FALLING: The Negative Ion Series (3 page)

“Yes, ma’am,”
Greg corrected fast.

“And what are you called?”

“Greg.”

“
I asked what are you called, not your name!” Captain Kessler shouted, making the boys jump three feet out of their skin.

“Gore, ma’am!” Greg replied as if he were in the army.

“Did you understand my instructions, Greg-gore?”

The other
boys chuckled at the name then stopped fast when Captain Kessler glared at them.

“Yes, ma’am. Clearly.”

“Then answer when I talk to you. Never make me ask you twice, young man. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Captain Kessler stepped back and looked up and down the line of boys. “That goes for all of you,” she shouted, frowning. “Do I make myself clear to all of you as well?”

“Yes, ma’am,”
the band replied. Samantha and I giggled at them as Shauna returned and looked at me, with her sweet and light smile.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible, honey. Order pizza for everyone and make sure they are around when I
return since we’ll need help bringing in all the bags.”

“Will do, Mom. See you later,”
I smiled then kissed my mother’s cheek. Captain Kessler returned for a second and gave the boys one last stern look and left the house.

“Okay,
Negative Ion
, get to work! You want to answer to
that
if you don’t finish the painting?” Samantha jeered.

“Hell no!” the boys answered and picked up the
brushes and rollers.

Stanley said they would do it all, so
Samantha and I sat on the floor near the red wall while Jaxen and Terrence painted the living room, leaving Michael, Greg and Stanley to do the dining room. After a few minutes of silent painting from the boys in the living room, only the sounds of Samantha and me talking softly about the party tomorrow as I slyly watched Jaxen’s bare muscled arms paint, Stanley came into the living room and whispered to Terrence, who frowned then reluctantly nodded and went to the dining room.

“Red, you
’re about to miss a spot or something near the red wall,” Terrence murmured, gesturing toward where Samantha and I were as he left the room then joined in on the banter going on in the dining room.

“Yeah,
got it, Ren,” Jaxen murmured, going to the area where Terrence gestured then frowned as he looked up and down the wall. He finally shrugged and muttered something I couldn’t understand then looked over at Samantha and me.

Soon the sounds of Terrence harmonizing in the dining room caught
our ears and the other boys joined in, practicing the lyrics of what was a new song that Stanley said Terrence wrote with Jaxen. It was a very sweet sounding song, the lyrics filled with emotion, pleading and love that made me smile.

I blushed as a shirtless and muscled Stanley kept sneaking peeks at me, to Samantha’s amusement and Jaxen’s seeming annoyance. After a while, I forgot Jaxen was in the room as Stanley kept making eyes at me and doing things, such as making silly faces, to make me giggle. Soon after, the talking ceased in the dining room and the rollers started moving slower.

“Uh,
Kimber? What time is that pizza coming?” Jaxen asked as he slowed his roller too.

“Huh?”
I startled then replied with a smile. “I could order it now, I guess. Sammi, come in the kitchen with me while I look for the number.”

Sammi
stood and smirked at her brother. I led her into the kitchen, grabbed the menu and called but it took a moment to get the order right because I could hear the conversation in the dining room loud and clear. I quieted and turned when I heard the conversation start and had a good view of some of them as they stood in the middle of the floor while talking.

“Fuck
in’ grrr, man!” Jaxen growled. “What did I say?”

“What, Red?”

“Dude, he told us
she was off limits. Fucking flirting all over the place with her,” Ren said. “Fuck’s wrong with you?! You know the code, Stanley!”

“
Call me that name one more time,” Stanley snarled.

“I ain
’t calling you that dumbass name if you disrespect the code!” Ren half shouted. “You know better! Man, we break any of the codes then shit falls apart. Red spoke first and we all agreed!”

“Dude, is it my fault he’s taking forever with her? Fuck, I thought he changed his damn mind.
And
he’s got Camille! What more does he need?” Stanley growled.

“I don’t have a
nybody! Who the fuck is Camille?” Jaxen stage whispered.

All the other members of
Negative Ion
threw their hands up in frustration and groaned.

“Marnie!” Michael growled. “You know, the girl you’ve been screwing for the past few weeks!”

Jaxen’s eyes widen. “Her real name is Camille? Where did I get Marnie from?”

“Marnie is her dog’s name,” Greg murmured, shaking his head. “She had that thing with her and that’s what you used to get her to stop
the first time. Not that it took much. She’d been eyeing you like raw steak since forever.”

Jaxen
frowned as he looked around at his band. “Terrier?”

“Poodle!” the band shouted at once.

Jaxen smirked. “I don’t give a fuck about her. She was just steady pussy to get me off. I kinda like
her
.”

“
She
is not the type of girl to just have for pussy on standby, fuck-cheese. And she’s not the kind of girl you ‘kinda’ like. You’re going to have to change if you want her and there is no fucking way you’ll be able to do that.
I
can.”

“I hear you, uh, Snip… but look. I want her and I don’t know where it is I’m going with her. I still want to try. There’s something different about her and I can’t put my finger on it.
”

“You better do something soon because for her, I’m willing to break the code. Make up your mind about her or let
the whole thing go,” Stanley snarled.

I held on tight to the kitchen phone’s receiver as I listened to the conversation going on in my dining room, even after I finished ordering. I saw
Sammi’s expression and knew she heard the entire thing too. The expression on her face was completely smug. When Samantha looked back at me, I tried to look like I was engrossed in my ordering and heard nothing.

“Yes, that’s correct, Harry
. Thanks!” I said as I hung up the phone. “They’re promising 30 minutes.”

