Fifteen Minutes Can Seem Like Forever

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Just stop,” Sean ordered, struggling to climb up into the passenger seat of Saylor’s luxury SUV. “My whole neighborhood is going to hate you and me.”

“Nuh-uh!” YoYo said, sitting behind Saylor in the backseat.

“Your neighbors love us,” Kizzy declared from the middle of the backseat, where she could be available to help her patient if necessary.

“The Kappmeyers do seem to like us,” Harley pointed out, sitting behind the passenger seat.

“They all love us!” Kizzy insisted. “It’s why Beatrice was wrong to question my suggestion that we visit each of them and introduce ourselves.”

“You did what now?” Sean questioned, realizing as Saylor floored it backwards out of his driveway that the Babybees weren’t joking.

“Not all of them loved us,” YoYo noted.

“That’s because Cadence threw a hissy fit when we met the Mazons, but Keira made good on her promise to earn us some slack,” Kizzy explained, nearly shooting forward as the SUV slammed on the brakes hard at the cul-de-sac’s stop sign.

“How many of you visited how many of my neighbors? When was this?”

“First Saturday…oh, right. That was the day The Stinging Truth article about your mom and bio dad dropped,” YoYo recalled.

“Yo! That’s not nice,” Harley admonished. “Lacey and Zoey decided that it would be better if we didn’t visit your house that day.”

“Lacey was a part of this?” Sean questioned, his head swiveling around in shock.

“Fern wasn’t invited, since she’s not allowed to take care of you. Mercedes refused to come with, something about peasant neighbors,” Kizzy continued, ignoring the question.

“Just be thankful that Lace didn’t bring Yumi with,” YoYo remarked.

“She didn’t mean it quite like that,” Saylor defended her friend. “I only met Zoey’s family before someone had to escort Cady from the neighborhood.”

“Kizz and Harls offered to babysit the Ruffalo kids,” YoYo revealed, referring to the family with four young children, who lived on the other side of the Kappmeyers.

“We did not, or I did not,” Harley clarified.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. JoJo and I tried once, almost six months ago, and it went miserably,” Sean admitted. “Why would you offer?”

While Kizzy stammered, Yolanda explained that the crushing cheerleader wanted another excuse to monitor Sean’s well-being.

“I did not! Don’t make me sound like a stalker!”

“The Wegbegs seemed very confused about who we were. I guess they’d just returned from visiting their grandchildren for the holidays, and hadn’t heard anything about you saving Whitney’s life,” Harley recounted. “Fortunately, Beatrice took charge by feigning interest in seeing the grandchildren’s pictures.”

“That vixen down the street found the idea adorable,” YoYo said, referring to Mandy Emerson, the sexy neighbor Sean accidentally spied fucking her husband on Christmas night.

“She’s very pretty,” Kizzy stated, sounding depressed by his neighbor’s looks.

“Of course, Dr. Denton knew all about us,” Harley relayed. “She seemed thrilled to have so many girls in the house. We must have stayed for almost forty-five minutes.”

“Milk and cookies. I shit you not,” YoYo revealed.

“Newt saw us and fled. Wouldn’t come out of his room for his mom,” Kizzy recalled. “Uh, your friend is a bit weird, Sir Sean.”

“I know. He gets that way around pretty girls.”

“But doesn’t he have a girlfriend now?” Saylor asked, turning into traffic without much space. A horn blared behind them. “I have somewhere to be, mister!”

“I’m not sure she counts,” YoYo mumbled. “Come on, girl. Find us some good music to hype us up.”

“No!” Sean exclaimed, slapping Saylor’s hand away from the console radio. Then, he jabbed a finger when she went to use the radio controls on the steering wheel. “No, focus on the road, Sayl. You’re dangerous enough already.”

“Sayl? Sayl! Hey, Sir Sean gave me a nickname,” the cute blonde announced, turning around to face her cheermates.

