Parker's POV:
The morning after Blaze's birthday party was chaotic to say the least. I woke up before everyone else, and being the good person I am, started cleaning the room.
It was harder than normal considering it was full of sleeping teenagers. There wasn't that much to pick up, it was more a matter of not waking anyone up.
After I finished cleaning everything up, I kicked them all awake. "Wake up idiots. It's morning and you guys need to leave soon." Arabella was the first one that got up, so she helped me with everyone else.
It took a couple minutes, but we eventually woke everyone up, even Andrew. I swear that dude could sleep through a tornado. It took me almost 5 minutes just to wake him up.
Once everyone was up, we all took turns in the bathroom freshening up. All we could really do was rinse our face and mouth with water, but it was something. After I was done, I exited and headed over to Scottie.
"Should we head down now?" I asked.
"Sure. Wait," he said.
I turned back to look at him. "I thought Blaze told you you weren't allowed to go downstairs?"
"Oh right," I mumbled. "Well, I'll just go see if she's awake. If she isn't, I'll wake her up and send her down. Maybe you guys could make breakfast together," I replied with a wink.
A slight blush bloomed across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Aww, he was embarrassed. I am so going to tease him about that later, I thought. Finding Blaze's room didn't take that long. It was only 2 doors down at the end of the hallway.
I made my hand into a fist and brought my knuckles up to knock, but I got no answer. Either she was still asleep or was already downstairs. The door wasn't shut all the way, so I quietly pushed it open and peered inside.
The first thing I was greeted with was a wall of different photos and posters from different groups, and of her family and friends. On the other wall was a desk that was littered with trash and pencils.
There was a door next to it that I assumed led to a closet or bathroom. On the wall opposite sat her bed, with a sleeping Blaze still in it.
She was on her back, legs and arms sprawled out, hair in her face, and her shirt was riding up a little bit. She looked very comfy. Too bad I had to wake her up.
"Anders, wake up. Scottie is waiting for you to come down so you can make breakfast together." Silence. "Hello?" I waved my hand in front of her face. "Anders?"
Once again I was greeted with silence. Great.
Well, since she's not waking up might as well take advantage of it. I unlocked my phone and pulled up the camera and took some pictures of her sleeping. These would be perfect for blackmail. I can get her to do anything I want, because I know she hate's it when people see her sleeping.
It's why she's never fallen asleep in a single class, not once. Which is amazing considering how boring all our teachers are.
After I had enough pictures from different angles, I tucked my phone back in my pocket and slowly backed away, but something stopped me.
For some odd reason, there was something in me that didn't want to wake her up. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, like it was the first time in a long time she slept this good.
Trust me, I know what it's like for that to happen. I have 5 younger siblings, so it's pretty hard for me to get a good night's sleep. And that's all it was, empathy. Nothing else.
Sighing, I walked back over to her and put her arms and legs at her side. Then, I pulled her comforter up to her chin, making sure it was tucked in nicely.
I finally left after that.
The first thing Scottie asked me when I got downstairs was where Blaze was. "Oh, Anders? Yeah, she's still sleeping. I didn't feel like waking her. Maybe she'll sleep through and miss it when you guys leave."
I didn't feel like telling my best friend that I felt something other than hate for her.
"Oh, well I can go wake her up if you want me to, I don't mind," he said. "No!" I exclaimed. Scottie shot me a confused look. "It's just, she probably had a long day yesterday so she should get as much sleep as she can."
Luckily, Scottie was clueless and didn't notice that fact I seemed like I care (which I don't).
"Whatever, let's just find something to make for breakfast." I nodded my head and we started to dig around through her cabinets for something to eat. We scoured through every drawer, cabinet and fridge, before we settled on making pancakes.
We found all the ingredients and utensils we would need and set them on the counter just as everyone else filed into the kitchen. "What are you making?" Andrew asked through yawn.
"Pancakes," I replied, cracking an egg in a bowl.
