~I say it every time because I mean it every time. Thanks for the reviews, follows, favs, all of it. You'll see Bo's day and then Lauren's. Enjoy~
Chapter 10
BO
As much as I loved school, it was nice to ditch the dorm living. Showering without shoes on your feet was a luxury I had missed. It was good nobody else was home to judge me on the 50 minute shower I had just taken. My fingers were all wrinkled and everything. I threw on some sweatpants a V-neck and put my damp hair in a bun. I hadn't been able to relax since I left school. Usually when the semester was over and I got home I had this ceremonial sigh. All the stress and exhaustion from the months before me disappeared with that sigh. I'd been at my Aunt's for almost two hours, no sigh. Maybe it was because I hadn't called Lauren. I told her I would when I got home, but talking to her while she was there and I was here… It was only gunner to make me miss her more.
I heard the doorbell ring and went to get it.
"I brought food because I figured you didn't eat yet." Sawyer said holding out a Chinese take-out bag for me.
"You figured right, thanks." I took the bag and closed the door behind her.
"Mom says hi, says she saw your Dad at the grocery store the other day."
"Do you want to eat this in my room?" I asked grabbing napkins and forks for us. She nodded her head and we got settled in on the queen sized mattress.
"Are you going to see him while you're home?" Sawyer asked about an hour later.
"If by him, you mean my Dad then I'm not sure yet. I should, he's my Dad, but I want to talk to my aunt and uncle first." She had this look on her face, like she wanted to tell me something.
"What is it Sawyer?" I asked
"I heard he almost got a job." I tossed the empty containers into a trash bag and tied the ends together.
"Almost?" I asked not looking at her
"Well, I guess he didn't show up for his final interview." She said softly
"Thanks for telling me." I wanted to be done with this conversation. Sawyer was the only person I talked about my Dad with but I wasn't mentally in it at the moment and that was making this difficult.
"Sorry Bo, I just didn't want someone else telling you." I turned and smiled at her
"You know I'd rather hear it from you, I'm just stressed right now is all. New subject?" She nodded at me and motioned for me to sit on the bed next to her. I sat with my back against the headboard and rested my head on her shoulder.
"You want to talk about whatever's bothering you?" She asked me after a few minutes of silence
"I would if I knew what was bothering me." She took my hand in hers and gave a comforting squeeze
"Could it be that you haven't called Ms. pre-med yet?"
"How do you know I haven't already?" I countered
"I'm your best friend Bo; I know what you're thinking at all times." I chuckled because she was right
"Ms. Pre-med, that's the best you got?"
"I'm working on it, and you're avoiding." I sat up and looked at her
"I don't know why, but I'm sure you have something to say about it." She released my hand and lifted my chin up so we were eye-to-eye
"Damn right I have something to say about it. You love this girl Bo, I mean love-love the real thing and that scares you. Now that she's not physically here you're freaking out. Don't know if you noticed but you have commitment issues. You commit and trust the wrong people, example jerk face from last semester. Now you're in this once in a lifetime loving relationship, and you already want to sabotage yourself." She dropped her hand and ran it through her wavy hair.
"Do I really do that?" I asked, thinking out loud.
"Yeah, you do. But you're not going to do that to Lauren. I won't let you." I raised my eyebrows at her
"You won't?" I questioned
"I know it doesn't seem like it, but I like Blondie. She's good for you, she's got her shit together, and you need someone like that in your life." She cracked a smile and I rolled my eyes at her.
"You might be a little bit right." I said after thinking about it for a while
"More than a little, go text her while I make popcorn for our movie marathon." She got up and picked my phone up from my desk and tossed it at me.
"Thanks." She winked at me and left me alone. I held the phone to my ear and heard three rings before she picked up
"Bo." Just hearing she says my name put a smile on my face
"Hey, sorry I didn't call earlier." It was loud on her end and then it got quieter, like she had walked away from whatever the noise was.
"It's okay…" There was an awkward silence after that. I had butterflies in my stomach for some reason
"I'm kind of nervous right now." I admitted to her, she laughed at that
"Me too, I think it's because I miss you so much." She said. There it was the deep sigh I had been waiting for.
"That was a big sigh." She said
"Yeah, I've been waiting for it… I miss you too Lauren, a lot." I could feel the tension in my shoulders disappear immediately. I should have called her hours ago
"How was the train?" She asked
"Very informative, how was the drive?"