“Saylor!” Sean yelled, grabbing the steering wheel that she’d accidentally let go of. “I swear, one of you is going to send me back to the hospital.”

“Whoopsie,” the inexperienced driver giggled.

“Imagine if we let Fern drive you,” Kizzy teased.

“Uh, she failed her driver’s test, Kizz. Remember? The one you barely passed by the skin of your teeth,” Harley reminded.

“Harls, how dare you embarrass me in front of Sir Sean!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard all of this from the varsity squad,” Sean noted, ignoring the younger teen’s cries about traitors. “How about we focus on something else rather than finding a song to sing along to.”

“Anybody check for late-night updates on Nosy Nectar?” YoYo asked, trying to reach her bag at her feet. With their cheer uniforms on, none of the girls had pockets for their phones.

“No!” Sean roared, noticing the driver reached down to pick up her phone. “There will be no scrolling while driving. Do you hear me? Jesus! Give me that. You can have your phone back after we reach the school.”

“Oh, wow. You sound so hot when you bark orders,” Saylor said, fanning her face.

“I bet that’s how he tames Whitney in bed,” Kizzy responded.

“No, we know Sir Sean is the boss in bed with Miss Bossy,” YoYo corrected, causing the boy in question to groan.

“You can order me around anytime, Sir Daddy,” the blonde driver cooed.

“Nice one! I’m going to start calling him–”

“No, not at all!’ Sean yelled, interrupting Yolanda. “No one is calling me that. And if Yumi asks me about that nickname out of nowhere, you four will all be suspended from candy-striper duty. Got that?”

“You seeing this?” came the whispered question in the back seat.

“I’m not telling him. You do it,” Harley responded, as she and the other half of The Beal and Peel Team read their phones.

“You do know that I can hear you, right?”

“Uh, you might want to know about this, sir,” Kizzy said, holding her phone out.

“Kicked Out! After getting warned twice, JoJo Gibble and Kyler Hogan were asked to leave the Stork Memorial Library on Thursday night for excessive PDA.”

“Goddammit,” Sean muttered, finished reading the Nosy Nectar headline.

“Um, there are details,” Kizzy hinted after Sean waved the phone away.

“I don’t want to know.”

“But aren’t you having dinner with the Gibbles tonight? You might need to know,” Harley suggested.

“Oh, fuck me,” Sean moaned, already envisioning how dinner might play out.

“Damn, Zoey’s sister sure has turned fun over the last month,” YoYo commented. “Nosy Nectar doesn’t confirm it, but one commentator claims that JoJo was spotted climbing up from under one of those privacy desks that Kyler sat at while wiping her mouth.”

“I did not need to hear that!”

“I wouldn’t call that impressive,” Harley mumbled. “Kyler’s not the brightest bulb.”

“He hitched his wagon to Charlie Cork. That gives him popularity,” Kizzy declared.

“Wrestling sure doesn’t. But I guess he could be big all over,” YoYo speculated.

“Do you think he shares with Charlie?” Saylor inquired.

“Tag-teaming Zoey’s sister? Wow!” YoYo squealed.

“Eww! That’s it. I’m wearing earplugs from now on,” Sean threatened.

“Eww!” Kizzy mimicked, but for an entirely different reason.

“Spotted: Austin Rusk in a cozy candlelight dinner with Astoria Carlise at The Orchard,” Harley read the gossip blast. “Did she come down early from Guzzle Crossing?”

“If they don’t have school today, maybe a whole busload is coming down for the game,” Saylor speculated, performing a risky U-turn after missing the correct street.

“How does Austin keep getting these women? The jerk tried to steal Sir Sean’s credit!” Kizzy questioned. “Both squads banned their members from dating him.”

“Even the Bumble Girls have an unofficial ban,” Saylor added, politely flipping off a screaming morning commuter.

“Margo still complains about the ban, but Whitney said it’s either comply or she’s out as a potential cheer captain for next year,” Harley noted, referring to a junior year cheerleader.

