Bubble Gum Kisses

**Kapittel 13** ***Friso***

**"Drew, honey... wake up... wake up, sweetheart..."** Friso groaned outwardly and yanked his mother's hand that was shaking his arm away softly. She had been doing it for the past ten minutes, and he wouldn't dare budge. After that wild party at Exzur's last night, he thought he deserved a long rest. The school wouldn't be a bother after all. A thick wad of bucks was enough for an instructor to put his name on a check on the record, and he had lots and lots of wads of cash. He kept my eyes closed and continued to delve into his deep slumber.

He heard his mother groan for the nth time. A ghost smirk crept into his face. His mother, Allison, finally professed her unyielding defeat.

"You're not waking up? Fine. I'm taking your phone with me." His eyes popped wide open the moment he heard her statement.

"I'm up! I'm up!" he exclaimed and hastily sat straight. Holding his throbbing head, he looked at his smirking mother, who was holding his newly bought iPhone 11 Pro Max, with a look of disbelief. Allison's hearty laugh resonated in the four corners of his room, melting his heart. "Good morning, baby." She sat on the side of his bed and leaned to kiss his forehead.

As much as Friso wanted to turn away, he didn't since he knew she would throw a fit of a tantrum on him, and that meant no car keys and credit cards for him until they reconciled. "Mom, I'm already 18," he groaned instead and took the heavy comforter off his body.

She gently placed his phone back on the nightstand. "But you're still my baby," she said with a slight pout on her lips. He looked into her eyes and saw them softening. Not again.

"I miss those times when you still sit on my lap and giggle loudly whenever I touch your ticklish spot," she said in a child-like voice as her eyes began to get teary. He clandestinely took a huge sigh. There his mother goes again, reminiscing and reminding him of the events back when he was young, when he was still a baby, knowing that she was fond of toddlers and babies. "And also back then when you were three. That time when you and dad were in a reality show. It was so cute seeing you talk to a mannequi—"

"Mom!" he interjected, his cheeks flaring into a deep shade of scarlet red. He didn't want to be reminded of that! God knew how much he wanted to forget that embarrassing memory-it was even broadcasted on live TV! Everyone, even his friends, knew about it, and they'd tease him, rubbing on his face that he talked to a mannequin!

"What's going on here?" a powerful, domineering voice asked. Both simultaneously looked at the door and found his father, Hades, standing by the door frame with their pet husky, Jojo standing beside him.

"Jojo!" he called, and the old dog quickly submitted to him, strutting towards him and jumping on his bed. He ruffled the latter's glistening fur and embraced it like a newly stuffed toy. Jojo was his mother's dog when she was in college and had been alongside him since he was born. He considered him as his only best friend. Even though the dog was already as old as a World War Veteran in his dog years, he still moved swiftly and alertly like a youngster.

A faint smack distracted him from cuddling Jojo. He looked at his parents and saw the last thing he wanted to see: his parents warming up. Hades' had his hand on Allison's head and his lips pressing on her forehead. Their proximity was incalculable but could be cited as technically close. "Good morning, love," his father greeted his mother, looking at her with loving eyes, becoming oblivious of his presence.

"Good morning," she greeted back and kissed his cheek.

Friso cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. "Good morning, dad," he greeted his father, looking at his father pleadingly to get a room with his mother. Fortunately, Hades got his message and immediately stood upright. "Good morning, son." He eyed his young man, who was wearing a tired face. "You look..."

"I know, I know," he said and motioned Jojo to get off him by tapping the dog's back lightly. "I need to prepare for school. You guys should leave," he said, getting on his feet and making a beeline towards the bathroom.

He was taking his clothes off when he heard a faint sniff, causing his heart to lurch. He halted what he was doing and pressed his ear door, not minding his spiteful action. He was Friso Drew de Vries, after all, and he was famous for his principle that bad things were only called bad when you are caught.

"What's wrong, love?" he heard his father ask.

"I want my Drew to shrink back into that cute little baby I used to carry in my arms," Allison's answer came with a faint sniff. Friso clenched his hand into a fist, realizing that he had hurt his mother's feelings.

Lately, she had been too snuggly with him, treating him like he was a child. He'd tell her to bugger off sometimes since he felt that she was babying him too much, and he hated it. He didn't realize that he had been crossing over the line sometimes. He understood her sentiment of caressing him with affection since he grew up being showered with it, but it was going a bit far recently. It was awkward for a man of his age to have his mother being too fond of him. "We can make another Drew if you want," his father suggested. Not long after, he heard a light smack.

