❝He trying to roll me up, I ain't picking up❞
- Beyonce, Sorry.
"What is she doing here, Kaleb?" Sydney asked in an icy tone.
Beside me, Kaleb sighed and made his way over to his bed, "Syd, I-"
"Are you kidding me, Kaleb? I have been here for over an hour waiting for you to get back from where you went, you finally come, but with... her?" She looked at me in disgust.
"Syd, Rae was having a bad morning-"
"Well, seems to me like she had been running to enter your room with the way she opened the door," she looked at him.
"We were going to play a game," Kaleb rolled his eyes and she looked at him in surprise, "A game right? Just a game... or she had other plans that doesn't include games."
"Sydney, stop it," Kaleb said sternly before throwing a quick glance at me.
I wasn't ready for this at all. I just leaned against doorframe, staring straight at her.
"What? I bet there's nothing wrong with her. I bet it's all part of her plan so she can spend every time she can with you," she turned to look at me, "But guess what, bitch, it won't work and you know why? I'm Kaleb's-"
"Sydney, I said stop it. Stop it," he swore under his breath and before he said anything else, I turned to leave.
"Rae!" I heard Kaleb call, but really, what was the point? He wouldn't ask Sydney to leave, would he? And in the end, he would be stuck with two girls who would stress him the hell out by just going back and forth.
"Renée, honey," Phoebe said just before I reached the door.
I tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear and looked at her.
"It's Sydney, isn't it?" She asked lowly. "I'm sorry, I should have told you the moment you came in, but you ran so fast."
I shrugged and forced a smile, "It's okay. I'm used to Sydney already."
Wrong. In fact, I just realized I would never be used to her and the things she said or did. She always found new ways every time.
"How do you feel? I mean, the fact that he has a girlfriend who feels threatened by you, when there's actually nothing going on between you two. How does it make you feel?" She asked.
I shrugged again, "It's tiring. Really tiring. Nothing me or Kaleb say can convince her," I paused. "I hate that I cause their disagreements. Sometimes I want to back away, but I can't. Kaleb's been my best friend for years. Why should someone he met this year ruin it?"
*****
"Did you beat Kaleb so fast?" Tanner laughed when I walked into the house.
"We didn't play," I mumbled.
"Did something happen?" He asked me.
"Sydney was there," I answered tiredly.
"What is wrong, though? You've been so moody since last night," Tanner looked directly at me. "Plus, I know you're not on your period. I didn't buy that lie and I know Kaleb knows I didn't buy it either."
I rolled my eyes and threw myself down on the couch then looked at him, "Why aren't you at work?"
"There's not much to do there today," he answered.
"Can we have wings?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"You're strange," Tanner pinched the bridge of his nose. "The only time you actually appreciate wings is when you're stress eating."
He was right, though. Emotional eating was one of my bad habits. Eating to satisfy my emotional needs and not my physical hunger never really helped me, if I was honest.
"Are we getting wings or not?" I forced a grin.
"Fine," he grabbed his phone. "I'll just ask Kendall to bring some."
"Why? Why do things have to be this way?" I said dramatically, causing Tanner to chuckle, "I was only kidding. I'll order from Wings World."
I sighed in relief and watched him type.
"Do you miss her?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Zee. Do you miss her?' I looked at him.
His eyes met mine, and he opened his mouth, but then closed it, sighed and looked back to his phone, " I do... all the time."
I wanted to be annoying and bombard him with so many questions on why they broke up, but as usual, his demeanor had changed and I knew he didn't want to talk about it.
"I'm guessing you miss someone?" He raised an eyebrow at him.
I shook my head, "No... not really."
Yes! I missed River it was quite unbelievable but I was hurt at the same time.
"You know, you used to be able to tell me everything and anything when you were younger," he started. "Like what you thought of a boy in your class, and you'd have the most serious look on your face. Sometimes you'd actually talk for like twenty minutes straight. No stops or anything, and worse, it could be about salad. You once said it was ruining your life -"
"Okay, that enough," I said in laughter. "Why would salad ruin my life?"
Tanner laughed too, "You tell me. You said it with so much seriousness," his laughter died. "What I'm trying to say is-"
I bit my lip then sighed immediately, "Okay, I know I should have told you before now, but I met a guy at the bakery. We got off talking, and then, we grew quite close. I've crushed on him since the first time I ever saw him, so that made me happy. But apparently, he has someone," I explained.
"Well, that explains the late nights," he said after a while.
I sighed, "I'm sorry. I mean, at a point, I did start working late, actually. It just happens.
He nodded, resting back on the sofa, his hands behind his head, " So, about this guy-"
"He has a girlfriend," I shrugged.
"Does that make you jealous?'
"Just hurt, mostly. I thought he liked me too."
"What if he does, though?"
"Why would he?-"
Tanner's next question totally caught me off guard.
"Have you two kissed?'
I let out a cough all of a sudden, "What?" I screeched.
"Have you two kissed?" He repeated.
I tucked my hair behind my ear, "Well, I didn't except it. I'd never kissed before -"
"You're not exactly saying anything in relation to what I asked," he said pointedly.
"Yes," I awkwardly nodded. "We have."
"That's why you're so hurt," he countered.
"Yeah, I guess," I looked down then looked to my brother who was now quiet. His gaze met mine and we were staring right at each other. With the look on his face, I knew exactly what was going through his mind.
"You know I'm upset, right?" He spoke up. I nodded. "Yeah, I figured."
"First, I have no idea who this guy is and you didn't think you should tell me then, you went as far as kissing him without being sure of what he wanted from you."
"How was I supposed to know he had a girlfriend? You guys are good at being sneaky," I said quietly and Tanner looked taken aback, then raised an eyebrow before saying, "Well, now you know he has a girlfriend, you have to respect that he's taken and kinda back off."
"I know," I felt my voice crack.
"It's okay to feel hurt, but don't put yourself in any place to be hurt. You could stay friends, but don't let yourself become his second choice. You're worth more than that," he said.
I went to hug him, burying my head in his neck, "I love you."
"I love you too, but I need you to stop growing. I can't believe you've had your first kiss already. Wait, it's your first, right? It better be your first."
I chuckled lightly, nodding.
"It seems like yesterday when you were eight and crying because I was leaving for university."
Our wings arrived about five times minutes later, and so me and Tanner decided to spend our Saturday binging on wings and Netflix, his burly blanket draped over us. Somewhere in the middle of a movie, Tanner suggested we ordered ice cream and I couldn't even say no. We had to wait for twenty minutes, and by the time it arrived, I did a little dance.
While I had frozen yogurt with sprinkles and M&M's, Tanner had a vanilla ice cream with crushed oreos, sprinkles, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
"Do you have have a goal to be diabetic at 26?" I looked at my brother who had taken a large spoon of ice cream into his mouth.
"Oh please, let me live, I work my butt off sometimes, I don't get to eat like this everyday."
I rolled my eyes, chuckling, when my phone vibrated. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was a text from River.
*Hey. I didn't get to see you yesterday. I hope you're alright.*
Oh, I was perfect.
I put down my phone and let out a breath. I didn't need to be thinking of him. I just wanted to spend the day with my brother. At least, he cared about me.
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