I head towards the kitchen, grab a napkin, ball it up, and—with my left hand—playfully throw it at Emma. It lightly touches her glossy black hair before floating to the ground. She laughs at my disappointing attempt.
“I’m just saying.” Emma holds both hands up as if in surrender. “That looked a lot like something else.”
I raise a brow at her statement. “Like what?”
Placing her hands back down to her keyboard, she continues typing away. But only replies with, “like he’s crushing on you. Hard.”
12
Field Trip, Yay!
Carson
Nobody will ever tell you this, but I love Halloween.
The one day a year where you can expect the unexpected frights and crazy costumes. It’s mostly people in some variation ofGhostfaceor Michael Myers but still crazy, especially the weekend prior.
Halloweekend.
I’m sitting on the living room couch, watching Halloween (the first one, of course) when Mason and Jake rush down the stairs and towards the front door. Odd, it’s still light out and we haven’t talked about attending any parties.
“Where are you guys going?” I ask. Both boys freeze in their tracks and swivel around.
Mason slaps Jake’s shoulder. “You couldn’t run faster? And quieter?”
“Trying to keep up with black Barry Allen over here?” Jake scolds. “Fuck no, I couldn’t. Maybeyoushould’veslowed downfor us short folk.”
“Guys!” Their arguing is driving me insane.
Mason and Jake share a glance—or more of a glare, considering how annoyed they both look at each other—and eventually, it’s Mason who responds. “We’re going to Horror Nights with the girls.”
I look at the window, where the sunlight glares at us, and turn back to them. “It’s still day out.”
Jake raises a brow. “Traffic.”
“That would still take twenty minutes,” I point out. “Anyway, why wasn’t I invited?”
Mason lets out a laugh, which is a bit of a rarity. The guy is known for being the stoic, silent type. At least, in comparison to us. “We had this planned for a month now.”
“Still—”
“And the birthday girl still hated your guts at the time so she didn’t invite you,” he finishes, and I freeze.
It’s Diana’s birthday? How did I not know this? Birthdays are always something to talk about in my opinion. For most people, it’s the one day a year where everything is about them. I think back to every tutoring session we’ve had together.
Not a single session has she brought up her birthday.
Jake nods as if this isn’t news to him. Of course, it fucking isn’t. “Yeah, because Diana’s birthday is on a weekday, we agreed to go this weekend. You know, when the park is at its scariest. And I wanted an excuse to visit Bailey while she’s there.”
I would pretend to gag at the mention of my cousin but I’m still surprised that Diana never said anything. Then again, I’ve learned over the past couple of weeks that she prefers to listen and observe than place herself in the spotlight.
“Ryder, can you hear me?” Jake waves a hand in front of my face and I swat it away. “I asked if she invited you.”
“I didn’t even know it was her birthday,” I mumble. Shaking that thought away, I grab my wallet and house keys. “Would it be weird if I did?”
“I don’t see a problem with it.” Jake shrugs. “She doesn’t hate you anymore now, does she?”
There’s a question that I can’t answer. Does she still hate me? At the most, I assume she tolerates me. I am helping her understand the obstacle course which is college calculus.
