Alexandria Anderson
I pause the movie that I am watching and walk towards the front door to answer it.
“Ryan.” I utter in surprise as I open the door wider.
“Hi.” he says whilst smiling and waves at me.
I let him in and the two of us walk into the Living room.
“You know, we’ve known each other for a year now but it’s the first time that you came over by yourself.” I say to him, as the two of us sit on the sofa.
He cocks his head a little, “I don’t think it’s the first time.”
“Yes, it is, silly.” I chuckle. “Anyway, what do you want that you came over?”
“I have a question that I want to ask you.” he answers.
“You could’ve just sent me a text, Ryan.” I say whilst smiling.
“I know but I, uh, I want to see you..” he says in a quiet voice, as he looks down.
I smile and bite my lip, “So, you said that you have a question that you want to ask me.” I say, changing to subject.
“Yeah, you know how to bake, right?” he casually asks.
I chuckle and nod, “Yeah.”
“Great, come with me then.” he says, getting up and taking my wrist.
“The movie isn’t finish yet, Ryan!” I point towards the television.
“We’ll finish that together later, don’t worry.” he winks and picks up the remote controller from the coffee table.
I sigh, as he turns the television off and the two of us walk across the street and towards their flat.
“So, what are you up to today?” I ask him as we ascend the stairs.
He looks over at me and smiles sheepishly.
“We, uh, we’re going to bake.” he replies.
I look down and stifle a laugh, I just remember one of their vlogs back on December – when they had a baking competition.
“Alexandria,” Rye says. “I know what you’re thinking.”
I laugh, “I am sorry, so is that the reason why..”
“Yeah.” he chuckles, knocking on the door and Brooklyn answers it.
“Alexa!” Brooklyn enthusiastically says.
“Hi, Wyatt.” I smile and wave at him.
Brooklyn lets us in and when I get into their room, Mikey’s the only one there.
“Hi, Alexa.” Mikey smiles, putting his headphones down.
I smile back at him and wave a little, as I sit down on the sofa.
“Where’s Andy and Jack?” Rye asks.
“Oh, they’re just getting ready.” Mikey replies.
“I heard my name.” Andy says, as he walks into the room and stops when he saw me. “Oh, hi.”
“Hey.” I chuckle.
Andy sits down next to me and we wait for Jack, before we leave for Asda. When we get there, the boys spend a couple minutes just arguing on what to buy.
• • •
After putting the pan into the oven, the boys excuse themselves to go the lounge room to play Xbox whilst Rye and I are left in the kitchen.
“Why don’t you just play with the boys?” I ask him as I start to clean up.
“Nah, I’d rather stay here with you.” he answers.
I stop what I was doing and didn’t say anything, I could feel my heart beating faster.
“Well, uh, I mean, the boys and I are always together so..” he stutters.
I just nod and when I am about to carry the utensils over to the sink, Rye takes them from the counter and puts them into the sink. As I wash the dirty utensils and bowls, Rye walks towards me and suddenly wipes something onto my cheek.
“What is that?” I ask and he just smiles at me.
I turn the tap off and dry my hands on my sweatpants, before wiping my cheek and taking a look at it – it’s white powder which I assume is flour.
“Ryan..” I scowl at him.
He just smiles innocently and after a couple seconds, I wipe it on his cheek. He sprints towards the counter and wipes more flour onto my cheeks, causing me to gape at him. I smile, as I get a handful of flour and try to get back at him. After a couple minutes, I stop what I was doing when I realize that the boys became quiet. Rye probably got the same idea so he stops and when we look over to the doorway, we see the boys – peeking their heads behind the doorframe.
“What are you four doing there?” I chuckle.
Andy lets out a sheepish laugh, as he comes out from behind the doorframe and walks into the kitchen.
“Nothing, we are just um, taking a look.” he says, looking at the boys and laughs.
I just look at him and the boys follow him, walking into the kitchen.
“Yeah, right, taking a look.” Rye scoffs, making the boys laugh.
“I am just going to get some water.” Brooklyn says with a teasing smile on his face.
He walks over to the fridge and pour himself a glass of water, whilst they tease Rye. Afterwards, the boys leave the room again and I go back to what I was doing whilst Rye continues to clean the counter.
“Where should I put the containers?” Rye asks, looking at me as he puts them on top of the counter next to the sink where I am currently washing the utensils and bowls.
I take them and stand on my tiptoes as I open the cupboard, struggling to put the dry ingredients back to where they should be.
“Let me.” he says and just stands right behind me, taking the one that I am holding and put them into the cupboard.
I just look down and when Rye stops what he was doing, I look over to my shoulder and up at him – he was just looking at me.
“Alexandria, I have something to tell you.” he puts his hand down and take a step back.
“What is it?” I ask, turning around to face him and put my hands on the edge of the counter as I look up at him.
As he was about to say something, the timer of the oven went off.
“Oh, wait a second, I’ll just take that out.” I say, smiling sheepishly as I walk over to the oven. “Just continue, Ryan.”
“It is done?” Brooklyn asks, running into the room.
“Yeah.” I chuckle as I take the mittens on top of the counter and put them on.
The boys walk into the kitchen and take their own slices of brownies and when I look over at Rye, he looks rather upset.
“What were you going to say?” I ask, as I walk over to him.
“Uh, I already forgot.” he says in a flat tone.
I look at him for a couple seconds and just let it slide. “Well, come on, let’s eat.” I say, taking his wrist as I walk towards the counter.
Rye and I take a slice of brownies and we go to the Living room, where the other boys are. They just sat there on their cellphones, as they eat.
“We still have a movie to finish, right?” Rye asks, looking at me with a smile.
“Yeah,” I reply. “I forgot about that actually.”
I sit down next to Brooklyn and turn the television on and switch it to the movie that I was watching earlier, starting it from the beginning for the boys to catch up.