what i was born to do

A loud chuckle erupting from his lips, Scotty threw his hands up in defence as he dodged the oncoming candy that Laura had lobbed at him. A wide grin filling his features, he delightedly leaned forward and scratched Remus behind the ears.

“Jeez,” he scoffed, before glancing up at Laura and offering her a teasing smile. His gaze still trained on her, though his words obviously aimed at the dog at their feet, he spoke carefully so that she wouldn’t miss a word. “Damn, Remus. Mama’s feisty, huh, bro?”

Letting out a howl of laughter, his shoulders shaking with the force of it, Scotty leaned back in his makeshift seat before eventually admitting defeat and giving up on the giant gummy bear he had been tackling. Moving on to a packet of skittles instead, he pondered over whether or not Oz would be opposed to the idea of opening a counter for freshly backed goods somewhere in the store. It would rpobably be pretty good for business, he figured, not to mention it would mean an extra donut fix for Scotty – not that he needed it.

Hm, maybe they could even ask Alfie to help out?

Oh. Alfie. The reason he was even stressing out so much right now. One of the reasons he had so urgently wanted to see Laura (besides the fact that he loved hanging out with her, of course).

“Aight, aight, I’m sorry,” he insisted, his smile having faltered slightly. Shrugging, he tossed a skittle at her – payback for the starburst – before quietly adding, “The puppy thing did happen, y'kna.”

He knew it probably wasn’t fair to tease Laura so relentlessly about Christia, especially given how hard Massie always seemed to come down on the other girl. It made no sense to him, or to anyone, why she insisted on being such a royal bitch to Laura. So what if she liked Chris, like damn. Scotty couldn’t imagine a scenario in which anyone wouldn’t be taken by Christian, his soft exterior and gentle, polite manner enough to make anybody a little weak at the knees. And the fact that it was Laura was all the more reason they were freakin’ made for each other. Scotty knew damn well that Laura was as tough as nails, but anyone that knew her also knew that she was sweet as pie.

Pie. Like Alfie’s pie. Ugh. What the hell was wrong with him?

Sighing, he finished up his remaining skittles, tossed the wrapper into the trash (perfect aim, Lucy Carter eat your heart out), and rested his elbows on his knees, his chin dropping glumly into the palm of his hands.

“As fun as tormentin’ you sounds, bro, I’m surrenderin’ on the Chris front, aight?” he informed her, adding a very silent and internal ‘for today’. “I asked you cos I wanted to catch up with my best girl, y'kna.”

The soft smile that came with his words was soon lost as he chewed nervously on his upper lip, anxiously toying with several variations on how to broach the Alfie subject. Deliberating over what might be the best way to word things, he figured there was no harm in being subtle. He could slowly build towards his point, right?”

“I kissed Alfie!” he blurted out, the words leaving his mouth before he even knew what was happening.

Shit.

So much for subtle.

“Uh… aight,” was all he could muster now, shame creeping in as he buried his face in his hands.

Laura laughed along with Scotty, even if the laughter was at her own expense, but Scotty had seemed pretty downtrodden lately and Laura was just happy to see his smile again. It soon slipped from his face though and Laura’s heart sank, wanting nothing more than to reach out and find a way to bring it back so her best friend wouldn’t look so sad.

When he tossed a Skittle in her general direction, his aim a little off in a way that Coach Macaulay would have probably given him a bollocking for, Laura perked up a little. She plastered a grin back onto her own face and gave him a knowing look when he insisted that Christian’s escapade with a batch of endangered and innocent puppies had transpired after all.

“Mhm, I’m sure it did,” she smiled, one eyebrow raised.

She was relieved to hear that Scotty was willing to call a truce on the teasing-her-about Christian front. As much as she was no longer able to hide her crush on their mutual friend – and she knew that Scotty’s jokes about it were pretty much harmless – it seemed pretty dangerous to keep talking about it out in the open. That seemed a silly thing to think but Massie had minions everywhere and the head cheerleader was already out for Laura’s blood. The last thing she needed was for Massie’s suspicions to be confirmed because then Laura was sure that she would be waking up in the middle of the night with Lauren Conrad standing over her bed, ready to torture information out of her with an eyelash curler.

It was a slightly disturbing and macabre thought but she and Lydia had recently braved the Saw movies and her mind had taken a dark and twisted route since then whenever she thought of Massie exacting revenge.

As pleased as Laura was that Scotty was excited to see her and that she had somehow managed to become the ‘best girl’ of Scotty freakin’ Carter, she knew there was more to it. She watched as Scotty chewed nervously on his lip, clearly stewing over something. She was about to gently tell him that he could talk to her about anything and everything when she noticed him open his mouth and finally come out with what was bothering him.

At first, all Laura could do was gape at him, unsure if she had read his words right.

“Sorry… you kissed who?” she asked innocently. Her confusion was genuine because, as skilled a lip-reader as she was, there had been no indication that Scotty had any interest in the person she thought he had said.

“Sorry, it’s just…” she trailed away, blinking rapidly. When she realised that maybe this was why Scotty had been so anxious to tell her, Laura sat up straight, pulling herself together. The last thing Scotty needed was for her to overdramatise the situation when he probably wanted to instil some normality into it. Deciding to take her chances, Laura leaned forward.

“Did you say Alfie there? You kissed Alfie?” she asked, her voice gentle.

I think you’re allowed to say that too. I mean, I don’t expect to meet Scotty Carter, but if I were to that would be superbly fine by me.

The next time Lydia and I have a pizza party you can come! Because Scotty will be there too and, word of advice, he loves it when you give him donuts.

Have I met Scotty Carter? I, Baby Calhoun? Um, noooo.

