"Who's your favourite character?" Curtis asks as we leave the bedroom, the bed covers left a little wrinkled. "Let me guess, it's the main character."
"That's not an impressive guess," I say, holding back a smile because he's right. "Everyone loves him."
We enter the kitchen, and Curtis says we should make pasta. As we pull out ingredients, I discuss all of my favourite characters — and there's a lot. Curtis should know by now that once he gets me talking, I can't stop. Especially about anime.
"And I think he's the hottest in the show," I finish, talking about the antagonist. "He has nice shoulders."
"You're a shoulders guy?" Curtis asks.
He's boiling a saucepan of water, but even from my view of his profile, I can tell his expression isn't judgemental. It's nice that I can talk like this to Curtis, but it's also weird.
"I guess," I say, before changing the topic to what we'll do tomorrow. As Curtis talks about plans to get out of the house, I peek a glance at him.
Curtis has nice shoulders.
21
Curtis: Tell Me About
Halfway through dinner, Liam's phone beeps with a text.
"It's from Kennedy," Liam says and reads out the message. "Got here safely. My grandma is already driving me insane. Says I need to grow my hair out to look like a proper lady."
I smile while Liam types out a response, but my stomach drops. If Kennedy and I were still dating, I'd have gotten a message from Kennedy too. She'd sign it off with a heart emoji.
It's a dumb thing to feel surprised about, but it's weird, adjusting to the breakup. I don't like thinking about it, so I've distracted myself since it happened with studying and reading and Liam.
Liam puts his phone down and we talk about random stuff — Year 12, our favourite movies and TV shows, food. He does most of the talking while my mind spins. Kennedy. Liam. Me. I wonder if Liam and I will still talk when we return to Easton. Would we stay friends? He said he liked me, and I believe him, but I know he'd choose Kennedy over me if it came to that. I wouldn't blame him, but the idea of Liam and me returning to being strangers fills me with fear.
After finishing dinner and washing up, Liam and I study for an hour and a half before getting bored and returning to the master bedroom to watch more anime. With every episode that passes, my body relaxes more, and I sink into the bed.
Once it hits eleven o'clock, Liam yawns. I'm pretty tired too, but we finish the episode. Once it's over, Liam gets out of bed and rubs his eyes. He grabs his toothbrush from the bedroom's ensuite, a bathroom double the size of the one in the attic with a huge bathtub.
"We should sleep soon," I say.
Liam hums in agreement. From my position on the bed, I can see his reflection in the mirror. He runs a hand through his messy hair.
"I don't want to leave," I murmur.
Liam freezes for a second then continues brushing his teeth.
"Not because I like your company, or anything," I add. "I just want this bed."
Liam pokes his head out of the doorway so he can look at me, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, and staggers back as if I've shot him, clutching his heart.
"You're so dramatic," I say.
"You're so mean," he counters, words hindered by his toothbrush. "Anyway, there's no way in hell I'm sharing the bed with you. You'd probably push me off it in the middle of the night."
"What about I get it tomorrow night?" I ask.
Liam gives me a you-wish look.
I sigh and pull myself out of the bed. "I'm going, I'm going."
Before I leave the bedroom, I say goodnight to Liam. He's returned to the bathroom, so I only hear his "night!" before I walk up to the attic.
The bedroom is dark and cold because I left the window open. It feels too silent here, brushing my teeth and showering without hearing Liam move around in the background. I can put on my pyjamas without checking if Liam is nearby. At the beginning of the holidays, I always changed in the bathroom but now I just change wherever.
