Clifford

I was right about Raegan not taking me back to school. After lunch, of which I wolfed down the rest of my BLT and she picked at her salad, we went on a walk. We talked about everything and nothing all at once. Some topics were shallow and others were personal. Call me crazy but I feel like I can talk about anything with her.

She drops me off in front of my apartment building, her dark lips in a beautiful smile. "Seeya, superstar." Within a blink of an eye, she's gone away in that sleek red car of hers and I'm left breathless.

Superstar. If only she knew how many stars flash before my eyes when I see her.

I go upstairs to the apartment, silence hanging around me like a thick cloud of nicotine around a smoker. The apartment is just as quiet when I arrive, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. Dustin warned me that after a missed class, the school called home. Which meant that my mother had received a certain phone call today...

Needless to say, I'm not looking forwards to that confrontation. The time on my phone reads 4:13 pm, so there will still be at least another hour before she's due home. To do homework or play video games?

I think the answer to that question is obvious. Once she gets home I'm sure she'll lecture me about the importance of school and send me off to do my homework anyways so might as well have fun now while I can. I've only ever ditched school a few times with her permission, but that's because I had needed to cool down from an episode of anger.

Like you know how in The Darkness, Jackie is just your average mafia guy who shoots guns and junk? But then he is also able to control the Darkness and be a fucking psycho bad-ass tryna save his girl? Well that's like me when I get angry. Except my purpose isn't to save my lady, it's mostly to get revenge on the people that wronged me. Also I don't get weird tentacle things and stuff like that, but I am pretty bad-ass when I'm going ham on someone else's face.

But I'm like Jackie in the sense that I know there is evil inside of me, and sometimes I let it claim me so I can utilize it.

Speaking of which, that's a really cool video game so I'm gonna play that. I normally post a video onto my channel on Fridays so I've still got a couple days to think of some weird game to play and comment on.

I load up the Xbox and get a slew of notifications.

TrustyDusty69 is online!

TrustyDusty69 messaged you!

TrustyDusty69 sent you a voice recording!

I roll my eyes, not bothering to open them as I start up the game. He'd texted me while I was hanging out with Raegan and all he wanted to know was if I was going to get some or not.

As if. Look who he's talking about. Raegan is a fucking limited edition Mercedes driving goddess who slays at Halo.

Then there's me, the anger issued blob who is super thirsty.

Pffft, am I going to get some or not?

No, idiot. I'm me and Raegan is her.

Simple as that.

As soon as the game loads up I'm playing through Jackie's eyes, shooting people left and right. A person makes an attempt to crawl away from me but a bullet shoots from my gun and kisses the top of his forehead.

TrustyDusty69 messaged you!

Nope. Denied. I ignore the message and shoot a person in the chest. Another ding gets a growl from deep in my chest.

TrustyDusty69 messaged you!

TrustyDusty69 messaged you!

TrustyDusty69 messaged you!

Ugh. Stupid ass. I pause the game and unlock my phone screen. Dustin is in my top contacts so I dial him right away. The phone rings for a brief few seconds before the click signifies that he answers.

"Dude, what the fuck?" I bombard him before he can start a tirade of his own. "Why are you spamming me, you asshole?"

He growls on the other end of the call. "You didn't fucking answer me!"

"About what?"

"Whether you got some or not!"

I hang up the phone without gracing him with a response. Prick doesn't understand that not every guy-girl relationship is about physical action. I don't know how so many girls find him interesting when his personality is a zero.

"CLIFFORD!" A woman roars through the front door.

Oh shit, my mom is home.

×××

"I can't believe my little baby boy ditched for the first time!" My mom cooes, pinching my face between her fingers. "And to go on a date nonetheless!"

I swat her hand away from my cheek chub, scowling. "It wasn't a date-"

My mom is oblivious to my words, gushing with happiness. "Ohmygosh Raven is so pretty, did you guys kiss?"

"Her name is-"

Suddenly, her pale hand bops the back of my head. "I don't want any grandbabies for another five years at least!"

"Mom-"

"Also did you need more allowance to take her out someplace nice? I mean-"

"MOM!" I shout and finally get her attention.

Her hands fly up to her mouth, shocked that I actually yelled. Other than video game rages, I never actually yell. Not at her, not at my friends, not at bullies, nobody.

