LIFE AS IT IS

Chapter two: "Try me! I dare you".

They ran out through the exit door and almost crashed into Raymond and Stephanie ,who were about to enter through the same door. They all halted as the tried to catch their breaths.

Victor was about to speak but Stephanie stopped him, waving her hand dismissively.

" We know!"

" Let Go!" Raymond spoke in-between his breath.

They arrived at the Basement,few minutes late. The scene that greeted them was shocking. They all watched intensely,as diamond and c.j fought back and forth using their fists and feets and so many students were watching and cheering.

Victor's gaze scanned the crowd before he spotted then dragged a member of Diamond's rowing team, into a huddle with his siblings.

" How long has this...shenanigan been going on?". Stephanie immediately questioned Luke Powell.

" I would say...ten to fifteen minutes." Luke answered while nodding his head.

" what! And nobody tried to stop it" Raymond exclaimed.

" Well, some were scared of getting stuck in middle. While the others just enjoys a good show." Luke replied with a grin on his lips.

" let's just get diamond and go home please! I'm allergic to violence!" Hudson was being such a Diva again.

"urgh! I'll take care of this!" Stephanie groaned before breaking the huddle and made her way through the crowd to get to Diamond.

" out of my way delinquents!" Stephanie shoved a student by the head before grabbing diamonds shirt.

" ow!" The student complained

" Diamond let's go home." She pulled diamond to stand behind her back while C.j picked himself off the floor and immediately rushed to grab diamond. Stephanie grab his collar roughly before he could touch Diamond.

" Back off, fanboy!" She released C.j with a slight push, before pulling diamond to where her siblings were.

" Alright people Beat it, show's over! Go home". Raymond chased the students away.

The students all murmured in disappointment as they walked towards the exit in a chaotic manner.

" Nicely done Dude!" Diamond complimented Him.

"Thanksdude!" Raymond replied with a proud grin on his face.

The Howards and their friends were the last to exit the basement and head home.

**********

Few minutes later, the Howard children arrived home. The Howard kids all walked towards the front door, Diamond spread out his hands as he twirled.

" Home sweet ho..."(cell phone dings!) He's interrupted, by his phone's loud ding. He pulled out his cellphone from his pocket,then with a half smile he turned to his siblings.. "Oh! It's Jonathan and the boys from The Loud House. They saw the videos of me and c.j". Diamond grinned sheepishly.

"Well, better start practicing how to write autographs, 'cause, congratulations! You're famous!". Stephanie commented in a sarcastic tone.

They all laughed as they entered into the house.

" Front door opened". The GSM alarm system (a.k.a.alexa) voiced out when the front door was pushed open.

"Hey Alexa!" Raymond nonchalantly waved his hand in the air, before closing the door behind him.

" Front door closed. Hello Raymond". Alexa replied

Stephanie halted before facing Raymond with a raised brow..

"you're talking to the Alexa again? You are weird, you know that?"

Raymond frozed like statue, watching Stephanie stride past him. With her designer bag hanging on her left shoulder, holding Her phone with both hands texting Violeta..'How is SHE even my twin!'. He mumbled,then ran and caught up with her and was about to put his hand over her shoulders..

"Ray, are you free on Saturday? Violeta wants someone to take Nikki off her hands for the weekend.. The siblings are all busy on Saturday!" . She asked without looking up from the screen on her phone..

' wait! Who is Nikki?!' Raymond thought with a slight frown as his hand froze in Mid air. ' Ohhhh! Violeta has been babysitting her ten year old, overbearing cousin for the past week! I can't deal that girl! She is so arrogant, stubborn and not so easy to please... Why can't Hudson hang out with her? He's closer to her age. I bet he declined,yeah I would rather sit at home and watch my most hated TV shows or..'

Noticing his hesitation, Stephanie looked up and called his name.

Stephanie: Earth to Raymond?

Raymond is pulled out of his thoughts when Stephanie called him.

" No! Sorry I got this... thing planned with with the guys back at the loud house... "He quickly replied trying not to give Stephanie any suspicions as he retrieved his hand.. Stephanie nods before looking down on her phone again.

They all headed upstairs to their bedrooms, after a while they came downstairs to the living room.

"Family! We're home!.. what's cooking?" Victor yelled at the top of his lungs as he was about to sit down on the couch.

" Everything!" Maria yelled back, from the dinning room.

Maria is a middle-aged lady,that has been with the Howard family for ten years.

The boys gasped in disbelief, before picking their feet up and simultaneously ran towards the dinning room... Stephanie and Gabrielle gazed at their brothers retreating figures,then looked at each other. They shook their heads and chuckled before returning to their phones.

When they reached the dinning room,they all sat down and stared at the many delicious dishes across the table.

Just then Mr and Mrs Howard, Violeta and Annabelle walked into the dinning room. They( the Howard children) greeted Mr and Mrs Howard and their friends. Violeta took her seat next to diamond with Stephanie at her left hand side and Annabelle sat next to Gabrielle.

Diamond gazed at his siblings and parents with an exaggerated smile on his face.

