Seasons Change

23.

"I'm just saying..."

As much as I hated to admit it, Kelsey's logic made a disturbing amount of sense. All of my friends would be at the party tonight, and if Avery wanted to embarrass me, this party would be the perfect opportunity for her to torment me in front of everyone.

"Knock knock," a familiar voice called from the door. "Can I come in?"

I looked up to see Dylan standing in the doorway, a crooked smile on his face. I glanced over to Kelsey, who shrugged.

"I told him he could come early, as long as he was willing to help with the party setup. I didn't think you'd mind."

"It's fine," I told her. "Dylan, can you move the furniture in the living room for us to make space for a dance floor?"

Dylan smirked. "Sure, make me do all the heavy lifting," he teased.

I winked at him. "How else am I going to admire all of your muscles?"

As Dylan headed into the living room to move the furniture like I'd asked him to, Kelsey smirked at me. "You're totally flirting with my brother," she said.

"No, I was just teasing him," I protested. "We do that all the time."

Kelsey didn't look convinced, but I didn't feel like arguing with her, so I busied myself with pulling the cooler out of the garage and filling it with ice and sodas for the party. Then, Dylan helped us set up the stereo and speakers so we would be able to play music at the party.

I looked around, surveying our work. "I think this is probably good," I said. "That's everything that was on my to-do list anyways."

"Good," Dylan said. "Then I'm going to run out to the car and get your gift, Lilly I wanted to give it to you before everyone else got here. I hope you got me something good, like we discussed," he teased "Otherwise, you're going to feel really bad."

As Dylan ran out to his car to grab my gift, Kelsey smirked at me. "Did you let Dylan talk you into buying him a super nice gift?" she asked.

I blushed. "Okay, maybe I put a little more thought into his present than I normally do, but he talked his gift up so much, I was afraid that if I didn't, I would be embarrassed.

Kelsey laughed. "He just played you. You realize that, right?"

"Whatever," I mumbled, heading upstairs to grab the gifts I had bought for Kelsey and Dylan.

When I returned to the living room with the gifts, Dylan was already back inside. "You first," he said. "I've been dying to give you this for weeks."

I smiled. "What if I don't want to open it yet? It's not Christmas."

"Open it, woman," he growled. "Before you drive me insane."

I stuck my tongue out at him, tearing the wrapping paper off of the gift. It was...a blank CD?

"I don't get it," I told him.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't. This, Lilly, is what is known as a DVD. It's what us old folk used to use to watch movies before streaming was a thing."

I shook my head at him. "I know what a DVD is. But what's so special about a movie?"

Dylan grinned. "Watch it and find out."

Kelsey eyed Dylan apprehensively. "What kind of movie is this? Is it the kind of thing that should only be watched in private?"

"Eww, no Kels, get your mind out of the gutter."

I laughed, popping the DVD into the player and turning on the TV. It was one of those home videos, and when I pressed play, that song from Toy Story, 'You've got a Friend in Me,' blared through the speakers. Dylan had created a slideshow of photos and videos documenting our entire friendship, from the very first selfie we had ever taken together, pictures of us at graduations, getting ready for dances, me at his football games.