Paul and Kim were already at the restaurant when I got there. When Kim caught my eye she gave me a look that was somewhere in between exasperated and relieved. I could tell an awkward silence had crept up between them and they had somehow worked it into their minds that I would change that.
"So did you order without me?" I joke as I settle myself down into my seat and pick up the menu.
"Hope you don't mind." Paul said, but I could tell that he could really care less. I wanted to ask him why he was here, why he was being seen with us, but instead I let it go and ordered a bowl of spaghetti.
I listened to Kim's chatter about how she had nothing to wear, which quickly changed into a rant about her mother again, and I had to fight to pay attention to her. She just made it so damn hard. I was more focused on how nasty my food tasted, though. I could hardly eat any, and luckily Paul paid the bill because otherwise I would have wasted a whole ten bucks. Which wasn't really much, but I was thinking of all the ways I could use this ten dollars to buy me some coffee on the way home. My parents would be home by now, but I had no desire to go see them. Especially because it was only seven and I'd have nothing to do for the rest of the night.
"It was nice to see you." Paul says, his hands crammed into the pockets of his jeans. Kim had left us a few minutes ago to head off into her own car. I could imagine her arriving home and having another fight with her mom. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and offered Paul a smile.
"Yeah it was fun we should do it again." I say and almost cringe at his smirk. That came out wrong. God dammit, I was just trying to be nice.
"If you say so." He says, and shuffles on his way towards his own car. I try to think of what Paul would do for the rest of the night, but I come up short. What does he do in his free time? Kick puppies? Impregnate the school? I didn't really want to think about it.
Hopping in my own car, I peeled from the parking lot and started on my way home. Halfway there I felt my stomach groan in hunger. I thought about what Damien had said earlier about Matt making dinner for me, and made the next turn onto their street without a second thought. When I reached the door, it took a while to open unlike last time. Matt opened the door this time, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
"Sorry, am I early? Damien said you were cooking dinner for me and…" I trailed off, noticing his half opened eyes, his more messy than usual hair, his dark green plaid pajama pants, and the grey tee shirt he wore.
"Damien said so, hm? I bet he did." Matt gave an amused smile and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Well, am I the only one who dresses for company anymore?" Damien asks, descending from the steps behind the doorway wearing a white button down, black slacks, and a black vest. If I knew him better I would have rolled my eyes or gave him a laugh, but I didn't so I just grimaced and folded my arms over myself.
"I didn't, uhm, I'll just go-"
"No, no," Matt waves away my words, and motions me into the house. He closes the door behind me and I follow Damien into the kitchen while Matt takes my coat and hangs it over their railing.
Tyler looks up at me over his pile of textbooks and a scowl replaces his peaceful expression. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asks bitterly, and I can hear the venom in his voice.
"Don't mind him he's always like this." Damien rolls his eyes and sits next to me at the table. Matt enters the kitchen next, and stands awkwardly for a minute, wiping his hands on the front of his pants.
"Right, you're probably hungry, right?" He asks, and turns towards the cabinets to fish out something to eat.
"We have no food, dumbass." Tyler huffs in aggravation, and Matt grimaces when he opens cabinet after cabinet and finds them all bare and that Tyler was right. Opening the fridge, he reveals jug after jug of orange juice, and sort of smiles to himself as he yanks a carton from the fridge and pours me a cup.
"So what are you guys doing at the school?" I blurt out. Good thing I had a good hold on the cup because Matt drops it at my question. I pull the glass closer to me, my fingers locking around the cool surface.
"Just keeping an eye on things." Damien says, pushing his chair back to rest on two legs as he watches me take a sip.
"None of you fucking business really." Tyler mutters to himself, and Matt whacks the back of his head. His words still sting though, and I can feel that I really should be going.
"I really should be going." I say, gulping down the rest of the juice and pushing it onto the hard wooden table. "Thanks for having me. I can find my way out." I say and walk to the door, but Matt follows behind me anyway.
"He's not so bad really just doesn't like strangers." Matt defends his brother, but I just shrug anyway.
"I have a lot of homework anyway." I admit, because I do, and I really shouldn't be going anywhere today. Instead of going straight home though, I head for the cliffs. I pick a spot that's too high up to jump from. But it was nice to look down at if you dared to go close enough to the edge. I didn't. Too many people had died here and I wasn't hoping to be one of them.
"It's dangerous up here." Someone calls, and I don't have to turn around to know that it's Paul. I want to say duh, or no kidding, or oh I had no idea, or something else sarcastic to get under his skin, but instead I sit. Just sit. "It's nice though." he says, and I don't have to agree out loud, because who wouldn't agree?
"Yeah, it's nice." I offer him anyway, and lay back to stare at the sky. It's too cold out here and my face goes numb as well as my feet, but then Paul lays next to me and I don't feel so cold after all. When it's getting too dark to see, I figure I've had enough. The last thing I needed was to go slipping on some ice up here and plummeting into the freezing waters. "You coming?" I ask the spot where I'm guessing Paul is laying, though I can hardly see him.
"Not yet." He says softly, like he's in a trance, or having the time of his life. I don't argue with him though, and start on my way down the path towards my house. "See you tomorrow." He calls to me through the wind, and I let a smile slip onto my face at the thought.