Being Watched
Chapter 6
The rest of the week passes slowly but at least I don’t spend another break on my own. Of course I feel like an outsider many times but it’s not as bad anymore or I’m just getting used to it.
I call my best friends every day and I even had the chance to talk to several other friends at my old school. Talking to people from my old school always makes me feel better but afterwards I feel the familiar homesickness.
I jump slightly when my phone vibrates on my stomach. I’m lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling so I grab my cell phone, raising it above my head and read the message I got from Gavin.
He sent me his address and said to be there at seven. I glance at the top of my iPhone and see that it’s still four o'clock. I lock my phone and put it next to my pillow before closing my eyes to take a nap.
When I wake up it’s already five thirty so I take a shower and get dressed in jeans and a comfortable white hoodie. I then walk downstairs and find my mom preparing dinner and my dad watching TV.
I had already told them that I’m going to Gavin’s today. They were a bit reluctant at first because I wanted to go to a guy’s house and stay there overnight. They were right. I mean sure I used to spend a lot of nights at John’s or Jack’s house but that was different. They knew them and their parents very well.
But luckily, when I told them his family name, they discovered that his parents were their co-workers and they were good people so after some convincing, they let me go.
“Dad, can you drive me to Gavin’s house?” I ask.
“Sure,” he replies before putting on his shoes and grabbing his keys.
I put my cell phone and money in my jeans pocket and take the three DVDs I chose and follow dad to his car.
On our way there he keeps on telling me to call him if I need anything or if I want to go back home. I nod and promise him to call if I need him.
“Thanks dad!” I call out as I step out of the car.
I look up at the cute two-story building in front of me. I walk up the two steps and ring the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opens and a small white dog comes running outside. I quickly lean down and scoop her in my arms.
She barks softly and I rub her neck. She starts licking my cheek, making me laugh.
“Hey,” Gavin says. “Sorry about that. Maggie just likes greeting the guests.”
“It’s okay,” I say, chuckling as I walk inside. “My best friend back home had a dog that used to do the same thing.”
I smile slightly when I remember Roger, John’s dog. He got him a few years ago. I was so scared of him at first but now I adore him!
“Stephy!” A voice says and I narrow my eyes at Jeremy.
“You’re never going to stop calling me that, are you?” I say.
“Nope,” he answers, grinning.
I roll my eyes at him and Gavin asks, “Why do you hate it so much?”
I grimace as I think of Parker. “My ex-boyfriend used to call me that.”
“What happened?” Jeremy asks.
“We broke up after he tried taking advantage of me at a party,” I reply, shuddering as I remember that night. Thank God John was there to beat him up and then take me home.
“He didn’t… ” Gavin trailed off.
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “My best friend beat him up before he could.”
He nods. “Sorry about that.”
I wave dismissively. “It was two years ago.”
“What a jerk,” I hear Jeremy mutter.
“He is but he was a perfect boyfriend for six months before that. He just surprised us all. Even John was okay with him being my boyfriend!” I say.
“Who’s John?” Gavin asks.
“The one who beat him up,” I reply and he nods.
I shake away all the memories and grin as I hold up the three DVDs I have.
“Shall we begin watching?” I say and both guys grin.
“I’ll order pizza, these are the three movies I picked,” Gavin says, giving me three DVD boxes as he left the TV room we were sitting in.
I took the boxes and read the names of the movies.
Clash of the Titans.
Thor.
The Raven.
I nod my head in approval at his movie choice. I then put the ones I picked next to his.
21 Jump Street.
Gone.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
“Since Jeremy didn’t get to choose any movie,” Gavin says as he walks back into the room. “He gets to pick which one we watch first.”
Gavin then looks at my three DVDs and nods in approval like I did a few minutes ago.
Jeremy picks 21 Jump Street first and Gavin puts in the DVD.
Around twenty minutes later, the pizza arrives and we eat while watching the movie.
When that movie is over, I help Gavin remove the plates and pizza box while Jeremy just lies down on the couch.
I smirk when I walk back into the TV room and find Jeremy with his eyes closed.
“It’s still too early, Jeremy,” Gavin says, hitting his friend’s head. Jeremy’s eyes open quickly and he glares at his Gavin.
“You know movies make me sleepy,” he grumbles.
“So I’m guessing you don’t take girls to the movies for a date?” I say and he blushes slightly.
“No,” he replies.
“We wouldn’t want a disastrous date like the one with Katy,” Gavin says, smirking at his blushing best friend.
“Why? What happened?” I ask curiously.
“Nothing—” Jeremy starts but Gavin cuts him off.
“Jeremy was thirteen years old and he had his first date with Katy, a girl that used to live here, so he decided on a cliché movie and dinner date. Jeremy fell asleep halfway through the movie. Katy tried waking him up when the movie was over but he wouldn’t wake up so after twenty minutes she gave up and left. The security came in afterwards and threw him out of the theater.”
Jeremy was looking at the floor, his cheeks and ears crimson.
I burst out laughing and Gavin joined me. I kept on laughing and laughing and couldn’t stop.
