Justin
I could already tell that this day was going to be God-awful because I woke up with a massive headache the next morning. What I really wanted to do instead of dragging myself out of bed was just to go back to sleep and not wake up for the next millennia. But alas, that wasn’t particularly possible.
Heaving a sigh, I rolled out of bed and dragged myself out of the room. While it was true that I had way more unanswered questions that I would’ve liked to admit, I wanted to get rid of my headache – not let it have its way with me.
The sun was just barely peeking up over the mountains off in the distance as I quietly made my way down the stairs. The house was deathly silent as I padded my way across the foyer, and I took extra care not to be too loud. The less people that woke up and saw me looking like crap, the better. That’s normally why I never got out of bed until after noon.
I swear I almost stopped breathing when I saw the lights were already on in the kitchen as I stepped down the stairs. Much to my surprise, when I made it down to the kitchen I saw Laila was slumped over at the bar, her fingers wrapped around a mug of tea. I thought she might’ve been awake, but when she gave a little sniffle, I figured she must’ve been asleep. Judging by the frazzled state her normally smooth hair was in and that she was wearing the same Bob Marley t-shirt from yesterday, she’d had one hell of a night, too.
Internally cussing myself out for feeling so ridiculous, I reached out and prodded Laila in the cheek with a finger.
“Hey. Wake up,” I muttered, poking her again.
“Shut up, mom,” she sighed, burying her face in her arms more.
“Laila,” I repeated, rolling my eyes. “Wake up.”
Laila bolted up with a jerk and stared blearily around through half-lidded eyes.
“Oh… hey,” she mumbled, looking sort of sheepish. “I couldn’t sleep, so I… came down here for some tea.”
I frowned a little, peering down into the tea cup on the counter beside us.
“You let it steep for too long,” I told her, fighting back a smirk.
Laila scowled and took a careful sip from her tea mug, then made a sour face, gagging a little.
I shook my head, holding back a laugh, and turned to the cupboards, rummaging around until I found the Tylenol. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Laila fidgeting with the end of her ratty shirt as I popped two of the Tylenol into my mouth.
“Why do you do that?” I blurted, setting down my half empty glass of water.
She glanced up with a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you always fidget?” I asked her honestly.
Since I’d already made a few stupid comments this morning, why not go on a roll? A few more stupid comments couldn’t hurt, right?
Color rushed to her cheeks, like usual, and she stared determinedly down at her clasped hands.
“Habit, I guess,” she murmured after a moment.
“Is it ‘cause you don’t think you look good, or something?” I continued on without thinking.
It was only when those words were out of my mouth did I realize just how idiotic I sounded.
Thankfully she decided to ignore that last question on my part.
“Justin?”
Laila spoke slowly, hesitantly – like she wasn’t sure of what to say.
I glanced over at her curiously. “Yeah.”
“Why did we hate each other when we were younger, anyways?”
I was abruptly taken aback by her question, and stared in shock at her for a moment. Where had that one come from?
But it was a good question, I decided, after thinking about it for a moment. For some unknown, weird reason, I wanted to start being completely honest with her.
I wasn’t so sure if that policy counted towards giving such a ridiculous answer, though.
“You threw my popsicle across the street,” I finally admitted. “I think that’s the reason why. Then it just went downhill from there.”
Laila blinked. Then burst out laughing.
“I remember that,” she sighed, probably feeling just as nostalgic as I was. “Those were good times.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Where they, sweetheart? ‘Cause didn’t I get you tangled up in a swing set or something?”
“Yeah, but I might’ve locked you in your garage first,” she added as an afterthought.
Huh. I remembered that. I’d gotten bitten by three different spiders from that particular endeavor.
The silence that fell after Laila’s laughter wasn’t so awkward as much as …. Well, okay, maybe a little nice.
Laila leaned forward on her elbows on the counter, resting her face in her hands, looking like she was seriously debating something.
I frowned. “Something on your mind, sweetheart?”
“Do you think we could…uhm….be…friends?”
I burst out laughing at the frazzled, frantic look on Laila’s face. I knew she was scared out of her mind, and that it had taken a great amount of courage for her to get that simple sentence out, but I just couldn’t help it.
It was so… just so Laila.
Laila looked absolutely mortified as I fought to contain my laughter, hiccupping, tears practically streaming down my face. Once I got a grip and started breathing normally again, I grinned at her.
“And why would you want to be friends with me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought we were supposed to hate each other.”
Laila made a face, looking annoyed. “Yeah, well, that was years ago, right? We’re young adults here, Justin. It doesn’t send the right message to society that we act so juvenile all of the time. And don’t get a big head, either. I don’t like you.”
She sort of had a point there.
However, being friends didn’t mean that we couldn’t still annoy the heck out of each other.
But the more that I talked to this new Laila, the more I realized that I was going to have to teach her that it was okay to be juvenile sometimes, because I had a feeling that was something she clearly didn’t understand.
Honestly, looking at Laila was like looking at some stuffy middle aged woman trapped in a sixteen year olds’ body. She needed to learn how to let go and live.
“Tell you what, sweetheart,” I said seriously. “We can give being friends a shot. And who knows? It may even be fun, since, you know, we both don’t like each other and all.”
A small smile tugged at the corners of her full lips at my words and she looked just the slightest bit amused.
“Okay,” she finally said confidentially.
Yeah, I bet Laila and I being friends would only last a few minutes before she started screaming at me or I started planning more ways to embarrass the crap out of her.
But it wasn’t like I had anything better do, right? What else was I supposed to do this summer? At least until Nick’s party, that is.
And if I was going to be honest with myself, I wanted to get to know this new Laila a bit more than what I was just beginning to see.
“So, what are we going to do now that we’re friends?” I asked in mock formality.
Laila cocked her head to the side and slid off the bar stool, slowly making her way over to me with the most confused expression on her face. Then she stiffly held out a hand, her fingers locked together. Obviously, she was waiting for me to return the formal gesture.
Tch. Fat chance.
I rolled my eyes before I reached out and gripped her much smaller hand in my own, shaking it tightly.
I felt this little thrill of excitement in the pit of my stomach when I touched her hand and I didn’t know why.
I actually found myself turning just the slightest bit red.
Well, crap.
Laila must have caught on to the fact that I was currently having a mental debate with myself and ended up stepping backwards so fast she just about banged into the counter.
I probably could have fried an egg on her face, she was that red.
“So what’s on the agenda for today, sweetheart?” I asked her conspiratorially, trying not to feel so embarrassed with myself.
Why the hell had I gone and actually touched Laila Hayes?
I must be going insane.
She glanced up at me and gave me a half shrug, her cheeks still pink. “I’m planning on reading.”
I stared down at her with a blank expression, confused. “What about me?”
Laila arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “What about you?”
“You just said you wanted us to be friends, and now you’re just going to blow me off?”
Sure, I didn’t exactly like Laila per say, but it was better hanging out with her than spending the day alone and in total boredom, right?
Laila laughed, holding a hand over her mouth.
“Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean that we have to spend every second of every day together. I’m supposed to hate you, remember?” she said in a somewhat innocent voice.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I hate you too, sweetheart.”
Literally.
Laila flashed another smirk in my direction, suddenly all the confident one, and made her way towards the stairs.
“Catch you later, Justin.”
I sighed.
I was already beginning to think that this whole friendship thing was a lot more complicated than it was worth. It was probably going to take some time to figure out if she had been completely serious about the whole friends thing, too.
But I guess things were just going to have to unfold on their own, weren’t they?
I just hope I had enough patience to let that happen.