No Strings Attached

6

"Lucy, it's 1:50," my dad called as I sat in front of the television. "I thought you guys were meeting at her house at 2 o'clock."

"Yeah, we are," I responded, my eyes still glued to the screen.

"Well, you're going to be late then," he answered, and I let out a slight groan. He rounded the corner after hearing my response. "Do you not want to go? I thought she was your friend," he said, sounding slightly surprised.

I shrugged. "I don't know, we're not very close."

"Well, then, this could be a great opportunity for you guys to get closer!" he cheered as he pulled me off the couch. "Come on, Luce, you could use a little fun." He practically dragged me toward the door, then placed the keys to our silver car into my palm. I closed my fingers around them slowly. "Seriously," he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Go and have fun. I feel like every time we move, you get less and less enthusiastic about this kind of stuff," he said, almost as if he were talking to himself. "Okay, just text me when you get there," he said, hugging me briefly, unaware that he had hit my feelings spot on with his last few comments.

"Yeah, I will," I said, bending down to slip on a pair of white converse. "See you later." I walked out the door, adjusting my form fitting blue and white striped shirt as I jogged down the stairs and entered the car. I pushed the sleeves of my black jacket over my arms, since they had fallen over my fingers while running, and closed the car door behind me.

After a moment of sitting, I plugged Jane's address into the GPS and I was off, driving through the streets of San Francisco. I drove as slowly as possible to prolong the inevitable; but within fifteen minutes, I reached her house. I sat in my car, parked on the side of the street and checked the time on the phone. I was little over ten minutes late, and so I contemplated just leaving. Maybe they would never notice. I could drive to cafe and spend a couple hours, there, then get back home at a short but acceptable amount of time to hang out with people.

Deciding to do this, I started to slide the key back in the ignition, but was interrupted by a firm rapping sound on my window. Startled, I looked up and peered out the window to see Elliot standing there. He waved at me, giving me a friendly smile, and I gave him one in response. He gestured for me to come out, and so reluctantly, I swung open the door and greeted him. "Hey," I said.

"Lucy!" He said as I locked the car behind me. "Shame on you, running late," he teased while chuckling.

"That makes two of us," I responded to his comment quickly, and he shook his head, the smile still remaining on his face.

"Touché," he nodded as he raised his hand to knock on the door, the sound clacking through the air. Seconds later, it swung open to reveal Jane, who was standing in the doorframe drinking a can of soda.

"Hey guys," she started, before adding. "You're late," she continued, her eyes locking on mine and her face becoming slightly stony.

"Uh, sorry?" I spit out, casting a glance at Elliot, who snickered in the corner.

Jane let out a laugh. "No, no, it's fine. Don't worry about it, I'm totally kidding. Come in!" She opened the door wider and gestured for us to come inside.

"Thanks, Jan," Elliot said casually as he followed me inside, and she shut the door behind him, hitting his arm.

"Stop calling me that," she rolled her eyes and Elliot smirked, throwing one of his arms over her shoulders. I pretended not to notice their little interaction, though I wondered if they were more than friends. Instead of asking, I followed quietly behind them as they walked further into the house. "So everyone's all here," she called over her shoulder. "They're chilling in the living room. Do you want anything to drink?" she looked at me, and I shook my head.