"WHAT?" the twins shouted, right in my ear too. I dropped the whisk I was holding and clutched my ear. "Be quieter would you, this isn't our house, we need to be quiet."
"How come you're making pancakes not waffles?" they said at the same time. Creepy.
"Because that's what Scottie and I decided on. Do you got a problem with that?"
This time, it was Allan who spoke. "Yeah, because waffles are superior to pancakes. All they are is a flat piece of dough that doesn't even taste good." Alex nodded in agreement.
I was about to respond, but next thing I know all my friends are voicing their opinions on our argument. Scottie and I tried to do damage control, but it was too late.
Somebody was coming down the stairs. Whoever it was would not be good. Blaze would rip my head off for waking her up AND being down here, and her mother would probably kick me out butt naked.
I don't know which one is worse, but before I could get away her mother stepped into the kitchen. She scanned everyone here, and didn't really seem to care that eleven strangers were arguing over food in her kitchen, until her eyes landed on me.
"What are you doing here? I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were only supposed to be over here if you were working on that history project," she seethed. Her feet carried her over to me and she poked me in the chest, kind of how Blaze does when she gets mad at me.
I can see where she get's her temper from.
"I'm so sorry Mrs. Anderson. I didn't mean to do this, but all my friends are here and I really need to take care of them, because they are kind of idiot and if I let them cook by themselves, they would burn the kitchen down."
"Hey!" I heard Andrew yell over everyone else. I ignored him and kept talking to her mother. "Please just let me stay here for a little bit, the I swear to god I will leave."
"No. You will leave this instance or else I will call the cops."
Now it was my turn to yell. "WHAT?" I swear, my eyes almost bulged out of my head. "Mrs. Anderson, I understand that you don't like me, but there is no need to take it this far. I will be gone in half an hour anyways."
"You shouldn't be here. I thought I made it clear to you and Blaze that you were to never set foot in here again, unless it was for the project. If you aren't gone in five minutes, I will personally drag your ass out of here," this time she talked with more authority and warning in her voice, so I backed up, scared of what she could do to me.
"What are you doing down here?"
"Shit!" I cursed jumping back. I was to worried about not getting kicked out that I hadn't heard blaze come down the stairs. "Geez! Can you not scare me?" I scowled at her. I hate being scared.
"I only came down here because Scottie dragged me down here." This wasn't true, but I wasn't about to tell her that I just forgot I couldn't come downstairs. "I had no idea your mother would be up already. I swear I didn't do this on purpose. Do you really think I enjoy being yelled at by your mom?"
Before I can get another word in, Mrs. Anderson is dragging me out by my arm. I could hear my friends still arguing, but right now I was too focused on not getting kicked out.
"Please listen to me Mrs. Anderson. If you let me go, I swear I won't do anything bad. I'll go back in the kitchen and sit at the counter while they make the food. I won't interfere and try and sabotage anything, I swear."
Slowly, her grip on my arm loosened. "Are you sure?" she asked skeptically. "Yes, just because your daughter and I don't get along doesn't mean that I'll poison my friends along with her."
I was willing to say whatever would get me out of this woman's murderous glare. "Fine," she mumbled.
Since I couldn't help with the food anymore, I sat down and played games until everything was done.
Right when I was about to play another round of Angry birds, a burnt smell drifted into my nose. What the heck? Looking up, I saw that Blaze had burnt her pancakes and everyone was laughing at her.
I wanted to start laughing too, but instead I filmed a few seconds of her flailing around trying to put the smoke out, before getting up to help her out. She had managed to get them onto a plate, and was now trying to fan them.
"Here let me help," Scottie reached for the waffles just before I got there. When I saw that Scottie got there before me, I didn't want to look embarrassed for trying to help out Blaze, so I stopped Scottie from throwing them away and grabbed one of the plate, acting like that was what I was going to do all along.
"You're just going to throw away perfectly good waffles like that?"
