguisher to put the fire out. The sprinklers in the kitchen went off. Making everything wet. I stood by the sink as I left the water running. I turned the faucet off and ran to go turn off the sprinklers.
"What dummy decides to use the oven when she's home alone?" Duke asked as we stood in the raining kitchen. He aimed at the oven a couple of more times to make sure the fire was out for good, giving the oven a disgusted look.
I began laughing. I grinned at him and pointed a finger at me. "This dummy," I said smiling.
Duke gave me a worried look. "Why are you laughing?" Duke asked. "You almost burned down your bakery and everyone just ran out of the place," Duke continued. I continued to laugh. There must be something wrong with me. "Valentina Cruz!" Duke shouted my name.
I kept replaying the scene of him running into the kitchen scared and then him running into the doorway in my head, laughing like a lunatic. "You ran in here terrified and then you ran face planted into the doorframe! And now you're hair is a mess," I said smiling as I pointed at his messed up, wet hair. Duke can't stand when his hair gets touched by anyone. Sometimes, I stare at him through my window as he spends an hour gelling his hair. I swear I'm not a stalker. The guy watches me without me noticing as I change out of my clothing. Although his hair was a mess, his wet hair and his t-shirt sticking to his body so that it defines his six pack made him ten times hotter. Val! Shut up!
    "So is your new hair," Duke said pointing at me with a smirk. I touched my hair and looked at it. I groaned profanities and whined. Not my new hair. We spent a while cleaning up, trying to not slip on the floor since it was still wet. And sure enough, what does Valentina Cruz do? Valentina Cruz slips on the floor and kills herself. Almost. I felt my arm being held by Duke's strong grip.
    I look up at him to see him rolling his eyes at me. "You have to stop falling for me, Val," Duke said smirking and winking at me.
    I think I threw up a bit in my mouth. "Who would want to fall for you?" I asked as I scrunched my nose up in disgust.
    Duke yanked me up so that I was standing up right, my face close to his face. I felt his minty breath on my face. My face started to heat up. "W-why don't we g-go upstairs and dry off," I suggested before things got a little too awkward. I still haven't told Tony about me not being able to go to prom with him. I don't know how I'm going to break the news to him. How will he react?
We went upstairs, still soaking wet. I felt really tired for some reason. I don't think I would've slipped if I didn't feel like this. But, why am I feeling tired? We stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Do you want to go back to your place and get changed and just come back to my room," I asked, not making eye contact with him. I don't know but saying the end of that sentence just sounds a little awkward to me. Gah what is happening to me? Hormones, stop being so weird!
Duke smirked at me. "Yeah, I'll do that. Do you mind if I use the window?" Duke asked chuckling a little bit.
I let out a sigh. "Yeah, by all means do so," I said leading him into my room. I walked over to my window to open it and then turned around to see Duke staring at the pictures of Seventeen and other photos on my wall. He then looked at my shelves full of K-Pop and classic rock albums.
He walked away from the pictures concerned. What's up with him? "I'll be right back," Duke said as he kept looking at the pictures. Okay, weird. I threw on black leggings and a sweatshirt along with blow drying my hair out so I can try to fix it. I looked over at my desk to see the pills and bottle of water still sitting there. Must explain why I'm feeling weak and tired, I didn't take my pills.
As I took them Duke crawled back into my room through the window. "I'm back," Duke said as he watched me take my pills.
I nodded and put the bottle of water down. I sat down on my bed and stared at Duke who was focused on Seventeen. "Why do you have pictures of girls hanging on ur wall?" Duke asked a little weirded out.
I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. "They're dudes. Not girls! I had the same problem with Alex when I was trying to explain it to him!" I said as I waved my arms around in exaggeration.
"Well, who are they?" Duke asked as he sat down on my bed.
Yay, another person to talk about K-Pop wth, sort of. "They're a K-Pop group called Seventeen," I said a little excited.
"K-Pop?" Duke questioned.
"Korean Pop music," I clarified for him. This is going to be a long and good conversation to have with him.
Duke raised an eyebrow at me. "So, instead of listening to Justin Beiber or whatever other boy groups you teenage girls listen to, you listen to foreign music?" Duke questioned as he pointed a finger at a picture of Joshua Hong, Seventeen's vocal unit member from Los Angeles.
