“Am not!” I protested. Now I was the one dragging Chase toward the damned bouncy bag. I was going to make a total fool of myself, but I didn’t care at this point. I wasn’t a damned chicken. “Bet you I can bounce higher than you.”
“No way! You’re too big to get decent air,” he teased. If it’d been anyone else, I might have been offended, but this was Chase. I knew he was having fun, and if he wanted to give me a hard time, I had it coming. “But if you really think so, what are we betting?”
“Bathroom duty for a week?” I suggested. I was used to being the most immature of the bunch, but it seemed that title belonged to Matt and Chase. The two of them started giggling uncontrollably—Matt, to the point he had to stop and double over, holding his stomach. “What the hell’s so funny?”
“You said duty,” Matt informed me through gasping breaths.
“Yes, duty. D-U-T-Y,” I clarified as I rolled my eyes. We’d seriously been reduced to the point of bathroom humor?
“Yeah, butdoodie. You know…it's what you do in the bathroom,” he explained as if I was slow and hadn’t gotten why it was so amusing. By this point, he had tears in his eyes and Chase had a hand cupped over his mouth, trying to hide his own laughter. “It’s what makes bathroomdutynecessary.”
“You’re insane.” I rolled my eyes, again, because Matt seriously wasn’t letting this go. “Come on, let's get our tickets before there’s a line. And when Chase is stuck on bathroom duty, I'll be sure to eat a lot of Mexican food, so he has to deal with my doodie.”
I couldn't even believe the words coming out of my mouth. They were so juvenile. So… Hilarious, if I pulled the stick out of my ass. I was the one who’d been moping because I thought I’d ruined my chance at getting along with my roommates, so I couldn’t really bitch when this is what I got. At least they were including me.
“That’s disgusting andtotallyunnecessary,” Chase complained. He heaved and made retching noises. “I swear, Zach, if you do do that, I’m going to have Jay kick your butt.”
“Ha! You just said doo doo.” I pulled Chase in for a quick hug and gave him a noogie. “The two of you are a bad influence on me. I just wanted to not feel like everyone wanted to kick my ass all the time, and now you have me making poop jokes.”
“You love us, and you know it.” Matt threw his arm over my shoulder and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on my cheek.
I couldn't remember the last time things felt so peaceful with my roommates. I had never had this easy camaraderie with Chase, and I was determined to make up for lost time. I couldn't fix the rocky start we’d gotten off to when he moved in, but I could make sure that the rest of our final year together went smoothly.
And, who knew, if I managed to not completely blow things with Colin and Daniel, Chase might wind up being in my life a hell of a lot longer than just the end of this school year.
The attendant working the ticket booth at the bounce bag, gave the three of us a dirty look as we approached. I pulled a twenty out of my wallet, handing it to her with a saccharine sweet smile. If Matt and Chase wanted to bounce, that was what we were going to do, and I wasn't about to let this grumpy old lady make them feel bad about it. “Three tickets, please.”
She glanced behind us then back to the bag. “No horsing around in there. We don't want anyone getting hurt. If you break the rules, you’ll be kicked out, and there are no refunds.”
“We'll be on our best behavior,” I promised. Chase snickered behind me, and I glared at them. “Right, you two?”
“Cross my heart.” Chase made an X over his chest. “We won't do anything dangerous.”
The woman let out an unconvinced harrumph before starting in on her rehearsed speech. “The closest bag is for families only. You'll have to go to the bag down there in order to bounce,” she instructed us as she handed me the three tickets.
“Thank you.” I smiled even more brightly this time. “I hope you have a great night.”
Matt started giggling behind me before whispering to Chase, “Man, I didn’t realize Zach could be fake sweet. He’s usually just a grumpy Gus when people are rude to him.”
“Maybe he really is trying to do better,” Chase suggested.
I walked away without a second glance at either of them. They were acting like—
Something clicked, and it dawned on me thatthiswas what I was supposed to pay attention to. Matt and Chase weren’t acting like they did at home. They were like little kids, and it didn’t seem to bother either of them. At some point, maybe they’d sit down and tell me about themselves.
That wasn’t something I wanted, and I didn’t think it was what Colin or Daniel were into either, but knowing they weren’t so vanilla, would make it easier for me to be myself from now on.
I didn't fully understand why I had felt the urge to take them by the hand and guide them to the adults-only bounce bag. Even though all of us were the same age, I felt like their babysitter or something, now that I was starting to understand what I was seeing. And that was more than just a little fucked up.
“Are you ready to get your ass kicked?” Chase asked as he kicked off his shoes.
I quirked an eyebrow, doing my best to give Chase a stern glare. “Are you supposed to use language like that?”
Chase sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and shook his head.
“I didn't think so. Do you want me to tell Jayden?” I threatened. Chase’s eyes grew wide, and it might have been a trick of the light, but I thought I noticed tears welling along his lashes. If I made him cry, Jayden was going to kick my ass. And probably Colin, too. “I bet you'd get in trouble if I said something, huh?”
“You wouldn't.” He gasped.
