"Do we really have to eat lunch with him?" I was a little outraged. We hadn't eaten anything but alone for the past three years of high school. I didn't want our streak to end.
"He's my boyfriend, Ashley." Spencer intoned, "And you're my best friend. You should get used to spending time with him."
"The things I do for you, Spencer."
She groaned at my righteousness.
"No, seriously." I rested my chin on my hand, gazing at her. I felt compelled to go on, but held back. "But whatever. Are you sure you two don't want to be alone?"
Spencer looked at me like this was hilarious, and made a face. "Uh, no. Stay here."
"What, you don't want alone time with your boyfriend?" I nearly spit the word, hardly teasing. I couldn't help it.
Spencer immediately softened. "I'll always prefer your company." She reaches across the table to lay a palm against my chest, pressig her words into my heart. I do not doubt her.
"Ladies!" Aiden put a hand on Spencer's back, appearing out of nowhere. He leaned town to meet Spencer in an impromptu kiss that made me cringe.
Spencer carefully avoided looking my way for several seconds, giving Aiden her best smile. "Hey, sit down." She cheerfully moved books out of his way and he sat his big lummox self down, grinning at me.
"Ashley."
"Aiden."
Things got vastly different. The tail end of our junior year, all I can really recall is Aiden. Not because I focused on him, but because I focused a lot of my resentment on him.
He actually wasn't that bad of a guy. A typical boy, to be sure, but he was always relatively nice to me. I just could barely stomach seeing the two of them together.
I saw right through Spencer, of course. She refused to sit with him at lunch, but he was readily available every lunch period to sit with us at our table, across from me and Spencer, chatting our ears off about whatever stupid thing passed through his thoughts. I hated these conversations because I was aloof, a petulant child not wanting to share. They had to struggle to include me, but those days I was not forthcoming. I figured I had good reason to be.
When my heart wasn't being mangled, it was being toyed with like the ball on the end of the string connected to a paddle. Spencer got different.
Her touch wasn't the same; before, it had been an open, friendly caress. A marker of our deep friendship, something people even expected.
But Spencer grew bolder, more flamboyant. Now that she had a label declaring her Aiden's Girlfriend, she was a lot more free with me. Intimate touches that showed me she knew their meaning, and wanted me to know, too.
She would hold my hand under the table, stroking her thumb over my skin. On our movie nights, Spencer and myself no longer being the only participants, she would crawl across the couch and into my lap whenever Aiden would leave the room, ruining any scene that was playing and giving me a tight hug around the neck.
Sometimes I would swear she was working her way up to kissing me, eyes glazed over and hypnotizing me with every touch, paralyzing me with anticipation. She would pull back, realizing what she was going. Or Aiden would walk in the room, oblivious to the moment he was wrecking.
I think we were always both silently thankful to him, blundering into our quiet bliss. Neither of us had to courage to take it anywhere else but where we already stood. I felt more pathetic with each passing of the day, but I never objected to her slow advances.
Not that they ever went anywhere, or served to do anything but torture us both.
I threw open the door to my loft and chucked my purse across the room, enveloped in memory I couldn't stand.
I let out an indulgent groan and went to get a beer out of the fridge, throwing the cap into the sink and haphazardly dumping the contents into my mouth, not stopping until I was sucking foam from the bottom of the bottle.
I grabbed another, let myself burp, and reminded myself that they were Hailey's beers. Then I remembered I was completely pissed at her, as she was probably throwing herself at Aiden Dennison, and got busy finishing that one, too.
I flopped down on our large couch, covering my face with a pillow and I couldn't stop myself from bringing up the past.
"Olives, pepperoni - "
"Mushrooms!" Spencer says into my ear, grasping me on the arm to get my attention.
I shake her off, impatient. "I know what you want." I regard the phone. "Olives, pepperoni and mushroom...okay. Alright, thankyou." I hang up. "Pizza's gonna be here in thirty."
Aiden groans, throwing his head back onto the couch. "I'm hungry now."
"Aiden hungry! Aiden eat now!" I bellow, an almost spot on imitation. Spencer stifles a laugh so hard that she snorts, making us both grab each other, erupting in a fit of laughter.
"So funny." Aiden says, always oversensitive. "I'm just sayin' that I haven't eaten all day. Cut a guy some slack."
"Aiden need protein!" More giggles, then Spencer drags me onto the couch and sits me down, opting herself to sit next to Aiden on the floor.
"Aw, we're just kidding." She pats him on the stomach. "We'll get you fed so you don't wither away to nothing."
Aiden gives her what he assumes is an adorable pout, waiting for a peck on the lips. I try not to look as Spencer obliges him, but it's getting easier to see them together. I can deal with the constant squeezing of my heart a little better now.
You'd be surprised at how much crap I can actually handle.
"Ah." Aiden pats his pockets, looking around. "My wallet's in the car. Hold on." He stands up, giving Spencer a kiss on the top of the head. "I'm gonna run down and get it. Pizza's my treat!" He calls over his shoulder, already out the door.
"Want to get the movie now?" Spencer asks, tugging on my foot so I come down on the floor beside her.
"Eh." I slide down, landing on the carpet. "What do you want to watch? I'm not feeling inspired."
"Well, then. I'm just going to have to inspire you, if that's the case." Her smile is brilliant as she stands up and pulls me along with her, leading me over to my video rack. "What do we want to watch?"
"Don't tell Aiden I have Rudy. I don't want him to cry and get tears all over my furniture."
She laughs at this, and rests her chin on my shoulder, peering at the movies. "Oooh. Do we want to see Sunset Blvd?"
