54Summary: A word of advice, do not kiss random guys for a dare, you might find out that he's the new kid in your school leading to very aaaaaawkward moments, even when he doesn't seem to recognise you.
Chapter 4: A White Rose
'Hello Neva.' Paul greeted with a smirk.
'What the hell are you doing here?' I asked.
'I live here,' Paul replied. 'And I believe you were here to welcome us to the neighbourhood.'
'You know him?' Taliae asked.
'Most unfortunately.' I muttered.
'What was that?' Paul asked although the look on his face clearly told me that he had heard what I had said.
'Oh, nothing,' I replied. 'Taliae, why don't you give him the brownies that mom had baked?'
'Oh yeah, uh…here.' Taliae handed Paul the plate of brownies, giving me a sceptical look.
'We'll just go now.' I said. Taliae nodded in agreement and we both started to head back to our house.
'What was that about?' Taliae asked. Even though she was three years younger than me, Taliae and I had a very close relationship. We told each other almost everything.
'Tal, you remember that dare I did on Friday?' I asked. Taliae nodded with a little grin.
'Well, Paul was the guy I kissed.' I muttered. Taliae's face lit up.
'Wow!' she exclaimed. 'So…that's why you're uncomfortable with him?'
'No! I'm not uncomfortable with him; I just don't like him, because he's a jackass.' I said with a small glare.
'Right.' Taliae said while a knowing grin appeared on her lips.
'What?' I asked.
'Oh, nothing, never mind,' Taliae said. 'So tell me exactly why he is a jackass.'
'Because-because he blackmailed me!' I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration.
'How could he have-'
'I'd rather not talk about it, ok?' I asked. Taliae grinned and nodded.
'Did you meet the neighbours?' mom asked as soon as we had returned home.
'Uh…yeah,' I replied. 'They…um…thanked you for the brownies.'
'I was thinking of inviting them to dinner one night.' Mom said thoughtfully. My eyes widened.
'They're probably busy!' I quickly replied.
'We'll see,' Mom said. 'Dinner is ready by the way; can you get your brother?'
'Sure.' I replied, making my way up the stairs and entering my brother's room.
'Hey Dave, dinner's ready, come on down.' I told my brother.
'Thanks Nev, I'll be down soon.' Dave said with a small nod, not looking up from what he was doing. I went back down the stairs.
'Dave said he's going to be down soon.' I announced to mom and Taliae, plopping down onto a chair beside Taliae.
'So, who are the neighbours?' mom asked. 'Their names?'
'Well…uh…' I exchanged a glance with Taliae. 'The Freemans I think it was, we just met their son though.'
'Oh, no one else was home?' mom asked.
'Uh…no?' mom gave me a suspicious look but decided not to question it.
'I was thinking of seeing if they would be free to come to dinner tomorrow night, since I have the day off,' Mom explained. 'It'd be nice to have someone over for a change, how long has it been since we have had guests over?'
'A pretty long time,' Taliae said in agreement. 'I think it's a good idea to invite them over for dinner.' I gave her a glare.
'I happen to think that it's a bad idea.' I said.
'What's a bad idea?' Dave asked, sitting down on a chair beside mom and across from me.
'We have new neighbours and I was thinking about inviting them to dinner tomorrow night but Neva thinks that it's a bad idea.' Mom explained. Dave gave me a questioning look.
'Did something happen?' he asked.
'No!' I replied quickly.
'Neva…' Dave said in a warning tone.
'How come Dave didn't have to welcome the neighbours?' I asked trying my best to change the subject.
'Because he was studying for a test he has coming up.' Mom replied. I rolled my eyes.
'You're such a geek.' I said.
'At least I don't fail everything.' Dave retorted.
'I only happened to fail geography once!' I replied. 'At least I have a life!'
'And what a fun life it is.' Dave said sarcastically.
'Stop arguing kids.' mom said, frustratedly. I stuck out my tongue at Dave before returning to eating my dinner.
'Do you think he knows?' Emily asked me the next morning while driving me to school after I had told her about Paul being my neighbour.
'I don't know, but if he does, he sure doesn't acknowledge it.' I replied, changing radio stations, trying to find something decent.