His mother stated in a voice she usually uses when she's on tantrums. "You know what I mean, Hades." Then came right after was the sound of his door creaking close. He leaned his ear on the door closely and heard his father chuckle before leaving the room as well.

He sighed and continued what he was supposed to do, thinking about how to make up to his upset mother. **"Hey, Drew!"**

"Hi, Drew!"

"Good morning, babe!"

"How are you, Drew?"

Friso made a slight hiss in vexation as he popped his bubble gum while passing by the girls who were greeting him with adoration painted all over their faces. He hated the attention he was getting. He loathed it.

While many people were willing to die to gain popularity, he was dying to become a nobody. He was the so-called popular guy inside and outside the campus of Trinity Knight High School. He was adored and feared by every student because of every attribute he had that he thought of only as simple skills. If Genies or Santa Claus were true, he would risk his family's fortune to hunt them for only one wish: for people to treat him like an average person. Unfortunately, they were only fictional things made up of the human mind, and the sad reality kicked in, and all he could do was tolerate the endless torture. Using his tongue, he garnered the bubble gums sticking on his lips smoothly and chewed them back into his mouth.

"Hey, Drew! Care to hang out with my friends and me this lunch break?" he turned his head to see who was asking. It was the campus' platinum blonde beauty and Head Cheerleader, Stacy Wiśniewski, looking at him with hopeful eyes while catching up to his vast, long strides. He prevented himself from rolling his eyes in irritation. But he needed to answer her now since she always took his silence for false hope.

"Fat chance," he uncouthly dismissed her and hastily walked to a spot in the hall where his friends were usually found, leaving her gobsmacked and embarrassed in front of everyone in the area.

The girl had previously bragged to her friends that she could bring him over for lunch and openly said in front of the others that they were close to dating. However, it seemed that it was not true after all, given how he politely rejected her. Fortunately, he quickly found his friends, right on the spot, talking and laughing their asses off. There was Gray, Lucien, Toshiro, and Saijou. His best friend, Lazarus, was the only one missing, but he might be busy having sex with random girls in the gym bathroom, as usual.

As he walked closer and closer, he overheard their conversation:

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"So you met this hot girl... and you didn't even manage to ask for her number?"

"Man, get some balls, will you?"

"I could have if you didn't call!"

"You probably just didn't have the balls."

"What's up, fuckers?" he greeted his pals, blowing his bubble gum again. The four heads turned simultaneously in his direction, their faces wearing a surprised expression. His brows furrowed at their expressions as the atmosphere surrounding them slowly became heavy. They looked like they weren't expecting him.

It was Gray who spoke that broke off the slight tension. "And the virgin speaks," sarcastically, trying to create a distraction so the newcomer wouldn't notice that they were talking about something sensitive. Friso popped his bubble gum, sensing that something was definitely off. If it was a typical day, it wouldn't be only Gray saying that but also the others.

"Shut up," he seethed irritatingly and tightened the grip on the strap of his bag. "Is there something that I'm not supposed to hear?" he asked straightforwardly in a cold voice, glaring at them with his set of grey orbs he inherited from his father. His friends were talking about something fun, and they were missing him out.

It was Lucien who answered his question. With a playful smile on his lips, he puts a brawny arm around the pale and lanky Toshiro. "You see, our boy met a hot chick yesterday and didn't get her number."

"For real?" he raised his brows at Toshiro, chewing his gum on the left side of his cheek. "Man, where'd you put your balls at?" he pushed the gum back to his tongue for another blow, then opened his locker, grabbing his books. The others laughed, and Toshiro made an excuse that if Saijou hadn't called, he could've had the girl's number, and the latter poked fun at him, saying he was probably scared to ask her number.

He smiled, thinking of how fun it would be if Lazarus were with them. He might probably be flexing about his self-proclaimed *hotness*. After grabbing his needed textbooks, he held the corner of the locker door to close it, but someone's hand grasped his joined Toshiro's voice exclaiming, "Hey!"

He looked at his friend, who was looking in his locker. "What, you into me now?" he asked jokingly, and the others laughed again. "I don't judge, but I don't do guys. Sorry, man." Another roar of laughter was heard that caught the attention of the other students passing by.

Toshiro gave him a crunchy "fuck you" before looking at his locker and pointed at the only photo that was plastered in the locker. "That's her."

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my works, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**