...
There's something about a group call that makes it feel like it's 2009 again. Sure, it's FaceTime, which certainly didn't exist back then, and my phone has a screen and not a rotary dial. But I still feel like I'm 17 again, sitting on my bed in my parents' house and hogging the land line, talking into all hours of the night.
A real phone call.
Don't get me wrong, I like the screen. I like seeing baby Isla's head flitting in and out of view, enjoy examining the lime green wallpaper in whatever room Meg's in, and love watching Ems roll her eyes every 4 minutes. Although, thinking back to those high school nights -I'm pretty sure I could hear Ems's eyes rolls through the phone.
"Still so happy you all joined!" Lauren says, flattening her undereye patches.
"Of course."
"Yup!"
"As demanded," Nate jokes over Meg's head. He fakes a cough. "I mean, requested."
"Very funny," Lauren says. She dabs a white ointment thing onto her forehead and lips.
"I think Lauren just wanted company for her nightly routine," Whit says.
"Oh, yes. That's it," Alex chimes in.
"Yea, Brody must be a boring audience," I laugh.
I'm sitting on my couch, iPad Air propped up against my knees. It's 8:17 PM and I'm eating another slice of cold leftover pizza. Good thing I'm wearing sweat pants. And good thing no one can see me in person right now.
I'm a walking Edge ad right now, wearing the new hoodie, new joggers, and even the baseball cap. The tiny line logo line drawing is reversed in the iPad camera.
All of my friends' faces are little tiny cubes on my screen. I try to avoid staring at only hers, but I don't invest much effort. After 20 minutes now, I'm really just studying everything about her. The baggy T-shirt, the plaid blanket on her couch, the half of a Chinese takeout box I can see on her end table. Her lips. I take it all in. Thankful Josh hasn't shown up in her background yet.
"And guys, you said you're coming up on the train Thursday morning? Trix, Meg, and Emmy?" Lauren asks.
"Yes!" All three sing at once.
"I'll be flying in the weekend before," Emmy says. "And training it up with the girls."
"It took some groveling," Meg says.
"Is Josh flying directly to the city?" Alex asks the question that I can't.
"Yea, I think." Emmy nods.
Great. At least she'll be home for a week before. I find myself already itching to return back to Jersey, eager to just happen to run into Emmy in a not-planned-at-all serendipitous kind of way that I 100% arrange in advance.
"And we'll be driving up Thursday after work," Whit says. "Don't worry, we'll leave with plenty of time. Alex is taking a half day."
"Good, because you all need to be at rehearsal," Lauren says.
"And at the after rehearsal," Brody adds.
"But not that much after!" Lauren hits his shoulder.
"Oh, don't worry. We won't pull an all-nighter before your wedding," I laugh.
"But we'll try to." Nate winks.
"That's what I'm worried about," Lauren jokes. She's now holding cucumber slices up to her eyes for seconds at a time.
"Wait, what are we doing after rehearsal?" Trix asks, bopping Isla up and down on her lap to stop her crying.
"Secret," Brody says, "Don't ask."
"Don't ask don't tell," Travis laughs.
"Don't ask don't tell, just bring something fancy," Lauren says.
"Fancier than... our dresses to your wedding," Emmy asks, head sideways.
"No. Just old fancy." Lauren elaborates.
"Brooks, you flying right there or going up with us?" Brody asks.
"I don't want to third wheel your wedding weekend travel." I make a disgusted face.
"Think of it like being a chauffeur," Brody suggests.
"Except you won't get paid," Lauren says. "But it could be your gift!"
"Or you can drive up with mom," Brody suggests.
I roll my eyes. "Okay, let's not bore everybody."
"Too late," Nate laughs.
"Guys, where the hell are you?" Emmy asks, clearly talking to Meg and Nate, who are now in a room with flamingo wallpaper.
"Oh it's our house. We're trying out some new things. Livening it up," Meg says. "Flamingos in the laundry."
Meg spins around to show the whole room in her camera. It's their laundry room, which now has pale coral flamingos plastered all over the walls and has pastel laundry baskets piled in the corner.
"I've been trying to convince Alex to decorate for months," Whit says.
"And we will. After summer," Alex reminds her.
"That's like right now, man," Travis laughs.
"Brooks, let's get a tour of your place. I've never seen it," Trix says.
"Now that it's all empty," Brody adds.
"Damn," I curse, rolling my eyes. "Tough crowd. There's not much to see."
I stand from the couch and do a quick walk-through of my LA apartment, taking them into each room but careful not to show my bed, which is a mess, or the closet, which still has a lot of Cece in it.
"Did Cece fully move out, then?" Lauren asks.
"A lot of stuff, yes. She's going to come back for the rest when I'm in New York." I tell them.
All their concerned faces stare up at me. Emmy is looking out of her frame. I wonder if it's to avoid FaceTime eye contact.
"Way to take a sad turn, guys," Nate says. "This doesn't seem like a very weddingy topic."
"Excellent point," Emmy says.
"Okay, okay. Did y'all book your rooms yet?" Lauren raises her eyebrows.
Almost everyone says yes besides Meg and Nate, which doesn't surprise me.
"We will. It'll be fine. I'm sure there's room," Meg says. "I'll do it tomorrow."
"We should all be on the same floor. I made sure the block wouldn't be random rooms." Brody tells us.
"Defeats the purpose of a block," I add.
We spend 20 more minutes discussing the rooms, the whole hotel, and the breakfast planned for the next morning. Whit can't wait for NYC in the fall. And I have to admit, I'm right there with her.
You can take the boy off the East Coast, but not the East Coast out of the boy? Or something.
YOU ARE READING
Never Really Over (Bremmy 3)
ChickLit*THREEQUEL* Even when they're done, all things are never really over. It's been one year since Emmy left for the airport, two tickets in hand. A long, eventful year. Brooks has successfully launched the flagship Edge and snagged a model girlfriend...