"I don't want to waste it on Aiden. He wouldn't appreciate it." I crank my head backwards to give her a smile. "We'll save that for another time, yeah?"
"I like the sound of that." Her eyes are extremely blue, and she wraps her arms around my hips, pulling my back into her. "How about...Texas Chainsaw Massacre?"
"Excellent choice. Original or Next Generation?" I tap my fingers on her knuckles.
"What am I thinking?"
"Original all the way." I feel her laugh against me, then I turn around to face her. She doesn't step back, leaving us standing very close.
"Popcorn?" She asks.
"Extra buttery."
"Just the way you like it." She's beaming fully at me, playing with the hem of my shirt. "You get the blanket, okay?"
I nod quickly, ready to go carry out my task. Spencer pulls me back in one effortless motion, giving my a soft kiss on the top of my nose.
She chuckles watching the blush spread across my face, and I attempt to smirk at her but can't quite pull it off. Not while I'm completely stuck to the floor like this. Before I know it, I'm stroking her face with my hand, "Don't get too scared, Button." I whisper. "This one's real gorey."
"I know." She subconsciously licks her lips, reaching up to fondle my wrist. "I like the gorey ones."
"Always have, you little - "
"Hey, do we have any popcorn?"
We don't flinch from Aiden's voice in the doorway, but I do drop my hand from Spencer's face, wondering how on earth we didn't hear the door close. Aiden looks from one of us to the other, but I can't read his face well.
Spencer reaches over to grab the movie off of the shelf, giving me a cute look, then turns to Aiden. "In the kitchen. Just stick it in the microwave."
"Ah, I don't know how to work the microwave." He complains.
"You're on popcorn duty. We decided not to torture your simple mind with great works of black and white, you owe use." I snip at him, grabbing a blanket off of the back of the couch and gesturing for Spencer to snuggle into the seat next to me.
She's sitting in the middle, arm laced through mine and leaning on me, when Aiden wraps his arm around her as the movie starts. It's a strange, telling scenario when, as the movie gets progressively scarier, Spencer squeals and buries her face in my shoulder, enjoying every single scare and fright. Eventually, stroking her hair absentmindedly, I calm her down enough to be silent.
By the end, she's practically in my lap, a large gap between her and Aiden. The movie must have tuckered her out, because she's snoring softly, hot breath on my shoulder and a little drool on my shirt.
Aiden peers over at her. "She's sleeping."
"She fell asleep when the last guy died." I move the blanket more securely around her body. "She didn't get a lot of shut eye last night." I explain to him.
"Yeah..." He stands up slowly, unsure. "Want me to move her? Carry her to her room?"
"My room." I correct him. "She's sleeping over."
"Oh. Well, want me to pick her up?" He moves to grab her, but I hold her a little tighter.
I speak quietly, not wanting to wake her. "I'll take care of her."
"Sure?"
I nod. He just shrugs, and then leans in close to give her a light kiss on the corner of her lips. "'night, babe." He tells her sleeping form. "Tell her I'll call her in the morning."
"Will do."
"I guess..." He grabs his jacket, a little antsy to leave, I can tell. "I'll just leave. Thanks for the movie, Ashley."
"No problem at all."
"Goodnight, then."
He's not too bad of a guy, I think. I run a single finger along the bridge of Spencer's nose, wondering if I can fall asleep in the position I am now.
"Spencey." I shake her a tiny bit. "Spencey, wake up. No more dreaming, time to wake up." I whisper, lips touching her ear.
She smiles before she wakes up. "Is Aiden gone?"
I touch my forehead to her cheek, she's warm from sleeping. I nod, knowing she can feel it. "Scoot over so I can fit, big butt."
"Don't call me big butt." She sleepily mutters, moving to accomodate me. We face each other, my chin pressed against the top of her head, tucked in the crook of my neck. She wraps her arms around me, listens to my heartbeat, and fall asleep.
"What the hell is your problem?"
Hailey is standing above me, glaring down at the pile of beer bottles I've accumulated.
"What the...what's my problem?"
"You drank all my beer!" She accuses, pointing to the several bottles of beer scattered. I don't try to count them, as my vision is doubled slightly.
"You bailed on me!"
"Um, you bailed on me, loser. And then I followed you home, ditching uber hottie of the night!" She sits down beside me, knocking my feet off the couch.
"Aiden Dennison is not hot." I say loudly, sounding disgusted.
"How do you even know that guy?" She's lighting up a cigarette, and I'm too drunk to care. I reach out to grab my bottle for another drink.
I struggle to sit up. I don't like the tone of her voice, like she knows something. "Did you ask - did you ask him that?"
She reaches out, frowning slightly, and takes my beer, sipping it. "I'm cutting you off."
"Answer. Me."
"Yeah, I asked him. I didn't hear a word he said, because we were dancing, but I did catch one word." She blows on the bottle, creating a low whistling sound.
"A word?"
"A name." She clarifies, sounding mighty pleased.
"Whatever." I lie back down, not ready to deal with this. I blink a few times, but my regular vision does not return. Damn.
"Spencer. That girl, that picture you have in your drawer." Hailey's trying to sound casual, but she's very curious. "There's a story there."
"Leave it be. I'm..Jesus, I'm kind of drunk."
"Kind of, kid? Who's Spencer?"
"Just..." I make a sound, halfway between a sigh and a groan, in the back of my throat. "Stay out of my business."
"You're my business, bitch." We haven't ever been especially close, glorified drinking buddies from college, but she is all I have. I feel a drunken bond with her tonight. "Tell me."
"About Spencer." I once again sit up, but it's a chore. I'm sure I look drunk.
"Yeah."
"I want another drink."