I got up and grabbed my laptop off of my desk. Time to show him some Seventeen and BTS songs. "Listen, these guys are better looking and more talented than doofus," I said as I typed in Seventeen's new song, Boom Boom, into the search bar of YouTube. I patted my hand on the spot next to me on my bed, indicating for Duke to sit there and watch.
"This better be good and not a waste of my time," Duke complained. I rolled my eyes and pressed the play button. We sat there for three minutes watching the video. I glanced up at him at points. He didn't look bored nor unamused. But, he didn't look thrilled. The video ended and I looked up at Duke, prepared for whatever harsh words he had to insult Seventeen. "They're good-"
    "Oh, please! You think Kanye-wait you said they're good?" I asked before I could continue yelling at him.
Duke raised both eyebrows at me. "Yeah," Duke said exaggerating on the 'yeah'. "Another video?" Duke asked. Woah, woah, woah. He wants to watch another video? I will get another one to slip into the diamond life. I clicked play on Adore U. We watched all of the music videos and shows they performed at. I introduced him to BTS and Big Bang. He seemed to like Big Bang more than BTS and Seventeen. And Duke is still convinced that thy are all girls wanting to be boys are boys wanting to be girls. But, I'm not going to argue with him because he actually downloaded Seventeen's albums onto his Spotify.
    We sat in my room the rest of the day watching "Malcom in the Middle." He was surprised I watch other shows besides anime. He has a lot to learn about me. The thought just dawned on me, what are Duke and I now? Still friends? More than friends? I sort of need to know because Nicky thinks Tony likes me. Tony's my best friend. I did have this small thing for Tony when we were younger, but when he went to Australia I sort of got over him. But, now that I've met Duke, I feel close to him now. My phone's text tone went off. I looked at the ID name to see Tony's name pop up.
Tony: Hey, Val! Is it cool if I stop by the house on my way home from swim practice? I have to talk to you about something...
    He needs to talk to me about something? Could it be prom? I haven't told him that I'm going to go with Duke. I never go back on my word. Then again, I sort of did when I saw Duke kissing Madison and right in front of Duke I told Tony I would go to prom with him. Gah, why couldn't I have been the lonely potato that doesn't have boy problems?
Valentina: Yeah, sure, just let me know when you're coming
                                               Read 3:47
Don't you love being put on read and not getting a text back for five minutes. It's my most favorite thing in the world. Hint, the sarcasm. I don't know what to do now! I can't ask Nicky now. She's exploring history museums with her parents. Then again, I'm sure this would be the most interesting thing she's heard or seen all day. Then again, her mom probably took away her phone since she's strict about family time. I got the other three morons but I'll leave them if I'm in a serious Tony/Duke situation.
    "Val, I have listened to K-Pop before!" Duke said looking up from his phone.
    "Really what song?" I asked, getting interested.
    "Gangman Style," Duke said boldly. I stared at him with a blank face. That's probably the only K-Pop song every American listened to. But you know what, I'll give him brownie points for knowing that it counts as a K-Pop song.
    I nodded my head and smiled. "Duke, I have a question," I began.
    "Don't you always have a question?" Duke asked. I stared at his joking face. "When is there a day where the statement 'Duke, I have a question' not come out of your mouth?" Duke asked. Now that I think about it, I do asked Duke a lot of questions. And they always start with 'Duke, I have a question.' "What is it, chica?" Duke asked staring at me.
    "Do we still count as friends? Or a little more than friends?" I asked trying to not sound as cringeworthy as I possibly could. Duke looked away from me and looked straight forward, pursing his lips to the side. "I don't mind what we are at the moment," I said as I waved my hands frantically. "Whatever is cool with you is cool with me," I said trying to fix up what I asked.
    Duke looked back at me with a smirk. "We're more than what you and Nicky are. We're better friends than you and Nicky are," Duke said trying to make me feel better about what I asked. "And we won't ever be less than that. And I'll always be there for you when you need me," Duke finished.
    "Promise?" I asked with a pleading look. I probably looked like a five year old asking that question.
