"Ellington!?" I shouted, barging into my next door neighbor's home unannounced. Both of his parents' cars were gone, so I figured he was home alone. "Show your stupid face so my fist can have a conversation with it!"

Searching every room downstairs, I headed upstairs. I was on a mission, and wasn't stopping until I drew blood.

I suppose you're probably wondering why I've gone all 'bat outta hell' on innocent Matty. Well, let me tell you, he was about as innocent as a man confessing to murder.

It was any normal Thursday afternoon for me. Y'know, I got home from school, ate a snack, took a shower to wash all the lame off of me that might have latched on via the halls of Kingsley High. All I wanted to do next was hop on my laptop and watch an episode of Stranger Things, but somebody decided to get in my way—that someone being Matthew Ellington.

Busting into his room, I wasn't affected by him being shirtless. A six-pack was a six-pack, and I'd seen plenty of them. What I was affected by, however, was the new lock screen of my laptop, equipped with a password I did not put on it.

"This-" I growled, holding my laptop open and pointing at the screen. Instead of the wallpaper being my favorite picture of Doug the Pug, it was of him. "-is a crime against humanity."

"I think you mean 'gift to humanity', but it's okay. English was never your best subject," he jeered, standing up from his bed.

Glaring at him, I warned, "You're interfering with my Netflix, Matty, and I promise you, that is not something you want to do. Don't make me retaliate, because I won't hold back."

"Retaliate!?" he scoffed, like it was unreasonable. "This is payback for that stupid tweet of yours! Do you know how many people have given me laxatives since then?! The whole school district thinks I'm suffering from constipation!"

Pfthahahaha!

I was pretty proud of myself for not laughing out loud, but man did I want to. Especially when Matty's face looked as upset as it did. Crap, I still find this hilarious. And that's when I cracked a smile, letting loose a small chuckle. When his expression turned even more sour, that's when the dam broke and all my laughter filled the room. I could just imagine him getting approached by cute girls from other schools as they handed him PeptoBismol instead of their phone numbers.

Mmhm, did I mention that when I laugh really hard my eyes close?

No?

Well, they do, and so they were right now...which was why I didn't see the pillow being hurled at my face.

"Hey!" I shouted when it knocked me on my butt. His hardwood floors had no cushion whatsoever, so that really hurt.

"Ha! That's what you get for—oomph!"

Beaming the pillow at his stupid face, I took advantage of him not being able to see and pounced on him, making him stumble back until he fell on his bed. I wasn't the biggest person, and Matty definitely was not the smallest, but I knew how to throw my weight around and seize an opportunity when it presented itself. That was why the second we hit his bed, I grabbed his other pillow and started legally assaulting him with it.

"This!" Hit. "Is for!" Hit. "Messing!" Slam. "With my!" Whack. "Netflix!!!"

Discarding the pillow, I started using my fists. Sadly, it didn't take long for him to grab my wrists, keeping me from continuing my reign of terror.

"I didn't know you liked it rough in bed, Cece," he smirked, infuriating me since I wanted him to be begging me for mercy, not cracking jokes.

And yes, it just so happened I was straddling him...in his room...on his bed...BUT, there was nothing sexual about this. My body was as dry as a saltine cracker around this boy.

Ripping my hands out of his, I slapped him upside the head before hopping off and straightening out my clothes.

"In your dreams, Matty. Literally," I retorted, causing him to groan in frustration, putting a satisfied grin on my face.

"One time, Bryce. I told you, it only happened one time."

Yeah, sure it did, buddy.

"Whatever. Will you just change my password back so I can leave? I literally feel my brain cells dying in here," I complained.

When I looked at his face for his reaction, I knew immediately that this was a waste of my time. Laxitive boy was not in the mood to help me out. Frowning, I gave him the stank eye before grabbing my laptop and heading out his room.

"Fine, be that way," I shrugged, looking over my shoulder at his smug face that was now right in front of mine. What the hell? When did he get there? Moreover, how did he get there so fast?

Grinning, he leaned onto the doorframe I was standing by and taunted, "Sorry, Bryce. It's just so much fun getting you angry."

Using my pointer finger, I poked his chest, pushing him back a bit.

"You know what? I'll get Naomi to help me. Perks of having a genius best friend." Taking a step back so there was even more space between us, I advised, "Oh, and you might want to eat a mint or something. Your breath smells like sweaty balls."

Smiling like an angel, I left, feeling his glare on the back of my precious little head. Man, I loved that feeling.

About two hours later, Naomi showed up at my house. It was complete and utter torture waiting for her, but she stayed afterschool a lot, already working on setting up a tutoring system with some other overacheivers.

If I hadn't made it obvious...Naomi was as smart as they came. Thankfully, she was also a master at letting go and having fun, which was why I think we worked so well together. She helped point out when I was being an idiot, and I entertained her when she needed a break from using that big beautiful mind of hers.

"Aaaaaaaand, done!" she announced proudly, sliding my now unlocked laptop across my bed to where I was laying. "Your new password is 'thanksnaomi" with all lowercase letters and no spaces."

When I saw that she did, in fact, rescue me, I couldn't stop myself from hurling my body at her and clinging to her like a koala bear.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Giggling, she gently patted my back until I let go and went back to my previous spot on the other side of my bed.

Netflix, here I come!

"Ew," I gagged, looking at the pic
of Matty in nothing but a pair of boxers that he made my computer wallpaper.

But first, let's change this abomination.

"Ooo, send me that," Naomi said, causing me to look at her like she was crazy. "What? I'm in need of new eye candy material, and let's face it—Matty. Is. Hot."

Sighing, I clicked a random default background and just shook my head. "Turns out she's not as smart as we thought, everybody."

"Oh, shut up!" she laughed, playfully shoving me until I cracked a smile.

"Okay, okay, woman! Chill!" I squealed when she started tickling me. It was my kryptonite.

Thank God when she finally stopped and showed mercy.

After watching three insane episodes together, Naomi ended up having to go home, leaving me the rest of my night to prepare. You're probably wondering what for, but I can't disclose that to you. Not yet, at least. But, let's just say it'll bring me great joy...

...and Matty will hate it.

Should've never messed with my Netflix.

What ever could Bryce have in store for Matty? Any guesses, thoughts?

Have I made you laugh at least once yet? 😃

If not, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED 😏. I've got better scenes ahead, I assure you. To be specific, I personally find Chapter 8 to be hilarious. I mean, I wrote it, and still can't help but laugh out loud reading it.