“And I bet knowing that self-centered bitch, she’s **** to find a way for both,” YoYo speculated. “Still, Rusk hasn’t slowed down. He allegedly knocked down a few former cheerleaders and dancers before they returned to college.”

“Only to make a habit out of going on dates with girls from rival schools,” Saylor said. “Hey, do you think he’s buying these dates? It’s been known to happen with more awkward Bumble Boys.”

“Or more likely his old man is the one bribing these whores,” YoYo countered. “Probably wants his son to look like a stud for the campaign.”

“I feel bad for Lacey,” Kizzy admitted, sounding sad. “She has to put up with his constant need for attention.”

“Don’t worry about her for too long…Look!” Haley directed, pointing to an updated piece of gossip after Austin’s dinner date ended.

“Ohmigawd!”

“Holy shit!”

“What? What happened?” Saylor questioned, spinning around to look into the backseat. Fortunately, Sean saw this move coming and grabbed the steering wheel in time.

“Seriously, how did you pass your driver’s test?” he asked.

“With tears toward the end of my road test,” Saylor bragged, beaming at the memory.

“The Beevenger Strikes Again!” read the Nosy Nectar blurb. It went on to detail how Austin had returned home from his date, parked his vehicle in the driveway, only to get hit in the face with an egg after getting out. The gossip blast included two pictures: one from far away and another with a close-up perspective of the egg yolk splattered across the quarterback’s face.

“This marks the third sighting of this Beevenger person since New Year’s Eve,” Harley noted.

"He's awesome! Targeting jerks like Denny, Palmer, Oscar, and Austin. Although Charlie seemed like stretching the asshole targets," Kizzy contended.

“It looks like Lacey’s day just got brighter…Sir Sean’s, too,” YoYo said, noticing his grin.

Arriving at Honey Hollow High School, a brief argument ensued about where to drop Sean off. Despite his adamant insistence on walking with the girls from the parking lot, he was let out at one of the school's main doors. Saylor pointed out correctly that Whitney might harm her for making the shining knight walk, especially in these low temperatures.

Honey Hollow High School could be best described as the letter H connected to an oversized, sideways H underneath. The top H portion of the school held the academic classrooms on two levels, with the library located on the second-floor section that connected the two ends. The top of the sideways H-shaped section in the center of the school housed most of the administration offices and formed a small, enclosed courtyard to enjoy on warm days. The long section south of the offices held the school cafeteria and commons. The auditorium and gymnasium were located just south of the commons, with the art, music, and shop wing in the southernmost area of the school.

Located next to the cafeteria, the commons were an open area with a central section set several steps down. Vending machines lined the walls on both sides of the regular level, with benches along the lower-level half-walls on three sides. A ping-pong table often sat in the lower section, but it had been pushed over to make space for a fundraiser.

Two folding tables sat in front, with another running down each side to form a semi-U-shape. A final table pushed against the wall served as a spot for the cash box, paper plates, napkins, and any necessary odds and ends.

“A bake sale? You didn’t tell me that’s why we had to come early,” Sean complained.

“It’s not ours,” Kizzy replied. “The cheer bake sale is on Valentine’s Day. Whitney won the coin toss. Today is the Sugarbees’ bake sale.”

“And Yumi’s,” Haley pointed out, watching as a lone cheerleader in a gold with black trim uniform rushed around in a group of black with gold trim uniforms of the dance squad.

“She can’t help but bake for any fundraiser,” YoYo said, shrugging.

“My mom said her mom was the same,” Sean recalled.

“It’s about time. You’re late,” Beatrice Ledux called over, with her arms folded.

“Uh-oh. Whitney must have been complaining,” Kizzy groaned. “Be back in a bit, Sir Sean.”

The captain of the sophomore/junior varsity squad, Beatrice, had long, light brown hair, dark brown eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a toned ass. The former captain of the Harborside Junior High School cheer squad, she’d engaged in a fierce competition to win the sophomore captaincy over Cadence Aylward. Although Sean didn’t know for sure, Whitney had hinted over the past month that she’d helped ensure that her little cheersister won over Lacey’s bitchy cousin.

