He followed me in the living room and stopped in his tracks when he saw what was on the television in place of his beloved ESPN. “What is this?”
“You can thank me later. I’m filling a major hole in your pop culture education.” I settled onto the couch and crossed my legs. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
He sat on the other side of the sofa. “You’re right. And I’d kind of like to keep it that way.”
“Oh, shut up.” I hit play. “I still can’t believe you’ve never seen Mean Girls. It’s a classic.”
“You’re taking liberties with that term.”
I gave him the evil eye as I blew on my oatmeal to cool it. “Be nice, or I’ll make you listen to the entire Hamilton soundtrack.” I’d been threatening that one for years, but one of these days, I was going to follow through. Though really, it shouldn’t be considered a threat—more like a privilege. If Carson weren’t so fond of my brother and me, I would seriously question his taste.
After a few minutes, Carson asked, “How’s the oatmeal? Is it sitting okay in your stomach?”
I nodded. “I’m already feeling much better, actually. Maybe I wasn’t as hung over as I thought.”
He arched a brow. “Don’t count your chickens. Drink your water.”
“Sir, yes, sir.” I saluted him the way my brother had taught me. Even after several years, it was still wild to think that my punk of a brother was a soldier. He and Carson had done some stupid stuff when they were younger. They’d figured out exactly how far they could push my parents and usually went right up to that line. On the rare occasion they’d crossed it, they were both so damn charming, they could talk their way out of trouble, especially with my mom. I, of course, had never gotten into a lick of trouble unless I was with them. I’d been too busy filling my time with every extracurricular activity that might look good on a college application. It had been exhausting but worth it in the end.
After we finished eating, I stacked up our dirty dishes.
“I’ll take care of it,” Carson said.
I shook my head. “I’ve seen this movie a thousand times. I don’t want you to miss a minute of it.”
“How kind of you,” he said dryly.
I smiled wide. “You are very welcome.”
When I returned from the kitchen, I curled up on the couch. Despite my love for the movie, it didn’t take me long to doze off. I woke up in the last few minutes of the movie to find that Carson had tucked a blanket around me and lowered the volume of the TV so it wouldn’t wake me.
It wasn’t the first time he’d done something like that. He was always so good to me, which reaffirmed how much I didn’t want to mess things up between us.
But a small part of me couldn’t help wondering that if things were this good as just friends, how much better could they be if we were more?
***
Carson
AFTER ZIZ LEFT, I went over to Jake’s. While Roman was my best friend from home, Jake was my best friend at school. He’d been crazy busy since taking custody of his three younger siblings, though, so I hadn’t seen much of him recently. That seemed to be a theme with the people in my life lately.
Jake’s brother, Ben, answered the door and looked around me. “Is that your Jeep?”
I was surprised to see him out of his room. He was a computer geek who spent most of his time engrossed in online role-playing games. Then again, he’d just turned fifteen, so it was about time for him to start showing an interest in cars.
I glanced over my shoulder at the Jeep Wrangler parked at the curb. Up until a few weeks ago, I’d driven a Camaro, but I’d gotten tired of it. It was fast but too cramped for a guy my size. My dad had his fingers in so many business endeavors, I couldn’t keep track, but the one part of Fleck Holdings, Incorporated that had always interested me was the car dealership. My dad frequently traded out his cars, and I’d taken to doing the same thing. It was one of the few perks I got as a Fleck that I appreciated.
“Sure is,” I said. “Want to drive it?”
Ben’s eyes lit up, but before he could respond, Jake stepped up behind him. “Maybe if he’d actually bother studying for his driver’s permit test.”
That was the one test in my life I hadn’t minded studying for, probably because I’d already known everything anyway. It was also the one test on which I’d outscored my sister. Being a know-it-all, she hadn’t studied and had failed the first time around. She was book smart but clueless when it came to practical knowledge.
Ben scowled. “It’ll only take five minutes to memorize everything.”
“So do it,” Jake said pointedly.
Ben stalked to his room, and I stepped into the foyer. “Bad time?” I asked. Who was I kidding? In Jake’s crazy new life, there was never a good time.
My friend shook his head. “I don’t get it. I’m fully prepared to buy him a car once he gets his license, but he’s dragging his feet with his permit.”
Yeah, I didn’t understand that either. “Let me know when you’re ready to get the car.” I followed him into the living room. “My dad’s dealership might be able to hook you up.”
“Thanks. I just hope he gets his ass in gear. I’d like him to be able to take on some of the driving duties as soon as possible.” He settled onto the couch.
“Is Rachel here?”
“No. She took the girls to get pedicures.”
“Is everything okay in that department?” Jake and Rachel hadn’t been together very long, and they’d had some missteps because Jake had gotten his siblings right when they started dating. Rachel was amazing, though. There weren’t many college girls who would be willing to step into the big-sister role like she had.
Jake smiled. “Things are great, man. Thanks for asking.”
“Good. I’m happy for you.” I might come across as a dumb jock sometimes, but if nothing else, I was a loyal friend. A black cat sashayed out of the kitchen and jumped onto the top of the couch. It was followed shortly by a white one. “When did you get cats?”
“Last week. I only agreed to one, but the girls suckered me into getting two.” He didn’t sound too broken up by it.
The front door opened, and a few moments later, Jake’s sister Ashley wrapped herself around the door frame and batted her eyes at me. “Oh, hi, Carson. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Uh, hi. I just got here.”
Ashley scared the piss out of me. Maybe scared wasn’t the right term. But she freaked me out because she had a crush on me that was glaringly obvious and even more awkward because she was twelve. Rachel thought it was cute and told me it was harmless, but as an elementary ed major, she spent a lot of time in schools. She probably had a whole slew of little boys with crushes on her, so Ashley’s fixation on me was nothing out of the ordinary. But for me, it was super weird.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jake asked. He tried to save me from the awkwardness when he could.
“Nope.”
Rachel came in, followed by Emily, Jake’s youngest sister. “Actually, she does have somewhere to be because guess who let it slip that she didn’t do all the required summer reading?”