    Duke held out his pinky. "Pinky promise," Duke said as he waited for me to intertwine my pinky with his. "I never go back on a pink promise," Duke said. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Just ask Kerry how many ice cream cones she got over the summer," Duke said winking at me.
    I grabbed my pinky with his pinky and moved closer to him, laying my head on his shoulder. "I'm really happy I accepted your grandfather's cake request," I said as I began to doze off. I heard Duke whisper a 'me too' but I fell asleep before I could even say anything.
February 3rd...
"Mommy! Daddy! Look, I lost my tooth!" my nine year old self shouted as I ran to my parents with my tooth in my hand. My teacher gave me a special tooth box since my tooth fell out during school. I ran past all of my fourth grade classmates and jumped into my dad's arms. "The tooth fairy is going to come and bring me money!" I said as I showed them my smile with one tooth missing.
    My mom took my box and looked at the tooth. "Oh my, you lost a big tooth! The tooth fairy is going to give you a lot of money. Isn't that right, Richard?" My mom asked my dad with a smirk.
    My dad let out a sigh due to my mom's tone. "Oh yeah. The bigger the tooth the more money you get," my dad said as he tickled my stomach.
    My dad placed me back down on the ground. My dad held my tiny left hand as my mom held my tiny right hand. "How was school today?" My mom asked like she asked every day after school.
    "It was good!" I answered back as usual. "I got a 94% on my reading my test," I said as I hopped over the cracks in the side walk, muttering 'don't step on the crack or you'll break your mother's back.'
    "Very good sweet heart! Keep up the good work! Gramma and Gramps will be very happy to hear that," my mom said she gave me a high five.
    "Is there a lunch money fairy for if we get very good grades?" I asked my dad, still believing in fairies and that the food at my school was real food.
    My dad scratched the back of his head. "Erm, the tooth fairy and lunch money fairy work together. So the tooth fairy will only be giving you money today," my dad said trying to cover up the fact that I don't need $20 as a nine year old.
    "On February 11th, the parents get to come up to school and talk about their jobs! Can you guys make it?" I asked with my pleading nine year old face.
"I'm stuck at work for a meeting that day sweetie," my dad said as he looked down at me. I nodded.
"I'm sure the police station will let me and cousin Vinnie bring a police car and a police dog come to school," my mom said trying to cheer me up.
I looked at my mom with excitement. "You promise?" I asked getting very excited.
My mom bent down and held her pinky finger out. "I pink promise," my mom said as she held her pinky out, waiting for me to grab it with my pinky.
February 5th...
"Happy birthday, Valentina!" My parents and grandparents shouted as I came downstairs for breakfast. I looked at the table to see my birthday pancakes calling my name to eat them. I ran to my family and hugged them.
As I ate my breakfast I looked at my parents. "When can I open my presents?" I asked getting really excited to see my gifts.
"When the rest of the family comes over," Gramps answered with one of his famous smiles.
My dad looked at my mom. "Jen, we have to go grab the cake tonight," Dad reminded Mom.
I stared outside of the window in the living room, looking outside into the dark. My uncles and Gramps were watching the Super Bowl game since my birthday lied on a Sunday. My cousins were playing a board game and my aunts and other cousins were with Gramma. "When is Mommy and Daddy coming home?" I asked growing a little impatient.
"I'm sure there's just a lot of traffic since it's the Super Bowl today," my Uncle Chris answered. I nodded and went to go sit with my cousins and little sister.
"What?!" Everyone heard Gramma screech. We all turned our attention to Gramma on the phone. "Yes, we'll be there as soon as we can!" Gramma hung up the phone immediately and ran for her coat. "Guys, we have to go to the hospital! Richard and Jen got into a a horrendous car accident!" Gramma said as she put my jacket on. We all ran out of the house to our cars to head over to the hospital. I was still trying to figure out what was happening.
    We arrived at the hospital. Gramps was holding me and my Aunt Tara was holding my little sister. We saw the nurses push my parents pass us on the gurneys, rushing into the emergency room. Hours and hours later of nurses updating us on what happened the doctor finally came in. We all stood up. My grandparents looked at the doctor with hope in their eyes. The doctor shook his head, leaving Gramma to stand there and cry into Gramps's shoulder. Everyone was crying and I had no idea why.
