The Nerd and the Jock (1st bk of Nerd Series)

Chapter 7- Blake

I stared at her, my mind completely blank. I was confused, and I couldn't help but think that she was joking. She had to be. I mean, Scott Prescott had been a huge football player when he was young and had been the star quarterback at the same high school that I went to. "You're joking, right?"

"Awww, but I look just like my mother but have my father's eyes," she said, blinking her eyes sarcastically. She folded her arms across her chest and scowled. "I am serious, Dimwit. Scott is, well was, my father before he was killed."

"Do you have something dying in your eye again?" one of the kids, Ryan, I think, asked. "It looks freaky that you are doing that."

She scowled, turning her attention away from me. "Shut up, Punk," she said, and he grinned. "No cookies for you."

Ryan's face turned into something like someone killed a puppy in front of him and didn't seem sorry. He blinked and took a deep breath as if he was trying not to cry. "But..."

Bailey shook her head. "Sorry," she said. "I am still pissed at you for being on the counter. I just cleaned it because someone was trying to cook breakfast and made a huge mess." She raised an eyebrow and jutted out her hip. "And, they didn't bother to clean it up."

Ryan and Chrissie pointed at the other child. "It was his/her fault," they said in unison. They glared at the other sibling, and I couldn't help but feel amused. "No, it was your fault. Stop copying me. I am not copying you. You are copying me."

"Quit it, both of you," Bailey said, interrupting them before they could continue anymore. "You both are copying the other. My God, I know that you two aren't twins, but you sure act like it."

Ryan shrugged his shoulder. He tried to act like he was not interested at all, but it was failing. "I do not know what you are talking about. I am not a Princess."

"You act more like a Drama Queen than anyone else," Trevor said. "And you surpass Michael."

A young boy walked into the kitchen area. "I heard my name. What are we talking about?" he asked, looking at Trevor. He looked at me and scowled. "Who are you?" he asked.

"First, be nice. I taught you better than that," Bailey warned. "Second, that is Blake."

"The douchebag that can suck garbage?" the kid, Michael, asked, looking at Bailey. He cocked his head and pointed at me. "Can I kick him?"

"No," Bailey replied, smiling. "But, thanks for the offer."

Michael came over to me and pointed at me. "I am watching you, you big bully," he said. He looked at Bailey. "Mimi is crying a lot."

She scrunched up her face and nodded her head. "I'll go check on her. Trevor, make sure that they don't get any cookies. If you don't, then you will never get cookies from me."

"You wound me, Bay," Trevor said, mockingly. He placed a hand over his heart and gasped out in pain.

"Good," she said. She rubbed Ryan's head as she walked past him and go to where his sister was, crying.

Trevor looked after her and then looked at me. "You might want to go check what she does out," he said. Worry filled his eyes, and I could see that he loved her like a sister. "This will show you what she has to do on a normal basis."

I frowned and nodded my head before following Bailey. I did not know what he wanted me to see, but I was curious about how she was going to handle a crying kid. It was not fun.

***

"Hey, what's up, kid?" I heard Bailey ask the crying kid. "You missed Ryan getting called a Drama Queen." She was seated on one of the room's beds and had the girl's head in her lap. She looked at me but didn't say a word as she focused on the young girl.

"I don't want to leave," she whimpered. "What if they make us split up?"

"Is that what you were worried about? Were you worried that you would get adopted by a mean old witch?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you think the Princess Warrior will let that happen?"

The girl was silent.

"Mimi," Bay whined. "Do you have no faith in me? I was going to try and get you all."

"But, you aren't a grown up yet," she replied. "How are you going to do that."

"Have faith in me, ya? I know people, which is a bad and good thing."

"What will happen to Mama?"

She sighed and ran a hand through the little girl's hair. She calmed the crying child down, and I was stunned at how easy it was for her to calm her down. "She will be going to a rehab place," she replied. "She will be getting the help that she has needed since she had started everything she had done."

"What if that person comes back?"

"Then, I hope he comes back when I am here," Bailey replied. Her voice was hard, and I could hear this hatred in it, something that sounded so out of place for someone except for me. "And then, I will shoot him."

"And if you go to jail because of it?"

"I shot your father, Mimi, and I did not go to jail. If I didn't shoot him, then you could've died."

"How old was I?"

"Around twoish, I think. Your mother was passed out on the couch, and Ryan had come and got me. When I got there-" She shook her head, and I noticed tears in her eyes. "I will do what I can to protect you four. That is a promise that I will be willing to keep until my last dying breath."

Mimi sat up and looked at her. She jutted out her pinkie and wiggled it. "Pinkie promise?" she asked.

Bailey smiled and hooked her pinkie finger through hers. "Pinkie promise," she replied. "Now, how about we go to eat cookies in front of Ryan? Deal?"

Mimi laughed and jumped onto the older female. She clutched her tight as Bailey groaned and stood. "Deal." Mimi kissed Bay on the cheek, and Bay smiled.

A smile appeared on my lips as I watched Bailey smile because it looked so pure and innocent. It didn't look like the smiles that I was used to seeing because this one had a feeling in it.

Mimi noticed me by the door and smiled, showing two missing teeth. Her blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears, but that didn't stop her from smiling. "You should try some of her cookies, Mister," she said. "They are awesome."