Scanning the area, Sean found Whitney Diamond and Lacey Stratton locked in an animated discussion about twenty feet down one of the hallways that ran past the cafeteria. Considering the latest gossip, the teen assumed the pair of eighteen-year-olds discussed the latest happenings with Lacey's ex-boyfriend, whom she'd dated for two years until New Year's Eve. Using his cane, the injured young man slowly walked over toward them.

Sean had a soft spot for Lacey, as he had known her since they were babies. Their mothers had been friends and cheermates, while their older sisters had been best friends since birth. The more petite Stratton sister had long, wavy, medium auburn hair, light green eyes, medium-sized breasts, a toned ass, and a highly fit body. One of the squad’s high-flyers, she loved pumping up the crowd, unlike her older sister, Lana, who adored the crowd’s eyes on her voluptuous figure.

One of the most friendly, kind, and caring students at Honey Hollow High, Lacey had a strange obsession with matchmaking. Once a matchmaking duo with Amberly Abbington, who moved away last summer, Lacey’s need to find boyfriends and girlfriends for her friends usually annoyed her parents, as her grades suffered from the time she spent on the hobby. While often successful, the matchmaking efforts have also led to hilarious and disastrous results. Nearly universally beloved, Lacey’s reputation took a minor hit from people who took Austin’s side in the breakup, with some suggesting that the good Stratton sister had turned slutty like Lana.

The girl whom Lacey practically screamed at was one of her co-best friends, along with the missing Ramsey Swift. The current cheer captain and queen bee of the school, Whitney Diamond, often came across as the girl people love to hate while also desiring. A bossy girl with little patience, she could easily come across to most as conceited and bitchy. Yet, most guys didn’t care because the beauty had long, straight blonde hair, blue eyes, large breasts, and a firm ass.

Primarily a school acquaintance for the last five and a half years, Sean suddenly found himself thrust into the queen bee's hectic social life after saving her life a few days after Christmas at Wasp Lake. Besides becoming a friend-with-benefits, Whitney vowed to reward her savior with as much pussy as possible for the rest of the school year. A hopeless romantic, Sean wasn't thrilled about the plan or his mother's wholehearted agreement to help Whitney. Still, after the humiliation of his crush on Ramsey backfiring, he agreed to give it a chance for now.

“I tell you, she needs to be stopped!” Lacey exclaimed. “A dozen messages by five this morning. Twelve! How am I supposed to get any sleep?”

“What the hell am I supposed to do? Ask what’s her name…Daisy for help,” Whitney responded, alerting Sean to Ramsey as the reason for this conversation.

“Daisy has tried repeatedly. Rammy is obsessed, and Finn warned me about how this can happen and what the results can be. Other Buzzy Bee reporters have gotten broken after failing. Do you want to see our best friend broken? We need to do something!”

“I know. You’ve already freaked out about this twice over the last month,” Whitney pointed out. “What about this new girl? The transfer from Guzzle Crossing. I thought she was helping Rammy.”

“Daisy called her a yes-girl or sycophant for Rammy and Ms. Resto. She’s only making things worse,” Lacey declared, looking ready to cry. “Maybe we should have an intervention or something.”

“An intervention? She’s not an alcoholic or coke whore, Lace. She’s a strange girl, weirdly obsessed with playing Veronica Mars,” the blonde cheer captain commented.

“Actually, I believe Veronica Mars or Nancy Drew is usually the description reserved for Daisy. Ramsey is more often called Lois Lane,” Sean interjected, shocking the girls with his appearance.

“Can you be anymore creepy, Tarver?”

“H-Hey, Sean. Who are—How are you doing? Hehehe,” Lacey responded, appearing skittish, which confused her family friend. The petite redhead had been acting funny around him for the past month, and he didn’t have a clue as to why.

“About time you arrived. Kizzy is getting a scolding again,” the annoyed buxom blonde grumbled.