Scotty is the best. My best guy tied with Christian, Louis, Callum and Steven. Actually I like Christian just that little bit more but I’m allowed to say that now. I hope you get to meet Scotty at some point!

I DO! She’s really funny and sweet and the other day I fell over in the hallway and she stopped and helped me pick up all my books. So I think she’s the closest thing I have to a personfriend.

That sounds pretty serious to me! I think that the Carters were sent to us by an angel. An angel who could kick all our butts but a super cute angel. Have you met Scotty?

Yeah… I’m really sorry that happened to him.

Me? Um, noooooo! Me, a personfriend? Noooo. Oh my gosh. Unless you count Lucy. I mean, she’s cute! 

Me too. He knows everyone has his back though.

Lucy? Do you mean Lucy Carter? I LOVE LUCY CARTER!! I love all the Carters.

I mean, you know, with the gossip blog and stuff? 

Exactly! And you have your nice brother and Lydia Cambridge. And your cute boyfriend.

Yeah, that’s definitely caused a lot of trouble for us. Even though I did basically use it to tell Christian I liked him... but it’s not been good for Callum and stuff.

It’s hard not to notice when the football guys do anything. I’m only a high schooler and if Callum Cormac so much as breathes we get a google alert. You and Christian are kind of a big deal, you know?

Well, in that case, I’m sorry about his douchey sports car. Nothing against Che, he was really nice and he shook my hand and called me ‘little miss’ which was really nice. Even if he did call my Dad and my brothers ‘Sir’. But yeah, her name is Sharon and she’s the best. 

Wait, really? I promise I’m not trying to be fake modest, I really had no idea. I’m not super sure how I feel about that.

I don’t talk to Che a lot but he seems nice. Hey, at least you have a really awesome sister to make up for your mean brothers! Right?

Your boyfriend Christian Washington? That’s really sweet. Definitely try My Best Friend’s Wedding. I love the ‘Say a Little Prayer’ scene.

He owns a car manufacturing company. You know, sports cars for rich weirdos and high profile politicians. Che Kincaid drives one. He’s an American diplomat or something and a super valued customer. I wish my Daddy owned a garage. But wow, I guess siblings can be mean, huh?

Yeah! How did you know? I’ll keep an eye out for that scene because I literally have no clue what that means right now.

I know Che! My friend Indy shares an apartment with him. I don’t think I could ever afford any sort of car that Che Kincaid drives though. But yep, sibling can be super mean. But you have a nice sister, right?

Only last week? Did you cry? I mean, it’s not exactly a sad film but it is overwhelmingly nice. She was just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. I’m pleased you finally got around to seeing it though. You should try My Best Friend’s Wedding next. I really like Julia Roberts.

They are. My eldest is twenty eight, and he’s CFO to my Daddy’s company so he thinks he’s the bee’s knees. Don’t ask him to count any higher than ten though, because he doesn’t have enough fingers for that. I’m sure she doesn’t dislike you though, she’s your sister. You can’t dislike family.

I don’t cry a lot but I did tear up when Hugh Grant asked if she would reconsider and she said she would. I haven’t seen that one either. My boyfriend likes Julia Roberts though which is why we watched Notting Hill so I’ll tell him that he can bring that one for our next movie night.

You mean when Grant Morley beat up Wardo Martinelli, so Wardo’s boyfriend Louis Denver quit the team in the most romantic and amazing gesture since Hugh Grant showed up at Julia Roberts’ press conference in Notting Hill, and you guys all walked out in solidarity? Yeah, I remember.

That is a nice brother. I mean, they’re not not-nice to me. They just sort of pretend I’m invisible. Literally once, for like three weeks.

... Yep, that one!

Did you know that I hadn’t seen Notting Hill until last week? You probably didn’t know that because this is our first conversation but like, dude, true facts!

That’s so cool. I’ve seen you guys perform. Just at games and stuff, I’m a card-carrying spectator. But your brother is nice to you? Wow, what’s that like?

I miss cheering, we haven’t performed since a few of us walked because of... well, I’m guessing you know what went down. Everyone seems to know. Uhh... yes! He owns a fast food truck and lives on the floor above me so he always brings Lydia and I leftovers. Are your brothers not nice to you?

You’re on the cheerleading squad, right? I would think you’d be used to being the centre of attention. I mean, I like to think so. My brothers wouldn’t have the tact but like, it’s different with sisters, isn’t it? It’s one for all and all for one. Like, the Musketeers or the x-men. 

I am! But I like being part of a squad because then we all sort of meld together into one. I don’t like the spotlight being on just me. Sisters definitely have more tact than brothers! Although that isn’t strictly fair since Luke is a lot nicer to me than Allison is on a good day. 

I think I would die on the spot. I’m way too introverted, plus I have zero co-ordination. I’m just having visions of me bumping into someone and everyone going down like dominoes. I’m getting stressed just thinking about it. Still, it’s cool you’ve got your sisters to pull you out of the line of fire. I hope my sister would do the same for me.

I like the dancing and performing aspect of it but I would hate to be in the center of attention. I’m sure your sister would as well, but now that I think about it, is that like, an unspoken rule of sisterhood? I know you need to love each other unconditionally and things like that but do you think every sister out there knows that, as a sister, you also need to rescue your siblings from flash mobs?

At least then he has an excuse for not being down on one knee?

Then he’d be in a coffin. My sister hates flash mobs more than I do. She got caught up in one when we were at the mall, and Gracie and I had to pull her out of there before she murdered someone.

I know. And me too, she’s a superhero. Which is pretty cool. But uh oh. I hope she doesn’t keep him on tenterhooks for too long. I’d hate if someone did that to me. Right up there with a flash mob proposal. 

I think any kind of public proposal would give me hives but a flash mob would push me over the edge! I hope Gavin doesn’t think that should be his next move.