"Eh, It was alright," Carter shrugs.
"ALRIGHT? Are you kidding me? Hercules is not alright! IT'S- IT'S-"
A hand clasps over my mouth before I can finish what I was saying.
"Just save your breath, Lena," he commands.
I sigh into his hand which was still on my mouth, and give him a glare.
"Now let's put some Legos together, shall we?" He says all smiley and what not. One thing's for sure, his smile hasn't changed. Oh gosh that's so cheesy.
I keep glaring at him and stick my tongue out so that it touched his palm.
"GROSS GROSS." He shouts quickly moving his hand away. His face scrunched up with his eyes closed.
"Not so tough, Mr.Bodyguard," I smirk. He still was squirming around from my unnecessary saliva.
"Why would you do that?" He asks. He rubs the palm of his hand all over the floor.
"It's all your fault for leaving your hand on my mouth," I say.
"Gross," he repeats, but in a whisper.
I lean over as much as I can, instead of standing up, to try and reach the shopping bag with the games. My hand is short about five inches, so I try to lean even more forward. The distance isn't worth having to get up, so after one more try, I rest my arms.
Carter lets out a chuckle while shaking his head.
"You are the laziest person I know," he comments.
I shoot him a cold stare, even though I know I'm lazy.
"All of your friends are bodyguards, so that is unfair," I add.
He reaches over and easily gets the bag. He could've done that for me in the first place.
"Thanks," I say snatching the bag from his hand.
I fish out the Lego box with the theme of Disney Princesses.
"Which one do you want to do? Rapunzel or Snow White?" I ask Carter.
"Rapunzel. She's hotter," he says simply.
I lean back a little away from him.
"She's animated, Carter" I break the news to him.
"So?"
"So she's not real!" I laugh.
"Alright, tell me. You have never had a cartoon crush before?" He asks leaning closer.
We were on the floor so that our chests were level to the coffee table. The couch was supporting our backs. The TV was on, but it was still on the Netflix menu not showing anything.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Carter staring intently at me.
"Okay fine. When Zuko changed his hair and it wasn't in that ugly ponytail all the time, I was kind of obsessed." I admit. Now I feel like a hypocrite.
Carter starts to burst out laughing. He threw his head back so much that it was laying on the couch. His laughing was to the point to where it was insulting.
"ZUKO. You mean from Avatar? The kid who had a burnt eye? ZUKO? Seriously?" He questioned.
"Yes seriously! I'm pretty sure all the girls who watched that can agree!" I defend. I start to feel a little weird after admitting that. I mean, after all, Zuko really is just a cartoon.
"Now I'm curious." Carter ponders rubbing his chin with his fingers.
"Curious about what?" I ask.
"Do you happen to have the Avatar series?"
"Oh god, Carter, even if I did, I would not let you watch it!"
I tear open the Lego box to block out whatever Carter has to say.
"Why, you don't want me to see you blush?" He teases.
I ignore Carter, and dump all the needed Lego pieces on the coffee table. I start organizing the parts and set them with their copies. There's a lot, so it will take awhile.
"C'mon don't ignore me now, Lena," speaks Carter.
"Are you that embarrassed?" He asks.
I continue separating everything.
It's silent for awhile. The tv is still on the Netflix menu. In my peripheral, I could tell Carter was looking at me. He's no longer grinning, instead he is watching me intently. As long as he is no longer teasing me, I am fine.
I keep my full attention on the Legos in front of me, instead of the view in my peripherals.
A hand reaches out and grabs a pink Lego, then dumps it into the right pile. The hand grabs more, and sorts them out. With no words, Carter starts to help.
In less than five minutes, all the pieces are sorted perfectly.
"Okay, how do we start this thing?"
I take out the instructions from the box, and open it to the first page.
"We have to do this step by step, if we skip one step, then it can throw the whole thing off. Got it?" I tell Carter.
"Sounds boring, I'm going to go check the building."
Carter slaps his hand on the table and hoists himself up.
"That's it?"
"What's it?" Carter asks.
"You're just gonna quit because it looks boring? You haven't even tried to do it yet." I argue.
"Well, I was told to come by earlier, but I stayed through Hercules instead of going," he says truthfully.
"Oh, I see. Thanks, then."
He trots across the living room area.
"Don't be scared while I'm gone, okay?"
I scoff, "I won't."
I turn my head to see Carter right at the door. He was still looking at me, though. When my eyes met his, he gave me a smirk.
I turn back to the Legos the same time I hear the door shut. I honestly was touched that he decided to stay so he can watch Hercules with me, instead of going to work.
~
It's an odd feeling to be with your old best friend all of a sudden. I vaguely remember the inside jokes, the drama, and the fun we had. Some memories are stronger than others. What I do know, is that Carter and I were great friends. Actually, he was my only friend.
