Homeroom

45: Bowling

[A/N] My 16th birthday was yesterday :) Song for this chapter is Searchlight by Phillip Phillips. He's the best soft country artists out there.

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"Callie, I've let this go on for too long," my dad says as he mutes the television, "but this needs to be said. The elephant needs to be kicked out of the room."

I look up from my homework and listen to what he has to say. I have a bad feeling it's going to be about--

"Your mother wants to have an adult conversation with you," my dad admits. "We've been in touch, and I think it would be best for you to at least hear her out."

I gape at him. "Are you serious? After everything she did to us? And to the kid?"

My dad sighs. "Callie, just please decide what you really want to do after you talk with her. Please do this for me, at least."

I don't want to see that despicable woman ever again, but if it makes my dad happy, I'll force myself to do it. "Fine," I huff, rolling my eyes. "I'll do it."

"Thank you," he smiles. "It's time to get some closure after all these years, right?"

"Yup," I agree, turning back to my homework. I hope he realizes that this little meeting with my mother will be the last time I ever voluntarily see her.

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"Aaron, what in the world are you going with my phone?" I ask as we wait outside of Al's house in Luke's mom's Acura MDX. The only reason I know the model is because Luke won't stop yapping about how the NSX is so much cool. 

"Nothing," he giggles as he continues to take more selfies with my phone. I let him continue only because it's making him happy.

"Can you both stop it back there?" Luke calls. "I can't even hear Shay, and she's sitting right next to me."

Suddenly, the back door opens, and Charlie and Al slide into the middle row of seats. "Hey, guys," Charlie greets. Everyone says hi back in almost perfect unison. Luke was a little behind the pack, per usual.

"Hello ladies and gents," Al adds, tipping his hat at Luke. Luke rolls his eyes at him before driving off to Bowl-A-Rama.

Yup, that's right, six teenagers are going to spend their Friday night bowling. After all, what else is there to do when it's 10° outside?

Luke surprisingly managed to get us to the bowling alley without crashing the car. Between Shay and I scream-shouting the lyrics to a song on the radio and the boys arguing about the best brands of musical instruments, I'm surprised that he didn't kick us all to the curb.

"I'm going to crush you all," Al proudly brags. "I happen to be a pro at bowling."

"Yeah, when you're using bumpers," Luke points out, laughing. We walk into the business and head to the front counter. Luke sorts out all the costs with the employee while the rest of us lace on bowling shoes.

"Your feet are so tiny," Aaron notices in awe. "Look, mine could eat yours for breakfast." He nudged my foot with his and laughs to himself.

"Thank you?" I reply, confused.

"Alright, guys," Luke interrupts, addressing the group. "We're in lane 24."

We all head to our lane and start the game. By the end of our second round, Charlie bowls four strikes, Al has managed to accumulate a total of 56 points, and Luke slipped on the floor twice. Each time Luke fell, Shay laughed so hard that she almost started crying.

"Did you see how many half-exes I got?" Aaron excitedly asks as we walk out of the place. He squeezes my hips and wraps an arm around me.

"Aren't they called spares?"

He waves me off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Well, you did really good. You won both games," I reply, leaning against his body.

Suddenly, a snowball flies out from nowhere and hits me square in the face. I scream, wiping the dirty snow off my face. I hear Charlie laughing near the car.

"That was unacceptable!" Aaron yells, making a snowball from the snow in the parking lot. He throws it at Charlie and ends up hitting Luke instead. "Oops, sorry, buddy."

"That was totally on purpose," Luke says back. "Snowball fight!"

I pick up some snow and form it into a ball. "Here," I say to Aaron. "You have good aim."

"Is that sarcasm I hear?" he asks as he throws it. It missed Al by a good two feet and smashes into someone's car.

"Well, you're better than me!" I reply as a snowball heads in my direction. I duck behind a car and pull Aaron down with me.

Suddenly, snowballs are flying around us, and we giggle like little kids, simply enjoying the moment. We make a stock pile of snowballs in the hopes of never running out of them.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" Al yells.

"On the count of three, we ambush," Aaron whispers. I nod in response. "One, two, three!"

Both of us pop out from behind the car and throw snowballs as fast and as accurately as we can. I end up hitting Shay and Luke a couple of times.

"We surrender!" Charlie squeals as Aaron hits him in the face again.

"Yes, WE ARE WINNERS," Aaron yells, taking a victory lap around the rest of our friends before hugging me tightly and planting a long and over-the-top kiss on my lips. 

I hear a few groans, and I show them all how pretty my middle finger is.

"Um, I'd hate to break up this Kodak moment, but blocking my car," a middle-aged woman says, interrupting our powwow with a guilty smile.

We all murmur a bunch of apologies, backing up from her and heading to our car. Aaron slings his arm around my neck again as Charlie and Al push each other around. Luke and Shay somehow make-out while walking in front of us. 

This is exactly how high school experience is supposed to be.

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[A/N] Filler chapter, sorry. I hope some of you found this amusing.