Ring, ring; no answer. "Hey, you've reached Peter. Make it short." My eyes rolled; that's so him. Beep! "Uh, hey Peter. I was wondering if you could give me a call back. There's something I need to talk to you about. Thanks." Sighing, I hung up and let my phone fall onto the couch. Kitty was lounging on it, watching Lizzie McGuire episodes. "This is dumb," she stuffed some more popcorn pieces in her mouth. "What kind of thirteen-year-old doesn't wear a bra?" "The early 2000s were a different time." "Clearly, no one has smartphones or FaceBook. Hey, by the way, did you get through to Peter?" "No," I slunk down onto the couch in exhaustion. "He's probably out with his guy friends, or with his little brother." One thing I loved about Peter was that he wasn't constantly on his phone; quite like me in that regard. But it did make it hard to contact him when he was busy.
"Man," Kitty laughed, a little too pleased at the situation. "Peter's gonna be so jealous! Oh," yet more popcorn stuffed-into-mouth. "I can't wait." "Glad this is so amusing to you," I frowned. "It is! It's like Mr. Darcy vs. Mr. Darcy. Two hot, rich guys fighting for your hand; or at least to hold it." "No one's fighting. I clarified with Peter that he had to be ok with my friendship with Josh from the beginning. He said that he would." "Yeah, uh huh; sure. One look at you and Josh, and he'll get so jelly!" "No, he won't. There's nothing to be jealous about. Josh is my best friend." "Uh, hello? What color is the sky in your world, sis? Anyone can see that you're totally in love with Josh."
"Would you stop saying that?" My frown grew. "I never said I was in love with Josh….. well yes, I am, but as a friend! If more, different feelings develop, I'll let you know." "Suuuuuuuure. Is that why you're going to the track field with Josh tomorrow? So you can see if you've "developed feelings"?" Her fingers did quotations in the air for emphasis. "No; Josh and I are still best friends. It's only natural that we spend time together. Besides, I miss running with him." "Don't get me wrong, sis," Kitty playfully tossed a piece of popcorn at me. "Peter's a cool guy but I'm still team Josh. All you need to do now is hurry up and realize your feelings for him."
That girl! Since when did people start to divide on the "team Josh" and "team Peter" camp? There were no camps! What Kitty and everyone seem to forget is that neither guy has formally asked me out or confessed their feelings to me yet. Sure, Peter and Josh look like they like me- maybe- but they both just got out of long-term relationships. Peter was still hung up on Gen and Josh on Margot. All the emphasis was put on me and my feelings, without theirs being expressly conveyed. Ugh! That's not fair! Why is it all up to me? Josh told me last night to take my time with things, and Peter said he'd back off if I chose Josh. But the one thing everyone neglects to remember is that Peter and I are in a fake relationship! Peter himself was the one who said it'd be fake, remember?! And Josh; it feels like he's got me on reserve because we're best friends. What is the point of this inner monolog vent? There are no teams! One of them would have to say that they liked me for people to even start a team.
Thinking about it only made me madder. I got up and was on my way to the kitchen when Kitty turned back to me. "Where are you going? Lizzie was just about to go shopping for her first bra with Miranda." "I'm going to put on a face mask." I need to de-stress. "Oooooooh, is that the one that Josh got you?" "Not now, Kitty!" My feet stomped into the kitchen where Daddy was pouring himself a cup of orange juice. He glanced up to me and grinned.
"Hey sweetie. Everything ok?" "Yeah, I'm just a little….." Just a little everything right now. Peter wasn't answering his phone and Josh wanted to hang out as soon as possible- aka tomorrow at the track. It's not that I didn't want to see Josh; of course I did! But it's just… Ugh! I need to talk to Peter about this. I'll feel much better after the air is clear between us and I can hang out with Josh guilt-free. But…. what I thought earlier still applies. It's not like Peter had any "boyfriend" rights to get jealous over me hanging with Josh…. does he? You know, on second thought, maybe the one I really should to talk to is Lucas. He'd know what I should do; he always gave such brilliant relationship advice.
"Oh, guess who I ran into today?" Apparently unable to detect that I was in the middle of a thought, Daddy broke said train of thought. "Claire Ambrose. You remember her?" "Who?" "She used to live on the other side of the neighbourhood, remember? Her sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews lived there as well." "Oh….." Nope, doesn't ring any bells but I really wanted that face mask, so I didn't ask any questions. "Yeah, you used to spend a lot of time at their house when you were little." "I don't remember any of that," I shrugged. I'm not overly surprised I didn't remember; she's probably one of Daddy's old work friends or something.
"Her sister moved back to England; they're living in Derbyshire." "Derbyshire?" My eyebrow raised. "The same Derbyshire from Pride and Prejudice?" "Yeah? Don't you remember? The youngest boy used to read you Pride and Prejudice in the botanic garden." "Really?" No, still nothing. How old was I?! And who reads Jane Austen to a child? Well ok, that's actually pretty amazing but still- weirdo. How old was he? Like a teenager or something? Was he like my babysitter?
"No, I don't recall any of that." "Well, Claire said that the boys be returning for a visit in August." Why would I care about that? I don't even remember these people. But I grinned to be polite and gently nodded my head. "That's nice. Are you going to go visit them?" "I was actually wondering if you wanted to. I thought you'd be really excited." "Sorry, Daddy; I literally have no memory of them." Probably because reading Pride and Prejudice would have put me to sleep as a child.
Daddy's head gave a shake as he put the cap on the orange juice container and set it back in the fridge. "Well, I'm going to go see them when they get back. You're welcome to join me if you want." "Thanks, but I'm good." I think it would just be more awkward than anything. Daddy didn't seem satisfied with my answer though, for some unexplainable reason. "Really, Aerity?" His hands planted on the edge of the island counter. "You and the boy were so, so close." "But I don't remember anyone." Just like my goldfish, I was likely too young to remember. Wait, goldfish?
"Fine," Daddy eventually sighed. "I guess it's not your fault. But if you change your mind….." "Aerity, come quick! It's the "Mr. Dig comes to dinner" episode!" "Coming!" My holler echoed back to the living room. "I'm going to put my mask on," I then told my father. "You mean that gunk you say helps your facial skin?" This made me laugh as I went to leave the room. "Ha! You're funny." And I walked to the bathroom with my Rosy Cheeks face mask in hand, humming Natasha's theme from War and Peace again.