“Omigod!” Beck shouted from the hallway. “Omigod, omigod, omigod!”
My parents and I interrupted our breakfast of waffles and looked down the hallway as Becca stormed into the kitchen. She made a beeline to the chair across from me, hurriedly shoved it out of the way and pointed her cell phone at me with a picture of Justin with me in a full, lip-locked embrace.
“When did this happen?”
“Check the time stamp, Becca,” I replied as I returned to my waffles.
“This is right after the game, in the hallway!”
“What is?” Mom asked.
“This!” And Becca shoved her phone so up into Mom’s face that it almost struck her in the forehead.
She then moved it to Dad who squinted at the screen. “What am I looking at? It looks like two shadows or something.”
“Yes, of Rikki and Justin!”
I continued to eat as Becca relayed everything —and a few embellishments I mean, I love how everyone assumed we had a full love-in session a la John and Yoko in the hallway—to Mom and Dad. I would get a chance to defend myself as soon as Becca took a breath.
“That! Is a simple kiss,” I said as I pointed my fork at Becca.
“It looks like he has his tongue down your throat.”
“Looks are deceiving.”
“Rikki, there are peeps who know you…you are, were, my little brother and now they see you with your boyfriend.”
“True, and I will just say, right now, that I do not call Justin my boyfriend, lover, or one night stand.”
“Rikki Aylesea Morris,” Dad growled.
“We didn’t do anything. This is a simple, I had a great time talking to you, maybe we can do it again sometime kiss.”
“Are your friends spreading this picture around?” Mom asked as she sat a plate of waffles in front of Becca.
“Well, no, we’re not spreading it, it’s not gossip.”
“But omigod, it must be true,” I mocked.
“I am trying to help with damage control before it gets out of hand.”
“How does it get ‘out of hand’, Becca?”
“He might ask you to the WinterJam.”
“And maybe he will…Wait why would that be a bad thing?”
The three of us looked at Becca. She coughed and looked back at us for a moment. “I’m just thinking about how some people can be and we all know they can be cruel.”
“But we can’t stop them thinking that, Rebekah.”
“Dad, you don’t understand.”
“Are kids still picking on the lesser ones?”
“Yes.”
“Do they still mock what they don’t understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do they assume they have it all figured out and their parents are complete morons like the ones on TV?”
“If I answer that truthfully, am I in trouble?”