"Quick and painless. Informative how?" I could hear Kenzi yelling in the background and I could picture her sitting in front of a TV with an Xbox controller in hand
"I've sort of been slacking in the best friend department, so we had some catching up to do. You wouldn't believe what Sawyer got-" I stopped myself suddenly. I almost broke the Greg rule by telling Lauren what happened.
"Believe what? Bo, you still there?" She asked quickly
"No, yeah I'm here."
"What is it?" Lauren asked
"Nothing, sorry. How's Kenzi?"
"She's Kenzi; she actually said she missed you." I could hear in her voice how much that meant
"I'm flattered. It's been slightly less exciting without her around." We both laughed and then didn't say anything for a long time. I was listening to her even breaths, I couldn't see her but I didn't need to. I knew she was leaning against a wall, desk or something. Her foot was most likely tapping quietly on the floor and her hair was definitely falling over eyes.
"Got any plans for tomorrow?" She asked
"I'm going to start doing some Christmas shopping with Sawyer, my Aunt and Uncle might get back tomorrow night, if they do we'll have dinner and then I think I might call a pretty girl I know."
"The girl would like that." Lauren replied
"Noted. So plans tomorrow?" I asked
"Kenzi is staying over so I'm sure we'll find something to do." I looked up to find Sawyer with a giant bowl of pop-corn
"Speaking of best friends, mines back and I promised a movie marathon…" I didn't want to be the first one to hang up or say bye.
"Okay, one of us should probably hang up." She didn't want to end the conversation either
"Talk to you tomorrow?" I said
"You better, night Bo." She said before hanging up. I set my phone down and rested my back on the headboard again
"Feel better?" Sawyer asked handing me the popcorn.
"Yeah, a lot better actually."
"In a week you've turned into a total mush." I playfully shoved her and told her to start the movie.
"Sawyer, let's go! I need to stop at the bank on the way there." We had stayed up way too late last night so this morning was a slow start. It was already noon and we hadn't left yet. Sawyer came out of my room with her purple hair in a braid; letting me know that she had re-done her hair at least 3 times since we woke up.
"Jeez calm down. Why are you so eager to get there?" She asked throwing her coat on and grabbing her keys off the counter. We walked out of the house and got into her car. She turned it on and we waited for the heat to kick in
"I haven't had any coffee yet, sorry." Like a lot of people I wasn't a functioning human being before having a cup of coffee in the morning.
"How long did we spend at the mall?" I asked as Sawyer and I collapsed on my bed after a day of shopping.
"Long enough that I can still hear Christmas music."
"Alright, show me what you got." I said forcing us both to move. Sawyer stood up and threw her coat on my desk. She collected her shopping bags from the floor and placed them on the bed in front of her. She looked in the first bag and threw it back on the floor.
"That's for you so no looking." I smiled and removed my own coat. She looked through the next bag
"I got the little bro a Doctor Who snap-back, a new backpack, and a Thor comic book that I had to show the guy at the store a picture of so he could help me find it, that wasn't embarrassing at all." She held up each item as she spoke, before putting them away again. She continued on despite my laughing at the memory of her having to ask an employee for help.
"For the big brother I got him that hockey jersey he's been asking for since August. I also got him a few CD's he wanted."
"I don't even see Tom that much and I'm glad he's finally getting that jersey." I said as she started looking through the next bag
"We'll all be glad; kid can't stop talking about it." We both laughed
"My Mom's tough to shop for but I think I did pretty well this year. I got her a gift card to the hair salon she goes to, and then I found this old collection of French cookbooks that would look really cool in our kitchen.
"She should put them on that shelf next to all the clocks on the wall, that's been empty for years." I said picturing her kitchen
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Sawyer said
"Dad got socks and a new wallet. Not very exciting but he asks for the same thing every Christmas. I think by now he sort of relies on me getting him socks and a wallet every year." She shrugged her shoulders and I went along with it knowing her Dad was a very simple man.
"The Grandparents are getting a huge world map to put in their office so they can mark all the places they've been."
"I don't even remember you getting all that was I even with you?" I asked genuinely impressed with her haul.
