"I think we should paint your room green," Everett declared.
He sat cross legged on my desk chair now—the opposite way as well—as he hugged the chair back. I was only glad it didn't have wheels or else he'd be trying to roll around in this dangerous position.
"Why green?"
"I have dubbed it as your favourite colour." Everett lowered his voice as he confided in me. "You can't just not have one, so I picked it for you."
He looked very pleased with himself, his beaming smile stretching from ear to ear. Green suddenly seemed like a very nice colour to have as my favourite.
My gaze travelled over the plain white walls, the only thing to break the monotony being the pale wooden Ikea furniture. Double bed with a wooden slatted headboard, a three door wardrobe along one wall, and a simple desk with a—luckily quite sturdy since Everett was now rocking on it—desk chair. All in the same shade of light almond.
"It would certainly...brighten the place up." I considered it for a moment. "Maybe you have a point."
Everett jumped off the chair, catching it quickly as it started to topple over. "And it would be such fun! We can get those huge rolly brushes and just swipe them around everywhere."
He acted out some frienzied painting, waving his arms wildly above his head in a way that would surely get more paint on himself than on my walls. Perhaps I should be fairly worried for the state of my furniture once he's done.
"I'm actually really experienced at painting. I have a lot of practice," Everett hurriedly said as if he were reading my mind. "I painted my whole room, all by myself."
"It was done really well," I admitted, eyeing him suspiciously as a mischievous look flitted across his features. It only lasted a moment.
Everett's eyes turned wide and innocent. "We passed a huge home improvement store on the way here. I bet they have paint."
"You wanna go get it now?"
A grin split across his face. "Before you change your mind."
"Alright fine, I think we can paint just one wall green," I acquiesced.
"Ooh do you want to paint each of them a different colour?"
"No! It'll be difficult to move the bed and wardrobes; let's just paint that wall." I pointed at the one that was completely bare except for the door and the light switch.
"Alright, that is the worst wall," Everett agreed.
He pulled me to my feet and then bounded down the stairs. I dropped into the kitchen to tell Jamie we're heading out as Everett busied himself lacing up his boots.
"Hey, we're going out for a minute," I said, "to the store nearby. I'm painting my room green."
"Green? Really?"
I smiled. "Just one wall. Do you need the keys...or will you be here?"
Jamie waved me off. "I might go out in a bit, but I found my key set. It was under the car seat."
"Ah, alright." I stuffed my keys back in my pocket.
"So...I see someone finally managed to convince you to give your room a makeover." Jamie steepled her fingers, a sly smile making its way onto her face. "I've been trying to spruce that place up for ages."
"It's not really a makeover," I argued. "It's a wall."
"Sure, sure." She threw me another look. "You know...."
The long pause showed she was waiting for me to prompt her. I blew out in exasperation. "What?"
"Well, I think I might have some good news for you," Jamie declared. "I've been watching you both today and I think Everett likes you."
"Like- what do you mean, of course he likes me. We're dating," I spluttered.
Jamie threw me a sympathetic look. "Sure you are."
I glared at her. "Why would I lie about that."
"Why did you interrupt me when I called him your boyfriend then?" she challenged, walking to the fridge to grab a carton of chocolate milk. "But it's alright if you're a little delusional about it. For what it's worth, I think he does like you."
"Of course he does, we're together—"
Jamie patted me on the back. "Well it's good that you're finally being optimistic about it at least."
I exhaled deeply, trying to hold on to my patience. "Alright, well- I'll get going now then."
"Oh wait!"
"What?"
"You should ask him about his future plans and stuff, see how you fit into those," she advised. "That's how you can tell if things are serious."
"Plans? I don't think he has any." I frowned. "And it's way too early to ask that stuff anyway."
Jamie pointed at me. "It's never too early; I always ask about someone's five year plan on the first date itself."
"That is such a lesbian thing to do...."
"Hahah." Jamie swatted me with the hand holding the carton, almost spilling chocolate milk over me in the process. "Well you should get going." She nodded towards the glass semicircle on the door through which I could see a distorted vision of Everett struggling to find the arms of his jacket. "Your boy-space-friend is waiting."
"Hey, there is no space. You know what, I will ask him," I said decidedly, "if only to get you to stop annoying me about it."
"Always a good excuse to ask someone out," she said cheekily.
Everett was still shrugging on his jacket as I left the kitchen, having just figured out where the arms went. He held out mine and I slipped it on.
"Ready to go?"