5. Sister trouble.
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Nikki's car rolled up in front of Randy's house on Lahoya Street. While the past car rides had been awkward for the two, this one felt strangely normal... they just had a casual conversation about the game they had played.

"So is the mushroom a hat or part of his head?" asked Nikki.

"Toad?" Randy laughed. "Obviously it's his head."

"But why's it like that?"

"I don't know, he's a Toad, that's what Toads look like." smiling, Randy undid his seatbelt. He glanced at the clock on her dashboard... alright, great, mom shouldn't be home yet.

Nikki drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she parked it, watching Randy reach for the door. She wished they could've hung out longer... "So he's a Toad named Toad? Which looks nothing like a toad?"

"Toad like toadstool. Mushroom."

"That's gay."

That made Randy snort. He pulled open the door and stepped out onto his lawn. "Well, thanks for the ride home."

"No problem." he noticed Nikki looking over his shoulder. "That your sister?"

He glanced back. Quinn had two friends over, girls from her school that he recognized. The three were in the middle of bouncing around a basketball and trying to make long shots, but had turned around when Nikki had pulled up.

Randy flushed, but he didn't know why. Could they see Nikki from there?

"Yeah, she's the one in the middle. Black hair."

"She's not too bad." she said, watching as she took a shot from the edge of the garage. It sailed up in a perfect arc and swooshed in the basket, nothing but net. "Does she play?"

"Uh... I think she used to." said Randy. "She'll probably join again when she's in high school next year."

Nikki nodded. "Oh, that's cool."

There wasn't much to say after that, so the two gave one another a quick goodbye, and Nikki drove off. Randy walked down his driveway, passing his sister and her friends. Suddenly, a basketball bounced his way.

"Whoa!" he flailed his hands out clumsily, grasping at the ball.

Quinn had been the one to throw it. "Who was that, Randy?"

Randy just barely managed to catch it, nearly dropping it as he did - and eliciting a laugh from the audience of tweens. Flustered, he threw it back at her with a scowl.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Quinn caught it easily, starting to dribble. He started to walk off to the door again, but he couldn't help but listen in as the girls started to gossip.

"I think that's Nikki Slater." said one of her friends, turning to the other. "My sister plays with her on the soccer team."

"No way!"

"Didn't she pants some kid?"

"Yeah, that was Randy!"

As he pushed the door open, Randy sighed. Yep, there was no way mom wouldn't be hearing about this...


Later that day, Randy was sitting at the dining table. The hours had passed by pretty quickly - he did some homework, played some games, and texted with Preethi a little about Starfighters 2, which was apparently great. It turned out Quinn's friends were staying over for dinner, so he had to pull out extra chairs for them. His mom had him lay out the extra settings too, to be polite. They chattered about schoolwork while his mother laid down plates of fried plantains and shrimp.

"Well, Randy." the girls quieted up as his mother spoke. There was a shared look of excitement about them, and he could tell what was coming. "Who's this girl you got a ride home from?"

Luckily, Randy had already thought up a response. "Nikki Slater, remember?"

His mom's face furrowed in confusion as she sat down and grabbed her fork, starting to eat. "The girl you punched cause she pulled your pants down?" she asked, through a mouthful of shrimp. The girls laughed.

"That's... not what happened, but whatever. I have to write an essay on her. Same thing for her, but with me." he replied. "We worked on it at the library after school together, and she was just dropping me off."

"Hmm." his mom nodded. "Well, tell me next time."

There was a pause.

"Is she cute?" she asked.

"Ugh, mom..." Randy rolled his eyes as the girls laughed. Quinn had gotten what she wanted. Whenever Randy so much as interacted with a girl his age, his mom always jumped to the conclusion that they were together, and it always got on his nerves. Quinn found that hilarious, and stoked the fire at any opportunity.

"She's kinda fat." one of Quinn's friends said.

Randy couldn't help but counter that. "N-no. Not really, she's just..."

Suddenly, he saw that all three girls had a smirk on their face. Crap. He'd just taken the bait.

"Just, just... shut up..." he finished.

"Oh?" his mom perked up. "So you do like her?"

"No."

"But you came to her defense so fast..."

"Yeah, cause-"

"You think she's cute?"

"What? N-no, I-"

"Oh, finally, I was starting to get worried I'd never get any grandchildren!" his mom was elated. "Well, I don't want any right now... do you need condoms or anything? Oh, you're probably not that far with her, right? Well, I can get you condoms if-"

Face red as it could get get. Randy made a show of standing up. "Want me to eat in my room?"

His mom sneered at him, her mood taking a 180. "Just calm down and eat your dinner. Christ, this is what I get for trying to help?"

The tweens giggled. Randy glowered at them.

Alright. He didn't like stooping to Quinn's level. But he had a little dirt on her he'd been saving...

A grin popped across his face as he sat back down. Spearing a shrimp with his fork, he bit down on it casually. "Hey, Quinn. How's it going with David?" he asked.

Quinn went pale. His mom nearly spat up her drink.

"David? Who's David?!" she cried. Her friends were equally as surprised, turning to her with shocked looks on their faces.

"I'm gonna kill you, Randy..." Quinn murmured, giving him the death glare to end all death glares. He just met her with a laugh and quickly shoveled the rest of his food in his mouth.

"May I be excused?" he asked.

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