“What’d you make?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of the school laptop in front of me.
He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and wiggled a finger. “You can’t do that, I asked first.”
“I asked second.”
I was startled when the laptop was shut right in front of me. I sighed in frustration and then fully faced Javier. “So mature. I got 100% correct, I aced it.”
The smugness on his face faltered. “You did not.”
My face betrayed me, my mouth opening into a wide-toothed smile. His reaction was funnier than I thought it was going to be. “What did you get on the test?”
He bit his bottom lip and quietly said, “93.”
Hearing that made my smile grow larger. I laughed pridefully and he raised an eyebrow at me. “I got a 94, that’s higher than you!”
It wasn’t like I had never gotten a higher grade on a test than Javier. I had a few times, so that wasn’t the reason I was so happy. I was excited because it was my first real win since that terrible day of class election. It was something positive after the humiliation I faced not too long ago. Javier, much to my surprise, was smiling as well. I couldn’t figure out why that was.
“Why are you happy?” I asked him, still feeling the joy radiating through me. “I’m the one with the bragging rights.”
Javier hesitated before speaking. “It’s cute.”
My cheeky smile morphed into a confused grin. “What’s cute?”
“You right now,” he said, his voice so soft that I almost didn’t catch it.
I blushed at his words, even though I couldn’t believe what he said and was convinced that I had misheard him.
My rival sat up straight and laughed breathlessly. “It’s cute that you think this’ll ever happen again. You getting a higher grade than me, I mean.”
The butterflies in my stomach were brutally murdered.
My smile completely went away, and my shoulders slumped. Not knowing how else to respond, I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
Nine
Eli
"Are you drunk?" Easton asked blandly.
Ah, this is a trick question.
"Areyoudrunk?" I whisper-giggled as I rolled over in bed.
As I attempted to study on my bed, Easton had just come out of the bathroom having just taken a shower, and Emerson was already fast asleep on the other side of the room. My brother mumbled something under his breath that I didn't catch because he spoke too fast. That made it sound like a different language. Or maybe I was just drunk. Probably the latter.
I watched as Easton walked over to his drawers and pulled out a white box. He came to me, almost tripping on a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor in the process.
He handed me the box with a dry sigh. "Since I’m the reason that your phone broke."
I inspected the box and recognized the smartphone box. I grinned as I threw my arms around my brother and squeezed him tightly. Hugging was not something that we ever did, but I was so inebriated that I had forgotten such. The hug didn't last long because he quickly pushed me off.
"It's just a damn phone, no need to hug me. I still don't like you," Easton grumbled as he folded his arms. "And your breath smells like the inside of a bar."
"You don't love me?" I asked quietly with a pout. I laid my head on my bed and pulled my comforter over my head. This wasn’t my finest moment. If I was in the right state of mind I would have died from embarrassment for acting the way I was, especially with Easton.
I heard Easton sigh as I shut my eyes and waited for the lights to go off. He eventually did turn them off, and I listened to the sound of creaking as he climbed onto the top bunk of his bed. It was silent for about a minute until he spoke.
