Frenemies

28

It's been an uneventful couple of days. Beside texting Grayson, I haven't gotten much of anything done. I have finished all my homework but the thought of doing my extra credit work wasn't appealing.

Good girl, you can do your work

My parents constant bugging about getting good grades never used to bother me. It used to push me to be better, do better. But these few days, my moms words after telling me they won't be home keeps playing in my mind. She didn't even think twice about my obvious lie, not that I wanted her to.

I'm disappointed in myself for not saying that I was sad. But I'm turning eighteen in a couple of months, I don't want to be seen as pathetic. That would be dumb for me to express my feelings to her, to them,  right now. It seems unnecessary as well.

When I stand up from my bed, my body stings for a second. I press my lips together and head downstairs in search of a snack. I pass the dining room where there is a calender. Happy Thanksgiving, it says and I narrow my eyes at it. Once I get to the kitchen, I open the pantry and grab myself a bag of chips. I'm about to head back to my room when the doorbell rings.

I walk over to it with a sudden happiness in my heart. I've been alone for two full days that anyone knocking on the door gives me a little joy. Once I open the door, my smile widens. My boyfriend stands outside, his hand in his pocket and one stretching toward me. Grayson pulls me into a hug first thing whenever he sees me.

This time I hold him tight and breath him in. My breaths come in even and I feel as though a weight have been lifted off my shoulders.

"Julie, hey", Grayson says pulling away from me but keeping his hand on my elbow. I beam at him, all my teeth showing and say,"Hey, boyfriend."

"Oh, so I'm boyfriend now?", he asks with playful teasing and I laugh leaning toward him again. I reach up and whisper,"I want you to be."

"Then, hi girlfriend", he says in my ear and I giggle before connecting my lips to his. He chuckles into the kiss but I savor it. I hadn't known I could want to hold a person so tight to me before.

"I missed you", I whisper peppering kisses on his cheek.

"Julie, we are giving your neighbors a show and my brother's in the car", he says making me pull away with a frown. He places a finger on the corner of my lip and says,"I'll keep that in mind."

I giggle before looking back of him and waving my hand in the air. I can't see Nathan with the tinted window, but I'm pretty sure he can see me.

"So, how is it going?", he asks me and I turn back to him, trying to keep my face nuetral.

"Oh, it's going good", I reply back and Grayson pokes his head into my house. I place a hand on his chest and start to push him back out but he does a double take into my house before looking at me.

"Your parents not home?", he asks and I tuck a piece of hair into my ear to get a few seconds to think.

"No, they are", I lie and he frowns at me. "They are", I say chuckling.

"Julie?", he asks me.

"Yeah, Gray?", I say my hand on his chest traveling up to his neck.

"If you are going to lie, at least sell it", he says softly and I let go of him completely. I hug myself with the chips bag and look away from him. "You hold eye contact, but your left eyebrow raise up when you are lying."

"They just went out", I say.

"Wanna come home with me?", he asks me ignoring my attempts at lying to him. "I came to drop off a pie but now that I can see your parents aren't here and you are in your pajamas with a giant bag of chips, I'd like to invite you over."