“Is anyone listening?” My mom chuckles. I guess she’s noticed what’s going on. I laugh, but Lauren doesn’t. Her eyes narrow in on mine again before she turns to my mom and smiles. Is she mad at me or something?
“I said I was taking Caylen to the library for story time today,” my mom says.
“Oh, cool. I remember story time,” I say between mouthfuls of eggs.
“I do too. I know she’s a little young but I thought it’d be nice for the two of us to do something together,” my mom says cheerfully. I swear she’s fallen in love with Caylen.
“That’s cool, Mom,” I say, and she smiles proudly.
“So what are you doing today, Lauren?” I ask her, hoping whatever mood she’s in is going to change. I haven’t seen her like this since we met.
“I’m not sure,” she says hesitantly.
“Did you want to do something later on?” I ask, and her eyes widen in surprise. “Not like a date or anything. Just hang out,” I say with a chuckle.
“I think it’d be great for you to get out of the house, Lauren, and get to see some of Madison,” my mom says animatedly.
I love my mom.
“Uh, I. Yeah,” she finally manages to get out. I laugh. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was nervous. Nothing like she was yesterday.
I like that I make her nervous.
“Cool. Lisa’s working at Ardeby’s tonight. I’ll call Aidan, even drag Jenna out of her studying cave,” I say, downing my glass of orange juice.
“Are you going to play?” she asks, her gaze back on me. That catches me off guard. I shrug. Who knows?
“Maybe I’ll surprise you.” I wink and her voice catches. Maybe the wink was too much. Kind of flirty. Crossing the friend line. I’ve never been much of a winker anyway. I’m not even sure why I just did it.
“Lauren, are you okay?” my mom asks her. I notice her face is kind of devoid of color.
“Yeah, you kind of look pale,” I say, a little worried, and my phone alert goes off. It’s a text message from Jenna.
Are you fucking serious?
I start to text her back, asking what she means or what her problem is, but I don’t. I’m not letting anyone ruin my mood today. I’ll swing by her house after work and see what’s wrong with her. Maybe our fight didn’t end as well as I thought it did.
“I’m going to head out, ladies,” I tell them, standing up from the table. For some reason, Lauren stands up with me. I glance at my mom, who glances between us. Then my dad walks in. He gives me the same strange look that Lauren has been giving me all morning.
“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” I ask, unable to ignore their cryptic stares.
“Like what?” My dad asks hesitantly.
“Like I’m a science project.” Now I’m irritated.
“No one’s looking like that, son,” my mom interjects.
“You aren’t, but dad and Lauren are,” I say, glancing over at her.
“Do you see something you want to share, Lauren?” my dad asks her, and I wonder, since when did Lauren and my dad start talking?
“What’s going on?” I ask, exasperated.
“It’s nothing. I thought it was, but it’s nothing. I’m sorry, Chris,” Lauren says as she gets up from the table, but not before she shoots my dad an angry glare. He sighs before sitting at the table. I look over at my mom, who seems as clueless as I am.
“Twilight Zone,” I mutter to myself before leaving the house. When I get outside, I look around and something’s missing.
Where’s my truck?
They were so weird today. Lauren and my dad. And my truck. It was parked down the road instead of behind the house. I remember parking it where I always do. I woke up in a really good mood and that sucked it right out of me, too eerily familiar.
“To be honest, I don’t even feel like going out any more,” I say to Aidan who’s sitting on my bed tossing an old football up and down.
“Well suck it up because we’re going out. I’ve got on my good shirt and I’m ready to get drunk. We’re doing this. Tonight!”
I can’t back out. Lauren’s getting dressed downstairs. I haven’t spoken to her since breakfast, except through text. I still haven’t talked to Jenna but I know she’s in studying and she’s going to be pissed. I still don’t know what her text was about this morning, I’m sure I’ll get an earful about it when I do speak to her.
“Your mood sucks, dude. What happened to the Chris from this morning? You were pumped. Now you’re like a chick that just got dumped,” he says irritated.
“Okay, bad news,” Lisa says, barging into my room.
“What are you? Snookie?” Aidan says, snickering at how high her hair is piled up on her head.
“You can screw yourself,” she says wryly, turning her attention to me.
“I got suspended from Ardeby’s.” She sighs.
“What?” I ask her, not in disbelief but in irritation. This isn’t the first time it’s happened.
“So we can’t go tonight,” she says with a shrug.
“Ugh fuck that. You can’t go, but we’re still going!” Aidan bellows.
“I didn’t even feel like going anyway,” I admit.
“Just because we can’t go there doesn’t mean we can’t go somewhere else,” she adds cheerfully.
“No, we’re not going anywhere else. We’re going to Ardeby’s,” Aidan interjects.
“You know we haven’t been to the rink in ages. It’d be super fun!” she says enthusiastically, ignoring Aidan.
“They only have stale beer at the rink.” Aidan groans.
“I’m going to need you to attend Alcoholics Anonymous,” Lisa spits at Aidan.
“Maybe we should just postpone this. I haven’t even talked to Jenna today.” I sigh.
“Chris, get the mopey stick out of your butt. This was all your idea. You can stay here if you want but Lauren, Mr. Need a Drink here, and I are going out,” Lisa says, folding her arms.
“Yeah, man, we haven’t even celebrated since I got…”Aidan sentence trails off and there’s a little knock. It’s Lauren, standing in the doorway. She's wearing a black off-the-shoulder sweater. Her hair isn’t straight like it usually is. Instead, it's falling down in long waves. I thought she was beautiful the moment I saw her, but this is the first time I thought she was sexy.
“Hey,” she says, pushing her hair behind her ear.
“You look hot!” Lisa says excitedly.
“I think you should stay if you’re tired, Chris,” Aidan says enthusiastically. “I can handle the ladies tonight,” hey says, getting up off my bed. Lauren’s smile drops.
“You’re not going?” She sounds disappointed.
“No, I’m going,” I say quickly.
“I’m sure you are now,” Aidan mutters, and I nudge him.
“It’s just there’s been a change of plans. We’re going to go skating.” Lisa’s excited but Lauren looks pretty skeptical.
“Oh. I’ll go change then,” she says, wrapping her arms around herself like she suddenly feels uncomfortable.