Paperboy. (h.s. au)

22.

Still shaken from yesterday's events at dinner, this day has been a scary one.

After shakily pouring a cup of coffee, not drinking it, picking at toast, and staring at the wall for most of my morning and afternoon, I decide TV is a good substitute for thinking.

As soon as I settle in with my snacks and everything, David skips in and plops himself down on the couch cushion next to me. He kicks his feet up and takes a pop tart, sighing.

"What are we watching?" He asks, taking a bite.

"Well, I'm watching whatever Nicholas Sparks movie I can find on here. I don't know about you though." I flip through the different movies, but I find nothing but weird movies with one or two star ratings.

"Why don't you just close your eyes and pick one?" David looks over at me with a puzzled look. "That's what I do."

Laughing in defeat, I shake my head and cover my eyes with my other hand. I click around for a little bit, settle on something, and then play it.

It turns out to be Toy Story Three and I'm actually very okay with that. I hear a yes from David and we focus our attention onto the screen.

An hour and a half later, I'm sobbing with popcorn all over my shirt. David got emotional and had to leave the room after several attempts to stop the tear flow. I watch Andy drive away from his old toys as tears stream down my face. I dab under my eyes and sniffle as my mom walks through the door after work.

"Dear lord, what are you doing?" She looks amused.

"I'm- I'm watching Toy Story." I sniffle again and wipe my eyes on my shirt sleeve.

I don't understand why she looks so baffled at my reaction- it's Toy Story Three. You'd have to be a monster not to cry while watching this.

I turn off the television and sigh. I shouldn't have done that. Too emotional. "If you think I'm bad, you should have seen Dave. Blubbering over how Andy left them all behind and when he's older, he's taking his toys to college no matter what." I smile and wipe my eyes one last time. I stand up from the couch and brush myself off. I'm going to have to do some serious cleaning if I'm supposed to look presentable later.

Movie with Harry later.

Oh my god.

It's like I forgot all about that in the midst of crying over a movie and eating popcorn.

"What time is it?" Cautiously, I peer around my mother to the clock behind her. "It's five!!" I shout and run up stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Yeah?" My mother stands at the base of the steps, questioning my reaction.

"Harry's coming here at six!" I yell from my room, tearing open my drawers and throwing clothes onto my bed. It's not like I hadn't already planned what I was going to wear, it's that I couldn't find it.

After finding just about every other article of clothing I own, I finally see the shirt I was looking for. It's nothing special, just a black shirt with white- cuffed sleeves, but it's my feel good shirt. I need my feel good shirt.

I pair it with denim shorts and speed walk to the bathroom, groaning when I see my freakish reflection in the mirror. My hair is completely askew, the unruly locks jutting out in random directions and my face pale from being inside all day.