Wrong Side Of The Bed

40 | i am sorry.

"And you look like a classy jock too," I assured my best friend, and then grabbed Adrienne's gift. "Now, let's go. If we are late, I will cry and then throw myself in front of a flashy Mercedes right in front of you to forever change the trajectory of your life."

"You make me sick," He said, following me out of the door. Mum waved us off. "You're absolutely incorrigible."

"Aw, love you too, bro," I said as we slid into his car, and shortly after, the engine roared to life.

This was the first time we were seeing Adrienne's house in person. It was the spitting image of a modern infrastructure — from outer glass doors to a flat, slanted roof supported by shiny glass encrusted beams. The whole house was done in hues of black and white and gray, along with the occasional shine of the blue mirrors as well. But I hadn't expected anything else from the Williams family. While both Mr. and Mrs. Williams came from old money, and were probably on a trip to Costa Rica as we were speaking, they were deeply partial to futuristic and modern architecture. When the enormous glass doors guarding a second metal one sprang open, Adrienne walked out. My eyebrows threaded up in surprise, because Adrienne was not the type of person who came at the doorstep to greet you.

"Your thumbs," Adrienne said, and then gestured at the glass panel next to the intercom outside. "Put your fingerprints in. I will add them to the security," Adrienne enunciated. A pause. "Unless you decide again that you want to break up with Jannat before you guys go to college. In which case, you won't be frequenting my house anyway."

I blinked. Adrienne still hadn't forgiven me for pulling the anxiety-induced break-up stunt in the park that day, months ago. I knew Walter had told them, hell, I had told Lucas about that and had received an earful. But Adrienne… she was something else entirely. She held grudges for a lifetime.

"I promise I won't be as foolish to do something like that again," I admitted, my lips pursed. Adrienne nodded and then her gaze slid to Lucas, who looked up in surprise. 

"You," Adrienne said, directing her gaze at Lucas. "I hope you won't be denying prom proposals from Jannat and humiliating her anytime soon, because if you have plans for that — you don't need to give in your fingerprints." Beside me, Lucas was short of words. It had been two years since the junior prom, but Adrienne hadn't let go of the grudge.

"Walter won't be asking him for prom anyway," I defended. "I am her boyfriend. I will be the one with whom she will be attending."

My response elicited a small, amused smirk out of Adrienne. 

"Happy birthday, by the way," I said, diverting the topic before Adrienne could tease me further. Lucas followed my lead. While Adrienne tried to seem as indifferent as she possibly could, the hint of a smile touched her face.

"Thanks, boys." A pause. "Well, then, now that you're here already, get your fingerprints punched in the system, and come in." 

We did as directed, and soon we were following Adrienne into her house, and I had half-expected her to have robot staff instead of human staff inside. 
Walter and Neil were already inside, sitting on the sofa and chatting animatedly about something in rapid-fire (what I assumed to be) Hindi. I made a mental note to start learning Hindi and Bengali. At the sight of the two of us, their conversation came to a halt and they turned to us. Walter smiled at me, and it was like witnessing all the flowers in the world blooming, all at once. She stood up, walked towards me, and engulfed me in a hug. Lucas gave me a smirk. I hugged Walter back with all I had, and flipped Lucas off behind her back.

"I have missed you," I whispered in her ear. 

"It's only been a day," She quipped, smiling.

"Nauseating," Neil commented from the sofa. "Watching the two of you being such a disgustingly cute couple while I am so alone makes me nauseated."