Blaze looked at me in disgust. "They're burnt," she said slowly. "They won't taste good. No one in their right mind would eat something burnt which is why he's throwing them away."
I shoved the waffle I grabbed into my mouth.
They weren't actually that bad, but the burnt parts were overwhelming everything else. I tried my best to not gag, and instead forced out a 'it's fine,' which I'm sure sounded like gibberish with all the burnt waffle in my mouth.
After my little stunt, everyone sat down to eat, and before I knew it, it was time for us to leave.
Somehow Scottie and I ended up being the last ones to leave, and right when we started walking away, I nudged him in the stomach. "Dude, remember what we talked about yesterday," I whispered to him.
"Oh right," he mumbled walking back over to Blaze. "Blaze?"
"Yeah?" she said, looking up from the pile of dirty dishes she was working on.
Scottie looked really nervous right now. He kept snapping the bracelet on his wrist and tapping his foot on the ground.
Come on, I thought. She's never going to say yes if he comes off as a wimp.
"Well the annual Halloween Festival is coming up soon and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"
I let out a sigh of relief. I'm glad he got it all out without stuttering. I was worried he would get too nervous and start panicking.
I saw her mouth open in shock and she didn't say anything for almost a minute. Feeling bad for Scottie, I stepped forward and said, "Uhm, Blaze? You going to answer him or not? I got places to be and I got to drop him off first."
This seemed to snap her out of whatever daze she was in. God, this was so gross. I can't believe I'm actually helping them get together. I was going to need a long shower after this.
"Sure, just text me the details." Her response made him smile, which made me feel even grosser. I really need to get home and shower.
"Come on," I said, and dragged Scottie out of there. On the way out, I cursed because I accidentally slammed the door too hard. Oops.
"What are you going to do now?" I asked Scottie once we got back in the car. "I don't know. I guess I'll probably do research on what to do on a first date. I've never been on a date with someone I've truly liked before."
Aww, that's so cute! NOT! I gagged a little at him. Although, that was a typical thing for him to do. He loved knowing everything and planning everything. It was very nerdy of him.
"Dude, you don't need to do any research, what do you think I'm here for. I'm your best friend. I can help you," I said turning onto a bust street.
"Really? You'd do that for me?"
"Yeah, I would." I may get grossed out by them together, but he's my best friend and if being with someone as weird as Blaze made him happy, then so be it.
"Thanks man. I know this has to be weird for you, considering you hate Blaze and all."
"Yeah, I do," I mumbled.
We didn't talk for the rest of the car ride. My brain was still fixated on the 'I hate Blaze part,' because I knew that wasn't true anymore.
I don't hate her anymore, and I haven't for a while. Somewhere along the lines of working on this project, my feelings for her began to change.
I still get grossed out by her, get annoyed by her, and want to fight with her, but I don't hater her. Does that make any sense? I don't like like her, but I don't hate her either.
It was a very new and weird feeling for me. It was confusing me because I couldn't figure out why I didn't hate her anymore.
"Thanks for the ride man. See you at school tomorrow." I waved goodbye to Scottie and started the drive back to my house.
I turned up the radio loud in an attempt to drown out my thoughts. I got home 20 minutes later, and practically sprinted over to the couch and started watching some TV. I was trying to concentrate on the show, but someone was playing on the old Pac-man game in the corner of the living room.
I turned around and saw Ami sitting there, hitting the buttons very aggressively. "Will you be quiet please? I'm trying to watch my show."
She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to play her game. Rolling my eyes, I directed my attention back to the screen and turned the volume all the way up.
Kids.
-----
Sorry for the lame ending, but I didn't want this chapter to get super long. The next chapter will also be in Parker's POV (just a heads up).
Let me know if you guys want more Parker POV's. I will try to write some after the epilogue, since I am writing most of the chapters before I post. But comment what scenes you want to see from Parker (or Scottie's) point of view.
Don't forget to vote and comment!