During all those years that I've been away, the only other person I have become friends with is Riley. She was my replacement for Carter. His inside jokes were left behind for Riley's. The drama wasn't as close to the drama with Riley. The fun, however, remained the same.
So I guess I only have two friends in my lifetime. It can change later, but for now it's two. Two is better than one.
Yet, I am here sitting alone.
I'm only halfway through Rapunzel's Lego tower. If it wasn't for the distraction that was on the tv, I would be done by now.
I put on A Cinderella Story after Carter left, which was a terrible choice. I was planning on finishing the Lego structure to show Carter how easy it is, but Chad Michael Murray had other plans.
My eyes have never landed on anything hotter than Chad as Austin Aames. Seriously, Austin Aames is every girl's dream guy. He is romantic, tall, strong, athletic, beautiful voice, nice jawline, perfect hair, and not to mention his way of words. I should thank the producers for putting him in a baseball tee, Prince Charming costume, and in a football jersey. Talk about heart eye emojis.
I'm at the highlight of the movie. The part where Sam decides to leave the football game, and Austin notices.
The scene I vouched as the most romantic scene in Teen Rom movies.
As Austin ditches his game to run to Sam, I could feel tears start to form in my eyes. His face looks great even when he runs.
He climbs the bleachers until he is face to face with Sam.
"Austin, what are you doing?"
Oh boy, I'm going to start crying.
"Something I should've done a long time ago."
Oh no.
Then, Austin Aames, Prince Charming, kisses Sam, Cinderella. On cue, the rain starts.
And the best part-
"Sorry I waited for the rain."
My eyes were like the rain, coming down nice and steady, but in great numbers.
"Uh...Need a tissue?"
I turn my head and look to see that Carter was back. See, the movie was so distracting that I didn't even hear the door open. I could've been kidnapped, and I still wouldn't move my eyes from the screen.
Carter was standing behind the couch, so he leaned over as much as possible so his head was leveled with mine.
"Are you really crying?" He observes.
His face was only one foot away, so he had to look at my eyes one at a time.
I quickly face the tv again and try to wipe my tears away.
"What is this? The Lizzie McGuire movie?"
Carter was already walking around to sit back at the spot he was before he left.
"No! It's A Cinderella Story," I correct.
"Cinderella?"
He sits quiet as we both watch the last scenes of the movie. The part where Sam gets into Princeton, and Austin's dad accepts his future.
"If it's such a happy ending, then why are you crying?" Carter speaks up again.
"I WAS crying," I put emphasis on the was.
"Oh boohoo, I can still see some tears in your eyes."
The movie ends, so I switch the TV from dvd, back to normal. Modern Family pops up and Phil Dumphey shows.
"I see that you haven't finished the Lego tower."
"I was distracted," I confess, but leave the part of Chad Michael Murray out of it.
"Right. The Cinderella thing," he gestures with his hands.
I decide I wasn't in the mood to finish the Legos. I leave all the parts on the table, and stand up. One thing I haven't done in awhile, was eat.
I ask Carter, "Are we allowed to go and get some food?"
"Technically, yes. Although, I advise we don't since it was just today that we were in a car race. It would be safer to stay here," He answers.
I look out the window of our suite to see the sun setting. Dad hasn't even been here since Carter and I returned. They said they would be back in a couple of hours, but he still isn't present. I debate whether I want to wait and see if he'll bring home food, or call for delivery.
"Are you hungry?"
"Starving."
I walk over to the kitchen to search for some potential food.
"Here, snack on this. Mr. Owens gave this to me," Carter offers handing me a granola bar.
"I appreciate the thought, but a granola bar isn't going to do anything but make me more hungry." I say.
"Just snack on it, Lena. I'll go and check for room service or something," Carter orders.
He heads for the door, about to leave. I want to stop him and follow, because I don't think I want to be sitting alone again.
"WAIT," I raise my voice. Carter stops right before the door and spins around. I clear my throat and stand up straighter.
"If you keep leaving me, I could be in some serious danger," I start.
"I am pretty darn sure you don't want to risk your job, so I suggest I tag along. You are my bodyguard, and you can't just leave me all the time," I state.
"Alright, fine. You can come, but you have to eat that granola bar," he insists.
I tear open the bar, and take a huge bite.
With my mouth full I say, "Let's go!"
I hurry and put on some shoes, and beat Carter out the door. He stays back and just gives me a raised eyebrow.
"Hurry! I'm starving remember?" I remind him.
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/Not edited/
So this was kind of a short chapter. I was going to write more, but I decided to make the next part longer. Thanks for reading this far though! Vote & comment please! I'll try and update faster as well!
Love Mel