The List

Chapter Five

I quickly exit the restaurant and find Rhett sitting on the bed of Liam's truck, smoking a cigarette. He sees me coming toward him and finishes off the remainder of it.

"What?" He asks. "Big brother send you out here to tell me to stop being a dick?"

I shake my head and hop up next to him. "No, I feel just as pissed as you probably do."

"It's whatever, honestly. I'm going back in, in a minute, so you can go tell him I'm fine."

"You don't have to be," I say. "What he said was kind of messed up."

"Do you blame me?" He asks. "Honestly?"

I ponder for a moment, then shake my head. "No, I really don't. I wanted to have fun. I could've said no to the alcohol. I didn't have to follow him out to the porch. It was all my decisions and my mistakes."

Rhett fishes something out of his pockets. "Here's your list."

I take it from his hands and open it up. He crossed off the few things I've finally accomplished.

"I wish I could finish this," I confess.

"Why don't you?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. I never thought about why I haven't accomplished anything. I kept the note hidden in that book for four years and hadn't thought about it in over two years. Life got in the way and I all but forgot about that stupid list. My mom found it and almost ripped it up before I told her that I'd get rid of it.

"I don't know really. I guess I thought it was stupid." I say as I brush a strand of hair behind my hair.

"Who told you it was stupid?" Rhett asks, looking at me.

"My mom." I sigh. "She said it was childish. I had better things to do than complete some stupid list. My life has always been about school."

"Seriously?" Rhett scoffs. "No offense, but your mom sounds like a bitch, from how you've talked about her."

"Only to me." I sigh, laying in the bed of the truck. "Liam can do no wrong."

Rhett lays down next to me, and we both watch the setting sun for a few silent moments.

"Sounds like my life too." He says, softly. "Except it's with my younger brother. He's only seventeen, but he gets away with shit I would've been killed for."

"Care, Rhett?" I hear Liam call. We both sit up and look at our three friends walking toward us. Rhett lights another cigarette and barely looks at Liam.

"I'm sorry for blowing up like that." Liam finally says. "It was out of line."

I nod my head, not knowing what to say.

Rhett blows his smoke up to the sky. "Not a big deal, bro. I've heard worse. Now, do we want to go back inside and watch this game and drink a few beers?"

He grins and makes even me believe that he wasn't just pissed at everything a few moments ago. Liam smiles back and nods his head. They both do that weird man handshake, then pull in for a quick hug. He gives Grace a side hug and apologizes to her as well she grins and shakes her head.

Back inside the restaurant, Rhett sits opposite me, instead of beside me, and ignores me more than he usually does. The whole dinner just feels awkward now. The guys act as if nothing happened, and Rhett smiles and laughs as they talk. When the conversation turns to me, he gets quiet and stops smiling.  We finish eating and watch the remainder of the game; Tech wins 42-20. Once we leave the restaurant, he asks Grace if he can have shotgun. She agrees and sits in the back beside me.