Rose's phone lit up on the blanket, practically blinding all of us.
"God damn, Rose, what does Tom want?" Jay slunk his arm over his eyes.
"Nothing, just Tom stuff." I exchanged a look with Noah. It was never anything, just Tom stuff; Tom being Tom. But every time Rose asked him to come hang out with us, it was always a different excuse on why he couldn't.
"And tell me again, Rose, what exactly was keeping Thomas from enjoying this amazing night with us?" Jay mocked in his obnoxious falsetto.
Rose grumbled into the blanket.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
Another mumble arose from the grass.
"One more time, babe?"
She flipped onto her back and crossed her hands over her stomach.
"Out with family," she sighed, closing her eyes once more.
Silence cast a thick fog over the ground, and her phone lit up once more. On cue, Jay, spine to the ground and eyes to the sky, picked up her phone and threw it across the dewy blades of grass. Rose hadn't gotten the chance to see who it was. She didn't even mutter a reaction, except a small sigh that escaped her rosy lips.
"I don't get how he doesn't like us," Jay cocked his brow, "I mean look at us."
He gestured to our bodies with an open hand, then rested it back on his chest. Rose rolled onto her side to face him.
"It's not that Tom doesn't like you, he's busy a lot and hasn't had time to meet you guys. Besides, if I were him I don't know if I could handle you for more than a few minutes," Rose slugged him on the shoulder.
"Maybe I just intimidate him," he said, shifting his arms to behind his head. Noah smirked, his head resting on his kneecaps.
"Maybe you're just an asshole," Noah remarked, still smiling. Jay gleamed and nodded.
"Well you know some people like assholes, right Ev?" He glanced over to me.
"Mhm, my favorite." I grunted. I checked my phone. 10:58.
"Jay, I'm staying at your house tonight." Rose rolled onto her stomach again and sighed into the blanket.
Tom stressed her out, and none of us knew why she carried on with him. If you have more sad moments with someone than happy, you shouldn't be with them. Tom had his mom's eyes, and his dad's lengthy limbs and broad shoulders. He had the stubborn attitude of his sisters, and the arrogance of his brother.
Noah sat up and stretched, standing up to retrieve Rose's phone. He punched in a few numbers on his screen, and threw her phone back into the grass. Out of the silence, the ringing began to pierce the air. An exhausted voice came from the speaker.
"Hello?" Tom answered, clearly out of breath.
"Hey, Tom. How're ya?" Noah circled around us in paces.
"Why are you calling me and why do you have Rose's phone?" he sounded upset now.
"I'll answer those two questions if you tell me why you're so exhausted when you're out to dinner with your parents?"
The phone went silent.
"I'm with a friend, we were just hanging out. Went to dinner with my parents a while ago. If you think I don't know this is one of Rose's friends, you're sorely mistaken," he suddenly snapped.
"Hey man, I didn't say anything about it. Besides, since if you think I don't know you're messing around with Melissa you're even more stupid than I thought."
The receiver clicked, the phone went silent. Tom hung up.
