Love Notes

Just as Shun said on the CD, there was a small girl with long curly dark brown hair, wearing a green sweater goodie with white dots and a jeans skirt that needed to be nine inches longer in order to be somewhat decent, standing right beside my locker.

There were a few differences between the female Chenin and the male Chenin. One was that the female was all smiles and dimples while the other carried zero emotion other then sleepy or gloomy. Second, this one doesn't mind showing off her large puppy-bright green eyes that were outlined by dark purple eye-liner with green eye-shadow. The other seems not to have any eyes since he kept them close all the time and his eye lids were dark and looked smudgy.

But there were the similarities that only siblings could have. Both had the long nose that ended in a round circle, the full set of long black lashes, and peach-colored skin, only Shun was a bit paler, which meant he was an indoor creature and Ashley’s lashes were darker with the help of make-up.

Either way, I knew that the giggly freshman was the younger, cheerier, and female version of the little punk.

“Hi! Do you like the CD? I bet you did. Shun has an ear for music and he has the biggest CD collection that I know of. I didn't want to do the ordinary ‘Love Note’ deal. I'm sure that you get that kind all the time-”

Well, at least I know why Shun was quiet or at least a part of the reason. His sister probably doesn't let him have a word in edgewise. She has yet to stop long enough to take a breath.

“But anyway, I just wanted to know if you would to go out with me this Saturday. We could go to a dinner then a movie or do the movie and then the dinner. Or we could do something totally different. Just whatever you feel like doing.” God Good, she has finally stopped. Oh, she wanted an answer, now.

“Umm…” I hadn't really think about dating the Chenin female last night after I had came down from the heart-stopping shock of finding out that I had been stalking a very strange gay guy for about a month.

She’s too chatty for my taste but she wasn't that bad looking for a freshie. And…there was the once of a lifetime chance seeing the male Chenin in his natural habitat. Maybe this was the chance I needed to see if the little emo punk had been acting weird all this time.

Before I had could really make up my mind, my mouth decided to answer for me. It might have been a positive answer since a second later; the small brunette was squealing and gave me a little squeezed hug before dashing down the halls on green flip-flops.

Oh. Yeah. Those two only had looks in common. Their personalities couldn't be any different if they tried.

****

If Shun looked surprise, he didn't show it. I had come up to him as sixth period was being let out and school was ending for the day.

“She has already told me to give you the directions to our house. I still don't see what’s makes you so great.” Wow, two full sentences. This was truly a week of wonders. Shun, with his eyes still down and barely opened, pulled out a piece of folded paper and offered it to me.

“Just come on Saturday, around six. My dad should be home by then and he would like to meet you before you and Ashley went out on your date.” I was afraid to speak for it might get the tri-color haired guy to stop talking and for some hidden dark secret that I would kill to keep hidden from human ears, I, Jake Connelly didn't ever want that to happen.

I had found it some what soothing. It was just perfect. It wasn’t too deep or too ’girly-man’-ish like the fab five on Bravo. Without knowing it on a conscious level, I had fallen asleep listening to the little guy’s voice on the Love Note CD as the player was stuck, I said “stuck.” dam it, on repeat.

But after taking the folded piece of paper and opening it up to the half page of how to get to the Chenin House, I looked away to say something to Shun and saw that he had disappeared. Again.

Shun Chenin was a little emo-ninja!

******

Well the house was normal enough. It was a cute dark- colored little two-story house with a nice big porch and a ranch-like wooden fence that enclosed the backyard. From the road, you could see the simple but very nice swing set with a big slide in the back.

Okay, his little sister’s a wanna be prep with a never closing mouth and his house is nice in a very nice neighborhood. So what the hell Shun so gloomy about?

I parked my little hand-me-down dark blue Chevy behind a black Suzuki that was parked beside a red family mini-van and gave myself one last look and combed of my hair in the rearview mirror before stepping out and heading for the front door.

There was a little round of annoying yips after the door-bell was pressed, like a one of those little toy-dogs was just behind that door. The door opened and a small child just ran out and latched himself to my right leg.

“Hey-hey!” The little guy spoke as his head fell far back to just to give me a warm kind smile.

“Hey…” It felt like I must have had the wrong house as I petted the mess of dark red curls as if the little boy was a small animal.

“Jessie! You know better than to go flying out the door like that.” A man, not a boy, but a man had showed up to pick up the little boy into his arms.

The man snarled at me and gave me a death glare before even asking if I was here for Ashley. We haven't even exchange names and already there were an air of pure hatred flowing between us.

Nodding, I said that I was Jake Connelly and that I was here to pick the young Chenin female up for our date tonight.

“All right, come in. Ash will be down in a few minutes, she's just now picking out something to wear.” The man moved back to let me in and put Jessie down and shut the door behind us.

Jessie, not noticing the animosity between this man and myself, had taken me by the hand and led me into the large family room where the large screen TV was playing a ’Dora the explorer’ video. The little boy had let go of my hand and ran jumping onto the pile of blankets that was Shun, who had his left foot propped up on a foot stool with a bag of ice on his ankle.

Shun gave a pained ’oof’ as 30 pounds of toddler had landed on his stomach and nestled on the top of the poor guy.

