Ch.9

My Dad was able to go with Phil in the ambulance due to him being a doctor. As for the rest of us, we had to get into Claire's minivan to drive us to the hospital. Once we arrived we saw my Dad talking with Phil, like my Dad thought Phil is having a kidney stone. It will pass through the night, as it will be extremely painful for him so my Dad gave him some painkillers for the day and night.

Though as Phil was being discharged, he 'flirted' with some milfs in the hallways by doing some of the magic tricks he likes. This made Claire become slightly jealous, showing her that like her Phil can still impress attractive women. This lets the two make up due to the fighting they had earlier about the attempts to 'seduce' other people.

A week after Phil's kidney stone incident I was hanging out with Alex at her house. When Haley came over to us, with a very annoyed and angered face.

"Alex! I know you read my diary!" Haley says giving Alex a very accusing face.

"What? No, I didn't!" Alex says which Haley doesn't believe at all it seems.

"Stop lying I know you did! Don't worry, I'll make sure you regret it," Haley says to Alex before walking away very angry still.

"What is that supposed to mean!" Alex says running after Haley as I watch them run away upstairs to their room.

"Hey Gabe, uh quick question. Do you know how to delete something off a computer once you are done looking at it?" Phil says to me holding his laptop after Alex and Haley ran to their room.

"What?" I say to him since that could mean a bunch of different things.

"Like… If I googled something… uh by accident, but didn't want someone to see that it was googled. How would I delete that?" Phil says and I immediately knew he was talking about porn. I just stare at him for a few seconds in disbelief that he doesn't the basics of hiding your private time on the computer.

"I do… First, go to your history on google, then clear the things you want to clear from it. Though should you ever… need to look at things you don't want other people to see. You need to open the browser in a 'private' mode before doing whatever it is you are doing," I say to Phil while showing him what I mean, though thankfully whatever porn he was looking at is not on the screen thankfully he closed that before asking me.

"Thanks, Gabe you are a lifesaver!... Though I should go talk with Luke, before Claire gets more upset," Phil says to me while muttering to himself the last part, even though I heard it.

"No problem…" I say as he heads upstairs to Luke's room, as I am thinking maybe Luke was the one looking at the porn.

"Mom!!" both Haley and Alex yell while running downstairs both holding their own things the other ruined.

Alex was holding her signed photo of Maya Angelou which Haley ruined by drawing all over her. Haley was holding her diary that supposedly Alex read, which I'm not sure is true as I would even suspect that Alex read it.

"What?" Claire says coming out of the kitchen still upset about the found porn on the laptop.

Both girls then showed what the other did wrong, with Claire's eye twitching since there never seems to be a moment of peace at her house. I hold back from laughing at Claire's look, with Claire trying to mediate the fighting that started again between the two girls.

"I'm gonna go pick up the pizza for lunch, I'll be back," Phil says as Claire looks up at him, but can't ask if he talked with Luke as Alex and Haley are still fighting.

"Mom! I didn't read Haley's stupid diary! Why would I read that?! It's not like I would learn anything important!" Alex says while holding her signed picture very angry for being targeted for no reason.

"Oh sure! Like you wouldn't want to read about what it is like being a popular girl! Reading my diary is the closest thing you will get to even knowing what it is like being one!" Haley says attacking Alex's social awkwardness, as I sit there watching the two sisters stab at each other.

"Enough! Both of you sit down on the couch! I'm gonna talk with Luke, then once I'm done I will come back downstairs to get to the bottom of this," Claire says as the two sisters sit down on the couch as Claire heads upstairs to talk with Luke.

"Uhm… I know it is not really my place, but even if Alex did read the diary was it really necessary to ruin her autographed picture like that? Sure I know you wanted to get revenge, but reading your diary is not as harsh as ruining something that will be hard to get again like her picture," I say to Haley with Alex nodding her head thankfully to me due to defending her.

"Yes, it is worth doing that! She broke my privacy barrier! It's not like she can unread my diary!" Haley says still very annoyed. Alex looks about to retaliate, though I look at her hoping she will let me mediate this. Alex just holds back and nods her head to me subtly.