'Under my umbrella Ella ella eh eh eh eh.' Glaring at the radio, I pressed the off button.
'Hey, I was listening to that!' Emily complained.
'My ears were bleeding.' I said.
'What's wrong with that song?'
'What's right with that song?'
'You're impossible!' Emily said, parking the car in an empty space.
'So, what are you going to do about Paul?' Emily asked me as we reached our locker.
'I can't really do anything about it…unless of course I murder him…' I drifted off.
'Nev! You're not murdering anyone!' Emily exclaimed. I sighed.
'I hate him.'
'You don't even know him.'
'Anyone who blackmails me is hated by me.'
'I blackmail you.'
'…right.' Emily raised an eyebrow at me, before pulling open her locker and putting her books in.
I sighed again and opened my own locker, before freezing up.
In my locker lay a single white rose with a small note attached to it. With shaky fingers, I carefully held up the rose and opened up the note:
A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who steal the blossom
'Hey guys!' Glade greeted enthusiastically from behind me snapping me out of my awe. Putting away the rose safely into my locker, I turned to Glade with a smile.
'Hey!' I greeted.
'So…we're meant to put project GSGTTGDT into action today, right?' Glade asked.
'Uh…sure…' I replied before turning back to my locker and taking out my books, my thoughts drifting to the rose and the note.
'Well, step 1 of project GSGTTGDT, is to introduce Glade to Paul…so Neva will have to do that.' Emily said.
'WHAT?' I asked, thoughts of the rose immediately leaving my mind. 'Why will I, on purpose talk to that jackass?'
'Because none of us know him but you've talked to him. It's only natural that you do it.' Emily explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I gave her my best death glare.
'I'm not doing it.'
'Please!' Glade exclaimed.
'No!'
'Please!' he gave me his adorable puppy dog eyes. 'I'll do anything you ask!'
'No.' my answer got weaker though. It was hard to resist the puppy dog eyes.
'Please?' he asked. My glare faltered.
'Oh, fine but you still have to do whatever I ask you to do.' I said.
'Deal!' Glade said happily.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews and sorry for the late update! I have (good) excuses but I decided not to waste your time by writing them! Just know, that I had (very) good excuses. :D Thanks to everyone who corrected my errors as well. I'll be going back sometime soon to correct them.
emotionless-stares: Fine, I won't tell you...I'll write it to you instead:P Thanks for the review!
mia5081: Sorry for the late update. I'm planning on going back someday soon and editing all the grammatical errors.
Black-Rose-Upon-Thorn: Hmmm...maybe. :P I know this was shorter than my other chapters, but I'm planning on making the next chapter longer.
.23: I wish I could kill the person who ever came up with the idea of blackmail...hehe. Thanks for the review!
ObliviousLady: ...my brother makes me sing while he plays the guitar...and then he tell me that I have a horrible voice. Oo? He's retarded (not really). There should be Paul in the next chapter...and Glade! Hopefully!
Twinkle Star Bell: I'm glad you like it. Thanks for the review!
Laughing In the Night: How come you're hyper? I scare off my friends when I'm too hyper. That happened when I drank too much coke once and then I went on msn. My friends went offline because of freaky hyperness:D Thanks for the review!
kstar129: Quoting my brother: 'I'm not interested in girls at the moment because they take too much time'. It's hard to find blackmail material on my brother because he blackmails me right back:( Thanks for the review anyway!
Rad Like Whoaa.: I don't like reading them but I do enjoy writing them. :P ...my little sister is VERY annoying and my brother is VERY hateable. Hehe...kinda like Dave and Neva. They love each other very much though, you'll see. Oops, did I just give a bit of a spoiler?
SecretWhispers: Yeah, doesn't it? It really makes you appreciate your life. Thanks for the review!
ForverDancingInTheRain: Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!
RandomByStander: Glade: REALLY? What's his name? Where does he live? I NEED to find him! gives puppy dog eyes Please! Introduce us!
Haybay smartie: Thanks for reviewing!
Elle Winters 9: Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner:D Thanks for reviewing!
SapphireEyes16: Glad you like it! Thanks for the review!