“Man that was hilarious!” I say when I manage to stop laughing.
Jeremy mutters incoherent things and Gavin just chuckles.
Gavin then takes the movie Thor and puts it in the DVD player before sitting in the recliner I was sitting in earlier.
“Hey!” I protest and he smirks.
“It’s my house so I get to pick where I want to sit,” he says and I raise my eyebrows at him.
“I thought you should let the guest pick first,” I reply and he laughs and shrugs his shoulders.
Knowing that he won’t give me his seat, I plop down on the couch next to Jeremy.
Just as Gavin is about to press ‘play’, my phone starts ringing and Martha’s name flashes on my screen.
“Just a second,” I tell them as I answer my phone.
“Hello,” I say, smiling.
“Steph! Skype right now!” She says.
“I can’t now, I’m at a friend’s house,” I tell her as Jeremy and Gavin watch me.
“No, come on! We’re all here now and we want to talk to you!” She says.
“We all talked on Skype yesterday,” I point out.
“No, not just the four of us,” she replies. “Many others from school. Come on Steph, use their laptop, we miss you!”
I bite my lip, thinking it over.
“I don’t know, Martha, maybe another time,” I tell her.
I hear a muffled ‘give me the phone’ and a bit of shuffling then I hear Jack’s loud voice.
“Stephany! Skype right now!” He screams and I pull the phone away from my ear. I’m sure Gavin and Jeremy heard him because they both raise their eyebrows at me.
“What the hell Jack? Are you drunk?!” I ask him.
“No, I just miss you!” He yells again.
“Stop yelling!” I exclaim and he laughs.
“I won’t stop till you open Skype!” He yells and I sigh.
“Gavin can I use your laptop for a bit?” I ask.
“If it will make him stop yelling, sure,” he says and I chuckle
“Okay, Jack, you can stop yelling now,” I tell him.
“She’s on!” I hear Carla say and the line disconnects.
I put down my iPhone and thank Gavin before Martha calls me on Skype.
“Stephany!” They all exclaim and my eyes widen.
“Whoa, hey guys,” I say as I look at the people on my screen. There are at least twenty of my friends.
“Are you at John’s house?” I ask glancing at the corner of the screen where I can see the familiar border of the painting he has in his living room.
“Yeah,” John says and I grin. “Don’t you miss my house?”
“I do,” I reply.
“And do you miss me?” He asks.
“Hmm no it’s just the house,” I reply and they all laugh.
“When are you coming home?” Someone asks. The sound is not clear so I don’t know who is asking what but I answer anyway.
“I don’t know… Not any time soon, I think,” I reply.
“Aww but Mr. Baker misses you,” Lynn, a girl in my English class says and I laugh along with the rest of my friends.
“Tell him I said hi,” I joke.
We chat for the next three minutes then all my friends leave the room and only my four best friends are now on the screen.
“Steph! Steph! Steph! Guess what?!” Jack yells, bouncing up and down. “I got a B on my physics test!”
“Jack how much sugar did you eat?” I ask him.
“Not much,” he yells and I roll my eyes at him then he says, “Uh oh,” and his face turns pale just like it did during the last day I spent with my friends at the park when he threw up while hanging upside down on the monkey bars.
“To the bathroom, Jack!” John yells at him and Jack runs away. I hear some shuffling and a scream then both Carla and Martha yell at the same time.
“Jack, you idiot!” And they run after him.
I laugh at the typical scene and John shakes his head, an amused smile on his lips.
Then he looks at me and smiles sadly.
“I never thought we would be so far away from each other,” he says and I nod, biting my lip. I really miss John a lot. The longest we’ve been apart was a week when he traveled once a couple of years ago.
We used to see each other every day and we spent most of our times together.
Suddenly, I hear a sound of something crashing and John groans.
“I’ll call you again tomorrow when these idiots aren’t here, breaking everything in my house!” He says and I laugh.
“Okay, and thank you,” I tell him, giving him a grateful smile because I know my best friend and I know that he doesn’t like having a lot of people over but he invited them just so we could chat. He noticed that I was feeling homesick this past week and I was grateful for what he did because it did make me feel better.
He smiles at me. “Anytime, Steph.”
Then he disconnects. I sign out and close Gavin’s laptop.
“Thanks,” I tell him and he smiles.
“No problem,” he says.
“You’re popular,” Jeremy observed and that’s when I noticed that he probably saw all my friends on the screen.
I shrug. “I’ve been with those people for as long as I remember.”
“It must be hard moving away and all,” Gavin comments and I nod.
“It is,” I reply. I really wish I didn’t move away.
After a few moments of silence, Gavin speaks. “So Thor?”
I smile and nod. He presses ‘play’ without interruptions this time and the movie starts.
Fifteen minutes later, Jeremy falls asleep in a sitting position on the couch. I chuckle and shake my head at him before focusing on the TV again.
Halfway through the movie, Jeremy mumbles something in his sleep and the next thing I know, his head is resting on my lap as he snores softly.
“Uh…” I say, looking at the blond boy.
