Cool With A "K" PART 25 - CHAPTER 1

I laid on the living room couch upside down, bored.
Chris was sitting next to me, reading a magazine about famous chick celebrities. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, that kind of crap.
"I'm bored." I said.
"Watch T.V. or something." Chris said without looking up.
I thought for a while and said, "We should have a party."
Chris gave me a look and said, "Why?"
"'Cause..." I said, "I'm bored."
"So... You're saying you just want to call a bunch of people right now and see if they'll come over."
I sat up, "No, you stupid idiot. We'll go to school tomorrow, then we'll ask if they wanna come over on Friday for a movie night. Taday we can call Alice and she can help us plan it."
Chris put down his magazine and looked at me, "Angie, don't talk like that. You sound drunk."
"Chris," I said, "You didn't tell me what you thought of my idea."
Chris shrugged, "It sounds fun... Can I invite Geoffry?"
"What? No!" I said.
"Then I don't want to participate." Chris said, holding up his magazine.
I scowled at him, "I thought you were done with Geoffry."
Chris snorted, "I never said that. I said I can see why you think he's creepy."
"If you can see why I think he's creepy, then why do you still like him?" I said.
Chris smirked at me and said, "Ange, you've got to learn to see the good and bad in people instead of one or the other."
I rolled my eyes and he said, "Remember Jonah Perry?"
"Oh, God." I said, shaking my head, "Please don't, Chris."
"Seventh grade, you were sooo in love with Jonah, you could baarely think about aaanything else." Chris said loudly, grinning.
"I can't heaaar yooouu!" I said, covering my ears.
"Then, it turned out he had been to Juvie three times for selling illegal drugs and shoplifting!"
I looked at my brother and said, "Come on, Chris. I was thirteen!"
"And he was your first kiss." Chris said, shaking his head, "I see a pattern here."
"Come on, Buddy, don't do this to me." I said.
"Hypocrisy, thy name is Angela Harper." Chris said, and he busted out laughing.
I hit him on the shoulder and said, "Shut up, Chris."
Chris slowly stopped laughing and said, "Okay, Angie. Yes, I think the party sounds fun, but I don't think it's fair for you to tell me I can't invite Geoffry."
"But he always ruins everything!" I said.
Chris sighed and said, "It's perfectly fair if I invite him. Ask Mom if we can have a party."
I leaned over and yelled into the kitchen, "MOOOOMM! CAN WE HAVE A PARTY THIS FRIDAY?"
"Depends. Will there be any drinking?" Mom teased from the kitchen, "Any smoking? Any drugs?"
"No, Mom." Chris and I said together.
"But there will be Geoffry." I said. Chris hit me with his magazine.
"No sneaking out? No getting arrested? No sex?" Mom teased, giggling.
"No, Mom." Chris said, looking uncomfortable.
"I think I party would be fun." Mom said from the kitchen, "Can I come?"
Chris and I silently glared in the direction of the kitchen until Mom came into the living room.
She laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I get it. This is a teenager party, no moms."
"Mom," I said, "Please."
Chris' scowl faded a little bit and he looked at Mom sadly. Oh, God...
"Hey, Angie, w-why can't Mom come?" Chris said suddenly, "She loves us and she's fun!"
"No, Chris." I said.
Mom laughed, "That's very sweet of you, Chris, but I can go play poker with the girls."
Chris and I looked at each other and said in unison, "The girls?"
Mom laughed again, "You know, the nice women who live on our street. Carrie, Mrs. Walker..."
"Mrs. Coleman?" I said flatly.
Mom nodded, "Yes, Alice's mother will be there..."
"Aww," Chris said, "Then how can Alice come over if she has to babysit her brother?"
"Maybe she can get Tyler to do it." I said.
Chris gave me a look and said, "Tyler's ten."
I crossed my arms, "So what? I babysat you when I was ten."
"Yes, but I wasn't a baby at the time." Chris sneered.
"Oh, you were close enough." Mom said.
I laughed and Chris said, "Moooom!"
