˗ˏˋOur Differencesˊˎ˗

-14-

Now that I can drive, I see Devin a lot less than I used to. It doesn't bother me. It's actually kind of nice to gain some distance from him since he freaks me the fuck out. He's weird and strange and hard to talk to. I was sick of riding with him.

Plus, Dad made me feel pressured to talk to him way less. And see him way less.

I felt a little bit strange leaving my soccer practice before the boy's ended theirs. Normally I'd have to sit here and wait for them to be done, but now I can leave whenever I want to.

I drove home and invited Josh and Anna over to help me repaint our game room. Dad's been wanting to get it redone, but he never felt like hiring anybody. So I told him I'd do it.

We started blasting music to improve the quality of our work, and Josh had a lot of gossip to share.

I was enthralled with his information.

"I had to partner with Lauren and Peyton today in english." he started, immediately catching my attention.

"They talked about Devin the entire time. Apparently they don't fuck as much anymore and he's never home.... wonder why."

Anna let out a laugh. She hates Lauren and openly preys on her downfall.

"He hasn't stayed at my house in 2 weeks." I replied, which maybe didn't help them formulate a point. Oh well.

I was a little bit surprised, but it's been somewhat helpful for me (in a way).

"She also said that he's getting valedictorian, which I never would've guessed." Josh added.

I knew Devin was smart, but he's apparently way smarter than anyone even realizes. He's been taking advanced classes all through highschool, so it makes sense for him to have way more credits stacked up in comparison to everyone else.

Still, if you pay attention to him for long enough, it makes sense. He's a calculated guy. He's always thinking and he's kind of quiet sometimes. (Not all the time.)

"That's cool." I admitted casually.

Anna glared at me with a knowing smirk on her face. "Sounds like a money maker to me."

I shoved her to the side and she almost dropped her wet paint brush on the ground and knocked over the buckets.

I can't handle the Devin jokes. That's all my friends talk about these days. I finally got my family to stop making them — now I need to get Josh and Anna to do the same.

"How's Mitchell?" I asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

Josh giggled. "He's doesn't stay over at my house for weeks on end just to be near me."

I heard the door open midway through his sentence and I had to tell him to shut up since the game room door was wide open.

Dylan came trudging into the room nosily, with Devin and Brandon trailing behind him.

"The fuck are you doing?" he asked in a disturbed way.

I looked around at the room full of tarp and paint and tall ladders.
"Playing chess."

Brandon started laughing at my sarcastic response. Typical.

Dylan seemed uninterested in our activity, and he walked off almost instantly. Brandon lingered, and Devin looked like he wanted to linger, but he went with Dylan instead.