LAUREN’S POV
“Lauren! Your turn!” Jaime squealed, breaking me from my... er... naughty daydream.
“Wha... Oh! Okay! Was it...” I pause, examining the paper in my hand, “Colonel Mustard in the library... with the rope?”
“Hmm... let’s find out,” said B-Hol, imitating the owl from the old Tootsie Pop commercials, emanating a flirty giggle from Meredith.
“Ugh, I give up. I say she’s cheating,” Corey groaned after reading the cards.
“I emerge victorious!” I cried triumphantly.
“And I give up,” said Joe, standing and walking into the kitchen. Jaime, Dylan, Corey and Julia followed suit.
“Hey, Meredith, I gotta... um... show you something. Come upstairs with me?” Brian said with a twinkle in his eye. They were so OBVIOUS about their relationship. It was making me sick.
Meredith followed him excitedly, accidentally knocking over the Clue board, sending cards flying everywhere around the room as she left.
I set to work picking it up, stuck in my own little world when I realized I wasn’t alone.
“Hey, need any help?” Joey asked. I suddenly perked up at the sound of his voice. It was perfect. It sounded like candle-lit dinners, romantic comedies, Taylor Swift songs... and “just friends.”
“Oh! Yeah! Thanks!” I gasped.
“No problem,” Joey started shuffling cards into a stack, humming drowsily, and I immediately recognized the song.
“Kiss Me,” I mumbled.
“Huh?” Joey said, sounding shocked. I hadn’t realized what it seemed like I was saying until I’d said it.
“Kiss Me. By Ed Sheeran. It’s my favorite song,” I said sheepishly.
“Really? I didn’t think anyone else listened to his music,” Joey said awkwardly.
“I’m... I’m a big fan,” All the cards had been picked up and put back in the box, so I murmured some excuse to leave the room and ran upstairs.
I would’ve just sat in the room Julia, Jaime and I shared, but Meredith and Brian were going at it in the room next door, so I headed up to the roof.
It was cold, but it was worth it. You could see the beautiful Chicago skyline from anywhere I stood, and there were beach chairs lined up, enough to fill all of the Starkid butts.
I sat in mine, staring out at the sky, humming my favorite song and thinking of all the awkward things that have happened between me and Joey while we’ve lived here... Jaime and Meredith swear he’s into me, but it’s hard for me to believe when every time I try to make a move, he backs away. I guess I’m just jealous, I think, that everyone’s in a relationship but me. I’ve been okay with that for just about ever, but when I realized my feelings for Joey... there was nothing I could do. I fell for him. That was it.
Not until the sun set did I realize how long I’d been up there, and I headed down the poorly-lit staircase.
“Lo! There you are, darling!” Jaime said sweetly, “Where have you been?”
“Oh... nowhere. What have you guys been up to?”
“Nothing, just about to have a movie marathon, care to join us? Bri and Meredith FINALLY came down about five minutes ago and suggested it,” Jaime rolled her eyes.
“Oh lordy, just now? Jeez...” I said, and hopefully I sounded like I was joking... but it just hurt.
“Yeah, c’mere. You can pick the movie,” Leave it to Jaime to STILL realize I was in a bad mood.
I flipped through the stack of DVDs and picked my favorite movie, The Notebook. Some of the guys groaned when I popped it in the DVD player, but the girls were ecstatic to watch it for the umpteenth time. I went to find a seat, only to realize one love seat was taken up by none other than Brian and Meredith, the sofa already called for, and the second love seat already had one person sitting on it: Joey. Of course. Just my luck. I sat down next to him without a word... it’s not like we were anything more than friends, right? As the movie started, I realized just how exhausted I was...
