Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 12

Phil walks in, holding a giant bowl of popcorn in one hand and three mugs in the other.  “Phil!  You’re going to drop something.” Dan whines.

“No!” he smiles, placing the popcorn on the coffee table in front of us.  He hands me my hot chocolate, and I let the heat warm up my still-freezing hands.  He sits on the sofa opposite us, giving Dan a look.  I tilt my head to see Dan, and find he is not paying attention to Phil, just smiling at me.  My cheeks go red as I look down at my drink.

Shit.  How many calories are in hot chocolate? It’s got to be a lot.  I can’t risk it.  I cradle the cup in my hands, hoping that it’ll go cold soon thus becoming inedible.  We all continue watching the movie, chatting during the commercials and singing along to the songs we know.  Dan and Phil manage to finish up the popcorn, and I’m glad I don’t have the temptation sitting in front of me anymore.

“What do you guys want to do now?” Dan asks as the movie ends and the credits start to roll.

“Want to play a video game?” I suggest, smiling. 

“Yes!” they both cheer as we all stand up.

“Did you not like my hot chocolate?” Phil asks as we bring empty dishes to the kitchen.

“I did!  It just went cold.” I smile back, trying to end the conversation.  “What game do you guys want to play?”

“Want to try Rock Band?” He replies as we walk back to their lounge.  I nod enthusiastically.

“Just telling you in advance: I suck at that game.”

“I highly doubt that.” Dan smiles.

“No I’m alright at other games, I’m just not good at hitting the right notes at the right time...”

“Watch her be better than both of us…” Phil says to Dan. 

“No need to worry about that.” I laugh.  We set up the game, and take our places.  Dan is on the drums, I am attempting the guitar, and Phil is singing.  We choose to play Nine in the Afternoon by Panic at the Disco, all of us being big fans.

“Oh, come on Penelope, easy?” Dan groans playfully.

“I’m not good at this!” I giggle.  Dan just shakes his head.  “But I’ll try medium, yeah?”

“Try EXPERT!” Phil says dramatically.  I chuckle and change the level, knowing that I will fail miserably.  “There you go.”

“This is not going to end well, I’m telling you that right now.” I smile at the boys.  The song starts with drums, and Dan flawlessly plays what looks like a complex beat to me. 

“Back to the street where we began…” Phil sings, continuing the following lines with a few words replaced. 

“What are you doing?” Dan laughs, and I notice that I’m supposed to be playing.  I fumble to get the notes, and only play about half of them.  The song goes on, and I manage to finish the next set of notes without difficulty.  “I thought you said you were bad at this?”

“I am!” I giggle as more notes come my way.  I mess up, and Phil starts laughing.  His score falls, as does mine as I start chuckling along with him.  “Are you laughing at me Phil?”

“No, just at how intense Dan gets with this game.”  I look at Dan’s score, and see that he has not messed up once.  I turn to watch Dan, and find him focusing intently on the television.

“Play!” Dan laughs, turning his head to meet my gaze.  “Wait you’re not even paying attention?”

“I am, I am.” I say, picking up the next few notes.  We hit the chorus, and I miss tons of chords, causing Phil to start giggling again.  After a while, we fail out, both of us laughing at me.  “I warned you!” Dan rolls his eyes, not being able to stop a grin from spreading across his face.  “Let’s try again?”