Since we were all meeting up at Javier’s house it made the most sense for me to ride home with him. He made conversation with me on the way there and I engaged in it as happily as I could force myself to. Sadly, I was not an actor, and I never would be.
I pretended like I wasn’t upset but my stiff movements and short statements said otherwise. Javier went along with it for a while, but he eventually grew tired of pretending he couldn’t tell I had an attitude. When he asked me what was wrong, I insisted that I was fine. I could see his annoyance rise at my unwillingness to cooperate because his grip on the steering wheel tightened. We rode in silence the rest of the time.
Javi’s mom was in the living room when we made it to her house. She had only met me a couple of times, but she always made a point to greet me warmly.
"Nice to see you again, Eli." Mrs. Cortez was smiling warmly with her purse on her arm and keys in her hands. She was getting ready to leave the house.
I offered her a small wave as Javier gave his mother a hug and a kiss.
She pointed a finger at Javier. "Listen, I do not want to come back to trash all over the living room. Everyone needs to pick up after themselves. Sí?"
"Sí." Javi saluted his mom like they were in the military.
She rolled her eyes at her son's antics and chuckled. She then turned to me with a knowing look. "Same goes for you.”
"Got it." I nodded sharply as my lips spread into a grin.
Once his mom left we were alone in the house. Javier chose tonight to invite the gang because his entire family wouldn’t be back until late. He handed me the remote to find something towatch until the others arrived, clearly not in the mood to talk about what was bothering me.
It didn’t take long for our friends to show up. Most of them only needed to make quick stops at their house before making their way to Javier’s.
We all sat on the floor of the living room in a circle. There was a show playing on the television, but it was just for background noise because no one was paying any attention to it. Kailey was finishing telling the story of how the four of us had met.
"...and Bella and I only met Eli through Ricky. They were best friends, and we were best friends, so it all just kinda fell together after that," she finished explaining happily.
"Wow, most friend groups don’t make it through high school," Paxton tossed a ball in the air and caught it as he spoke. “I know mine sure didn't."
“That sucks.” Kailey frowned. “Gosh, I would be devastated if our friendship didn't make it through high school."
"My friends didn't last through high school either, but that was also because I moved," Javier said as he kicked his legs onto the coffee table.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you didn’t always live here. You moved here,” Bella recalled. “What was that like?"
The four of us had lived in the same exact place our entire lives. We grew up in a small town where generations of families had all gone to the same grade schools. There were plenty of teachers who were old enough to have taught students' parents back when they were school-aged. That was what happened to Ricky. His dad graduated from the school and now his son was attending, so some teachers already knew of Ricky.
That was why everyone knew everyone; nobody ever left. Being the ‘new kid’ was something we never experienced because we stayed in the same area. We would see the samefaces since elementary school in the hallways, and we would continue to until we graduated.
"I had only lived a couple of hours away, so I didn’t move far. It was fine once I got used to it.”
"You mean it was fine once you found out everyone loves you," Paxton corrected him with a chuckle.
Javier laughed too. “It was fine once I realized that the people here are just like the people at my old school.”
And I was sure the love from our classmates played a part in that as well.
"Okay, can we take a moment to appreciate how these two can exist in the same room without wanting to tear each other apart?" Kailey was pointing between Javi and I.
“Never thought I’d see that day. Now they want to tear their clothes off each other,” Ricky mumbled the last sentence in my ear with a mischievous smile, and I was beyond grateful Javier wasn’t sitting next to me to hear that.
Javier’s eyes locked with mine for a brief moment before I looked away. He had been watching me the entire time, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze. I did not want him to know just how jealous I was from witnessing a singular conversation. I had no right to have an attitude with him, but the queasy feeling in my stomach was making it hard to stop it.
I sent a smile his way, but I feared it came off more sarcastic than welcoming. I noticed the room had gone quiet. Everyone noticed the awkward tension between my rival and I, a tension that made everyone's heads sink and eyes avert.
Paxton cleared his throat. "Now they’re great friends, right?"
"I guess, but don’t friends speak up when there's a problem?" Javier’s words were clearly targeted.
I tried to shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, but I couldn’t stop myself from squirming in my seat. I should have told him what was bothering me hours ago. Then things would be clearedup and I wouldn’t have such an uncomfortably tight feeling in my chest.