"You were too busy looking for a gift for the blonde with a bod." She teased sitting next to me
"My turn." I said ignoring her and standing to get my bags
"I'll start with Maggie. I got her a bunch of tea from the spice shop she loves, and I found some old vinyl that she's been missing ever since she moved here. Rich got a new cigar box and the cheesiest Hawaiian shirt I could find." Sawyer was laughing at the shirt I pulled out; it had the big flowers printed on it. My Aunt hated when he wore them so I knew it would make him happy.
"Do I dare ask about daddy dearest?" Sawyer asked after we laughed about the shirt some more.
"I'm not even sure if I'm going to see him this Christmas, I might just send my aunt and uncle to deal with him."
"That's not a bad idea if you ask me. Blow him off Bo; he'll just ruin your holiday. I don't want to come over and find you in tears this Christmas." I looked away from her too embarrassed by my own memories.
"But if you decide to see him you know I'd go with you." Sawyer said when I didn't reply.
"Thanks, I haven't made up my mind yet." I looked up and she gave me a caring smile
"Did you find a gift for our favorite pre-med student?" She asked me, effectively lightening the mood
"Not yet, but I still have some time to figure it out. I got you part of your gift which I already hid because someone has a knack for accidentally finding their gifts." I replied putting my bags away in the closet.
"I have no control over that!" She defended
"Hello is that Ms. Sawyer's car out front?!" Sawyer and I looked at each other both surprised at the voice coming from my front door.
"Maggie?" I called out
"Bo come and give me a hug!" She yelled out. We both headed out of my room and into living room to find my Aunt and Uncle both covered in snow, each with their own suit case in hand.
"You're home early." I said taking their bags from them so they could remove their coats. My Aunt took me into her arms the second her coat was off
"We missed you so we cut our trip a little short." I was finally released from her tight hold I turned to my Uncle and we shared a less intense hug
"Good to see you kiddo." He said in my ear.
"You too." We separated in time to see Sawyer wrapped up in my Aunts arms.
"Maggie, let her breathe." I joked. We all laughed and Sawyer was released.
"Hey Rich, it's good to see you." Sawyer said grinning at my Uncle. We all calmed down enough to sit and talk and later enjoy dinner together, Sawyer included. I missed my Aunt and Uncle; they've always been there for me. When my Mom passed away they were the sole reason I got through it, along with my best friend I came out the other side. When my Dad had bad days they were there for me, when he had good days they were there to share it.
As we all sat at the small kitchen table drinking tea and eating cookies I couldn't help but smile. Sawyer was telling my Uncle and Aunt about this horrible student film we went to see. I didn't have a perfect family but sometimes I had some pretty perfect moments. The only thing that would make it better was if Lauren was here. That thought surprised me; it just popped into my head. The image of Lauren sitting next to me holding my hand in hers and joining in on the conversation.
I've never wanted to bring someone to meet my family, the thought of bringing anyone but Sawyer into that level of my personal life terrified me. Up until now it seemed.
"Bo how was this semester for you?" My Aunt asked. I looked up and ignored the smirk Sawyer had
"It was great Maggs. My professors were nice, a few of my classes were tougher than the others but it was all manageable. In college manageable is all I ask for, so yeah it was good."
"And any extracurricular activities? Sawyer said she would show us her film while she's home." My Aunt said smiling at Sawyer.
"She's brilliant, it's brilliant, and you'll like it." I said complimenting my purple haired friend.
"You like me, you really like me." Sawyer teased sticking her tongue out at me.
"I didn't do much, worked at the TV station a little. Class kept me busy." I said answering my Aunt's question.
"Any boys for you two? Or pretty girls I should know about?" My Aunt asked. Sawyer and I looked at each other, neither of us wanting to get into our semesters romantic adventures.
"Bo, why don't you tell Maggie about that person?" She said quickly directing the attention towards me. My Aunt looked at me encouragingly
"Uh, well… I kept to myself this semester." I said suddenly becoming very shy
"She met a pretty blonde." Sawyer said, causing my Aunt to smile
"Her name is Lauren, she's pre-med and it's new, very new." I said despite my nerves
"I myself have a thing for pretty blondes, wait to go Kid." My Uncle said pointing to my aunt and smirking at me.
