"Hey, I'll be right back," he said.
"Oh- uh, okay," I said.
He left the room and came back a few minutes later with the list and the pen. He walked to his desk that was pushed into the corner of his room and leaned down.
"Whatchya doin'?" I asked.
"Adding to the list," he said while writing.
1) joking with Oliver
2) jumping off swings
3) watching the sunset on the ground
4) the stars
5) gang beasts
"You're pretty determined about this list thing, aren't you?" I asked rhetorically.
"Yeah, well, I'm determined to show you that the good can outweigh the bad. There is a possibility that this list could help show you that. So I'm determined about the list," he said.
"Hmm," I hummed in response.
"Hey, I'm getting kind of hungry, do you wanna go downstairs and get some food?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," I said.
The way that his house was, you had to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. When we walked through, his mom was sitting on the couch watching New Girl.
"Oh, I love this show," Oliver said.
"I've never seen it," I said.
"You guys should come sit and watch it with me! I've seen all the episodes and I'm just rewatching it so we can start it from the beginning if you guys want to," Oliver's mom said sweetly.
Oliver turned to look at me, waiting for a response.
"Yeah, that sounds fun," I said.
"You'll probably like it, it's really funny," he said to me. Then he turned to his mom. "We're just gonna grab some food first."
"Oh, do you want me to heat you guys up something?" she said while getting up.
"Mama, you don't have to," Oliver said.
"No, no, no, it's no trouble at all. You always know I'm happy to fix something up. C'mon, let's go," she said.
I know it's wrong of me, but that pang of jealousy came back in tenfold. Is this what my mother would've been like? Or maybe it's not the parent, maybe it's me. Maybe it's my fault that Jen and Walter hate me so much.
"Barry?" Oliver asked softly. "You alright?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just got lost in thought for a second." I said while giving him a small smile that was meant to be reassuring.
"If you say so," he said.
We walked further into the kitchen to see his mom with looking into the fridge.
"Alright, there's leftover chicken and pasta from dinner, we have stuff to make sandwiches, stuff to make grilled cheese," she paused while opening the freezer. "We also have hot pockets, chicken nuggets and pizza rolls."
"Uhh... a sandwich sounds good to me. Barry?" Oliver turned to me.
"A sandwich sounds good," I said.
"Okay," she said while pulling out the stuff to make them. "Why don't you guys get yourselves some drinks and also there's chips in the pantry. Also, Ollie do you think you could get me some Pepsi and a bag of chips?"
"Sure, mama. What chips do you want?" he said while walking to the pantry.
"Do we have Sour Cream and Onion?"
"Yeah."
"Those, please."
"Okay," he said. "Barry, which chips do you want?"
"Uhm... cheetos?"
"Alright, catch," he said while tossing me a bag.
"Thanks," I said.
"No problem."
"Honey, do you want mayo or avocado or both?" she asked me.
"Both, please," I said.
"Any veggies or just cheese and meat?"
"Just cheese and meat, if that's okay," I said.
"Of course it is. Is salami okay?"
I nodded and she smiled at me.
"Hey, Barry, which drink do you want? We have Root Beer, Pepsi, apple juice, grape Propel, and regular water," he asked.
"Uh, Propel, please," I said.
He tossed me a bottle and then walked to the cabinet to get two glasses. He poured his mom Pepsi and himself Root Beer.
"Alright, do you guys wanna carry that stuff and I'll carry the sandwiches to the living room?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure. Hey, Barry could you grab those?" Oliver said, nodding his head to his mom's chips on the counter.
"Yeah," I said.
We all walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, each of us trading around until we all got our own food and drinks, and then his mom turned on the show.
I actually really liked it, it was funny. The first part made me cringe out of my mind and get second hand embarrassment but after that part, I really enjoyed it.
We ended up watching five episodes before his mom got up, said she was going to bed and bid us goodnight. We walked back up to his room and sat down on his bed.
"Hey... if you don't mind me asking, where's you dad?" I asked. "If it's a touchy subject and you don't wanna tell me, I totally get it," I rambled.
"Oh, no, no, no, it's not like that," he said while chuckling. "My dad had to go on a small business trip. He was supposed to be back tonight but his meeting got delayed, so he's coming back tomorrow."
"Oh, okay haha," I said.
"I also have a sister, Thea, but she's probably out with her friends," he said.
"Didn't you guys just move here, though?" I asked.
"We moved here about a week and a half ago, today was just my first day actually going to school. I was helping to get everything unpacked and settled. Also, getting my transcript from my old school took a while so enrolling me took longer. Thea's been going to school all week," he explained.
"Ah, gotchya. Hey, what time is it?" I asked.
"Oh, shit. It's already midnight, that's crazy," he said.
"I should probably head home. My parents get..." I tried to think of a word that wouldn't raise suspicion. "concerned."
"Yeah, I get it. You want me to walk you home?" he asked.
"No, it's alright," I said. In case their friend's car was still there, I didn't want to have to make up some half assed excuse as to why I couldn't go inside yet. "Thanks for the offer, though."
"Yeah, no problem. Here, can I see your phone," he asked.
"Uh, yeah sure," I say before handing it to him.
He tapped some things in before handing it back to me.
"Let me know when you get home safe," he said.
I looked down at my phone where he'd entered his number.
"Yeah, I will," I said.
I picked up my backpack that was by his bedroom door and started to walk out. He followed me down the stairs to the front door.
"Thanks for coming over. That was really fun," he said.
"Thanks for having me. Could you tell your mom I said thank you to her too?"
"Of course," he said. He smiled at me. "Have a goodnight."
"You, too," I said while walking out the door. He shut the door behind me and I started the short walk back to my hell disguised as a house.