In fact, the last time I yelled at someone IRL was my dad.

I laugh at how ridiculous she was being and she slowly chuckles too. I'm relieved to see that it wasn't fear in her eyes, but just pure shock. She's had enough to be afraid of with aggressive men for multiple lifetimes. I don't ever want to cause her to have that in her brown eyes.

"Mom, calm down, okay?" I continue to laugh. "You can't pay me more allowance because I haven't done all my chores yet. That's just bad parenting right there."

Mom hoots with laughter, her small frame bending in half as she claps.

"Second, it wasn't a date so I did not kiss her. That also means grandbabies are nowhere close to being a possibility."

Her lips turn downwards into a pout and I almost feel bad for letting her down like this. Maybe in the future Raegan and I could be something, but there's still so much I don't know about her. Like what exactly went down with her ex-boyfriend, why she wants to go to beauty school, how she got into gaming, does she have family, what's her favorite color, does she watch Game of Thrones, why does it take girls so long to get ready to go out on dates, and most of all WHY DO THEY HAVE PERIODS?

I probably could've answered that question along time ago but I was sick for a full week and a half of health class and missed out on human anatomy.

Oh well.

"I guess you have a point," she relented, ruffling a hand through my hair. I ducked my head to the side to try and avoid her touch but she caught me anyways.

"Now what do you want for dinner?"

×××

After stuffing ourselves full of takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings, we went our separate ways. She went off to her room to "take a break" from having to deal with me for the past two hours. AKA she's watching reruns of True Blood because she thinks some guy on there is hot.

I'm doing what I always do, gaming.

Raegan comes online right when I'm in the middle of playing ladder on Mortal Kombat. I'm almost up at the top, but she invites me to join her party, and like the sucker I am, I do.

Sorry, Shao Kahn. I got other people to face off with. Raincheck?

Halo loads up on the screen and within seconds I'm pulled into a game of Firefight.

Raegan's voice filters in through the headset I'm wearing.

"WHY the FUCK does your friend keep spamming me?"

My fingers tighten against the controller, my thumb having a spasm that aims my gun at the ground just as I pull the trigger. Fucking shit. A Grunt throws a plasma grenade at me and I get stuck, dying in a fiery explosion.

"Which one?" I ask as I wait to respawn.

"Dustin. Who else?" Her voice is agitated as she speaks. While waiting for my next life to load, my screen follows her as she snipes at jackals from the rooftop. "He keeps fucking spamming me with pictures of sad dogs."

I'm going to kill him. What the actual hell.

"Invite him to the party and let's see what he has to say for himself," I suggest, a grin taking place on my lips.

Oooooo he's gonna be in the *dog*house. (insert several devil emojis here)

She sighs on the other end, static ruffling through the connection. On screen, the username TrustyDusty69 blips into our party group within the minute. We're pulled out of the game and back to the home screen of Halo.

"TELL ME!" Dustin yells on the other end.

"No, shut the fuck up for a moment," Reagan begins harshly. "WHY ARE YOU SENDING ME PICTURES OF SAD DOGS!?"

I'm hella curious to that answer too, but I keep silent so that I can quietly enjoy listening to him get roasted.

"They are puppy dog eyes," he replies as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

Raegan is silent at that, her breathing obviously labored on the other end. Fucking shit, she's mad. My stomach clenches with suppressed laughter, but I manage to choke out a response for her.

"And why were you doing that?" I ask.

"BECAUSE YOU TWO WENT OUT TO LUNCH WITHOUT ME!"

"Really...? What the fuck? Why didn't you just ask to be invited next time?"

"Well, that's why I sent the puppy dog eyes. That was my way of begging for attention."

"Well you fucking got it, you asshole. Jesus. I almost cried."

Dustin and I both hoot with laughter at that. Raegan can be so much of a b- um, big personality type of woman, that it's hard to imagine those walls crumbling down at puppy pictures.

"Don't worry, Raegan. He was spamming me too, just not with dog pics." I comfort her, still chuckling.

My laughter slips away just moments later.

"Oh, I was spamming him for a different reason," Dustin sobers up quickly.

"And what was that reason?"

Dustin has no fucking filter as he says, "Cliff didn't tell me whether or not he got it on with you or not."

...

Fuck the "doghouse", this kid is going straight to hell.