Odd (3)

My phone rings. I grunt and answer it. "Hello?" I say. The other person on the line screams. I drop my phone. I can still hear screaming. I pick up the phone and speak into it.

"Nan? Why are you screaming?" I ask.
"A cockroach just ran past me! KYAAAAAAA there it is again! Kill it! Kill it! Oh yeah, hi Nadine."
"Oh okay, what's going on?"
"Did you hear-- EEEK! Kill it!"
"What??" I ask, intrigued.
"Wait, let me go to my room." I hear Nan run and a door opens and then closes.
"Okay, did you hear?"
"Whaaat??" I ask, impatient.
"Holly's got a boyfriend!" Nan squeals.
"WHAAT!"
"Yes! Oh my! I don't know how it happened."
"Why- Who- She- How- Where did you hear it?"
"Daryl told me."
"DARYL!? Your brother!?"
"Yes, apparently the boyfriend is a friend of his."
"YOUR BROTHER IS NINETEEN!"
"I KNOW RIGHT! WHY IS HOLLY WITH SUCH AN OLD GUY!?"
"EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"
"His name is Tony."
"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
"He's cute."
"AIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHH!!"
"You scream too much. I'll see you in school."
"Bye."
"Bye."

Nan hangs up and I make a face. Oh this is horrid. How could Holly do such a thing? Without telling us? I grunt and get ready for school. When I go downstairs, I see Nan waiting for me on my porch. I say goodbye to my mother and go off with Nan.

"How could Holly be so betrayalistic? I am so angry with her." Nan fumes. I nod. "Tony. What a horrid creep. He's stolen Holly's brain!" I mutter.

When we arrive at school, I spot Holly sitting by herself under a tree. "Like why is she under a tree." Nan grumbles. We decide to ignore her, because we're miffed. Then Holly sees us.

"Hello!" she says to us, grabbing our arms. I look away, still ignoring her. "Like why are you having a boyfriend." Nan says to Holly. I look at Nan and frown.

Holly colours. "What?" she says. "A boyfriend!?" I turn to face her. "Hmm, Tony. Does that ring a bell??" I turn away and run into school. I am so T.O.ed.

At lunchtime Nan and Holly are sitting together. They wave me over and I sit down reluctantly. "Nadiiiine! Holly doesn't have a boyfriend!" Nan shouts. I look at Holly. She's blushing. Nan laughs. "It was all a misunderstanding," she says, swatting the air at me.

"You see, Tony's been sending Holly messages and asking her stuff because he likes her I think but anyway Holly doesn't like him so he was probably boasting to Daryl. I think Daryl's a twit for believing that retard." Nan wipes her mouth with a tissue paper and bites her sandwich.

Holly nods, her face still reddish-pink. She gives me her phone and tells me to look through the messages. I look and nod, concluding that Tony was and would probably always be a creep.

"Why are old guys so weird?" Nan says, licking mustard off her wrist. "They're twisted." Holly offers. I shrug. Nan scowls. "I'm going to tell my brother off for having such stupid friends. He's such a retard for making friends with such pig-headedness."

I sigh. "All guys are weird at some point. I suppose we shouldn't be so over-dramatic." Nan looks at me and rolls her eyes, but she stops raving.

Holly eats a cherry tomato from her bag of organic produce. I look at Nan. She's got a whole bag of sandwiches stuffed with chopped onions drenched in mustard. I look down at my cafeteria lunch and gag. Damp chicken nuggets, soggy fries and a bowl of artificially coloured ketchup grace my tray. I push it away and decide to bring my own lunch next time.

When school ends, Nan walks me home and I say goodbye to her. I hear my mother cooking. I go to the kitchen. "Hi ma." I say. She smiles at me, looking really happy.

"Your pa has finally employed someone to help him in the cafe." I smile. "That's good." I say. My mother grins. "Actually, he's from your school and I think he's quite nice." I am shocked, and I try to stop a hopeful thought of mine from growing.

"His name is--" The back door opens, cutting my mother off. "Oh, look, Nadine." my mother says. I look and nearly faint. My suspicion was correct.