Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Tyler returned home that night with a smile on his face. The three of them were playing a friendly game of poker when Vicki noticed Tyler “Look at smiley there. Looks like it was a good date.” She teased.
Ivy looked up and back at her cards “Damn!! I fold…again.” She eyed Ben carefully as he smiled secretly at his cards “You cheater!!!!” she pointed at him.
“I did not!” he said in shock, but the smile was still there.
“Yeah, whatever. You couldn’t wipe that smile off with a squeegee! Let me see your cards!” Ivy demanded.
“No!” he replied just as haughtily “I don’t cheat.”
Ivy punched her hand against the table “Then let me see them!” she pulled her feet on her chair as she reached for his cards, which he was pointing away from her. She practically climbed all over him trying to get the cards.
“Stop it! Stop!!!” Vicki cried, startling Ivy and Ben as they turned to her “I’ve got a Royal Flush.” She put her cards down with a big smile while the other two groaned in defeat. Her eyes moved up to Tyler who looked intrigued or dazed “Wanna play?”
“Poker?” Tyler asked.
“No, STRIP poker.” Vicki winked at him playfully.
He widened his eyes and backed away “Uh…no thanks.”
Ivy laughed “Yeah, his package isn’t the best feature…if you know what I mean.” She gave an exaggerated wink.
Tyler rolled his eyes “Ga Jei, I think everyone KNOWS what you mean. But you can say all you want. Nothing’s gonna ruin my night, it was great…despite the snooping from the three stooges.” He looked at them carefully and skipped to his room.
“Ooh look, even when I thought Ty couldn’t get any more gay.” She shook her head while Vicki chuckled and Tyler stopped skipping as he walked slowly to his room “Hmm…I wonder why he’s so happy.” Ivy said out loud.
“Only one way to find out.” Vicki said with much interest. The girls nodded to each other as the got up only to be stopped by Ben’s hands pulling them back down.
“Hold on speedies…give the boy a minute to sink into his little dreamland. Haven’t you two done enough damage?” Ben asked.
Ivy shook her head “No. What are little brothers for?”
Vicki eyed Ben carefully “Why are you so protective over Ty anyways?”
“Yeah…” Ivy asked suspiciously “If you ask me, I think someone needs to come out of the closet.”
Ben shook his head with a crooked grin “If you give me 10 minutes, I will show you that I’m as straight as Vicki’s figure.” Vicki dropped her jaw in defense.
“In your dreams!” Ivy retorted “Trust me, you’d only last five minutes with me.”
Ben smiled “I was talking about calling my ex girlfriend so she could tell you if I’m impotent or not. What were you thinking?”
“Arm wrestling.” Ivy replied with her arms crossed “Who has the dirty mind now?”
He chuckled “Okay…if that’s what you say.”
“How about it?” Ivy asked.
“What?” surely she wasn’t thinking about arm wrestling him was she?
“Ooh…this I gotta see.” Vicki put away the cards.
Ben rolled his eyes “You know, a gentlemen never arm wrestles a lady.”
“Bullshit!” Ivy cried as she lifted her sleeve and propped her elbow on the table, tempting him “Come on, little girl…I promise, it won’t hurt too much.” Her tease made Vicki bellow out with laughter while Ben was on the verge of giving in.
“No.” he shook his head firmly.
“Wimp!” Ivy was pushing his buttons.
Vicki dropped her jaw at Ben “You’re going to let her call you that?”
Ben shrugged carelessly while Ivy looked at him smugly “You’re weaker than Ty.”
“Okay, that’s it!” Ben cried as he propped his elbow up “I’ll show you.”
Vicki jumped up with excitement “I’ll be the judge!” she announced “On three. One…two…three!!”
Ivy was unbelievably strong for a tiny girl, either that or Ben was not exactly in the best shape. They were equally strong until Vicki began chanting Ivy’s name. Ben gave a little grunt as he used all his muscles to beat Ivy. She wrinkled her brows at him “Are you constipated or something? Your face is all red and everything…don’t poop on the chair!”
That did it as Ben let out a laugh and Ivy easily defeated him “You cheated.” He said while wringing out his arm.
Ivy got on the chair as she did a victory dance with her arms flapping up and down “I won! I won!!” The girls high five each other and Ivy jumped off the chair as she pointed to Ben “Loser!! You lost to a girl!!” she announced loudly.
Tyler walked out a few seconds later in his blue and white stars pajamas “Can you guys keep it down? I’m trying to sleep!”
Ivy pushed Ben on the shoulder “Look what you did, you woke up grumpy! Go home. I’ve had enough of you for one day.”
Ben nodded “Okay. I’ll be back tomorrow at 10am. We’re going shopping.”
“Ew.” Ivy wrinkled her face in disgust.
“Payback’s a bitch.” He laughed.
“And you ARE a bitch.” Ivy snickered making Vicki laugh.