“Leave her alone. Mom and the girls made breakfast,” Sean disclosed.

“Girls? Oh, hell no!” Whitney bitched, noticing Saylor sneaking inside the school. “I warned Yo and Say about this.”

“Perhaps if you didn’t act like a dictator, then they wouldn’t be–”

“Hey! We don’t have time for this stuff,” Lacey interrupted. “I’m about to have a nervous breakdown for Rammy.”

“Geez, calm down. It’s not that big of a deal,” her co-BFF replied.

“Not that big of a deal? Not that big of a deal?! Then, you can be the one she sends messages to in the middle of the night, ranting and raving about Nosy Nectar,” the ginger suggested. “I have Dad to worry about.”

“As if my dad isn’t also in trouble. Yours hasn’t been in jail yet!” Whitney shot back.

"Okay, okay, let's no… It's way too damn early for this shit, you know!" Sean pointed out.

His scream seemed to snap the best friends out of their bickering.

“Fine. We can deal with this tomorrow. We’ll take Ramm out to lunch,” Whitney suggested.

“No can do. Amberly is coming into town tomorrow morning. We need to finalize the venue for Valentine’s Day,” Lacey revealed.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Lace!”

“It’s not my fault. Our, uh, contact couldn’t meet with us last weekend.”

“Contact? This is what I meant. You and Amberly get insane with this crap. You’re setting up a speed-dating event, not conducting cloak-and-dagger clandestine spy operations!”

“Whit! Nobody is supposed to know what we’re doing for Valentine’s, and it’s just not one thing,” Lacey hissed, checking around to see if anyone heard.

“Whatever. It’s just Sean,” Whitney said dismissively. Unfortunately, the aforementioned teen saw the gears in her brain kickstart to life. “Hang on. Sean might be helpful here. Rammy gets all awkward around him, since she learned he stalked her for like five years. Maybe we can–”

“I did not stalk her!” Sean exclaimed, then copied Lacey by looking around and lowering his voice. “Don’t say that. I had a crush on her, and nobody needs to know that she didn’t know my real name.”

“Everybody knows by now, buddy.”

“Yeah, that was cold, Whit,” Lacey admonished, placing her hands on her hips until a lightbulb clicked on in her head. “Oh. Oh! Ohhh! I have a brilliant idea! It’s perfect!”

“Sean is not asking Rammy out to distract her. I don’t care how big his dick is; that ship sailed. He’s sowing his wild oats, and that’s irreversible,” Whitney proclaimed.

“Eww, no! I meant that Sean loves mysteries; heck, his grandpa is a detective. What if he gave Ramm a hand with her Nosy Nectar investigation?” Lacey suggested. “It’s not like they’ll catch the person, but let’s say after a few weeks, Sean can work on getting Ramm to let it go.”

“You want me and Ramsey to work together?” Sean questioned.

“Yes!”

“I don’t think that’s a good–”

“Tough. You’re helping Rammy, and it’s final,” Whitney declared. “Think of our sanities, Seanie. Both our fathers are in deep shit, so we don’t need this dumb gossip crap making our lives worse.”

“Agreed!” the petite redhead cheered, clapping.

“Can’t I have any say about my own life?”

“No!” Both cheerleaders responded.

“I’m too tired for this shit. I’m taking a nap until sane people get here,” Sean announced, hobbling back down the hallway to the commons.

Finding a cushioned bench farthest away from the bake sale, the annoyed teen lay down, covering his eyes with his arm. If I'm lucky, I can get a twenty- to thirty-minute nap until someone bothers…Great.

“Yes?” the nap-seeking teen asked, keeping his eyes covered.

“Psst! Seanie! Psst!” a voice hissed, attempting to stay at a whisper level. “My mom made you a special batch of Cookie Monster and Bumble Bee cookies. Where do you want the tin?”

“I guess I could have one now for breakfast. Thanks, Yums.”

“You’re welcome!”