"Yup so that's it for me, Sawyer?" I said not wanting to get into this right now. I never spoke about the people I was seeing. It's not that I didn't have a million things to say about Lauren, but this was new territory for me, I was nervous. I wanted to keep my new relationship under wraps for a little while longer.
"I liked a guy, he liked me back, and it didn't work out. I've moved on." Sawyer said flatly.
"You two are acting weird, and that's saying something my Uncle said enjoying a laugh with my Aunt.
"I'm tired from our trip so I'll give you ladies a break tonight." My Aunt said motioning for my Uncle to help her clear the table. I stood up and stopped the two of them
"Go get some rest, S and I will take it from here. Wont we" I said looking at Sawyer who reluctantly nodded her head
"Thank you darling. It's good to have you back, goodnight Ms. Sawyer." My Uncle said giving me a kiss on the forehead and retiring to his room. My Aunt followed his lead; I heard the door to their room shut and began picking up the plates.
"What was with the stage fright when the topic of your pretty princess came up?" Sawyer asked collecting the glasses and placing them on the counter. She took the plates form my hands and began loading the dishwasher.
"You know I never tell them about who I'm dating. Lauren and I are so new; I don't want to jinx us or something by talking about it." Sawyer stopped what she was doing and looked at me, she was holding in laughter
"I know that sounds stupid, especially when I say it out loud… This is one of the only good relationships I've been in; I want to keep it to myself for a while." I said walking back to the table to get the utensils.
"Okay, that's your choice. I just thought you'd want to tell them about her."
"Sorry you had to talk about Hart." She shrugged her shoulders
"The past is behind us." We finished cleaning up and then watched some ridiculous movie that involved flamingos on flying scooters and a dolphin that walked around. By the time it was over it was close to 1am. Sawyer went home and I retreated to my room. I tried calling Lauren a few times but got her voicemail. It was late, she was probably asleep, but I hadn't heard from her since her text this afternoon. I left her a message and then drifted off to sleep.
LAUREN
"Lauren, wake up!" It was a rarity that Kenzi woke up before me, so I immediately thought something was wrong when she shook me awake the next morning.
"What happened?" I said after sitting up,
"Huh?" She said looking confused
"Are you okay?" I asked
"I'm fine, are you okay?" She said putting her hand to my forehead and dropping it after a few seconds
"So everything's fine then?" I asked
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" She said with a worried look on her face
"You woke up before me that has only happened like six times." She glared at me
"I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment Missy."
"Sorry, what time is it?" I said rubbing the sleep from my eyes
"A little after noon."
"What? I haven't slept in 'til noon in, years." I said completely shocked at how late it was
"I know that's why I woke you. I got up 20 minutes ago and was more than surprised to find you still in bed." Kenzi stretched her arms above her head
"I guess it makes sense. Bo and I didn't get much sleep last night." Kenzi smirked and nudged me with her elbow
"Too busy exploring your sexy brunette's hot bod to get any sleep?" I didn't even try to hide my blushing
"You get too much enjoyment out of embarrassing me." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders
"Can you blame me?" We both showered and got dressed and ordered breakfast from the diner. Kenzi offered to go get it, and I accepted, wanting to have a few minutes to myself.
I decided to text Bo in between unpacking my school stuff.
L –Good morning Beautiful
B- You know it's after 12?
L- I just woke up so it is morning for me
B- You slept in? In that case, morning gorgeous
l- I did, it's very unlike me
B- Kenz told me to get used to be woken up by you
L- In my defense, she sleeps until 3pm most days
B- No judgment here
L- Are you and Sawyer going shopping?
B- Yup, already started
-Hey, uh is it ok if I get you a gift?
L- I'd rather you just visit me, but if you want to I think I can find it in my heart to accept a gift from you
-that means I'm getting you something too
B- ha-ha ok good & I told you I would visit you
-plans for the day?
L- Not really… Kenzi is picking up breakfast, after that not sure
B- I'm sure you'll have fun even if you do nothing
-Sry to cut the convo short but I told S I wouldn't let a certain blonde distract me today ;)
L-Who me?
B- You're very distracting Lewis
L- Fine, I'll let you get back to your bestie
-call me later?
B- Definitely!
L- I look forward to it Dennis
Kenzi returned with two omelets, home fries, and an order of blueberry pancakes. As usual she consumed most of it and I stuck to my eggs and coffee. We found a bunch of home movies in the basement and decided to take a trip down memory lane.
