God, Weed & Classical Music

chapter two: preschool games and bach

[dedication goes to @maddieestrella ; your comments made me laugh] 

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The day that follows after my fail of a birthday party starts once almost all of it is over. Because someone's now frantically knocking on the door, making me want to knock them for being so impatient and making that much noise.

I lazily get out of my bed, rubbing my eyes and taking a quick look in the mirror. My hair is, surprisingly, looking good enough and I put the stray hairs behind my ears as I head towards the banging.

"Why so sullen, Nal?" Vera questions, her smile replaced by a small frown once she sees me.

I sigh and get back inside, leaving the door open for her and Trevor. "Why wouldn't I be when you're the first person I see after sleeping for twelve hours straight?"

Trevor's chuckle comes to a quick end when Vera shoots him a glare, his expression changes to one of awkwardness. "Look, Cub," he begins, using the pet name he and Abe gave me a few years back. "We are sorry, okay? We were at the lake house with my parents and kind of lost track of time - that's when we called. It was dark and we got lost by accident-"

"You lost us, Trev," she shoots him yet another glare before averting her gaze to me, a humorous twinkle in her eyes as she covers her mouth with one hand and whispers to me, "You know he is like a mole-rat when he gets inside a car. Don't even know why I let him drive."

I roll my eyes, a small smile threatening to appear on my face, but I don't let it. Trevor continues, ignoring Vera's statement, his cheeks now a light, barely evident shade of red. "As I was saying, we had a little... disturbance. We wandered around for at least an hour, my phone is still at the lake house and Vera's lost signal."

My friend nods her head vigorously, her eyes hopeful. She's never been really great at explaining and apologizing so she always leaves that to the lucky person who's with her. In cases when she's alone, she simply doesn't address the problem at all.

"Ah, yes? And what'd you do after?" A bitter smile takes over my features, knowing perfectly well I won't like the answer, yet demanding it anyway.

"We, uh," he stammers, looking anywhere but at me. "We eventually found the way back to the house. We were both really tired so we fell asleep on the spot."

"You couldn't have called? Texted? No?" My voice is disappointed, annoyed even.

They both have the same shameful expressions, none of them gathering enough courage to say anything else in their defence.

I'm mad, that much is clear. All they needed to do was tell me in advance - that way I would've been sad they wouldn't be able to make it, but at least I would've known. I wouldn't have wasted my entire day and the ones before it in preparation. I wouldn't have declined the Greece trip and would've now been at some sunny beach, far away from here.

Yikes.

"What were you here for?" I change the topic, tired of the tense silence between us. It isn't the first time they've let me down, yet I let it all slide. I'm all in for confrontation and solving problems, but I'm currently not in the mood for any more drama.

Vera beams, seemingly glad our little problem is done and over with. "Charlene is throwing this end-of-summer party in a couple of hours! It's going to be a lot of fun, you won't regret it. It will also take your mind off everything."

"Who is coming?" I ask, however I know I will be going whatever her answer is.

"Well, we are. Charlie. Sonia maybe. Some other people from our year. I also heard there will be college guys," she smirks suggestively, her eyebrows raising, and I snort.