The Cliche Gone Wrong

Chapter Thirty-five

My hand hovers over the doorbell, pondering whether or not I should actually press it. Maybe I should have called first? I drop my hand, instead reaching for my phone that's tucked into the back pocket of my black work pants. Shills should probably be back home from Lacrosse practice by now, yeah? And he said I could come over whenever to see Chi. He even seemed like his normal self at school today

I have no reason to be worried. I shift my phone to my other hand and reach back up to ring the doorbell, but I can't bring myself to touch the button.

"What are you doing sis?" I mumble angrily to myself. "Just press the damn buzzer."

"Killer?" A familiar voice asks from behind me.

I turn around, expecting to see Shills standing there but instead Alan is a few steps away. A confused, yet disgusted frown is on his face, as he looks at me with an intense scrutiny.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks harshly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

It's easy to draw a scowl to my face as I cross my arms over my chest. "None of your damn business."

"I told you to leave Shills alone." He scowls back at me.

"And I told you Shills is a grown ass man who can take care of himself." I snap back.

"No, he can't!" Alan's nostrils flare as he

He starts walking toward me, one of his hands coming out of his pocket as it reaches toward me. I squeeze my eyes shut as I flinch hard into the door, gasping as I brace myself for the punch that's sure to come. But instead I hear the chime of the doorbell. I peek through my eyelashes to see Alan's finger withdrawing as he takes a step away, shoving his hand back into his pocket.

"You really shouldn't be here," Alan tells me, his voice low and rough. "You aren't good for Shills. I can tell by the way he's changed over the last week."

I straighten up and dust the imaginary dirt off of my pants; embarrassed I thought Alan would actually put hands on me. "What if he's changing for the better?"

Alan shakes his head, not even looking at me as he continues to stare at the wooden door. "I thought that the first time something like this happened. But I'm not going to sit around and watch this happen to Shills again."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask him.

But he doesn't have time to answer before the door is swinging open. I expect Nattie to be on the other side, but instead it's Shills his eyes brightening when he spots me, but then widening in something like horror when he sees Alan behind me.

"Uh..." Shills isn't even able to form a complete sentence as he looks back and forth between the two of us.

Alan doesn't wait for Shills to compose himself. Instead he brushes past the both of us and into the house. "I'll be in your room dude. Connor should be here any minute."

I watch Alan disappear into the house, turning to the right to walk up the staircase. That smooth asshole. But what was Alan talking about when he said he couldn't let this happen again?

I turn my gaze to Shills, taking in the sheepish smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he scratches the back of his head. "If I had known you were coming over I would have told you that my friends would be here."

I wave him off with a forced smile, taking a step back toward my van parked in the driveway. "No it's my fault. I'll make sure to call first next time."

His smile disappears as he steps toward me, minimizing the space I just created between us. "No don't leave! I'll tell Alan to leave and call Connor and tell him that he shouldn't come."

"No, no, don't do that." He reaches out as if he's going to grab my hand, but stops at the last second. "I can hang out with them anytime."

I shake my head, taking two steps backward and in the process completely stepping off of the front porch. "No really. I was just leaving."

I smile at him, trying to signal that its really no big deal. My heart feels unexpectedly heavy. "I'll just see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely." His smile is just that, an actual smile. Not one of the douchey smirks I see at school, or a mischievous grin he shares with his friends. This smile is almost innocent, lopsided in its sincerity. And he doesn't close the door and go inside; he waits until I've walked all the way back to my van and gotten inside before he disappears behind the wooden door.

As I'm driving out of the neighborhood toward the freeway I realize my phone is ringing. I answer it, putting it on speaker so I don't have to hold it up to my ear.

"Yeah?"

"Mom wants to know where you are!" Jazzy yells into the speaker, the blaring of a television and screaming children echoing in the background. "The twins are too much for any of us to handle."

"I'm on my way home now." I roll my eyes. "I'll be there in like 20 minutes."

"But Rob's is only, like, 8 minutes away." Jazzy says. There is a muted shuffle in the background and then a sudden silence. She probably walked into our parents' room to continue our conversation in some semblance of privacy. "Where are you coming from?"

"Why is everybody all up in my business today?" I yell exasperatedly.

"Humpf." She grunts, clearly not satisfied with my answer. "We'll talk when you get back."

"No we won't!" I laugh before hanging up on her.

I settle into my seat as I make my way to the freeway, but pieces of the encounter with Alan keep floating through my mind. What the hell was he talking about when he said this wasn't going to happen again? I know there are a lot of things I don't know about Shills, but what happened in the past that is making Alan act like this? Why does Alan even care so much?

I merge onto the freeway, trying to focus on the road, but unable to think of anything else but the mystery of Shills.

Just what am I getting myself into?

A/N Here's a new chapter! I know it's not much, but my cousin is giving birth today so I've spent most of my day at the hospital!! But, I'm trying to work on another chapter too so whenever I finish that I'll post it for y'all! Not sure when that'll be though.....so in the meantime tell me what you thought of this!

Why do you Alan is so protective of Shills? And do you think Killer was right to leave, or should she have let Shills kick out friends? What would you have done in the situation? What do you think is going to happen next?

Let me know! Make sure to comment, like, and follow me!

Much Love,

Naomi