Keeping Secrets

Movie Night

PEYTON

"Hey QB. How was your break?" Max asked when he showed up at my dorm room a couple of hours after I'd gotten back to campus. It was Sunday afternoon, the end of Thanksgiving break, and he had a bag of chocolate croissants and my favorite latte in his hands.

"Hi Max," I responded and gestured for him to come inside. "It was okay. How was yours?"

I'd gotten to eat some of my favorite foods and caught up with Amanda, but I also had to listen to my dad boss us around. Having been away from home for a few months made me realize things I never picked up on before. My dad ruled that house. Even mom did what she was told.

"Same," Max replied, handing me the coffee and the bag.

"Thank you very much, Max. As much as I appreciate it, you know you don't have to, right?"

He gave me a soft smile and said, "I want to."

I took a sip of the coffee and put the bag down on my desk. It was just as good as it normally was.

"Do you want one of these?" I asked and gestured towards the bag of croissants.

"No, they're all for you."

I nodded and reached for one. It was still warm. Max must have bought them on his way over. As I bit into the croissant, he glanced around my room, taking in the familiar layout.

Nothing had changed since the last time he was here. The two twin beds were still pushed together to make one large bed in the middle of the room, though only one had a comforter—that was my side. The other was covered with a couple of blankets. My desk had its usual stuff on it. The only exception was the bag I hadn't yet unpacked and left on top of the empty desk.

I took another slow sip from the latte and watched Max sit down on the bed. He turned to me and asked "want to watch a movie?"

"Sure," I agreed. I didn't have anything else to do, and neither Becca nor Lin were back yet. That was the first thing I checked once I got back.

I finished the croissant while Max turned on my TV.

" What do you want to watch?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"I don't care, as long as it's not a horror movie. You can pick something."

He grinned, and for a second I thought I'd regret giving him the choice, but then he settled in and started flipping through some old action movies.

I was about to make myself comfortable on the bed when I remembered I had laundry to do. Like desperately, because if I didn't, I'd have to either go commando or wear dirty underwear to class. And neither one of those were an option.

"Max, I just need to run downstairs and throw in a load of laundry before we start," I said, grabbing my overflowing laundry bag.

"Alright. I'll find something for us to watch."

Luckily for me, the laundromat was empty, so I grabbed two machines—one for lights and one for darks. My mom would be so proud.

When I came back ten minutes later, Max was sprawled out on the side of the bed I didn't usually sleep on. The TV was paused on some kind of pirate movie, and he looked up from his phone as the door clicked shut behind me.

"Who are you texting?" I asked, sitting down on my side of the bed and picking up my latte.

"Ty," he replied casually.

"Tell him I said hello."

"Will do." Max grinned and tapped something on his phone. A second later, he burst out laughing.