The Art of Being a Gentleman

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

David Potosky had always had emotional gymnophobia.

For years, the possibility of being seen, of being vulnerable, had been terrifying to him. It was too much. Too personal.

But throughout these last few months, he kind of felt as though he had emotionally flashed a lot of people in his life. And you know, it turns out it wasn't so bad.

"I can't believe we're still arguing over this," Hannah groaned, slumping her head down onto her folded arms.

"I will stop arguing about it once Ricky admits that he's wrong," Mack said sternly, pounding his fist against the table to emphasize his point.

"But you can't give me a real reason as to why I'm wrong," Ricky sighed, reaching for a slice of pizza from the open boxes placed in the middle of the table.

Mack pounced like a tiger, snatching the entire box and holding it out of Ricky's reach with a frown, "No. No. You don't deserve this."

David looked between them with amusement. After all, it was kind of his fault this argument had even started in the first place. He probably shouldn't have brought it up... but how was he supposed to know it would cause such a problem?

"Guys," he started. "I thought we skipped the homecoming dance so that we could hang out, not spend all of our time fighting."

"Oh yeah? I thought it was because you're embarrassed about your pretty little flower arrangements," Mack smirked.

"Shut up."

Hannah lifted her head. "I want to watch a movie."

"Me too," Rachael sighed, sipping at her can of soda. You could tell she was beyond tired of their petty argument.

"I also would love to," Mack nodded, and they moved to stand. "Once Ricky stops saying that a hot dog is a sandwich."

The girls groaned, slumping back down into their chairs.

Holding a hand to his temple, Ricky huffed, "I'm saying it's a variation of a sandwich."

"And you're a variation of a total idiot!"

"Mack. It's meat between bread that--"

Rachael placed a hand on Ricky's arm, "Oh honey, just stop."

He looked at his girlfriend helplessly, "But he's--"

"Nope. Just stop."

David quickly swiveled his head towards Hannah, who was already looking back at him with a matching grin. It took a while for them to notice, but Rachael keeping Ricky in line was honestly one of their favorite things in the world.

"Why don't we agree to disagree?" she offered, looking around the table for confirmation.

Hannah nodded quickly, and David was going to do the same until he caught Mack's eye from across the table, his eyes demanding that David join his side. He opened his mouth, "Personally, I think--"

Hannah's hand was suddenly gripping onto his wrist tightly, turning to him with a sickly sweet smile and murder in her eyes.

"That we should agree to disagree," he finished. "Obviously. That's what I was gonna say."

Mack scowled at him. "You are weak, Potosky."

"There! Three out of five. That's a majority," Rachael concluded, standing up. "C'mon. We still need to decide on a movie, so we need to get this going."

"Fine," Ricky grumbled. Taking a deep, calming breath, he turned to Mack with a peacemaking smile.

After a long moment, Mack slowly lowered the pizza box and held it out to him. But just as Ricky was about to grab a slice, Mack pulled back and leaned in whispering, "This isn't over, Santos."