When we were younger we used to make movies, we'd write them and have rehearsals and then preform them for my parents. They weren't bad. Kenzi went through a phase where she would only speak in an Australian accent. I had forgotten about that, but then we got to "The Outback" trilogy and I couldn't stop laughing. There was, "We're Not Girls, We're Dragons" and the ever popular sequel "WNGWD: We Accidentally Flew to an Alternate Universe on the Way to School!"
My personal favorite was "Home Alone on Halloween" that was a gem. Kenzi and I were both crying at that one. I finally had to pause it, we were laughing so hard. We calmed down both running out of breath and holding our sides.
"Why didn't we pursue careers in acting?" I said wiping tears from my eyes
"We're too good for Hollywood, clearly." Kenzi said grinning ear to ear
"We would've put everyone else out of a job." I replied
"Oh totally, every other actor and actress in the world would be out of job because we're that good."
"We did everyone a favor by pursuing different careers."
"Duh." Kenzi said taking a sip of water
We both laughed and I got up to get the next video tape. As soon as sat down we heard my Mother's voice paired with the sound of the front door opening and closing.
"Laur?" She called out
"We're in the den Mom!" I called back. A minute later she was in the room smiling at us.
"What have you ladies been up to today?" She asked sitting on the ottoman to remove her shoes.
"Watching our old movies." Kenzi said pointing to the stack of VCRs.
"You two were so funny back then; you would spend the entire weekend producing these adorable little films." She smiled at the memory
"We've been laughing our butts off all day while watching them." I said, Kenzi and I both giggling
"It was hard not to laugh back then. You two were so cute and so serious about it. Your father burst out laughing once and you two kicked him out! Took everything I had to not start laughing myself."
"I remember that! It was during the "Under the Sea" series." Kenz said grinning at the memory of us in our bathing suits running around the living room. It was the middle of winter and I wore socks that went up to my knees because I was so cold in my bathing suit.
"You girls were very entertaining." My mom said.
"Any reason you're home early? I thought you'd be at the hospital until late tonight." I said suddenly realizing how unusual it was for my Mom to come home in the middle of the afternoon
"Yes, your father's publishing company is throwing him a party to celebrate the success of his last book and his new book just completed the final stages of editing." My Mother loved her job, but she wasn't one of those Doctors that only cared about her career. You could see in her eyes how proud of my Dad she was.
"Sounds like fun." I said, Kenzi nodding in agreement. My parents went to parties and different functions all the time, seeing as my Dad was a writer and my Mom was a Doctor they had a lot of events to attend.
"Out Write is making this their Christmas party as well, so if you two would like to join us you may." I've only tagged along a handful of times to these parties, so I was a little surprised when the inviting was extend to me and Kenzi.
"Well it's going to be pretty fancy isn't it?" Kenzi said, know that she didn't have a nice dress to wear.
"Yes, I rented two dresses for you to wear tonight if you decide to go." My Mother said looking at the both of us.
"Well I-"
"You two won't be the only college kids there, so don't worry. It would be nice for us all to be there, you too Kenz." My Mom said egging us on
"I can't turn down a pretty dress and a Christmas party, I'm in." Kenzi said
"Me too!" I agreed. My Mom took us into her closet to give us our dresses and I think Kenzi almost cried when she saw hers. My mom had a good eye and knew both of our personalities very well, the dresses were perfect. I only wish they weren't rentals because I could stare at mine for ages.
We had three hours to get ready and miraculously we (Kenzi) made it out the door on time. We were meeting my Dad there so it was just the three of us. We climbed into the back of some fancy black car that I don't know the name of and drove off. I took my phone out and opened the conversation between Bo and I, I wanted to tell her about my plans for the evening.
"Lauren could you let your Father know we're on our way?" I texted my Dad and got pulled into the conversation Kenzi and my Mom were having, completely forgetting about my text to Bo.
~I've been really busy and it's no fun. I haven't had a lot of time to write, hence the painfully slow updates. I will try to get the next chapter up soon, but I can only promise that I'll try. Thanks for sticking with me!
Next chapter will focus on Lauren mainly. I'll have to start listening to Christmas carols to get into the right mindset to write a Christmas party. August is basically December anyways right? Until next time.~