Gavin laughs and shrugs. “We’ll wake him up when the movie ends.”
“Um okay,” I say uncomfortably and try to ignore the sleeping boy but it’s not as easy as it seems.
He looks so cute when he’s sleeping and for a minute I remember when I used to see him sleeping in his room and I smile.
While watching the movie, my hand unconsciously plays with Jeremy's hair, enjoying its softness.
He mumbles incoherent things under his breath and my hand freezes as I hold my breath. Gavin is so engrossed in the movie, he doesn’t even notice.
When I hear his soft snoring again, I breathe out and my hand starts moving in his hair again.
The movie ends soon and I take my hand out of Jeremy’s hair before Gavin notices because that would be awkward and embarrassing.
“Wake him up and I’ll go make some popcorn for the next movie,” Gavin says. “He’ll be sleeping in the guest room, the first door on the right upstairs.”
I nod my head and he exits the room.
I bite my lip as I stare at his beautiful sleeping face. I really don’t like waking people up so I hesitate at first.
“Jeremy?” I call out. No answer what so ever. He doesn’t even stir. I know he’s a heavy sleeper so this will be harder than I thought.
“Jeremy?” I call again but louder this time. I shake his shoulder slightly and he groans.
“Wake up,” I tell him and he mumbles a protest, making me smile.
“I can’t carry you upstairs so you have to wake up,” I tease him and he stirs.
“I’ll stay here,” he mumbles, his eyes still closed.
“I’m sure the pillow will be more comfortable than my lap,” I joke. “Plus your head is kind of heavy.”
His eyes snap open and he’s up in a flash, almost hitting my head in the process.
“Oh I-I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes wide and his cheeks red.
I chuckle and shake my head. “It’s okay, just go to sleep. You look tired.”
He gives me a smile and rubs his eyes tiredly.
“Have a nice movie night,” he says as he stands up from the couch.
“Thanks,” I reply. “Sweet dreams.”
“Thanks,” he says, ruffling my hair and I smile.
Gavin comes in just as Jeremy is leaving. He gives his best friend a smirk and Jeremy just rolls his eyes before going upstairs.
Gavin takes a seat next to me on the couch and we start eating popcorn as we play the next movie, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’
It’s around nine in the morning when the final movie ‘The Raven’ ends.
I yawn and rub my heavy eyes. Gavin looks tired as well. I guess we’ll be both sleeping all day today.
I call my mom as Gavin takes out the DVD.
“Hey mom, can you come pick me up?” I ask.
“We’re on our way to church now. We’ll pick you up afterwards, okay?” She asks.
“Okay so around ten?” I ask.
“Yes,” she replies. “Bye.”
“Bye,” I say before hanging up.
I open my mouth to tell Gavin that I’m staying for another hour but before I get the chance to do that, Jeremy walks in with a bright smile on his face.
“Good morning!” He chirps happily and Gavin shoots him a look that clearly says ‘shut up’. He’s grumpy when he’s tired, I think to myself.
“Good morning,” I tell Jeremy, smiling at him then I yawn.
“Hey, Gavin, my parents are going to church now, is it okay if I stay for another hour?” I ask.
He nods and shrugs. “Sure, but I’m going to sleep.”
I chuckle. “It’s okay, go ahead.”
He waves and goes upstairs to his room. Jeremy goes to the kitchen and I follow him as he prepares breakfast for himself. He offers me some but I decline because Gavin and I have been eating all night.
He devours the food in record time then washes the dishes and utensils he used.
We then go back to the TV room and I sit on the couch, closing my eyes.
My eyes open when I feel someone’s hands on my shoulders. I give Jeremy a questioning look but he just smiles as he pushes me down on the couch so that my head is resting on his lap.
“I owe you for last night,” he says and I chuckle.
If it were a different case, I wouldn’t have stayed like that but I’m too tired to complain so I make myself comfortable and fall asleep.
I jump when I hear my phone ringing. A hand grabs the phone from the table and that’s when I remember how I fell asleep around an hour ago.
I blush and sit up quickly.
“I’m sorry, you must’ve been bored to death,” I say quickly, glancing at him for a brief second only.
I see him smiling from the corner of my eye so I finally look at him. “It’s okay, I offered in the first place.”
I smile too. “Thanks,” I say and my phone which is still in Jeremy’s hand, beeps.
I take it from him and read the text from my mom saying that they’re waiting for me outside.
“My parents are here,” I say as I stand up and Jeremy does the same. I grab my DVDs from the table and walk out of the TV room with Jeremy by my side.
“Tell Gavin I said thank you,” I tell Jeremy as I open the front door.
“Okay, bye Stephy,” He says.
Instead of getting annoyed and telling him to stop calling me that, I smile. He seems surprised at my reaction but I actually wasn’t bothered this time. Parker is in the past and it’s just a nickname. It shouldn’t matter so much.
“Bye, Jeremy,” I say as I hop into my parents’ car.
“How was it?” My mom asks when I get in.
“Great,” I reply with a smile on my face as I close my eyes.
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