Keeping Secrets

Movie Night

PEYTON

"Hey QB. How was your break?" Max asked when showed up at my dorm room a couple of hours after I returned to school. It was Sunday afternoon after the Thanksgiving break and he had a bag of chocolate croissants and my favorite latte in his hands.

"Hi Max," I responded and gestured for him to come inside. "It was okay. How was yours?"

I'd gotten to eat some of my favorite foods and seen Amanda, but I also had to listen to my dad boss us around. Having been away from home for a few months made me realize things I never picked up on before. My dad ruled that house. Even mom did what she was told.

"Same."

He handed me the coffee and the bag.

"Thank you very much, Max. As much as I appreciate it, you know you don't have to, right?"

He smiled a soft smile and said, "I want to."

I took a sip of the coffee and put the bag down on my desk. It was just as good as it normally was.

"Do you want one of these?" I asked and gestured towards the bag of croissants.

"No, they're all for you."

I nodded and reached for one. It was still warm. Max must have bought them on his way over.

Max looked around my room, as I bit into the croissant. It looked exactly the same as it did the last time he was there. The two twin beds were still pushed together to make one big one in the middle of the room. They had different sheets and only one of the beds had a comforter, which was where I slept. The other one had a couple of blankets. My desk had its usual stuff on it. The only exception was the bag I hadn't yet unpacked and left on top of the empty desk.

I took another slow sip from the latte and watched Max sit down on the bed. He turned to me and asked "want to watch a movie?"

"Sure." That was fine. I had nothing else to do. Neither Becca nor Lin were back yet. That was the first thing I checked once I got back.

I finished the croissant while Max turned on my TV.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked.

"I don't care, as long as it's not a horror movie. You can pick something."

He grinned, and for a second I thought I'd regret giving him the choice, but then he settled in and started flipping through some old action movies.

I was about to make myself comfortable on the bed when I remembered I had laundry to do. Like desperately, because if I didn't, I'd have to either go commando, or wear dirty underwear to class. And neither one of those were an option. 

"Max, I just have to run downstairs and put in a load of laundry before we start."

"Allright. I'll find something for us to watch."

Luckily for me, there was nobody in the laundromat so I used two machines. One for light stuff and one for dark. My mom would be so proud.

When I came back ten minutes later, Max was sprawled out on the side of the bed where I didn't normally sleep. He had the TV paused on some kind of pirate movie, and looked up from typing on his phone when he heard the door.

"Who are you texting?" I asked as I sat down on my side of the bed and picked up the latte.

"Ty."

"Tell him I said hello."

"Okay."

Max smiled and typed something on his phone. A second later, he burst out laughing.

"What's going on?"