The Unloved One

08: movie

Wednesday

     In all honesty, I have been to quite a lot of parties.

     Most of them were hosted by Max Hamilton, which means I could just step outside my room and find a whole bunch of sweaty teenagers in the hallway.

     Today though, I'm going to a party hosted by Lee Mason.

     "We're just going to be watching movies the whole time," Lee tells me, as we ride the bus from school to his house. "Nothing too crazy."

"I'm fine with that," I say with a smile. "So who's coming?"

"A few friends from my old school," he begins, as he stares at the floor in thought. "A girl named Bea Mosson."

He looks over at me and sends me a playful wink, and I can't help but let out a small laugh.

He smiles at my reaction before continuing. "Jack Perry from my calculus class. Oh, and Nima from lunch."

My eyes light up. "Nima's coming?"

"Yep," he replies with a nod, followed by a sigh. "So, how was your day, Bea?"

     Hearing such a simple question come from the mouth of someone other than Alice and Barbara felt slightly foreign to me, but I gave him a smile and answered the question. "Good. My day was good."

     He tilts his head. "Want to talk about how 'good' your day was?"

I blink once. "Well, only if you don't mind-"

"I don't," he interrupts, giving me a cheeky smile.

I can't help but smile, too, before going through my thoughts and events throughout the day. "Well, I got an A on my quiz today," I finally say with a shrug.

He nods his head, seeming impressed. "Well done, Ms. Mosson."

The bus soon comes to another stop, and this time we step off. "That's my house right there," Lee says, pointing to the only blue-colored house surrounded by small vines and rose bushes.

We make our way over. Before opening the door though, he quickly himself and turns to me. "As you may know, I have sisters. Two to be exact."

I slowly nod my head, waiting for him to continue.

He sticks a hand in his pocket and lets out a sigh. "And sadly, I'm the youngest."

I nod my head yet again.

"So, they might say some dumb shit to embarrass me, especially since I brought... a girl home with me," he says, occasionally averting his eyes from mine. "Just ignore them if they get pretty weird, okay?"

I shake my head in amusement at his embarrassment. "Relax, Lee. We'll be fine," I say with a smile, giving him a light pat on the cheek.

He gives me a smile, too, before turning back around to open the door.

"Leedle-Lee, is that you?" Someone shouts from the kitchen.

"Home sweet home," I hear Lee beside me mumble to himself.

A few seconds later, a girl in an oversized orange hoodie and black shorts emerges from the kitchen with a messy bun on her head and a mug in her hand. Her eyes immediately land on me. "Oh my god, who's this pretty thing?"

Having already met Elle, I could tell that I have just met another sister of Lee's. "I'm Bea," I say with a smile.

"Hi, Bea," she says, before walking up to me and placing her free hand on my shoulder. "I'm Jill, Lee's eldest sister."