Still Here

17

Jasmine is unavailable the next day, busy getting therapy. But AJ is free. So we spend our time watching the shitty dinosaur of a TV, but mainly talking about whatever we want. Michael even visits us.

"Hey, Michael," I say, when he sees AJ and me sitting on my bed while eating terrible hospital food.

He smiles at me and nods at AJ, who says, "I'm AJ and I already know your name."

Michael laughs. "I know yours, too."

They look at me and I shrug. "You're both good conversational topics."

"I mean, we are pretty interesting people," AJ says, jokingly cocky.

"Very," Michael adds.

"Yeah, I could write a novel about you two," I say, rolling my eyes.

Michael chuckles and takes off the backpack he's wearing. "Another interesting thing? I brought board games."

AJ gasps dramatically. "Thank God. If we had watched one more Full House rerun, I would've lost it. You saved the shitty TV, Michael. Honestly, you should feel like a hero. It would have gotten shattered," he says, in complete seriousness.

I'm in too much pain to move, so they crowd around me with the board game on my bed. We play several games and end up talking and forgetting about the game until we move to the next one.

Except for Monopoly.

We do not fuck around when playing Monopoly.

I can't help but think that we're all meant to be realtors or something. Though that would be dangerous for the industry and anybody involved. AJ threatens to throw the game board numerous times, and makes it rain every time he gives someone money because he wanted to be the bank. It's ridiculously wonderful. Michael doesn't crack a smile once, pretending that this is so much more than a game. He can't shake the feeling of owing me and even slips me a Get Out of Jail Free card, which greatly aggravates AJ and greatly pleases me. I buy a ludicrous amount of hotels and am the reason AJ eventually flips the board. I nearly cry laughing when he picks the pieces up off the floor. He gets tired of it and just makes it rain again, this time with all of the money, worsening the mess. But it's such a fantastic mess.

We end up continuing to watch Full House reruns and random movies that play, and AJ doesn't actually destroy the TV. AJ and Michael befriend each other quickly and I can tell Michael will visit us both again. The guilt he feels is still there, but it's not the only thing he feels towards me anymore.

And for the first time in a long time, I have friends.

Plural.