"I'm sorry, Honey, but you really didn't change much for those nine years!" Mom said, laughing.
I always talk about how embarrassing my mom is, but she's great.
"Whatever." Chris said, holding his hands up, "I'll think of something. But right now, I'm calling Alice."
I laughed and said, "Thanks, Mom. This'll be great."
"Yeah, no problem, Sweetie." Mom said, smoothing my hair, "And don't forget, I want you to know that I trust you."
Then she added, half joking, "And I want you to show me that I can trust you."
I nodded and smiled, "Yeah, no worries."
"Hello?" Chris said into his cellphone, "Hi, Alice! Are you busy today? Cool! Can you come over? Awesome! See you soon.... Yeah, Angie and I want to have a party, just 'cause you know... Yeah, can you help? Great! See you!"
"She can come?" I said.
Chris nodded and said excitedly, "Yes! This is going to be, like, so awesome!"
He almost squealed and I rolled my eyes.


So, Alice came over that day and we started planning the party.
Chris said, "So, I was thinking that we can, like, make food and then we can, like, watch movies-"
"Chris, if you say 'like' one more time, I am going to slap you." I said.
"Sorry." Chris said, but I doubt he meant it.
"I think a movie night sounds like a lot of fun!" Alice said, "Who should we invite?"
I thought about it and, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, said, "You know. Leo, Mouse, Tae-Hyun..."
"Geoffry." Chris said.
"No." I said, "So, as I was saying-"
"We're inviting Geoffry," Chris said, "Or I'm not participating."
"Your loss, not ours." I said, "We don't need you."
Alice asked, "Why don't you want Geoffry to come, Ange?"
I looked at her and said, "Because, he's creepy!"
"No, he's not, Angie." Alice said, "Don't be silly. He's nice."
I gaped at Alice, "You're kidding, right?"
Alice and Chris shook their heads.
"Am I the only person who sees the evil in him?" I said, "The only one who notices when he purposefully brushes past peoples' shoulders in the hallway? Or when he stares at girls' boobs while the girl is talking to him?"
"Come on, Ange." Alice said, "He's a boy, of course he's going to be like that."
Chris gave Alice a look and she said, "Um... Okay, I guess that was a little bit general. Sorry, Chris."
Chris put his elbows on the table and said, "Angie, he's my boyfriend. I-"
"I am aware, Chris." I said bitterly.
Chris sighed and said, losing patience with me, "And I think it is very unfair of you not to invite him just because you hate him."
"I don't want him to do anything to you, Chris." I said.
Alice shrugged and said, "Well, he wouldn't do anything that bad in front of everyone else."
Chris and I gave her a look and she said, "Sorry..."
Chris took the pen and paper out of my hands and put the paper on the table. He wrote in his girly script, Alice, Leo, Tae-Hyun, Geoffry, Mouse, Kathy...
"Wait, wait, wait." I said, "Kathy?"
Chris shrugged, "Why not? She's nice."
"Well, she hates my guts." Alice said, "And after the talent show, she started a fight with me and Angie and she slapped Tae-Hyun. None of us have really been on her good side lately."
"That's right." I said, "She hasn't talked to me in weeks."
Chris pursed his lips and said, "Uh, okay. Maybe we won't invite her to this party, but we should really clear the air with her."
Alice and I nodded.
Chris smiled slightly and said, "You know what? Maybe it would be good for our friendship with her if we invited her to this."
I sighed, "Fine, you can invite her."
"Okay..." Chris said, "Cool. So, we have the three of us, Leo, Tae-Hyun, Geoffry, Mouse, and Kathy."
"That sounds good." I said.
At the same time, Alice and I added, "Except for Geoffry."
Well, she said Kathy, I said Geoffry.
Chris gave both of us a look and said, "Be nice, guys."
"Chris, why can't you be like us cool kids and hate anybody?" I said sarcastically, grinning.
Chris shrugged, "I don't hate people. It's just not my thing."
"What about Mouse?" I asked.
Chris didn't say anything for a second and he gritted his teeth.