Ben smiled “Laugh all you want, wait until tomorrow.” He left the apartment with Ivy looking fearful.
“Damn, I knew I should have let him win!” She cursed herself.
Vicki shook her head “No, you just did every woman in Tong Lau Wan a huge favor. He’s been walking around with that ego for too long.”
“How do you know?” Ivy asked.
Her face quickly turned a blushing pink “Oh…no…I know this girl that use to date him and said he had a big…I mean BIG ego.” Vicki quickly explained.
Ivy nodded “I see…well, get going. I need to sleep!” Vicki laughed as she waved goodnight to her friend.
The following morning Ivy was up and was sitting on the couch with her leg propped up on the armrest. Her hair was hastily tied in a ponytail. The doorbell rang and she didn’t bother tearing her eyes from the TV “Come in, it’s open!!”
Ben walked in and he was already shaking his head as he walked over and pushed her leg off the armrest “A lady never sits like this.”
“A lady never beats a guy in arm wrestling, but I did it…I guess that makes me not a lady huh?” she was rubbing it in his face.
“I let you win. Now come on, we have to beat the morning traffic.” Ben pushed.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it one day.” Ivy snickered “There’s no traffic.”
“Yes, there is shopping traffic.” He concluded as he pulled the control from her fingers and turned off the TV “Now, let’s go.” He said firmly.
Ivy let out a tired sigh as she stood up, her back slouching “Fine!” they walked to the door and she quickly reached for the knob “Let me get that for you…the door’s probably too heavy for you huh?” she asked with fake sympathy.
“Ha ha.” Ben leered his eyes at her as he pushed her out the door and closed it.
“Uh, uh…a gentleman never pushes a lady.” She used her authority voice.
“But you’re not a lady.” Ben said innocently as he walked down the stairs before Ivy.
She wrinkled her nose but decided not to argue as she followed him to the car. They rode together to the five stories mall. He parked in lot and together they walked into the mall shops. He chose mostly fancy stories. Ivy pushed her hands into her jean pockets as she looked around the store. They weren’t in there for two minutes and Ivy was already beginning to get bored “Nothing in here. Come on, Benny.” She nodded to the exit.
Ben stopped her for the fifth time that morning “Wait. Ivy, shopping takes more than 10 seconds. You didn’t even give the clothes a chance.” He was trying to reason with her.
She looked bored “Fine…but I’m not trying on any dresses.”
“How about skirts?” Ben asked. She opened her mouth to object but he was quicker “Great! Here’s a shirt/skirt outfit…try it on.” He pushed it at her while waving to the sales girl “Can you help her into a fitting room?”
Ivy gave up as she dragged the outfit by the hanger neck and followed the girl into the dressing room. Ben smiled as he watched her walk into the private room, the outfit was a matching turquoise green and blue dress. The diagonal stripes would make her look taller and not to mention the color would compliment her skin. He had an eye for fashion and was even more determined about getting his job done right.
After what seemed like hours, Ivy finally came out. Her shoulders slumping to the side “I hate this.” She grumbled.
“You look great!” Ben gushed “Have you looked in the mirror at all?”
“No, I’m afraid, I’ll break it.” Ivy said through clenched teeth.
Ben shook his head “Please look…” he was practically begging.
Ivy’s lips curled into a smile “Okay…say Ivy’s the strongest girl and I’ll look.”
He laughed “It doesn’t look THAT good.” She scowled at him while stomping her way back to the dressing room. On her way, she stopped in front of the mirror. Her head tilted carefully as she examined herself in the mirror. She turned to the side and then in a circle, the outfit wasn’t too bad. She liked the color and the material was a soft lace with a satin under layer. A smile crossed her face “See, the mirror didn’t break.” Ben was standing a few feet from her.
She spun around and looked embarrassed that he caught her looking at her own reflection “I…I was just…eh…” she sprinted into the dressing room, not knowing what else to do.
Ben stood outside with a grin on his face. He had to admit, she was growing on him. He remembered when she was so annoying and some how she’s become endearing to him. Surely, her attitude needed a huge adjustment but he was determined to just that for the annual showing of new talents, which was in exactly 5 months. He didn’t have much time left. But that wasn’t his biggest challenge, it would be to convince Ivy that this was a good thing. He could only imagine her beating him up when she realized that he was a talent scout and the image consultant was only a scam.
Ivy walked out changed back and she quickly noticed that he was deep in his own thoughts. She rolled her eyes dramatically “Okay, fine we’ll take the outfit.” She let out a tired sigh.
Ben was snapped back to reality when she started talking. He saw her walking over to the sales girl and a smile appeared on his face “You might need a pair of shoes with that.” Ivy snarled at him but she let him take her to a shoe store as they picked out a beige color heels with straps crossing at the toes. She had to admit, trying on new things was fun. And buying clothes and shoes were even funner when she didn’t have to pay for any of it.