“Okay…” I took the lid off to make sure it wasn’t some kind of joke. “Um … thanks?”
“I knew you liked that place because I’ve seen you there when I cut their grass,” he said, and pointed. “Two sugars, whole milk.”
“How did you know my order?”
“I asked Chloe, the barista. I warmed it up in the cafeteria,” he added as the first sip burned my mouth.
“Right. Well. Thanks.”
“Sure.” He smiled. “Listen, is Matt taking you to Homecoming?”
I almost choked on the coffee. “Um … no. Sort of,” I sputtered, trying to cut off his next question. “We’re not going. But we have … plans.”
Carson frowned, but he was nice about it. Andrew, on the other hand, had a field day when I confessed the embarrassing scene to him on the way to his house yesterday. “You shot down Carson Tipton?” he asked, laughing, and high-fived me across the car. He also made me do a victory lap when we got out. And then he made Homecoming jokes all night, much to Matt’s confusion.
I’ll admit, I partly told Andrew just to see if he’d be jealous. And I can’t tell where his current question is leading. So I laugh. “No,” I say. “Last year was boring.” Matt took Hana, and I went stag with Bree and a few single guys. We had dinner at the Waffle House and left the dance early to go bowling.
Andrew puts his legs on his dad’s desk. “Dances suck.”
“True.” I push his feet aside to rescue the file beneath them. “So why’d you ask?”
“I thought we could do something else instead.”
I don’t know if he’s suggesting a date or what, but it doesn’t really matter. “What about Matt?” I ask.
He makes a face.
MATT
After shopping, I go work out, which puts me home after dinner. “Man, what are y’all planning for StuCo?” Raychel asks. “World domination?”
“I got stuck doing some errands with Mindy before I hit the gym.”
“Oooh,” Andrew sings. “Miiiiindyyyyy…”
Raychel laughs, but she moves on. “Get some food,” she tells me. “We’re having movie night.”
I want to complain that they made the decision without me, but at least we’re not going out. In the game room, all three of us flop together on the L-shaped couch like a pile of puppies. It used to be a bigger pile, when all our friends were here, and Raychel points to the armchair. “Doesn’t it seem weird that Nathan and the Ice Queen aren’t sitting together over there?”
Andrew laughs but I shrug, fiddling with the remote control. “They’ll be home for fall break in a few weeks.”
“It doesn’t bug you, how MIA everyone’s been?” she asks.
“I get texts from them all the time.” I guess the real truth is that I hear from Nathan once or twice a week and the other guys sporadically, but the conversation moves on before I can elaborate.
“Well, I don’t,” Andrew says, feigning insult. “Except from Eliza. She wants me to defrost her.”
“She’s just … reserved,” I insist.
Raychel snorts, leaning against me with her legs across Andrew’s lap. “She’s never reserved her opinion about me.”
“She likes you fine.” We’ve been having this argument since freshman year, when Eliza was my girlfriend and got fed up with Raychel being around all the time. We’re cool now, but the girls never really worked things out.
“Yeah, no,” Raych says, still laughing, and Andrew joins in. “That is false. Eliza hates my guts.”
Eliza can be cold, but to be fair, so can Raychel. “She has a lot going on.”
“Being a band geek is so time-consuming.” Andrew steals the clicker so he can get the movie started.
“It is, actually, but you know she worries a lot about her sister,” I say.
“Why?” Andrew asks.
“She has cystic fibrosis.”
“So?”
“So that can be fatal,” I snap. “So be cool.” The opening credits come on and I realize we’re watching a vampire movie. Worse, it’s the first in a series. “I cannot believe you guys are making me watch this.”
“Um, some of us are actually looking forward to it,” Raychel says.
I glance at Andrew, who shrugs, but more in a you lose way than commiserating. And I have to admit, the movie does turn out to be pretty funny, just not always on purpose. “Whoa!” Andrew yells during a scene halfway through. “He bit her!” He falls off the couch, writhing on the floor to imitate the screaming actress.
I play along, dropping to my knees to take his hand. “It’ll be okay!” I say, attempting to mimic the actor’s horrible accent.
“Don’t you kiss me, you bastard.” Andrew jumps to his feet and we square off like bears. He falls but manages to grab my legs and take me down too.
Raych pulls her feet up onto the couch and steals the popcorn. “Oh shit, that girl vampire pulled his head off.”
“Really?” Andrew lets go of me and leans against the couch, reaching up for a handful of popcorn, and I follow suit, leaning against Raych’s knee. The scene changes from a funeral pyre to another character scattering ashes over a field. “That’s what I’d want,” Andrew says.
“To die in a fire?” Raych says.
“No, I mean after I die. No coffin. I’d rather be cremated.”
“Definitely,” I agree. “Throw me off Eagle Point or something.” They both nod. The conversation is kind of disconcerting, but less for the topic than for how open Andrew is being. I’m not used to this sincere little brother of mine, especially not in front of Raychel. It’s kind of a nice change.
Then another vampire gets staked through the heart, blood and gore spattering the camera lens. “Holy shit!” Andrew yells, and we’re laughing again.
RAYCHEL
Saturday morning, Matt’s gone before the rest of us wake up. “Do we have to do this?” Andrew complains, pouring milk into his Fruity Pebbles.
“Yes.” I pop some bread into the toaster. “Be a good brother. At least he didn’t rope us into helping, like that thing for Key Club.” The Outdoor Club is having a fund-raiser at the Farmers’ Market, so I told Matt we’d come buy a couple of the reusable water bottles they’re selling. It beats the afternoon Andrew spent in a dunking booth last year while I collected money and another sunburn.
“Okay, but we don’t have to stay long, right?”
I pat him on the head. “We’ll do a lap around the square, say hi to Matt, and then we can leave.”
We drive downtown, singing along to the soundtrack from last night’s movie, which is considerably better than the film itself. Andrew finds us a parking spot a few blocks from the square, and opens my door while I’m looking for my sunglasses. “M’lady,” he says, offering his hand. I take it, but he doesn’t let go right away. Instead he pulls me closer.