Chapter 5: What are you a Care Bear?
Greyson's Point of View
I woke up from what felt like a feather tickling my nose. I opened my eyes and all I saw was Bren’s golden hair. I grinned at this and wrapped my arm tighter around her slender waist. Bren responded by rolling to face me and snuggling into my bare chest. I could see that she was still sound asleep, but I couldn’t help enjoying her reaction anyway.
I studied her peaceful face. Her ocean blue eyes were covered, but I noticed how long her blonde eyelashes were. Her nose was just the right size, although it was slightly crooked from the time I accidently pegged her with a baseball when we were eight. My eyes travelled down to her plump pink lips and I wondered if they were as soft as they looked. I had never felt such an overwhelming desire to kiss someone before, but I knew I couldn’t. Bren said she didn’t know how she felt yet, and I had to respect that.
“You’re killing me, Bren,” I muttered as I climbed out of bed. I really shouldn’t think this much about one person, especially not my best friend.
I opened my bedroom door and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Maybe I could make chocolate chips waffles today. Bren absolutely loves them and I could really go for some right now.
I entered the kitchen to find I was not alone; Sterling was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. This was quite odd to me considering that Sterling rarely got up before ten on the weekends and it was only eight. My parents were both off to work by seven, so they weren’t usually around in the mornings either. I kind of liked that bit of time to myself.
"What are you doing up?” I asked him surprised.
“I had trouble sleeping,” he shrugged as he continued to eat his cereal.
I dug through the cupboard to find the waffle iron. Then I pulled out the waffle mix and chocolate chips. I had just starting preparing the batter when Sterling spoke again.
“Dude, you’re making waffles? Can I have some?”
“Sure, even though you are eating cereal already. I just figured they’d be a nice surprise for Bren,” I replied as I added in chocolate chips to the mix.
“Speaking of Bren…”
“What about her?” I asked as I stopped what I was doing to look over at him with narrowed eyes. I wasn’t sure if I liked where this was going.
“Well, we talked last night.”
“Oh, I forgot about that! How did that go?” I questioned nosily as I mentally chided myself for falling asleep before she came back.
“Alright I guess. She forgave me and we’re friends,” he answered.
“What’s with the ‘I guess’? Shouldn’t that be a good thing?” I asked puzzled. I had to be missing something here.
"Well, talking about all of that made her pretty upset. I know I hurt her, but I guess I didn’t realize exactly how much I had until last night.” He paused a moment before continuing, “She was crying Greyson. And not just her eyes were getting teary; this was the full on waterworks.”
I didn’t really know what to say to that. Brennan rarely cried. She looked like she was going to cry at moments, but it hardly ever actually happened.
“Look Sterling,” I finally said, “I've only ever seen Bren cry four times. Once when her mom left and she was just a little kid. Another time when her dog, Barkly, died. Now she’s cried twice over you. She didn’t even cry when she fell out of the tree house and broke her arm. I don't know if you still like Brennan like that, but I suggest you keep things in the friend zone. I know I don't want to see her get hurt anymore and I'm pretty sure you don't want to either.”
Sterling glared at me for a moment before speaking, “Is that supposed to be some kind of threat Greyson? You know I wouldn’t do something like that again.”
“So you do still like her then?”
“Is that a problem?” he challenged with a hard glint in his eyes.
“Is what a problem?” Brennan asked sleepily from the kitchen door.
We both turned to look at her. I glanced helplessly at Sterling; he was notorious for being able to come up with stuff on the spot.
“I just asked Grey if it would be a problem to make me some waffles too, since he was already making some,” Sterling said with a smile at Bren.
“You’re making waffles?” Bren asked excitedly as she tackled me into a hug. “You’re the best, Grey!”
I smirked at Sterling over her shoulder before letting her down and going back to making the waffles. She sat at the table near him and began reading the comics. Brennan may be smart, but she’s easily entertained.
“Sterling! I was reading that!” I heard Bren growl a few moments later.
“Haven’t you ever heard that sharing is caring?” Sterling asked as he held the comics out of her reach.
“What are you a Care Bear?” She retorted, leaving my brother speechless for probably the first time in his life.
“The waffles are done!” I announced as I held back a chuckle. Bren took that moment to effectively steal the comics back from the distracted Sterling.
Everyone was quiet for a while as we all dug into our food. This was definitely the right way to start the day.
“Oh Grey, I’m going shopping with Lilah today. She’s coming to pick me up soon.”
“You guys going for anything in particular or just girl time?” I asked.
“Both actually. Lilah and I haven’t done anything together in forever. Plus, we wanted to start looking for Prom dresses.”
"You do realize that it’s only November right? Prom isn’t until May,” I said slowly. What is wrong with girls? They really think that they have to start shopping this early?
“Well, we probably won’t find anything. We’re just starting to look; it’s a long process.” She laughed. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready.”
With that she headed upstairs and I couldn’t help but to watch her walk away. I glared at Sterling when I realized he was doing the exact same thing.
“Greyson, I hate to break it to you, but Bren is not your girlfriend. Stop being so damn protective, you don’t own her!” he snarled as soon as Bren was out of earshot.
“I’m very well aware of that fact. I’m sorry I feel like I should protect my friend from people like you,” I spat back and found myself stepping closer to him.
Sterling closed the remaining space between us. “Bren isn’t a child. She can take care of herself. She doesn’t need—”
Ding-dong.
“That must be Lilah,” I muttered and I walked out of the kitchen to open the front door.
“Hey Grey!” Lilah greeted me warmly with a hug. “Where’s Brennan?”
“She’s upstairs getting ready still. She’s probably gonna be a while still, so come on in.”
“Okeydokey.”
Lilah entered through the front door and followed me into the empty kitchen. Sterling must have retreated to his room. We sat down at the table and made small talk for about fifteen minutes. Finally, Bren came down and off they went.
I went upstairs to my room and changed into a green t-shirt and black athletic shorts. I needed to go for a run and clear my thoughts. Besides, I really needed to keep in shape for track season. Coach Jackson would kill me if I came back in the shape I was in now. I’m not even close to my PR from last year.
I had just gotten back from my three mile run when I had an incoming call from Bren.
“Hey,” I answered.
“My dad called. He finished early, so he will be home tonight. He said there’s something he wants to talk to me about, so I have to stay at home tonight. I’ll talk to you later, ‘kay?”
“Alright, sounds good. Let me know if you need anything. Bye.”
“Bye Grey.”
I took a much needed shower and lounged around for most of the day. Around four, I received a text from my sort of friend, Cole.
'Hey. Party at my place @ 7.'
I haven’t been to a good party in a while and Cole’s were pretty well known. This could definitely be fun.