“Hello?” Nicole bounded out of the club room, phone held to her right ear and apparently eager to get out of our range of hearing. “Oh… that’s scheduled for when again?”

Aubrey hit her knee into my thigh under the table. “Who do you think that was?”

“Good question.”

It wasn’t often that Nicole got phone calls, but when she did it was often from those infamous ‘book wreckers.’ There was no qualm to her staying put and yapping then, despite how much Serena protested her poor manners. However, something about this conversation made it seem a little more professional than her dopey friends could pull off. 

“It’s probably not a big deal,” I reasoned, assuming she could just be scheduling an appointment of sorts. “Or our business, really.”

“Obviously, it’s just her expression seemed a little off to me.”

Had it? I didn’t have a good view of her face since I was on the other side of Aubrey from her and concentrating on playing a stupid app that Serena had me download. Her constant flaunting of her top score and dissing of my skills had gone far enough. I was staking everything on beating her here and now, which might not have been the greatest strategy considering how much I sucked at the endless side-scrolling game. 

Aubrey exhaled quietly, pinning the frills of the upturned tablecloth (a testament to the various frustrations I had encountered in my pursuit of the top) underneath her elbows. As per usual, she didn’t immediately recoil from the horribly girly frills and complain to me about my lack of sense. Those other two–three if you included the unwanted input from our club advisor–could seriously learn some delicacy from her. Going back to the game, I mashed the jump button and angled my phone slightly to attempt a clean jump to the platform diagonal to my character, only to immediately eat shit and die. 

This was a result I was getting all too used to, unfortunately.

“Hey,” I said, thinking of unfortunate things, “where did Serena end up?”

“She had to stay after to retake a math quiz.”

It seemed she hadn’t bothered to correct that glaring flaw I had so kindly pointed out to her. Still, while it was nice with the three of us, I had gotten used to her keeping the atmosphere lively. Should I be worried that I was actually starting to miss her?

“I still can’t believe you ended up adopting Bugsy.”

I smiled, drumming my knuckles on the table. “It was a good thing my dad was all for it. He said that the household could use a woman’s touch.”

Aubrey chuckled at that. “You guys decided that you had enough of the bachelor lifestyle, huh?”

I could feel my lips twisting into a frown, but I forced the smile to remain in place. Of course, she wasn’t implying anything. Yet, for some reason, my mind had decided to wander to the woman who birthed me–a taboo that always led to those ominous promises she made. So far, she hadn’t made any of her usual attempts to contact me. No new numbers texted or dialed my phone, my dad hadn’t given me any new letters, and she certainly hadn’t approached the house. If she had, I almost would have been more comfortable, knowing that my dad would ward her visit off. Especially if she decided to show up in her usual state of intoxication, which knowing her, was highly probable.

“You want to see some cute pictures of my baby?” I asked, shaking off the feeling of dread.

“Your baby?” Laughing loudly, she scooted even closer to me until our shoulders touched. “I’d love to.”

Going into the photo app on my phone I proudly showed her some of my favorites: pug on the couch, pug on the pillow, pug in my bed, pug on my head. Although they kind of made me sound like a rip-off of Dr. Seuss, I was glad they eased my tension. It wasn’t like anyone could be uneasy looking at the little goober tilting her head with her tongue lolled to the side.

“She’s cute!”

“Not as cute as you,” I said, earning a shove to the chest in response. “Hey, now. Not cool.”

She stared at me, looking incredibly unimpressed. “You’re full of crap.”

“I’m not. I just thought–”

“That you’re full of crap,” Nicole agreed, walking over from the doorway to sit back by Aubrey. “It might do you some good to study up on how to flirt if you’re going to be so we don’t have to deal with such cheesy lines all the time.”

“C’mon, you know you love it.”

I had to hold back a laugh at her deep sigh. “And it continues. The only relief I get around here is knowing that at least Aubrey won’t put on airs around me.”

Laughter exploded against my will. “Putting on airs? Holy crap, are you a noble lady in a period drama?”

Nicole snarled, her bottom lip jutting out. “I’ll put something up you instead if you don’t shut it.”

“Sounds kinky. I’m in.”

Aubrey latched onto Nicole’s arm before she could follow through on her promise. Relief flooded through me because, as much as I fronted, I wasn’t confident having her boot shoved up my ass would feel good. Then again, I suppose I could try anything once. 

“You’re thinking something super perverted,” Aubrey said, leaving no room for argument.

“With that lecherous look on his face, it has to be something revolting.” Nicole looked down at Aubrey, who still had her fingers curled around her forearm. She gently loosened one of them and clasped it to her chest, looking every bit charming and manly that I wanted to be able to replicate one day. “Why don’t you leave this zero, get with the hero, and we can run away to…”

She stopped. Aubrey’s hand slowly returned to her side, and Nicole looked on at us with a torn expression that must have been what Aubrey was referencing earlier. Her lips were stretched into a white line and her eyes were glassy. With curled fists, she sat back down, laying her head on the table and looking at the blinds. 

“What’s wrong?” Aubrey asked, palm resting on her back.

There wasn’t a response for a little bit as she rubbed circles through her dark sweatshirt. The baggy material moved in time to the shaking of her shoulders, doing a good job of almost hiding it. Almost.

Responding in a muffled voice due to resting her mouth on her sleeve, Nicole finally spoke up. “...I was just thinking that running away with me wouldn’t do you much good. Unless you have an interest in living in Spain for a while.”

“Is that what the phone call was about?”

A subtle nod answered that question, and it seemed no one knew how to expand upon that. The baby birds, whose irresponsible parents had seen fit to build their nest on the narrowest of ledges underneath the rooftop, began to squawk while I sat beside Nicole. Us dating so late into our senior year, I should have known that the issue of our future was going to come up. Would any of our paths even intersect or were we doomed to a long-distance relationship after so little time together? Perhaps I was being a little melodramatic; there was no reason we couldn’t make something like that work, and I needed to reassure her of that too.

“C’mon, it’s not like this is what’s going to break us apart. We’re stronger than that. It’ll be an adjustment, but we have plenty of time to figure it out, and there’s so many ways to keep in touch.”

“Grant’s right.” Aubrey pattered the girl and grinned widely. “We’re not going to let you get away from us that easily.”

“Then force me to stay.”

“What?” I asked, unable to think under her intense gaze.

“Keep me here,” she pleaded. “I don’t want to go to a university in Madrid. I want to stay here with you two.”

“Let’s do it, then.” Both of us stared at Aubrey, but she pressed on with that reassuring smile of hers. “Let’s all aim for the same college.”

“I'm scared to talk to my father alone.”

“Don’t worry. This is a multi-step plan.”

“And the first step?” she asked with what dare sounded like hope.

“We’ll talk to your dad. All of us together.”

LonMair399

Hey, everyone. I'm back after a little bit of a hiatus. Unfortunately, a family member of mine passed away recently and I wasn't in the right state of mind to write anything. I'm back now, and honestly, writing this did make me feel a little better. Hope all of you enjoy, and I'll post again on Saturday!