High School Teenagers

Chapter Eighteen. *Raleigh's Diary*

My Hero

Make sure that you scrub that tile real good in there!" Axilla called out from the other room. Gabe was in the other room watching Soap Operas with Kevin. I had no idea that he still watches Soap Operas. We've been helping the Burkes crew since 5 this morning and I'm ready to ditch Gabe. Axilla grabbed the mop from me and scrubbed harder at the floor.

"You gotta scrub harder, Raleigh," she said. "It's a floor. It's not a baby." She handed it back to me and I stared at her like she was insane. "What're you waiting for? Grab it."

"The floor or the mop?" I asked her and Axilla gave a frustrated sigh and put her head down. She looked at me and jerked the mop at me again. Twitching my lip upward, I grabbed the mop from her and scrubbed the floor harder and one of the tiles popped up.

"Okay, that's enough mopping for the day," Axilla said grabbing the mop from me. "If you can't mop a room right, what else can you do?"

"Have dreams about strangling Gabe to death," I said shrugging my shoulders at her.

"You have that dream too?" Leo's head popped out from behind the pillar that separates the kitchen and dining hall. "Your Mexican beau is here." At that Moment Justin walked through the door giving Leo a look that even I found weird.

"What's the gig?" Justin said turning to me. I rushed over towards him, mop in hand and pulled him to the other side of the room.

"I need you to distract Axilla and Gemma," I said, "Gabe is doing the tiles with Gemma and I need you to drag me out of this." Justin looked from the mop, to Axilla and then back to me. He c****d a brow and checked his watch and then pulled his cellphone out from his pocket and looked at that and started to text and then shoved it back in his pocket.

"You're as insane as your brother," he said. I smiled at him and looked at the staring Axilla and back to Justin. He shook his head and scratched his head. Axilla was starting to look suspicious.

"Please," I said with tight lips, not moving a muscle in my lip. Justin turned back to me and then back to Axilla. Gemma and Leo walked out from the back of the house.

"10 minutes," he said and smiled at my Aunts and walked out when Gabe walked in with dirt on his face and arms and legs. He looked from Gemma to me. He frowned at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Did he have to leave so soon? I was just about to poison the tea." Trisha said holding her silver tray with green tea and small cup with sugar in it, but something told me that that was not sugar.

"I know you don't like Justin, Trisha, but please don't really kill him," I said taking the tea tray from her and setting it on the island top.

"Why was Justin here?" Gabe asked and looked out the window and looked over at me.

"School," I lied. Gabe looked like that he didn't believe it. Honestly, I wouldn't believe it niether.

"You hate school," he said with deadpan. He looked at Gemma and Leo. "Did you know there's a dead Opossum under the house?"

"Cupcake is dead!?" Gemma called out and pushed past me and Axilla and ran out the side back door. I looked at Gabe and he was already looking at me.

"I'm not picking it up," I said. "That's your job, I'm the nanny guest." Gabe growled at me and flipped the towel over his shoulder before wiping his forehead, "It's gonna cost you," I added.

"How much?" Gabe said.

"$250, from your allowance," I smiled at him. His eyes enlarged and he open his mouth to speak but Gemma cut him off.

"Gabriel, you have to get Cupcake from under the house," Gemma ran in dragging Kevin by his forearm.

"I'm gonna have to burn Dad's old spear," Gabe said with terror in his voice, "two-hundred and fifty dollars." Now, Gabe was stealing my cost.

"Two-hundred and fifty dollars!" Gemma screened. " Are you planning to hire Celine Dion to sing a song at his frickin' funeral?"

"Just go up under the house, drag his dead ass out, and take him away," Jason said standing next to me. I don't care if you go all Abu Ghraib, put a leash around his neck and smoke a cigarette with your leg propped up on his haunches. Just get him the hell outta here!"

Gabe rolled his eyes and walked off being pulled by Gemma. "Thank goodness, he is dead," Gabe mumbled still being pulled from the room.

"Leo, I thought you weren't scared of anything," I turned asking him.

"Bullshit," Leo said, "I was gay for 5 seconds." I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed the mop and started to mop again, and the hard way, that Axilla just taught me 10 minutes before. Looking up at Trisha and Kevin, and the rest of the Burkes crew playing cards; Axilla grabbed the mop from me and pulled me to where the others sat. Everyone was here except for Gemma and Gabe.

"You have any Queen of Hearts?" Laura asked not looking up from her deck of cards. No one answered. I was already sitting next to Axilla. I looked around awkwardly hoping that Gabe or Justin would just pop in here to the rescue.

6 minutes passed.

4 minutes.

10 minutes.

"Good God, it's just Go Fish. Pick a card or number or something," Justin said making the adults in the room jump up, my shoulders fell and I sighed a long breath that I never knew that I was holding.

"Why are you still here?" I heard Gabe's voice from the side backdoor. Justin smiled at him, but ignored him as usual. Justin grabbed a few cards from the deck and looked at them before putting them in the out pile.

"I win," Justin said with a straight face and grabbing me by the arm and pulling up from the couch while the adults groaned and threw their cards down in the deck.

   "You cheated and you know you did," Oliver said pointing a finger at Justin.

Justin smiled. "Come on, babe," he said and pulled me towards the door.

"You two aren't going anywhere," Axilla said. "Sit down Ms. Burkes and go ahead on home, Mr. West."

"Not without my girlfriend," Justin said. Justin stared at my Aunts and Gabe, didn't do anything but toss the black trash bag on the floor. It hit with a plop. "Bye," Justin said pulling me out the door and to his car.

I got in the passenger's seat and Justin slammed shut his driver's door and was already starting the engine. He pulled out of the driveway and practically sped down Jackson avenue. Justin hit a button over the dashboard opening the ceiling window. I reached over his driver side, hitting a button and opening our window. I sat down and pulled my feet to my chest.

"Where to?" I asked him smiling like a madwoman, "thanks for getting me outta there," I smiled at him. "I was about to murder myself."

"Don't worry, I was thinking about using their heads as slingshot practice," he said. "We're going to Sundae Island." I clapped my hands and shrieked and Justin laughed with me instead of at me, which is why I love him more than I love my siblings and the Burkes crew.

"Who's gonna be there?" I asked him, still smiling. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Your siblings and Cheats," he said said happily.

"What?!" I barely hollered at him, fighting the urge to reach over and pumble Justin into a pulp but that would get us both killed and his face is wide open which could definitely kill us. "Why are Jameson and Cooper gonna be there? And Chloe?"

"I told them to meet me at my place," Justin said, "don't worry, Jack and my parents are covering for us just in case your parents or the Crew comes looking for us."

"You're lucky I love you, cause I'd kill you," I said with a deadpan look that's no good.