Addie’s POV

We duck under the garage door after we said goodbye to Ash and Elena. I’m not sure they really heard us because they were eating each other. Gross.
Calum and I start walking. He has his hands in his pockets, and I’m not sure where to put my hands. We walk for a couple of minutes, the silence stretching. I distract myself by looking at all the houses. Fall is upon us and the leafs are changing. The sky is cloudy and gray, slightly illuminated by the moonlight. Street lamps contribute to lighting our path. Otherwise, I think it would be completely dark.
“Ummm” Cal says. He has been trying to say something, but he always stops himself, like doesn’t know how to formulate a sentence.
I look up at him in expectance.
“How’ve you been?” he asks. Really, that was your question? That’s what you’ve been trying to say for the last five minutes?
“I’m good” I say. “You?” I politely ask. Making conversation until the time passes.
“Been better” He chuckles. Why? “I liked how you handled Marissa at school” He turns to me, and smiles.
“Well I expect her to hate me” I say “Might as well have fun with it” He laughs, and so do I, and the awkwardness eases up.
“I’m sorry about that” He says, and when I look at him a bit confused, he continues “Her attitude. Towards you. Sorry.”
“You shouldn’t apologize for her” I say. “She’s the one who needs to apologize” After a moment of silence he speaks again.
“And I’m sorry about dinner. And about the day before that, when I got really high and I was a jerk…” He says. I’m speechless. “And sorry about this morning. It was really creepy. I don’t stalk you” I am holding my breath. I didn’t expect him to apologize for anything. Why would he? Why is he?
“Why are you apologizing?” I say, still taken aback by this.
“Because I feel bad about it” He says, looking at his shoes. “And because I want to be your friend and hang out with you and I don’t want you to hate me”
“I don’t hate you” I say a bit too fast, as if defending myself.
“You don’t?” He looks sideways at me, biting his lips. They look really soft. Wait, no, stop staring at his mouth Addie.
“No” I say, looking straight ahead. “I just think that you…nevermind” I say. “I don’t want to get in the middle of this. My opinion shouldn’t matter” I say and then there is a pause. He says nothing “I just hope you know what you are doing with Marissa” I say, and glance at him. He is looking at me and then he looks at the road stretching in front of us.
“It does matter, though” He says, and then we cross the street and turn left.
“Why?” I ask. Well, might as well ask while we are having this weird conversation. “I mean you just met me”
“I know but” He says, and pauses. After a few moments, he gathers his thoughts and says “I’ve always been hearing the guys talk about her, like the whole Stephen thing, and how she uses me, and I just thought that they don’t like her because I spend a lot of time with her, and not enough with them” He says, and then looks at me once before continuing “But, I mean, I just met you and saw that immediately, and I’m kind of starting to believe it…” He bites his full lips again. Damn, I should stop looking at them.
I say nothing, just walk and look at the road ahead. He doesn’t say anything, and we hear a low thunder. And then it starts to drizzle a little bit.
“You know, I think the guys are just trying to look out for you” I say finally. We’re almost on our street.
“I know” he says. When he does, my phone beeps, announcing that I have a message. “is that Michael?” he asks, as I take my phone out.
I check it and it’s from my mom ‘What do you want for dinner?’
“No, it’s my mom” I say, typing a quick response. ‘tomato soup’
“Are you and Mikey…like…dating?” he asks. I almost drop my phone.
“What?” I ask, not sure if I heard him correctly. Why is he asking this?
“Are you and Mikey together?” he looks at me, and his eyes are searching mine.
“No” I answer shortly, “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know” He says, and then looks ahead. Our houses are maybe two or three minute walk away from us. “It’s just, you guys always text each other, and hang out and all that stuff…”
I nod, and then “Well, we’re not together. I don’t think he likes me like that.” Why am I supporting this conversation? It’s weird. He smiles like he knows something that I don’t. I decide not to push it. Not sure if I want to know. I don’t know why.
My house comes first, and I stand in the pathway that leads to my door. It’s going to be an awkward goodbye.
“Do you want a ride to school tomorrow?” He asks me. I am literally shocked. What the hell?
“Will Marissa approve?” I say, teasing him about it.
“I approve” He says “And I thought you didn’t need Marissa’s approval?” He smiles.
“I thought that you did?” I smile. He laughs at this and then shakes his head before he meets my eyes.
“She’s gonna have to deal with it, I guess” He smiles.
“Well then” I say “I guess you’re giving me a ride to school. Walking is too mainstream anyway” I say. He laughs again, and I feel that easiness from the first time we met.