    I walked up to my cousin, Vinnie. He was my favorite cousins. He was Mom's partner in the police station. "Vinnie, what happened?" I asked.
    He walked me over to the entrance of the hospital. Vinnie crouched down to my level and held me by the shoulders. I stared at Vinnie with droopy eyes. "Um, I-I'm sorry to tell you t-this, Val. B-but, mommy and daddy..." I stared at Vinnie with wide eyes. "...died..." I threw myself into Vinnie and started crying. Finding out a drunk driver killed my parents and that he made it out alive.
    Vinnie and I looked up to see my Gramps shouting at a man who was beaten up. The drunk man. "They had to miss my grandchild's tenth birthday because you have to be an ass and get drunk! My grandkid is over there in hysterics and all you could say is 'sorry?'" I heard Gramps shout. The drunk man stared at me. I'll never forget those piercing blue eyes.
    February 7th...
    I sat in the Church pew, dressed in a black dress, watching my parents coffins roll down the aisles. One of them had the American flag on it since my mom was in the army when she was younger and she was a cop. The ceremony felt like it went on forever. It was even more sad when I had to watch my parents coffins get buried...
    February 11th...
    "Thank you, Mr. Anderson for showing us zoo animals from the zoo you work at," Mrs. Boyle said. I sat there, in my desk, watching every kid have at least one parent talk about their job. Meanwhile, I had no one. "Um, Val's parents can't make it today so her cousin Vinnie came in replace for her mom," Mrs. Boyle said. I turned around to see Vinnie standing their in his police uniform, a trained dog on a leash. As he walked up I heard students and parents ask questions to each other.
    "Where is Mrs. Cruz?"
    "I thought Valentina had a mommy."
    "Are her parents to busy to even come?"
    "If I can make time out of my schedule to come here why can't they?"
    I looked down at my hands, ready to cry. "Val, can you come up?" Vinnie asked. I nodded and walked up to him. He held onto my hand and squeezed it. "Sadly, officer cruz and her husband were killed in a car accident on February 5th. That is why they're not here," Vinnie explained before other parents could make insults about my parents. All of the parents and students stared at me. Nicky and Tony sending me sad smiles.
    "So Val doesn't have parents anymore?"
    "Everyone needs a mommy and daddy."
    "Who's going to be her new parents now?"
    I loosened my grip from Vinnie's hand and ran out of the classroom. "Valentina!" Vinnie called after me. Vinnie, Tony, and Nicky chased after me and stopped me. "Where am I going to live now?" I asked Vinnie.
    "You're going to stay with me until Gramma and Gramps get a room ready for you," Vinnie explained.
    "They broke their pinky promise!" I cried into Vinnie. And they pinky promised...
    I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a tear fall down the side of my face. I sat up to not see Duke next to me anymore, but a note from him:
Hey, I needed to take Kerry to her gymnastics class. You looked tired so I didn't wake you up. I'll see you at school tomorrow!
                                                 ~Perverted Monkey ;)
I'm having a hard time with these pinky promises. I opened my phone up to see multiple texts from Tony. Crap! I forgot that he was suppose to come over after his swim practice. I opened the messages up and read them.
Tony: Hey, I'm on my way. See you in a bit
Tony: I'm here. Should I come through bakery or stair's to the side of the house?
Tony: Val?
Tony: Bakery door and side door are locked.
Tony: Is everything alright?
Tony: Val????
Tony: Just saw Duke. He said you're probably asleep. Just call me when you wake up...
I rubbed my temples and dialed his number. I waited for him to pick up after the phone ringing for three times. "Hello?" Tony picked up.
"Hey, Ton! I'm sorry I didn't see the messages. I fell asleep," I said hoping he wasn't going to be mad.
I heard him chuckling on the other side of the phone. "It's okay. No worries. We'll meet up after school tomorrow and talk! Does that sound better?" Tony ask.
"As long as I don't fall asleep yeah I can do after school," I answered. Man I make myself cringe.
I heard him laugh. "You're so weird. Have a good night, Cruz!" Tony said as he hung up. I put my phone down and picked up Duke's note, staring at it. Will he keep his pinky promise?