The Big Five

27. My Petty Problems

I stood in front of the door and stared at the yellow Private! sign with red letters. Stickers were stuck around the door and the familiar octopus greeted me with somewhat hostility. It held a board with its eight arms, presenting Joey's name.

I shook the thought away and raised my hand to knock.

Give him a chance, I repeated for the seventh time. It'll be okay. Just give him a chance.

My hand refused to even make the slightest sound on the door. It hovered in front of the octopus board, seemingly afraid to touch it in case it stretched out its tentacles and grabbed my wrist.

What if I was right? What if Joey was trying to break me like Paul did?

No. I knew him. He was my best friend for fifteen years. He couldn't have changed that much, could he?

I inhaled deeply for the gazillionth time.

"Joey, I'm here to give you a chance to explain yourself," I muttered. I'd been practicing that speech for who-knows-how-long.

"No. It was....Joey, I'm sorry for bailing out on you. No no. Um....Joey, explain yourself." I sighed in frustration and rubbed my head.

How was I even supposed to approach this subject?

I looked into the eyes of that octopus and finally took the courage to pound next to its face. I lightly tapped it three times. Half of me hoped that he would open the door, but the other half hoped he wouldn't and I would be able to convince myself that I at least tried.

I've fought with Joey before, but I was scared this time. He seemed to have changed so much, I didn't know if I could approach him the way I always had.

I heard shuffling on the other side and the door opened. My stomach did a weird flip. I wasn't expecting him to be that quick to open the door. Oh how I wish Maggie or Emma was here.

"Nicole?" Joey rubbed his eyes and squinted at me. He must have been in bed until now. Typical. It was a Sunday afternoon.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Hey." He hesitated before stepping aside. "You want to come in?"

I nodded and entered his room. As usual, the first thing I saw was his collection. The darned collection he bet.

I took a seat on his bed. Joey pulled up a swivel chair and sat on it backwards. He leaned his arms on the headrest and searched my eyes.

"You're mad," he stated.

I broke eye contact and looked around the room. "I guess I am."

I noticed a model sitting at his desk. A white cloth was next to it. He was polishing it. He was polishing his models. He only did that when he was trying to distract himself.

"Nick, I....I'm so sorry for, well, you know...."

"Being a jerk?" I finished.

He smiled guiltily. "Yeah. For being a jerk. I shouldn't have brought Paul up and....well....made you into a game. I guess when I brought you up to the others, it kind of slipped. I said that you would never fall for any of us because of Paul. They don't know about him, and Roger challenged us. They all bet in their possessions, so I thought I couldn't lose or they'd think I'm lame or something."

I watched him silently. He felt guilty. He knew I wouldn't be happy about it. But he didn't want to lose his status and friends.

I didn't know if I should forgive him. I didn't know if I could forgive him.