My best friend's brother and my brother's best friend (2016)

Drinking games

*Picture of Cara*

*Flashback*

"I cannot believe our mums are making us do schoolwork on New Years," Cara complains in desperation as we sit companionably at the breakfast bar in my house.

"To be fair, the party doesn't start until half seven so we might as well be productive one last time this year," I say truthfully.

"One day, you will do something not so sensible and I want to have a front row seat," Cara laughs, tapping her pencil thoughtfully.

"When I've got some qualifications under my belt and my life in some sort of order, then maybe I'll stop being so sensible."

"Oh calm down, I'm pretty sure you've got everything you want in your future in clear sight," - not everything! - "except you know maybe my brother."

I give her a death look, I hate that she can always tell what I'm thinking at every second. She gives me an equally bitchy look back.

"Yo yo!"

I hear Jeremy's individual mind-numbing language as the front door slams shut. Eli's familiar melodic voice follows behind him; telling him to shut up.

"Hey," Cara says absentmindedly, writing something down in concentration.

"Where you been?" I ask curiously, desperate for any distraction.

"Just shopping, nowhere major, been trying not to shoot myself in the face dealing with this moron," Eli laughs, stringing his arm across my shoulder and making me squeal internally.

"Yeah that's why he was chatting up birds everywhere we went," Jeremy laughs. Oh well.

"Anyway we should go and start getting ready," Cara states, stretching her arms out and tying her hair up in a quick messy bun.

"Maybe I'll give you a hand," Jeremy kids, smiling cheekily at her.

"Hold up, Archie!" I laugh, fake gagging.

"Yeah man please, that's my fifteen year old sister. If you hit on her, I can easily get payback," Eli remarks, winking at me.

"Yeah ... ok, before his gets really uncomfortable rather than just slightly, we're gonna go," Cara remarks pulling a face as I nod in agreement.

She pulls me out of the room and towards the stairs.

"You know Eli's right, he is a moron!"

"Oh come on Cara, you love it really," I respond laughing at my best friend's awful cover.

"Hm, well it helps that he's hot and older."

"Just like Eli," I say dreamily.

"Yeah ok, let's both agree not to go into any details about each other's brothers," Cara insists when we reach the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like anything will probably ever happen between any of us," I agree, "it'd definitely be too weird."

***

When I eventually manage to get in the shower, I scrub my body so it's glistening. Once out, I towel dry my hair and wrap another tightly around my body.

"How was the walk?" I ask Cara as I go back into her room.

"Good, we went shopping for a bit and for lunch at Gianni's," she says while also occupied on her phone.

"Sounds nice," I nod trying to hide my smile as I route through my drawers for comfy clothes.

"What happened?" Cara asks suspiciously, her interest is so piqued that she even puts her phone down.