“Good. I’
m starving!” Samantha groaned, dropping into a chair.

“Me, too,”
I giggled then whispered. “Did you see how Stanley was staring at me? I think he likes me but…”

“Yeah, I saw. But what?”

“I like Red but obviously he likes someone else.”

“Oh. I didn’t know if you heard any of that,”
Samantha grimaced then spoke softly. “Listen, Itsy. I think you should give Stanley a shot. Jaxen’s not the candy and flowers guy. He enjoys things you haven’t, and in most cases, shouldn’t, experience. He will only break your heart and cruelly. I know my brother and he is not capable of change and I hate that I will have to kill him when he tears you apart.”

I stared at my
best friend for several minutes then sighed. “I could have said the same thing about you and Parker. He was like that when you got with him and now look. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that new ring on your finger, even though you switched it to your right hand when you changed your clothes.”

Samantha
raised her arms to her waist and nervously twisted the ring on her right hand, righting the diamond.

“
I haven’t told my parents yet,” she whispered, a slow, knowing smile crossing her features. “Parker and I got engaged last night. I’m going with him when he moves to New York. Your father offered him a job in his research department. He took it when he found out you were definitely moving and I couldn’t let him go without me. Thank God he felt the same way. ”

I
walked over, smiled at her huge ring then hugged my friend tight. “I’m happy for the both of you. Best wishes, sweetie.”

“Thank you. Now wish me luck
for when I tell my parents I’m engaged and moving,” Samantha laughed in my ear then pulled back to look at me. “I meant what I said, Itsy. I love my brother, but he’s the worst of them. He’s a weed head and he doesn’t give a shit about women. You can do so much better, I swear.”

“Maybe I don’t want better,
Sammi. Whatever that is. Maybe being with the ultimate bad boy is just what I need.”

“I don’t think so,
Itsy. I think you should stay in your comfort zone. Please, think this through. I love my brother but he’s a dick and he knows it. I don’t want you broken over him ever.”

I
sighed as I put my hand on my friend’s wet cheek. “I hear you. Now please hear me when I say it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Samantha
nodded then sighed heavily. “I will nurse you through your broken heart after I kill him. I’ll always be there for you, even in New York, sister.”

“So will I. And we’ll come back and visit our mothers together and have giggle fests on the plane and drive all the other passengers insane!”

Samantha laughs then looks at me thoughtfully. “And where will Jaxen be while we’re in New York?”

I
broke away and went to my mother’s new fridge and poured out two glasses of white wine and gave one to Samantha.

“I don’t know. With the next girl, I guess. Whatever happens, I’m leaving anyway. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be the one that breaks his heart.”

Samantha sipped her wine as she looked at me over the rim of the glass. Her look screamed ‘no way in hell!’ and my head took a few minutes to grasp that. If anything happens between us, I’ll keep my emotions at bay and not fall completely for Jaxen William Malloy.

Samantha, the band and I
ate our pizza on the dining room floor and had light conversation while waiting for Mom to return. Somehow, Stanley ended up sitting next to me on the floor on one side and Samantha was on the other. A scowling Jaxen sat next to Michael and glared, looking like he was deciding which one of them to knock out first. With a sigh, I think he finally decided he couldn’t hit a girl, even if it was his annoying 14-minutes-older-than-him twin sister. Just as he was about to stand and clock Stanley one, his sister cleared her throat.

“Don’t,”
Samantha said quietly as she pulled cheese from her slice.

“Shut it, meathead.”

“You shut it, nubby.”

“Why don’t the both of you oinkers shut it?”
I shouted as I stood and started cleaning the mess. “Geez, give it a damn rest! Shut your traps, get off your asses and help me clean!”

Samantha
and
Negative Ion
broke into a loud laugh. I was proud of that comment because, in truth, I was really was tired of their bullshit and was so glad I wouldn’t be hearing it after Samantha, Parker and I moved to New York.

The group
, still laughing, cleaned the mess and a few seconds after we finished, Shauna blew her horn at the back door. Everyone rushed out and helped bring in bag after bag. Once it was all in, the guys were laughing and peeking through the bags, and nibbling through some snacks. Shauna crossed her arms and glared at them then threw them all out so that Sammi and I could help her put everything away and get prepped for tomorrow.

After the guys left, I thought the house felt too big and quiet but a
large piece of my mind was focused on Jaxen’s parting look. He let all the guys leave out before him and right before he went out the door, he turned to me, slowly smiled and winked. My mouth dropped and I stared after him, even after he said good night and closed the door behind himself.

“A fly is going in there if you keep it open like that,”
Sammi murmured as she pushed up my jaw. I promptly blushed.

“He winked at me.”

Sammi sighed. “I saw. No turning back now, is there?”

“No,” I grinned. “I think I know who my first will be.”

Samantha stared at me for a long minute, looking completely torn. “You’re my friend but he’s my brother and no one knows him as I do. I know what Jaxen is capable of, what he stands for and wants; love and long term is not it and I don’t think it ever will be. No matter how I think Jaxen feels about you, he will only break your heart in the end. No, not only your heart… your soul. So I’m begging you: be careful, Itsy. Promise me you will at least attempt to make whatever this is as close to a fling as possible. Don’t fall any more than what you already have. It’s only going to be worse for you in the end.”

I smiled at my friend then wrapped my arm around her.

“I appreciate that, Sammi. I honestly do. But I’m a big girl who’s never been heartbroken, so I think I’m well overdue. It’ll be fine, I promise. Now come on, we need some rest. We have a party to go shopping for in the morning and I want to get spruced up for it.”