"Well.... I don't hate her..." He said, "She's just... Disrespectful. You don't hate Mouse, do you?"
I shook my head, "No, but she picks on you a lot more than she picks on me."
Alice snorted and said, "She picks on everyone, Angie."
I shrugged, "Whatever. She's still my friend."
"How generous." Chris said flatly.
I pointed at him and smiled excitedly, "See? I knew you hated her!"
"I don't hate her." Chris said, "Drop it."
"Okay, okay." I said, "So, what movie should we watch?"
"MEAN GIRLS!" Chris said, "Omigod, I love that movie!"
"We know, Chris." I said, "And I've seen that movie enough times that I can move my mouth along to the words, so no."
Chris looked disappointed, but then he smiled and asked hopefully, "John Tucker Must Die?"
"No, Chris." I said.
"Oh, Uptown Girls!" Chris suggested excitedly.
"How about one of those nice Saw movies?" I said, "They're so great. No romance, no girl fights, no cheating boyfriends..."
The song Telephone by Lady Gaga started playing. Chris' cellphone.
Chris answered it, "Hello?"
He smiled coyly and said, "Hi, Honey."
"Speaking of cheating boyfriends..." I said.
Chris shushed me and said into the phone, "Yeah, I'm glad you called. Alice, Angie, and I are having a party this Friday."
"Don't invite him!" I said, not caring if Geoffry could hear me or not.
Chris gave me a look and said, "That was Angie, I'm sorry.... I know! She is so rude!"
Chris looked at me and said, "I knooooow! God... Yeah, my house, this Friday after school."
He smiled and said, almost... Suggestively, "See you there... Bye."
Chris hung up his phone and sat back down.
"I hate you." I said flatly.
Chris scoffed, "Will you shut up, Angie? Geoffry's a nice guy. Get off his case."
I pouted and said, "Whatever."
Alice looked back and forth between us and called into the kitchen, "H-hey, Mrs. Harper!"
Mom poked her head into the living room and said, "Yes?"
"W-what movie do you think we should watch at the party?" Alice said, laughing nervously, "We just can't seem to agree on one."
No, don't ask her. I thought.
Mom thought and said, "Hmm... Let's see... Oh, how about The Little Mermaid?"
Chris squealed, "Ooh, I love that movie!"
"Good Lord, Chris." I said, rubbing my temples, "You're such an idiot."
"Angela," Mom said, giving me a stern look, "Don't insult your brother."
I held up my arms and said, "He's my brother, I'm supposed to insult him."
"Can I see the rulebook?" Mom said, winking.
I shook my head, "Whatever, I'm calling Leo."
"Okay." Alice and Chris said.
I took my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed Leo's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Leo." I said, "Do you and Mouse wanna come over after school on Friday and see a movie?"
"Sure, sounds fun! Who all is going?"
"We were thinking Alice, Kathy, Tae-Hyun..." I said.
"Awesome!"
"Yeah" I added with a groan, "And Geoffry."
Leo laughed, "Nice. I bet you're excited."
I sneered, "Ha ha. Very funny. So, you guys'll come?"
"I'll ask my mom. See ya at school."
"Later." I said, hanging up.
"So," Alice said, "They can come?"
"Leo's asking his mom." I said.
Chris grinned, "I can picture her reply perfectly."
He mimicked Leo's mom's Italian accent and said, "'Sure, go to the party, Leo. But be nice to the girls, because someday, you will find one that likes you and you will have a beautiful family with her."
I laughed, "Don't be racist, Chris."
"I'm telling you, she sounds exactly like that!" Chris said, laughing.
There was a pause before I said, "Okay, yeah, she does."
"'Mooom!'" Chris mimicked Leo's voice, "'What are you talking about? Girls love me!'"
We all started laughing and Mom said from the kitchen, "Kids, don't make fun of your friends!"
"Sorry!" Chris, Alice, and I all said.
The laughing slowed and I said, "So, we can ask the others tomorrow at school."
Alice nodded, "Yeah... But you get to ask Kathy."