" Wow! No one told me that Violeta was dropping by for lunch... I would have took her out on a special date!" He said in a sarcastic tone with a smirk on his face as he winked at violeta.

Violeta returned the exaggerated smile.

Herself and Diamond has been best friends since they were born on the same day. They're always trying to irk each other with their words and actions. It's like an ongoing issue without an end.

The others just sat quietly in their seats eating their food and enjoying the little show.

" Hello to you too, Snowflake! It's always pleasantly... annoying to see you...". Violeta said to diamond,who kept eating his food with a smirk.

" Aw! The feeling is mutual, Snowflake.. he replied before taking another bite of his food.

They're used to calling each other Snowflake.

Violeta ate her food,after a few bites she stopped,before facing diamond again.

" Snowflake, do you remember telling Cat, you already had a date to the Halloween party?"she asked with a sweet smile on her face,that made diamond uncomfortable but he decided to play along with it.

Catherine Miller .a.k.a. Cat has had a crazy crush on Diamond for as long as they can remember.

" Yes. Because I already have a date.. 'YOU' are the date! But why do you ask?" He asked her back with a raised brow. While the others,who were sitting quietly the whole time, their gazes darted between Violeta and diamond as they waited for Violeta's answer

Violeta waved her hands in a dismissive manner, before saying.

" oh, nothing much! It's just, she wouldn't stop pestering me,so I told her she can be your date to the Halloween party and I will just go with Javier".

Diamond's brow creased together, ' why Javier?' he thought to himself. The other people looked at each other before facing diamond and Violeta. They know Diamond isn't familiar with Javier.

'Javier Petterson has always been hitting on Violeta, he's not the right person for her. I mean, That dude changes girls like he changes his t-shirts and lately he has been trying to gain Violeta's trust with flattering and gifts and always trying to take her out to one of those his infamous fancy dinners. which has been unsuccessful so far because I'm always hanging out with her. We all knows if Javier tried any kind of funny business , Violeta will know his true intentions,Heck,she'd beat him up till he turned into a saint! Javier acting all 'changed and presentable might fool other girls but not Violeta! She not gonna allow herself to be hurt by that scum bag. Diamond thought to himself before He narrowed his eyes on her. " You wouldn't!". He said in a challenging tone

" Try me! I dare you". She glared back at him, The two glared at each other for seconds.

" Oooh".The others chuckled,save Mr and Mrs Howard who lazily shook their heads. It's just another one of their never ending quarrels.

" Don't encourage them, else they'll keep arguing" Mr Thomas shushed them.

" I thought you guys are like best friends but why do keep arguing like an old married couple?" Mrs Regina asked as she gazed at the two, who were still glaring at each other.

" Old married couples don't fight,they love each other even more.... because they are OLD.." Gabrielle disagreed.

" Actually, through research and observations. One has discovered that,if an old married couple do tend to fight alot. It is because,over the years they've fallen out of love and they're probably just waiting for each other to die.." Hudson stated Fact.

They all gazed at Hudson with an awkward look on their faces, even Violeta and Diamond who were glaring at each other were now gazing at Hudson too.

"ookaaay....Can we eat our lunch now?" Raymond broke the awkward silence after a few seconds.

"yes please.." Lawrence agreed.

After they finished eating,the dishes were cleaned up by the kids before returning to the dinning table to seat with Mr and Mrs Howard.

"so Hudson? I heard you had a girlfriend, you wanna tell us about her?". Mr Thomas asked his son.

"sure! Her name is Hailey, we're the same age. She's smart, nice, outspoken,a little bit loud but she's sweet and very determined.. You'll know more when you meet her in person". Hudson told them about Hailey but left a certain part out.

"wait! Hudson's only thirteen and he has a girlfriend already? Every other person seated at this table have been single for a decade.. Except Mom and Dad.. Guys back me up here,are we that unattractive? " Raymond complained with a slight frown.

The others protested in agreement

" Unattractive? No! First of all, Teenagers are complicated.. But I believe your special someone is out there somewhere.... Pushing a pull-door!". Hudson trailed off with a mocking grin, and he received glares from the teenagers.. 'is this guy serious?'.

" Thank you Hudson,for the clarification...even though I don't know how that makes me feel!".. Lawrence said with his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Lawrence? You said you had a crush on that Jasmine somebody.. right?"She asked with a complicated look on her face. Lawrence shake his head with a faint smile on his face,as if he was remembering the event.

" yes that's true! If I remember correctly, you told us over dinner that you were gonna tell her how you felt.." His mother chimed in.

"Yeah dude, you never told us how it went.." Victor added.

" Well, I was gonna tell you tonight but sure, why not?..Jasmine thought I was gay!" He Answered while studying the look on everyone's faces.

Everyone at the table went quite as they shared a look,all of a sudden they all burst into a fit of laughter.

Lawrence just chuckled at their reactions, he too was so surprised but it didn't stop him from laughing when Jasmine mentioned it.

" Wait... " Diamond held his stomach, still trying to stop himself from laughing. "Lawrence, 'the prankster of the decade',gay? What gave her that idea?

