Lie Until You Laugh

37- Today Love

It’s my turn to nod. “I’ll text you when we get back tonight.”

“Have fun,” Penn smiles at me as I wave him a goodbye and follow Stella and Mason out the studio door.

“You guys are the cutest,” Mason coos. “I mean, Brian and I are pretty cute too but you guys are just… adorable.”

“And I am alone,” Stella sighs.

“I know that it bums you out that you don’t have a boyfriend but I think it was good for you to break things off with Drew,” I tell her.

“I know that’s why I did it but I just… I miss the sex so much,” She whines. “I must have some serious problems if it’s only been a few days and I miss it already.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Mason assures her. “Or you can just get a boyfriend.”

“But I… I don’t like anybody,” Stella mumbles rather unconvincingly.

“You like somebody?!” Mason screeches as we reach the dorm building and go inside. We have to shower and get dressed and then I’m going to drive over to the house where my mom and Jo are staying to pick up Jo before we go to the movie theater. I didn’t want to hide Jo and my mom from my friends but I also didn’t want to tell them the truth about my dad so I decided that the best way for that to happen is to let them meet Jo but just tell them that they’re visiting for a long vacation or something.

“What?” Stella wonders. “No, I said that I don’t like anybody.”

“Well, that’s what your words said but that’s not what your tone said,” I tease her with a small laugh, nudging Stella in the shoulder on our way up the elevator. “Are you going to tell us who it is?”

“I, um, I have no idea what you guys are talking about because I definitely don’t like anybody and it is most definitely not Andrew, okay?” She blurts.

The elevator stops and lets us out but before we can say anything, Stella takes off running down the hallway towards our room. The boys and girls aren’t separated by different floors in the dorms, but each floor has girl rooms on the left side of the building and boys on the right. Mason’s room is on the second floor too but because she’s staying with Brian on the boys’ side, it’s on the other side of the building.

“She’s just adorable,” Mason sighs. “Andrew though. I kind of saw that coming.”

“Really?” I wonder because I honestly had no idea that there was a possibility of those two ending up together at all.

“They flirted like crazy last year,” She explains with a nod. “Anyway, let’s meet up in half an hour and we’ll get going?”

I agree with her and then go in the direction where Stella ran, towards our room. When I get there, she’s already gone for the showers so I grab an outfit and my shower stuff before leaving the room and going down the hallway to take a shower. When I get out, I’m wearing dark denim cutoffs and a crème-colored blouse with black skulls on it, a black leather jacket, and my familiar black combat boots.

I think Stella is avoiding me because she’s already gone when I get out of the shower and I start brushing through my wet hair. I put all of my stuff back in the dorm and when Stella isn’t there, I assume she’s already down in the lobby with Mason while they wait for me to get down there, so I grab my keys and my bag before going downstairs.

“I’m not teasing you,” Mason laughs as Stella punches her arm.

“So when you’re teasing us about our love lives, it’s okay, but you can’t take the heat?” I tease her as I approach my friends and we all leave the lobby together to go to my car.