Sugar Spell it Out

Ten: Lazyboys and Letters

It was Saturday and I decided it was time for a Lazyboy day.

A tradition held every month, once a month. Trish and I would spend ridiculous money on chips, candy, TV dinners, and endless amounts of apple juice and spread out on our hulk-sized bean bags watching anything that was available on television.

And here we were in all our glory, curled up on our respective bean bags-in the middle our third episode of 'Yes, Dear.'

Feeling goose bumps even through my layers, I pulled my arms inside my large gray hoodie, my mouth both chewing and holding on to a large piece of banana Laffy Taffy.

"Once you get to Martin Luther King Boulevard...   you in the hood." 

Biting down on the candy in my mouth, I tried to stifle my laugh and avoid accidentally choking myself. The sound that came out of my mouth was more of an unattractive snort.
Unattractive, Trish's boisterous laughing made me turn my head.  Her head tilted backwards, eyes closed, and her hand rested on her stomach. Like mine, her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, curling over her shoulder, and her thin-rimmed glasses slid off of her face a little.
Pushing my arms through the sleeves again, I pulled the taffy from my lips.

"Why is that line so funny to you?"
Stabbing at the ravioli on her plate, "Oh hush. So it's not funny?" She spoke around the piece in her mouth. "We need to work on your sense of humor."
Before I could answer her snarky comment, I heard a faint buzzing coming from Trish's side of the room.
"Is your phone on vibrate?" I asked. "No..." She shook her head, moving her plate out the way and reaching under my bean bag to pull out my cell. "It's you."
I grabbed the phone from her hand. The caller ID flashed a number that I didn't know.

Trish reached for the remote to pause the television.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hi there. Juliet?" came a familiar voice. I furrowed my brow. "Maya? Is that you?"
"Yeah. Hey, I hope you don't mind me calling."
"Of course not. Is there something wrong?"
I bit my lip. "Nothing's wrong. I just was calling to tell you that there's a nice letter waiting for you at the register. You-"

Quickly my body jumped. Shooting a quick glance at Trish, she raised her eyebrows at me, brown eyes wide.
'What's wrong?' she mouthed. I frowned.
"Are you there?" said Maya. "Juliet?"
"Sorry. What did you say?"
"I don't get off for another hour. Do you want to come pick it up? Or do you want to wait until I'm off?"
Before she was finished with her sentence I found myself shaking my head.
I didn't know why I was so jittery now. Normally, I would've found this to be completely insane. A girl getting jumpy over a little note a boy wrote her-that was so first grade.

Check yes or no.
Butterflies ricocheted in my stomach. Being recognized was the reason I was so excited.

A thousand times yes.

It had nothing to do with the fact that he could possibly be interested in me. I shook my head.
"See you in a few, then."She said before hanging up.
I saved Maya's number while Trish decided to bombard me with her questions.

"What the hell just happened? I literally watched like fifteen different emotions cross your face. And who's Maya? What are you going to pick up? Sienna."
Holding my phone in my lap, I explained everything to her.  She stretched her body over her bean bag and grabbed our shoes under her bed. She tossed my Chucks to me.

"Put 'em on."

"There she is!" Maya's cheery voice exclaimed just as we stepped fully in the store-the bell had stopped ringing.
I smiled big, loosening the scarf around my neck. Maya was more to the right of the register leaning casually on the counter like I'd seen her do before, a few feet away from Josh who was sitting on a stool with his nose buried in some book.
The place was nearly empty besides a few people who were spread about, no more than five each sitting on their own.  Trish nudged me subtly and jutted her chin in the direction of the register.