“Jessie! We don't jump on the patient. You might hurt them more.”. The black haired man with blue tips playing doctor scolded as he moved past my still form, pulled the boy off and gave the sulking Shun a tender kiss on the forehead.

Boyfriend!!!!


The most horrible word in the known universe flashed in my brain in big neon red letters.

“So, what happen to your leg? Shun?” Ignoring that bastard that was cozying up against the Chenin with the toddler, Jessie, in both of their laps on the big couch.

“He got hurt in the line of duty.” Bastard spoke for him with a hand stroking the punk’s neck with a smug smile on his face. “Shunie climbed top of the park’s jungle gym to get Jessie’s penguin that some little jerk had thrown up there just to be mean. He thought it would very superhero to jump off the jungle gym but his ankle got caught on the bars.” He chuckled. “Well, both of these little guys learned what not do at the park.”

Shun stuck his little red tongue at the man, showing off the little steel ball in the middle that I hadn't seen before. Well, of course I had never seen it. The guy just started talking to me three days ago.

Hell I didn't even know that the little dude could talk!

“Derrick, you were the genius that thought he was an elite gymnast on the monkey bars the last time.” The tri-color haired boy said with a smug smirk.

The pure fact that there was an innocent little boy in the room was the very thing that kept me from killing the dark-haired man when the bastard whispered something funny in the Chenin’ ear and it had brought a shocked smile and laugh to the usually stoic face. And the mouth-on-mouth kiss was REALLY pushing it!

“Put Jessie to bed for me and tell Ashley to hurry up, her date’s waiting.” Shun whispered just loud enough for me to hear.


Derrick smiled at his little, ergh, boyfriend before picking up a squealing toddler upside down with one hand behind the head full of dark red curls, telling him to say ‘Night-night.”

“Night-night!” The little boy waved a pudgy little hand and his handler left the room, leaving us alone.

“So that’s the famous …boyfriend? I don't see it.” I really had to keep from sneering at the dark-haired boy as I took a seat next to Shun.

He didn't say anything but picked up the remote and cut the DVD off and turned the channel to one that was showing a really bad made for TV sci-fi movie about killer fish.

“So, Jessie’s a cute kid.” I couldn't really think of what to say to someone that just refused that he’s even in the same room as me.

Shun just shrugged and kept watching the TV screen. I wondered how he could watch the screen with his eyes closed. He could just be pretending to be watching TV just to avoid talking to me.

I decided to try this theory by asking what kind a fish monster was in the movie.

“It’s a mutated fish that lives on the flesh of humans.” Okay he's watched this movie before so that couldn't have worked.

This time I tried taking the remote that was resting in between us both but quickly jerked my hand back with three short but very, very sharp nails dug into my wrist.

“You don't touch my things.” The he hissed without moving an inch from his sleepy relaxed position.

“Noticed that.” I whined as I licked the tiny droplets of blood from my poor wrist.

Okay, he may be small, he may be quiet but provoked, The Chenin is a very dangerous creature that needs to be watched at all times.

“Chucky! Where’s the Oreo's?!” A loud male voice came from somewhere in the back of the house, along with the yipping of a small dog that had answered the door ten minutes ago.

“Who’s Chucky?” I asked, thinking ‘Chucky’ was just another sibling that I had yet to meet.

“My full name is Charles Shun Chenin. My dad’s the only that calls me ‘Chucky’ since it was his nickname when he was a kid.” The tri-color haired boy replied as he tried to hide the missing Oreo's behind his back.

Scratching my chin I pondered over this new information. “You don't really look like a ‘Chucky’, more like a ‘Chez’ “ I laughed at the joke, even if it was a poor one.

“Too bad you won't be calling me that. Ashley hasn't been able to keep a steady boyfriend since kindergarten.”

I was about to retort when a middle-aged man dressed in an ‘Hurricane’ hockey jersey and loose jeans, with salt-and-peppered hair cut to the scalp, stomped in the room with a little black Chihuahua right on his heels. The man must be Mr. Chenin, but father and son didn't look like they could be related Must be a step-dad, I concluded as Mr. Chenin stood with his hands on his hips in front of the Oreo's kidnapper.

“I'm in pain, I need comfort food.” The only way to know that Shun was looking at his father was when the boy tilted his head back to look at the frowning man.

“I don't care. Your mom is coming home in-“He stop to look at the watch on his wrist. “Thirty minutes and I've got to put the snack food back up and lock the cabinets before she can accuse me of being a pig again and make me eat salads for the rest of the week.” He held out his hand for the cookie bag.

“Fine.” Shun sighed bitterly with a pout as he gave up his cookies remorsefully.

Mr. Chenin took the bag in hand and fully noticed that there was another human in the room. “Oh, hi. I'm Charles and you must be…” He held his hand again but this time to me in greeting.

“Jake, Ashley’s date.” I felt better now knowing that the Chenin dad wasn't as bad of a guy as I previously thought before coming to the Chenin home.

“Oh, you're here for Ashley.” I didn't like it when the man looked at me like I were about to go to my deathbed and it wasn't going to be pretty. “I wish you luck, son and Godspeed.”

Um, was there something that someone had forgotten to tell me about the Chenin female before I agreed to this date?