Better Off Alone (BOOK 1)(Wattys 2016)

I Fear More Than Anything

Around halfway through 'Pitch Perfect 2' my phone rings and it's Eddie. Macey and Olive begin jumping up and down on the couch, more excited for the call than I am.

I shoot them a look and they stop jumping, but don't stop squealing and whispering. I roll my eyes and answer the phone, trying to ignore them. "Hey."

"Hi..." I can hear a smile in his voice.

I start to smile too. "What's up?"

"Nothing much... I just woke up not too long ago and thought I'd see how you are."

"Oh, I'm good. Mace and O are just here hanging out with me. Wanna come over?" I glance around and cringe some. There's junk food everywhere and we're sprawled on the couch, our hair and clothes all... jumbled.

"Nah, I'm just gonna hang around the house today. I should probably see where Larkin is. I think he wants to learn how to surf." Eddie sighs, probably still sleepy.

"Oh."

"Yeah, never mind that. I really called to see if you wanna go on a date tomorrow night?" He asks in a somewhat bored tone. I don't know what to take of that. He must still be super tired or something.

"Of course, what time?"

"How about seven o'clock?" He says after a yawn.

"Sounds good."

"Alright, I'll let you get back to being with O and Mace. Tell 'em I say hi."

"Mkay, bye, Eddie."

He hangs up and I turn to see Macey and Olive waiting to hear what we were talking about.

"So?" Macey says eagerly.

"So?" I say back. "He asked if I wanted to go on a date tomorrow."

And they begin squealing slightly, but stop to continue interrogating me.

"What time?"

"Seven." I grab a peach ring and munch on it.

"We'll be here at five." Olive says with a smirk.

My eyes widen. Oh, shit. I completely forgot they were picking out my clothes and make-up for the date. "Guys.... Please." I shake my head, biting into another peach ring.

Macey shakes her head. "Nope. You said we could and now we are. It's final, Gemma babe."

***

Sunday is a lazy day for me and I don't really do much of anything. I do eat brunch with my family, which is nice. I really do love my family and not seeing my parents this past week has left a hole in my day-to-day routine.

My mom and dad are both happy for me and Eddie. During brunch my mom constantly beams at me and my dad keeps smiling at me and asking me if I want more syrup and whipped cream - which of course, I do.

Clive, on the other hand, just sits there, unresponsive to anything said about Eddie. That is, until my mom brings up family dinner.

"How about we have family dinner next Saturday?" She asks.

"Sounds good to me," I say. "I probably won't start working until next Monday anyway."

Clive shrugs. "Yeah, it's fine."

My mother's still beaming. "And Eddie can come."

Clive's eyes widen and I'm afraid he's going to choke on the waffle he just chowed down on. "What?!"

My father looks at him strangely. "What's wrong, Clive? Eddie's come to dinner numerous times before."

Clive shrugs. "I don't know... Nevermind."