The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Projects and Play Dates

Chapter 11: Piper

"HURRY UP, PIPER!" my sister hollered from outside. Father was out - probably at the pub down the street, even though it was only ten o'clock - so she wasn't worried about being quiet. I, on the other hand, had to worry about her pissing off our neighbors.

That's why I leaned out my bedroom window and whisper-shouted, "Sadie Grace Breen, I need you to be quiet and wait for five minutes, can't you at least do that?!" I regretted my words the moment they left my mouth, though, because instantly, Sadie's eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip started quivering.

"No, Sadie," I apologized quickly, "Don't cry, please, don't cry! I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just... I'm kind of stressed out and we can't wake the neighbors and I snapped. I'm so sorry."

"W-why d-didn't you j-just s-say th-that?" she asked, her voice trembling as she fought to hold back her tears.

"I wasn't thinking," I said. God, I was a terrible person, "I'm so sorry, Sadie. I'll be out in just a minute, okay?"

"Okay," she answered quietly.

I rushed through the rest of my morning routine and grabbed my car keys. Sadie waited by the car, looking subdued and hurt. I wanted to make her feel better, but I didn't know what to say to do it.

"Ready to go see Leo?" I asked, unlocking the car doors.

"Yeah," she answered, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth. She slipped into the backseat and buckled her seatbelt as I plugged Justin's address into the GPS. Then I put the key in the ignition and we pulled out of the driveway. In silence.

When we finally made it to Justin's house, I let out a sigh of relief. I probably would've gone crazy if I had to sit in this car for another minute. Sadie and I stepped out of the Camry and I was struck by the enormity of Justin's house. He definitely lived on the richer side of town - christ, was that a helicopter pad? Fortunately, I didn't have much time to feel insignificant and overwhelmed because a moment later, the front door burst open and Leo came hurtling down the driveway.

"SADIE!" he cried excitedly.

"HI, LEO!" she greeted with just as much enthusiasm. She rushed to meet him halfway and I felt a huge smile stretch across my face. Those two were adorable.

"Hey, Piper," a familiar voice greeted from behind me. I whirled around in surprise and came face-to-face with my chemistry partner.

"Justin? But how did you...?" I asked, glancing between him and the front door.

"End up behind you without you noticing?" he finished. I nodded and he lifted up a white plastic bag, "I just got back from the grocery store. I figured that Sadie wouldn't be a big fan of wheat germ and tofu puffs, so I picked up some decent snack foods."

"Really?" Leo interrupted, "You brought back real food? What did you get us?"

"I brought back barbeque chips and..." before he could finish, Leo and Sadie grabbed the bag out of his hands and tore up the driveway. They giggled madly and slammed the front door behind them. "Orange soda," he added lamely.

"Did you pick anything else up from the grocery store?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, blushing slightly, "I got some stuff to make spaghetti, if you guys want to stay over for dinner."

"Won't your parents be upset - since they only let you eat wheat germ and... tofu puffs?" I asked, fighting not to laugh at the last part.

"They're not going to be home until late tonight, so we're on our own for dinner," he replied, "I can get the kitchen cleaned up before then and my mom will never know."