Two in one day, once again. Just call me butter...cause I'm on a roll! LOL jk, I'm vegan. *Ahem* Sorry. That was, by far, the dumbest thing I've ever said in my life. Enjoy..?
- Veg :D
After the show, I had Pat drive me home. For some reason, our car ride was mainly silent. "So," he finally says after a while. "Mike and Sarah came tonight- did you get to see them?" I nod- the two were LACHSA alumni who graduated last year.
"Yeah," I reply. "We talked for a few minutes... You know I'd never miss minute of listening to Mike bash someone else's performance." The two of us laugh, remembering what a drama queen our old friend was.
"Yeah, he couldn't wait to ask if we were dating yet." I roll my eyes. Although no one seemed to believe it, Pat was my best friend, and absolutely nothing more. I'd never want to date him, anyway- the only person he'll ever truly love is himself.
"Let me guess- he's mad because he's gonna lose money, now." Apparently, they made some kind of bet last year on when Pat and I were going to start dating. I really praise the person who put all their money on "never."
"Eh, he has another month to go. His bet was by November."
"Like I said- he's gonna lose money." We both laugh, even though this was kind of an awkward topic. "Besides, how many times do I have to tell him I can't stand you?" I add in smugly. Pat scoffs in return.
"Please- you love me," he says as he pulls in my driveway. I nearly jumped out of the moving car when I notice my mother's car was now missing from the driveway.
"What the fuck?" I angrily ask, using all my might to not slam Pat's door. Obviously aware that something was wrong, he removes his keys and follows me inside.
I let out a huge sigh of relief when I find my grandmother inside, cleaning up the kitchen. "Uh, hi," I say, kind if confused. She quickly rushes up to me, pulls me into a hug and kisses my cheek.
"Hi, sweetie, how was the show?" She asks. I shrug as she gives Pat the same greeting.
"Eh, fine, I guess." I say. "Uh...where's your daughter-in-law?" I was referring to my "mother." She sighs in return.
"I wish I knew." I bite my lower lip as Pat reaches down to take my hand. "She asked for my help babysitting and left the second I got here. She's been gone since around 3:30." I glance over at the clock- it was past 10.
"Uh, okay," I quietly reply, not really sure of how to react. "Thanks for staying with them."
"You sure you don't want me to stay?" She asks, grabbing her jacket.
"No, no. I'll be fine." I've been fine the past two years, haven't I?
"Alright then," she says with another sigh. "Call me if you need anything." I just nod as she gives Pat and I another hug and heads out the door.
"Un-fucking-believable." I bitterly say out loud. Pat tightens his grip on my hand, which I'm quick to pull away from. "I don't know why I'm so fucking surprised- it was bound to happen again sooner or later." Pat tries to calm me by putting a hand on my shoulder. I angrily shake it off. "I mean, really, why the fuck-" I quickly quiet down when I hear a door down the hall creak. Someone was awake.
"Brooklyn?" I hear Alex squeak. He comes down the hallway in his dinosaur pajamas, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Hey, Bug," I sweetly call him by his nickname we gave him as a baby because of his big, grey bug eyes. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I've been waiting for you," he innocently replies. After I scoop him up in my arms, he reaches into the tiny pocket of his shirt and pulls out a piece of string filled with purple beads. "I wanted to give this to you. Grandma and I made them. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow." I glance back at Pat as I take the bracelet from him; I could've sworn he was choking back tears.
"It's beautiful- I love it." I plant a kiss on his cheek. "Can we get back to bed now?" He tiredly nods.
"Is Pat sleeping over?"
"No, Pat has to get home."
"Actually, Brooklyn," he moves up closer to the two of us and strokes Alex's soft, brown curls. "Maybe I should just stay- I don't mind crashing on the couch for the night." I sigh and shake my head.
"No, your mom will be worried sick."
"C'mon, I'm not just gonna leave you here. I'll help you get them ready in the morning, we'll put them on the bus, and then we can forge a note to get us in late. Say we had a doctor's appointment or something."
"We had an appointment together, at the same time?" I ask, rolling my eyes.
"I can wait and go in a few minutes later." He shrugs, and I can't help but laugh. He acts like he does this all the time. "You know my mom will understand."
"If you insist," I finally give in, knowing there was no changing Pat's mind.
"Of course I do." He pulls Alex and I into a hug. "I love you guys."
"I really can't believe you did that," I tell Carlos once we're back home. We were all gathered in the living room with Kendall and Katie now joining us, intently listening to our recap of the night.
"Hey, you should be thanking me," Carlos replies in defense.
"Yeah," James adds in. "We all know you weren't going to make the move yourself- someone had to."
"What move?" I ask with a confused look.
"Well, you're gonna have to do something else together besides math homework eventually..." Kendall points out.
"But what if I didn't want to?" I ask, clearly frustrated with my friends.
"If you didn't, then why'd you go tonight?" James asks, crossing his arms.
"Because..." I start, but then realize I don't really have an answer. "I like music." My friends howl with laughter. "Hey, you guys said it first." Clearly annoyed, Katie abruptly stands up.
"Okay, I can't listen to this anymore." She says, starting to walk back to her room. "Boys are so dumb." And I'm sure I was the dumbest of them all.
"Alright, so she's coming over Saturday?" Kendall reassures.
"Uh, I guess so," I reply, shooting a glare back to Carlos.
"Oh, come on, Logan," he says, rolling his eyes. "Stop acting like a little girl and just admit you like her."
I open my mouth, about to actually say something, but then just decide to reply with a, "No."
Okay, maybe part of me kind of does like Brooklyn- I'm still not going to say it. It hasn't even been a week since we've met, and it would be really weird admitting it so soon. Besides, I didn't like it when my friends were right over myself. I was supposed to be the smart one, right?
"Are you seriously trying to convince us you don't like her?" Kendall asks, obviously not believing a word I'm telling him.
"Yeah."
"Okay, so what if she comes here Saturday and you find out some completely gorgeous, perfect guy just asked her out?" James asks. They weren't going to get me to crack. I wasn't going to allow it.
"Yeah!" Carlos chimes in. "What if she starts dating that friend of hers?"
Okay, maybe that would kind of bother me, but I wasn't going to admit that. And there was no way at all that I was going to admit she's all that's been on my mind this past week.
Fine- so, maybe more than a part of me likes her; but I couldn't admit that to my friends, or Brooklyn, for that matter. Besides, I really haven't thought about it yet, but I know there's a big problem that's bound to get in the way down the road.
That was a little problem I like to call "Camille."