" Dylan and I gave her that idea... She said, she did like me but she thought Dylan and I were a thing.. and didn't want to ruin it!" He answered as he threw his hands in the air.

" At one point, I was confused with the whole situation. I just couldn't tell if you guys were actually dating or were just best friends!" Victor commented with a thoughtful expression on his face.

" yeah we hung out too much,I mean we still do." Lawrence said with a light chuckle.

"Violeta ? when are you and diamond going to be a real couple?" Gabrielle asked as The other's gazes darted between Violeta and diamond, who just looked at each other..

"come on guys we have been waiting for a while.." Raymond spoke with a stern voice but the two just kept num starring at each other.. he then said.

" If you two are not gonna be a couple,well are you going to date... someone else

Violeta head snapped tlas she glared at Raymond, who smiled nervously.

Or not! Raymond answered before facing his twin, then heard Violeta say

" Diamond's my Lackey, Lackies aren't allowed to date and am not going to share my Lackey with someone else".

The others stared at Violeta with a raised brow, she just shrugged her shoulders before saying.

" What? Yes! I'm very selfish."

They then gave diamond a look,as if asking how he felt about what she said.

"Don't look at me! You heard the lady."

They moved from the dinning room to the spacious living room where settled down and They chatted about random stuffs Like work, school, friends and events. Then the conversation moved back to diamond and Violeta and how good they looked together..

Violeta who has been staring at diamond raised her brows and diamond smirked mischievously.. He lazily rested his back on the couch..

"Hudson since no one wants to ask the question,I will.." Diamond spoke as he intensely gazed at Hudson..

" Did you and your girlfriend share your first kiss already? Was it simple or was it a French kiss?" He asked Hudson.

His siblings jeered as they picked up candies that was in a bowl that rested on the center table and they threw the candies at diamond. He used a pillow to shield himself from the attacks

"Dude! EW!! "Diamond laughed using more pillows to block the incoming candies,while their parents watched and laughed..

Violeta laughed as she stared at diamond,He met her gaze and she silently complimented him..He just saved both of them from another ' you guys make a cute couple' conversation..

" way to ruin the moment Headshot!" Violeta sided with the other and threw more candies at diamond.

They all dramatically fell back into their chairs as they cheered for Violeta..They all laughed as they spent the rest of the afternoon conversing and playing games while Mr and Mrs Howard went up to their room.

When The time of the evening came, Violeta and Annabelle walked out the front door as Mrs Regina and the kids escorted them to their(violeta and Annabelle) car.

Mrs Regina, diamond and Violeta conversed and laughed, while Gabrielle, Annabelle, the twins( Raymond and Stephanie), Hudson andnVictor walked in their own group. Lawrence who was busy on his phone, walked behind his mother..

" you guys should really look into dating again, you're really missing out.." Mr's Regina halted and glanced at them, diamond threw his head back before meeting Violeta's gaze.

"Mom! Dating just isn't our... His gaze moved to Violeta as he tried to find the right words to describe the issue.

" Our 'Forte'.." violeta cut in, with a brief smile..

Mrs Regina shook her head.

"Nooo! That's just another excuse of yours,so you don't have go out ever again.. Maybe next time,ditch the double date idea. you two can share the same space without arguing, going out on that double date was a terrible idea in the first place.."

Violeta and diamond were silent for a moment before Diamond finally spoke..

"well it wasn't a double date..."he paused with his gaze fixated on Violeta.

"Untill..it was a double date.." Violeta completed his sentence.

"Well...Whatever it was,you guys still successfully sabotaged it.". Mrs Regina commented.

Diamond's and Violeta's glared at each other, they both shook their heads and spoke in unison.

"I didn't,she did!"

"I didn't,he did!....if we're being more specific, Technically....

" Lawrence did!" They spoke simultaneously again before turning around, now facing Lawrence,who had been standing there the whole time, occupied starring intensely at his cellphone and never paid attention to the conversation.

Lawrence's little prank had ruined their dates that day.

Lawrence felt their gaze on him,he raised his head slowly to look at faces in front of him. His eyes darted between the three of them.

" why are you guys staring at me?" Lawrence asked with a confused look on his face but They didn't respond nor look away from Lawrence.

" Ookaaay...I'm.. I'm gonna go....now,I..if you guys don't mind". Lawrence stuttered while slowly backing up towards the other group..The three just laughed at Lawrence reaction, before Mrs Regina followed behind Lawrence.

"You guys the atmosphere back there (he pointed out where he just came from) was awkward.." Lawrence complained to his siblings immediately stood next to Victor.

"what do you mean?" Raymond asked Lawrence, with confusion showing on his face.

"why don't we ask mother!" He replied, nodding at Mrs Regina who elegantly walked towards them.

"Mother! What was that all about?" Lawrence asked his Mother. Mrs Regina could only blink at the question..

"Well,if you paid any attention to what we were saying, you would know by now. That we were talking about how you ruined their love lives. She told Lawrence in a low voice without batting an eye.

The siblings including Annabelle just shook their heads as they laughed at Lawrence.

" Dude! I think you just got 'mothered'.." Hudson mocked Lawrence.