Through The Fire

6. Parties and Jake Seresin

2 Months Later
"I'm home!" I hear Bradley's voice call out from the entrance of our apartment. We've gotten a lot closer since we started living together, if that's even possible.

"How was it?" I ask him, looking up from the homework on my laptop. Today was Brad's first day of actual flight training. Well...flight training from the Navy.

"Class? Normal." He shrugs. Bruh.

"No! Flyyyyying!" That was today, right?

"Oh! Yeah it was sick! We didn't really do much, but it was fun." Finally a real answer.

"Cool, so I was thinking..." Today is Thursday, which means no class tomorrow.

He pauses and stares at me for a minute, probably expecting me to continue talking.

"Thinking about what?" He finally asks.

"Reuben and Jake are throwing a party tonight." I reveal my plan. "We should go!"

"Y'know I'm not a big fan of that Jake guy. Left me hanging today."

"Some people haven't been flying since they were five, I'm sure he's not that bad of a guy." Maybe he is a bit of an asshole...

"Yeah, sure." He scoffs. What was that attitude for?

"What?" I shrug at him.

"Nothing." He shakes his head. I get up from my seat and walk towards him. He's gonna tell me.

"Tell me." I demand, looking straight into his eyes. I add in a smile just to tease him a bit. Then he just sighs and slumps down his shoulders. I win.

"Okay first of all, he has flown before many times. Both of his parents were aviators and he made sure everyone knew that. Second, he's an asshole. And third, he wants to fuck you." He lists off the many reasons why he doesn't like Jake.

"He does not want to fuck me, what are you even saying?" I defend. Jake is a flirt, yes, but he wouldn't think of me that way. He's my friend, kinda.

"I'm saying that Jake has a big fat crush on you, and he, respectively, wants to get in your pants." He holds his hands out in defense.

"Okay first of all, I don't believe you. Second, Jake only thinks of me as a friend. And third, did he tell you that?" I mimic him, but stop when I start to wonder if Jake actually likes me.

"He didn't exactly say that. He has talked about how hot you are many times, though." Gross.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, I'm gonna go get ready." I ignore the topic of Jake and head to my room to change.

"We're actually going?" The two of us have become sort of a package deal. Everywhere we go, we're usually together. Now our friends just assume both of us are going out if one of us says we are.

"Reuben is my friend, plus everyone's gonna be there. You don't have to come if you don't want to, but I do want you to." I peak my head out from behind my door to talk to him.

"Alright, I'll come." Works every time. Bradley always ends up coming with me anytime I go to a party, even if he doesn't really want to. I don't really understand why, I guess he just gets worried something will happen.

I head to my closet and pull on a pair of jean shorts, and try on a few different top options. When I can't decide between two different shirts, I usually ask Brad to decide. He's great for making decisions because he doesn't care at all.