Once Upon a Time

Chapter Six: To Become a Great Friend

Chapter Six: To Become a Great Friend

I arrived at home at two to eight. Giving my mom a kiss on the cheek and a smug smile when she greeted me, I triumphantly said, "Look, I'm not late." She returned my smile with what I thought was a cross between an amused and affectionate smile. I told her that I'd be in my room if she needed me, and she let me go. I passed Ethan's room as I walked toward mine, and I contemplated on bugging him for a while. But then I decided against it and simply banged on his door thrice.

"Your favorite sister is home!" I called out, before making my way to my room. I could hear Ethan yelling that he didn't care, and I laughed in response. Welcome to the Ross household, people. This happened almost everyday. 

Stepping into my room and shutting the door behind me, I turned on the lights and proceeded to fall back on my bed. My eyes were close to shutting when my phone buzzed. I picked it up. There was a text from Carson. Crap, I thought. I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to go on Skype. Hastily scrambling off the bed and grabbing my laptop, I booted it up and responded to the text, Damn, I'm so sorry. I forgot. Hang on, lemme get Skype on and I'll greet you there.

Okay, came the response. Shit, I felt so guilty for forgetting. If he hadn't texted me, I would've fallen asleep. As soon as Skype was on, I quickly pressed the call button and waited for Carson to pick up. It wasn't long before he did.

"I am so, so sorry," I immediately said, turning on the video option. "I didn't realize how exhausting thinking is before today, wow. All that work on the project is tiring. I nearly fell asleep, you know."

Carson's face soon filled my screen. I watched him laugh and say, "What made it tiring? Did you... You know, did something with Stefan?"

I gaped at his suggestion. If this wasn't over a call, I would've certainly hit him or throw something at him. "Nooo!" I protested, scowling at my friend's immaturity. "God, no. Of course I didn't. A lot of thinking just isn't nice."

"A lot of thinking about him?" he asked again. Way to make another attempt, Carson.

"When will you ever stop?" I muttered in exasperation. "For the last time, Carson, I don't like Stefan in that way."

"And for the last time, Alana, I will not believe you," he said, mimicking my tone.

"Whatever," I responded. "So, what is it that you wanna talk about?"

"Don't try change the topic. I'm not done talking about you and Stefan."

"But I'm done talking about it. And a conversation goes both ways."

Carson made a face at me, and I returned the look with a triumphant expression. It looked like I won this one. I'd never understand boys and their need to argue. Carson, Stefan, Zach —they were all the same. Not that I minded a little of banter. A banter a day was pretty healthy, in my opinion. Especially if said banter was won. "Okay, should I get down to business?" my friend relented and asked.

I gave him a look, "What do you think?" The two of us had a habit of getting distracted and getting off topic all the time. It was either that, or we'd deliberately change the topic to piss the other off. Or more like, Carson did it to piss me off—which really annoyed me. He always succeeded in doing that. Sometimes I wondered why we were still friends.

But then again, he was a pretty damn good friend for someone who was capable of annoying me at least once a week. So it wasn't like I could complain. As much as it didn't show at times, I suppose that you could say that I thought the guy was great. Not as in, I'm-so-obsessed-about-him great, but in a way where I admired him. Carson was pretty much always there when I needed him to be. Not always, but he was for most of the time. And though it might not sound like much, it meant the world to me. He was a great friend.