"NOOO!" Jeff hollered and threw down his Wii remote to the ground, almost hitting Amber. Jeff got up from beside him and threw his arms in the air, laughing.
"Yes!" Evan shouted, jumping around. "Long live the king of Mario Kart!" Jeff just looked and stuck out his tongue which Evan promptly ignored as he sat back down.
The group had gathered in the basement on that warm summer day to do their yearly tradition of playing Mario Kart in the basement. It started as an argument between Evan and Jeff as to who was better at Mario Kart while at Amber's house. Amber didn't have anything beyond a Wii due to her not getting a lot of income from her part time job of dog walking. It was not as easy as it looked, especially with none of the boys knowing how to operate a Wii, which surprised Amber. Soon after Evan won, every month the two would battle each other to see if they would win. Yet, after a while, the rest of the group had joined in on the challenge. And the tradition was moved to only the summer months as Evan was taking college classes and Jeff was in a nursing program.. Now it came from a challenge of who was better to who was buying drinks for the rest of the group later.
"Come on," Jeff whined, leaning down to pick up his Wii remote. "You cheated." Evan huffed.
"Did no.t" Evan playfully retorted as he leaned back on the couch. Amber silently agreed.
"Yeah, he played fair," Amber said, leaning down to retrieve her black Converse. Amber was a bit of a tomboy in the group. She wore a red, white, and black striped shirt with dark blue shorts. Amber had known the group for only three years, yet it felt like she had known them for a lifetime. If you told her that in three years, she would know these college-aged students from Jersey would be friends with high schoolers like them, she wouldn't believe you. "You knew I could kick your ass if my remote hadn't decided to die before this round." Jeff groaned and nudged her shoulder.
"Please," Jeff huffed and adjusted the Wii strap on his wrist.
"As if," Evan nudged in, ruffling her short wavy brown hair. Amber laughed.
"I could," Amber muttered as they chose their characters. Evan chose Bowser and Jeff Toad. Evan muttered something about Toad being a lame character. But before Jeff could retort the basement door opened. And down the stairs come Vinny, with a box of doughnuts. Amber smiled and the boys whopped in enjoyment like excited toddlers. Vinny hadn't come down right away saying he had to get something first. The group had assumed that he didn't want to play like he did every year. But all was forgiven with donuts on the table.
"Hey, guys." Vinny greeted Evan leaped up from his seat and ran over to Vinny. He flinched and instinctively moved the doughnuts away from him. "Hey, wait till I put this down," Evan whined but sat back down again. Once everyone had taken a doughnut and Vinny sat down on the floor, he grabbed a Wii remote and chose D.K. Evan began to make monkey noises to which Amber laughed. Evan leaned close to her and planted a kiss on the cheek while she laughed. Amber stopped and turned to face him. Vinny briefly sent a glare in their direction but Amber ignored him.
The two had been dating for a few months after they met. It started as a joke that Vinny made after commenting on the similarities between the two. They both liked video games, Motorhead, and were really good at self defense. So, what started as a joke to get on Vinny's nerves, they started dating. But the dating soon became more as Amber developed feelings for Evan. It wasn't long before Evan confessed his feelings for her too. And the rest is history.
Amber leaned close to give a peck as well but Evan turned her head and whispered, "You smell like Coconut." Amber went wide-eyed and leaned away with a smirk.
"It is called Shampoo. You should use some." Amber joked and Even gave a mock gasp.
"How dare you insult my natural musk!" Evan dramatically exclaimed, feigning offense. Amber giggled and playfully nudged him. He just smiled.
"Oh please, your 'natural musk' could use a little improvement," she teased, sticking her tongue out at him. Vinny and Jeff exchanged amused glances, thoroughly entertained by their banter before returning their focus to the screen and starting the race.
Evan and Amber were left alone in the basement after the guys had gone to get something, which Amber didn't hear. Evan leaned on her chest as she rested on the edge of the couch, Amber lying on her back. The sunlight from the small window in the corner shined onto the couch, bathing them in its warmth as the boiler gurgled in the background.
Amber was just thinking about her life, and how she met the guys, and eventually her mind wandered to Evan. He was a unique individual, to say the least. But over the last couple of weeks, there had been some concerning things happening to him that Amber couldn't shake off. Now was as good of a time as any before the guys came back.
"Evan?" Amber asked and he groaned but didn't stir. Amber tapped his head. "Evan," She cooed and he groaned, muttering what sounded like five more minutes. Amber rolled her eyes and nudged him again. This time he opened his eyes and smiled.
"What is it?" He yawned, as he got up, still over Amber
"Can I ask you about something?" Evan perked up and nodded.
"Is everything okay?" Amber had noticed that Evan was acting differently before the summer break. Last week, Amber brought him over to teach him how to make chicken parmesans, in an attempt to get him to stop eating ramen. She had to use the bathroom and asked him to watch over the water while she was gone. He said he would. When she came back, however, not only had the water boiled over, but the sauce had somehow caught fire. And Evan just stood there in some kind of daze. His eyes were glazed over and he just watched blankly. Amber thankfully had managed to get it under control before it burned down her house. It took Amber slapping him for him to get back down to reality. She tried to ask what happened but he made some lousy excuse of not paying attention and leaving frightened.
That wasn't the only thing she had noticed either. He would also have sleepwalking episodes. He once wandered down to the park after closing. If it wasn't for Jeff, they may have never known he was there. They had to do mission-impossible level moves to get him out of the park unseen by the local authorities. That was funny and the group had all had a good laugh. Most of these episodes were. But the ones more recently were more concerning. He was coming back from the woods, with his PJs ripped and covered in blood. But when Amber asked him about it, sure he would remember waking up with his Pjs ripped and covered in blood, but he mentioned nothing about it. And when Amber did some snooping around, the PJs were not there. Amber was sure she would get some kind of answer now that the pair were alone.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Evan questioned which baffled Amber. Evan shuffled off Amber and to the left of the couch.
"Evan, you have been doing some…concerning stuff over the last week. You can tell me if anything is wrong." Amber said, putting her hands on his. He sighed and didn't make eye contact.
"Yeah, things haven't been going the best for me." He finally confessed. Finally, she was getting somewhere. "It has been rough. Especially since-'' Evan paused, seeming to contemplate his words.
"Since what?" Amber asked but Evan remained silent for a few minutes.
"You wouldn't understand," Evan remarked.
"Then let me try," Amber held his hand but he pulled it away. Amber was about to try talking but looked at Evan. His eyes were in his lap and his hands folded. He wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. Amber got up and went to the stairs. "I can see you need a moment. Do you want anything?" Evan didn't answer. Amber sighed and went up the stairs to see Vinny and Jeff coming down and chatting. They looked at Amber and stopped.
"Where are you going?" Jeff asked.
"Just getting a drink. Evan is not in the best mood." Amber said, walking out the door, leaving the men confused.