Up in the Air

Chapter 20

Dedicated to collides because the more I thought of Becca, the more I imagined a perky blonde. So, she is now Brittany Snow.

Listen to Sara Bareilles' Brave to go with the chapter.

Chapter 20

I was seated in the middle of the couch when Evan and Julian entered the living room ten minutes later. Sheets of paper were scattered to my left and right and I was busy typing up the sheets that contained useable information for the project.

Evan frowned and looked at Julian. "Did we leave her alone for a couple of minutes or a couple of hours?"

Julian crossed his arms in front of him and raised an eyebrow at me. "Jesus, Preston, haven't you heard about taking a breather? You go from working in the kitchen to working here."

I looked up at both of them who were wearing expressions of concern. "I was supposed to finish these drafts yesterday. But no one would let me work. They locked up my school bag and computer – literally," I sighed.

Evan laughed and patted Julian on the shoulder. "Sara here could teach your parents a thing or two about being a workaholic." Then he turned to me. "If you just need someone to type those up, I could do you a solid," he offered.

My hands paused on top of the keys and I slowly looked up to give Evan an excited smile. "Really?"

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged. "Least I could do after you fed me."

Evan sat down next to me and picked the computer off of my lap. I handed him the three sheets of the paper that I had yet to type and his fingers were soon flying over the keys on my laptop.

"Thank you," I said shyly then turned to look at Julian. "How are you two friends again?"

Evan Moore was, simply put, fun to be around and the fact that he and Julian Pitt even knew each other was suprising – more so that the pair of them were friends.

"We met when we were kids," Julian answered with a frown as he took out his camera's memory card.

"That's even more surprising," I mumbled to no one in particular.

"Did you know Julian was a mean brat when we were kids?" I asked Evan as he sat down next to me on one side of the couch. I resisted the urge to tell him that Julian was still a bit of a mean brat now.

"Really?" Evan paused his typing and gave a confused look. "I've known him all my life. He's a bit sulky and sarcastic, yes, but he's alright." he shrugged.

I laughed. "A bit? Julian Pitt was – is – not just a bit sulky and sarcastic," I mocked. "He made my life a living hell for two years – he'd pinch me in class, call me names, pull on my hair ... speaking of, he even painted my hair yellow once -"

"That again, Preston?" Julian sighed and plopped down on the spot right next to me. "Does it really take girls ten years to get over something as small as that?" he snuck me a patronizing glance as his computer booted up.

"Small?" I repeated. "Julian, you don't just go around painting people's hair bright yellow -"

"When you're a kid and you like a girl and she doesn't notice you, you do," Evan added nonchalantly.

I whipped around to face him so fast that I feared my head would fall off of my neck. Julian, on the other hand, took his time in turning to face Evan but the look in his eyes screamed murder.