“I’ll come by when I’m ready” He says, and backs away towards his house.
“See you then” I say. His hair is slightly damp, so he runs his hands through it, and little drops of water fly around him. He is still wearing the smile when he enters his house, and just waves at me.
I open my door and am greeted by the smell of tomato soup.
“Hey honey” My mom says, and kisses my cheek. “where were you?”
“With some friends from school” I say. She looks like she is expecting me to name all of them “Luke, Mikey, Calum, Ashton and Elena” I add, taking off my shoes.
“That’s a lot of boys” she says, steering the soup. “Are you dating any of them?” she asks, trying to sound casual. Oh boy…
“No mom” I laugh, my cheeks flushing.
“Alright, alright” She smiles “Just asking”
I smile and walk to my room. I change out of the slightly damp clothes, and put on sweats and a big t-shirt. My hair is wet, so I put it up in a bun, and come back in the kitchen.
“You should invite them to dinner one day” she says. “Just give me a heads up before you do”
“Yeah, I will” I say. It would be nice for my mom to meet them to see that they are actually nice and better than Aggie’s friends. I don’t know why, but I feel really proud of myself that I actually have better friends than Aggie. It’s not like it’s a competition or anything, but I was always kind of jealous that she had these easy friendships, like they weren’t a lot of work. And I kind of feel like with Mikey, Luke, Ash and Elena is like that. Not so much Calum, but with the other four, I feel at ease.
“Is aunt Emma still coming?” I ask as she takes out two deep plates and two spoons. I guess Aggie isn’t home yet.
“Yes. This weekend.” She says, filling the plates with the soup. “Lucy is really excited. Although, she is going to have her birthday while she is here” She smiles.
“She’s gonna be 16, right?” I say, taking my plate to the dining room. Mom joins me.
“Yep” She says, taking a spoonful of soup.
“And how long are they going to stay?” I ask my mom, the question I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now.
“Well…I kinda hoped Aggie would be here for this talk” She says, and looks at the front door, as if expecting Aggie to magically appear.
“What are you talking about?” I ask confused. This soup is really good.
“Well, your uncle Daniel is actually coming for an interview” She says. After she sees my even more confused face, she adds “For a job. They might move here as well” She says finally.
“Oh…” I don’t know why I feel bad about that and sad about mom. I mean, her sister is going to live near by, and Lucy and I always got along, so I’m gonna have a familiar face around here. “That’s great” I say, a bit forced. “What is he applying for?” I say.
“Well, he will work as a psychiatrist in the private clinic 20 minutes from here” She answers.
“Cool” I say.
We then change the subject, and after I’m done with my soup, I do the dishes, mom goes to take a shower, and Aggie comes in. It’s almost 10:30pm. She tip toes, taking her shoes and jacket off.
“Mom’s taking a shower” I say, and she gets startled.
“Oh, okay, cool” she says.
“Why are you avoiding her?” I ask. I don’t know how I know. I guess it’s because she is never quiet when she is present. She is always heard and noticed. She is not me.
“No reason” She says. I turn to look at her. Her eyes are glossy.
“Are you drunk?” I ask. She tries not to laugh, but it doesn’t work. Then she sits on a high chair and puts her head on the counter.
“My head is so heavy” She says, her eyes closing.
“Aggie, it’s a school night” I say, walking towards her.
“I know. And the sad part is, is that it’s raining and I had to walk all the way from Stephen’s house, because I thought that Marissa was going to leave as well, but she stayed over because it started raining. And I knew mom wouldn’t let me sleep over at Stephen’s because I’m suppose to be grounded, and She told me to be back before dark.” She babbles. “And now I’m back, but it’s dark. And I thought it would stop raining, so I waited, but it didn’t stop, so I had to walk in the rain, alone, drunk.” She said.
So she is drunk, okay.
“Go to bed” I say to her. “Sleep it off”
She nods, and drags herself upstairs. I finish in the kitchen and then go into my bedroom. Read the chapter we finished today in History class, and when I’m done, I change into my pajamas.
‘we’re skipping school tomorrow after lunch. Wanna join?’
I get a text from Michael.
‘Who’s we?’ I text back.
‘so far only me. But if we join forces, we can convince Luke as well’ he answers.
‘what about Calum?’ I ask.
There is no answer for a while. A few minutes pass and I think that Mikey must’ve fallen asleep. But then my phone beeps again.
‘If Marissa lets him’ he says.
‘I have a feeling he won’t care what she says. But ye sure, why not’ I text back. He doesn’t text anything after that. I get under my duvet and I fall in an easy, deep sleep.

Notes

Thanks for reading guys. Rate, Subscribe and share your thoughts in the comments bellow :))