Lazer Tag Life

9

It was Friday morning. It was a messed up week for the four of us. We barely even talked to each other about anything outside of schoolwork and a new trend that was going around about shipping teachers. We promised Paige in the group chat that we were going to meet with her again tomorrow, but our relationship between the four of us felt very strained, and I couldn't bear to see it this way anymore. It was up to me to make us close again.

After Physics, our last class of the day, I pulled Bob over. I was kind of staring anxiously at him the whole time, and he probably noticed, because of the confused look he was giving me. 

"Hey...Paul."

"I really have to tell you something."

His eyes lit up. "What? Is HenBeth finally canon?"

"No!" I hissed. "This is not about Teacher Shipping!"

"Oh. It is about the whole Paige thing?" He shrugged, which was very alarming. He seemed so dismissive about the whole situation. It only happened a couple days ago, and it looked like he was already past it. 

"Yes! I just feel like after the whole group chat thing, we haven't been talking in school at all, and it's making me...you know...sad."

"Aww, Paulie," Bob cooed, wrapping his arm around me.

"I don't like it when my friends aren't getting along, Bob," I muttered into his shirt.

Bob suddenly separated himself from me, standing up straighter and shooting me a huge smile.  "Alex has been really focused on getting a girlfriend this week," he laughed, changing the subject.

"But we all know that's not gonna happen," I grumbled. "Do you remember the last time he went on a date?"

"I don't want to be reminded of the 'I'll watch Clockwork Orange, everyone likes Clockwork Orange!' incident."

"Why did he think watching that would be good for a date?"

"I don't know. He had to wear that finger thing for a week after, that's all I know."

"Maybe she was freaked out because the guy's name was Alex, too..."

I sighed, putting my head in my hands. "Is he going on a date tonight?"

"He's been talking to this girl. I think they're seeing a movie tonight."

"If it's on Netflix and it was previously X-rated, then we have to stop him."

"No, it's a cute kids movie, I'm pretty sure." Bob whipped his phone out. "If we're going to stalk him, we better get Nick involved too, right?"

"Absolutely." I smiled. This was going to be a good night.

*****

Was I wrong when I said this was going to be a good night? Well, I guess not necessarily. I didn't say it was going to be a perfect night.

Nick and I have been sitting in Bob's living room for about 10 minutes, and neither of us have said a word to each other. I hate this awkwardness; I just hate being awkward in general.

Nick had his earphones in, and I was dying to ask him what he was listening to. The new Shadow Puppets album? Maybe a classic Joy Division song? Meghan Trainor? The suspense was killing me, and it was so weird that I couldn't bring myself to ask him because it was going to be the first thing I said to him all week.

It's crazy what distance does to a close and constant friendship, even if it was for a short time. 

I sighed and placed my water bottle on the table, but for some reason, my arm decided to flip out on me and totally miss the table, causing the water bottle to fall to the floor and spill all over.