Never Have I Ever

Chapter 12

            “Have fun though,” I said, “Stay safe,” I reminded and she rolled her eyes, waving me off with a flick of her hand.

            “Yeah, yeah,” she said in such a Scott-way that her lips pinched together, but she soon was moving around her room again, straightening things and putting them in their places.

            “Alright, see you later okay?” I waved to her and she waved over her shoulder at me, bended down, her head far into her closet, searching for something.

Driving home, I couldn’t help but be relieved. I still had my best friend, even though the guy she loves kissed me. Who happens to be my best friend. I shook my head angrily, again wondering why. What was the point? Curiosity? That’s a shit excuse. I decided to get Chris from Lucy’s. We could wrap up in blankets, and stay warm. I missed him so much, and I was sure Mom wouldn’t be home tonight either. She’d been staying out later and later, some nights not coming home all together.

            “Hi there,” Lucy greeted, pulling me in for a hug. Her floral perfume floated around her house as I ventured further into her warm house. Chris was sitting on the floor, his toy cars in a mess on the coffee talbe. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

            “Hey little man,” I grinned, and he hopped up from his spot on the floor.

            “Ari!” he roared in his baby voice, tumbling towards me and wrapping his arms around the back of my knees. I ran my fingers through his curls, still grinning.

            “Bring him over anytime, alright?” Lucy narrowed her eyes at me and I knew she knew something had happened. What she suspected, I didn’t know. I had been bringing him over more often, though, and she was bound to be suspicious.

            I nodded, “Thank you so much Lucy. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I murmured, and she smiled.

            “What do you want to watch?” I turned on the small TV in our living room. It flickered once, then twice and finally it came on. I flipped through the channels, realizing that we had lost our cable too. PBS, the news, and a few other channels were all we had left to watch. “Alright, movie it is,” I decided. Pulling out a small box of our few DVD’s, Chris’s hand immediately snatched up The Lion King. I popped it in, wrapping him up in a cocoon of blankets, making sure he was warm. He climbed into my lap, his blankets following him, making him like a bundle of pillows in my lap. The movie started, and he was enveloped in the movie, his eyes not straying from the screen once.

My phone vibrated in my sweatshirt pocket, making me shift Chris over to the side of me. Halfway through the movie and he was half asleep, drool sliding down his chin and his eyes half closed. I muffled a laugh in my palm at his appearance. I wiped his drool with my sleeve, flipping open my phone to answer it.

I walked into the kitchen, keeping my voice low, “Hello?”

“Mmm,” someone mumbled drunkenly, “Aria?” they drawled slowly.

Nash. My heart pounded. Why was he calling me?

“Nash, you’re drunk,” I said quietly, “Hang up the phone.”

“I could tell you the same thing, missy,” said a drunk Nash, not making any sense.

“What does that even –? I’m hanging up,” I informed him, my finger hovering over the end button.