One of the Boys

Chapter 10 

At 8:15, the doorbell to the Hampshire residence rang. Leila walked down stairs, expecting the guys over. She opened the door and pushed her bangs back. "Hey g-" Leila stopped and stepped back. Carter was there, his hair messy over his eyes. His hands were in his pockets, he was looking at the floor. "Hey." He whispered. Leila stepped aside to let him in. In the past two weeks, they had never been alone, hadn't talked, hadn't said anything. Now Logan was out, there was no one home. No one to protect her. 

She felt disgusted with herself. There shouldn't be anyone to protect her from her brother. It was her brother. "Hi." She said confidently, staring straight into his gray eyes. He looked up, his gray eyes sad and full with concern. "I wanted to talk to you." He said, stepping inside. "Well, we're talking aren't we?" Leila said, crossing her arms over her chest. He bit his lip. "I-" He started but stopped. "We-" He stopped again. "That day, I-" He let out a breath of exasperation. He took a step towards her, and wrapped his arms around her small body. She whimpered a little, and hugged him back. "I'm sorry, Leila." He whispered softly. She inhaled his spicy scent. He smelled of chlorine and Old Spice. "I'm sorry, too." She said, pulling out from her brother's embrace. He stared at her and smiled, the bell rang again. "That's the guys." Leila said. Carter nodded. "I'll be in my room." 

She opened the door, feeling happy with herself. The guys were standing there, smiling at her. Johnny was holding a tub of ice cream and six spoons. Luke was holding a gigantic bag of gummy bears, while Randy was holding a gigantic bar of chocolate. Jack was struggling to keep about eight bags of chips from toppling over, and Brett was holding two huge bottles of Coke and one of 7UP. "Hey, Lei." Johnny said, coming inside. "Hi guys." Leila said, digging her hands into her back pockets. They walked towards the living room and moved the couches, setting up pillows everywhere and all the food in bowls in the coffee table. Leila grabbed a handful of gummy bears and chewed, while all the guys stared at her. "So," Randy said. "You gonna tell us what its all about?" He asked, grabbing a handfull of Cheetos. 

She sighed. "Wade and I had a fight..." She said soflty. "About what?" Brett asked, taking a spoonful of icecream. "About..." She wondered if she should tell them. Had Wade told them yet? "You gotta understand him, Leila. You guys kissed. Obviously he thought he'd mean something to you. As repulsive as it is to think about, you guys shared something special." Jack said. So he had told the,. Luke shook his head. "Nah, man. He's making too much of a deal here." He said, and Johnny shook his head. "You know for how long, man. He's Koo-Koo for Coco Puffs." Leila couldn't help but smile a litte. "But I... I don't know what to do, guys." She said, craddling her head in her hands. Soon enough, five pairs of strong arms were holding her. They let her go and sat back down. "I mean, I-" "Did it mean something to you?" Randy asked. Leila hesitated at this. 

She could tell them. She could tell them how much she thought about it, how she still felt a warm, ticklish feeling rush over her chest whenever she thought about their kiss. About the night they spent together. She could tell them how her knees shook whenever she thought about it while standing, how her hands itched to wrap around his neck. "It did." John answered for her. He had always been the one to know her the best, right after Wade. He knew every look on her eyes, and what it meant. "How do you know? Were you there?" Brett asked sarcastically. "It doesn't take a genius to know it did, Brett. Look at her eyes." Jack answered. Sweet, sweet, stupid Jack. Randy stared at her eyes. "It did." He said, tilting his head to the right. Luke spoke next. "What did it mean though?" He asked. 

Leila knew there was nothing to hide now. 

"I feel so sappy to think about it this way, guys. But I guess its the only way I can think about it. When it- When it happened, I felt like I was floating. As if I weren't standing on the ground, but swimming in the clouds. It made my knees weak, my heart beat against my chest louder than even before. I get this warm, bubbly, ticklish feeling every time I think about it. And I think about it, a whole lot. Its the only thing I have been able to think off since it happened. It felt so... So natural. So-"