My Sister's Best Friend

6

"I still think you should come." He says to try and persuade me. "I'm pretty sure Kelsey said there'd be free weed."

He knows I'd never turn down free weed, so I have to come up with some other plausible explanation. I don't want him to find out the truth about what really happened last weekend.

"Yeah, well Mark is also the host of the party." I respond bitterly. "I don't think I can be around him without doing the same shit you did to him yesterday. I'm good just chilling at home tonight, bro, but if you want to stop by after then feel free. I got the new call of duty."

After a few seconds of silence, he lets out a sigh of defeat. "I'll definitely make an appearance. I just want to get high and probably pay Kelsey a visit. Then I'll head over. Give me like an hour? Your parents are cool with it, right?"

"When have they ever not been fine with it? It's fine. Maddie is at Maya's until later, so it's one less kid they have to be responsible for."

"Alright, cool." He replies. "I'll see you then."

Tossing my phone onto the carpet, I see a notification that Maya is online. She's been on my friends list for years ever since she beat the hell out of me that day in seventh grade.

Maddie is over there though. Would she get mad if I invited Maya to a game? I can say that Cameron isn't here, which is the truth. All of my teammates are over at Mark's. I have no one else to play with.

I can sit here and try to give reasonings for why I press the button to invite her to a chat, but I know the real reason is because I've been craving that feeling with her that I felt last weekend. The feeling of utter relaxation just from her touch.

My heart speeds up when she accepts it, and in seconds I hear her voice. "Ethan?" She asks. "Did you mean to invite me, or..."

"Uh, yeah. I did. I mean, If that's okay. I know Maddie is there, so if you guys are busy then-"

"No!" She splutters, clearing her throat before she adds, "She's um.. sleeping."

"At eight?"

"Um, yeah. I know, right? She started studying and passed out a few minutes later. I'm downstairs in the den though, so it's fine. I won't wake her up."

"Okay." I smile and lean back more into the chair, more than pleased that she seems to want to do this too.

We haven't played together in years, but I know she hasn't lost her love for gaming because she asks, "why aren't we in hardcore?"

A girl that knows how to game is so damn attractive. "My apologies." I smirk and go back to the lobby to select a new match. "I didn't realize you still gamed like that."

I did know. I see her gamer tag pop up all the time to let me know she's online, but I've never had the opportunity to do this when I've been alone, so I act like I had no clue.

"Unlike you, I haven't changed. I'm still the same old me."

Blunt, honest and straightforward. That's always been Maya, and it's what I love the most about her. She always tells it like it is, even if I don't necessarily want to hear it.

"And how have I changed?" I find myself asking. The game starts up, and I try to focus but it's almost impossible. I can hear her breathing through her microphone, suddenly realizing how fast this conversation turned serious.

"Do you really have to ask?" She replies. "Aside from being a total and utter dick to women, you follow Cameron around like a lost puppy. You emulate him when he's the completely wrong person to choose."