"I get that once someone reads it they can't unread it, but how do you know it was really Alex who did it? What if it was someone else in the house? You blamed and retaliated against her before knowing the truth, while doing something you couldn't undo to her. So what if it wasn't Alex, wouldn't that mean she can relate against you without you becoming upset with that?" I say to Haley as she gives me a very annoyed look, though can't really argue my point.

"Plus, instead of ruining something like her autographed picture. You could have read her diary," I say to Haley as Alex has been nodding along with me until she heard that giving me a very angry look.

"Wait? What? Alex has a diary?!" Haley says turning to Alex.

"No, I don't!!" Alex says denying it immediately. Haley doesn't seem to believe her denial.

"Sure, Alex, sure. Though I will find it," Haley says while smirking at her younger sister. Alex turns to me very annoyed, as it seems I made them no longer upset with me. As Haley seemed to realize her mistake, with Alex's anger being directed at me now.

"Haley… sorry. I was the one who read your diary," Luke says once he and Claire come downstairs.

"What?!" Haley says with her anger returning and now directed at Luke.

"Told you!!" Alex says as the fighting breaks out again, though this time it is up to Claire to stop it.

"Its pizza time!!" Phil says arriving home with the pizza.

Everyone seems to calm down, once Phil arrives with the pizza. As we are all sitting in the kitchen eating it. Then Claire breaks the silence while giving Phil a look that suggests she isn't really happy even though she is smiling.

"Phil… I talked with Luke. It seems he wasn't the one on the laptop earlier… So, do you have anything to say about that?" Claire says to Phil who gives a nervous and surprised look having been found out.

"Uh… No…" Phil says at first trying to come up with a reason, but then giving in to his fate later.

"What happened on the computer," Haley says curiously. As both Phil and Claire, stumble to come up with an excuse.

"Nothing, don't worry about it!" Claire says with Haley shrugging her shoulders then going back and spending her life on her phone.

Life then flew by with Valentine's Day approaching. My parents were going out for a few hours on a date, with me going over to Alex's house. As her Uncles agreed to watch, Luke and her since they didn't have a real plan now that Lily was in their life. Claire and Phil then dropped us all off at Mitchell and Cam's house. Once we arrived, Manny was dropped too shortly after us.

"Hey Gabe, long time no see. How've you been?" Mitchell says to me as I've seen them while hanging out with Alex a few times now.

"I've been good, what about you guys?" I ask him and Cam who smiles at me.

"Great! Though normally Mitchell and I have romantic dinners, this year we have little Lily," Cam says answering for them as I nod my head at them.

We all then spend a few hours playing board games, playing with Lily, and watching a movie. Though it seems Manny is in low spirits as Cam asks him what is wrong. With Manny explaining what happened at school earlier today. Apparently, another boy stole his Valentine's card for the girl he liked, taking credit for it.

"We should go to this ice cream place! Then you can take back the credit and swoop this girl off her feet!" Cam says as we all pack into their car and head to the ice cream parlor.

Once there we all order our ice cream as Manny gives us a more detailed explanation on the issue. Then after we get our ice cream, the girl Manny likes shows up with the boy who stole Manny's idea. Manny then becomes very nervous not knowing what to say or do, as Cam is trying to hype him up.

"Don't be so nervous Manny, the worst that can happen is she says no. Plus we are all here to support you," Cam says as we all nod our heads to Manny.

He then gets up and walks over to the girl once Cam distracts the boy by pretending to call him for a survey. Manny is able to tell Fiona he really wrote the poem, but Durkas, her date, comes back and shoves Manny away. The closing argument Mitchell couldn't say earlier in the day comes in handy. He shames Durkas for admitting it, who also tells Fiona that he had those feelings but didn't know how to express them. Fiona thinks it's sweet.

"Forget her Manny, she is just crazy," Mitchell says as they return to our table with Manny nodding his head.

'Bitches be crazy,' I think to myself while chuckling a bit due to the popular saying in my other life coming into play here too.

"What's so funny?" Alex asks me as I shake my head denying anything I was thinking.

"Nothing," I say while trying to not laugh still.