"Any idea what's on today's agenda?" I ask Ali as we close the doors to her jeep and head towards the front door. Nerves build in my stomach as I anticipate the sticky situation inside. I fumble around with the skin around my fingernails.
"I was thinking it's a day drink, board games, and beach kinda day, what'd'you think?" Ali throws the keys into her purse before she reaches for the door handle.
"Sounds good to me," I say, shakily. I'll forever be jealous of people who don't wear their emotions on their sleeves like I do.
Ali smiles sympathetically at me with her hand on the doorknob. She gives me a quick wink before turning the handle and letting us inside. The AC greets us immediately, relieving some of the discomfort of the hot and humid day. The east coast has the worst humidity problem. The scene on the first floor is remarkably similar to how we left it, except now there are syrup covered plates in the sink. Noah is sitting with Noel and Connor at the big table and laughing loudly. Bella is in the kitchen with Tess, Luke, Annika, and Emi. Robin and Soren are playing smash bros on the tv. I wonder who brought their Nintendo Switch with them. Ali immediately saunters over towards Robin and I follow.
"Hey, babe," she says and kisses his head.
"One second, Al, Soren's about to die," he replies as he aggressively jerks around the controller.
"Oh, in your dreams," Soren taunts. He seems more composed and his controller stays steadily in front of him. He seems confident. It's kind of sexy. Who knew playing video games could be hot? I glance at the screen and see that Soren has two lives left while Robin is nearing the end of his last.
"What's wrong, Ro, is the new guy too good for you?" I tease. Robin grunts in response his full attention on his character. Soren flashes a quick smile at me in between attacks.
"Watch this," Soren says as he launches an attack on Robin. I watch Soren's character throw Robin so far off the screen that there's no way he can recover. The screen flashes Soren's character next to a number one as it announces him the winner.
"Jesus, man. You don't play around," Robin says and wipes at his upper lip.
"Yeah, I'm alright," Soren replies with a brilliant smile.
"You want in, Al?" I look to Ali and laugh. She is the worst at video games and a sore loser, too. Before she can reply, I hear someone from across the room shout, "I'm next!"
I keep my back towards the voice as I hear footsteps approaching. I know that voice. Noah.
YOU ARE READING
The Beach House
Romansa--completed- Mariella looks forward to going to the beach house every single year. She's gone with her friends for as long as she can remember. The same people, the same house, the same summer feeling. But this year something's different: her boyfri...
