Back to the Beginning || Raura

9.0

Back to the Beginning | 9.0 |
| Laura Marano |

| Thursday: February 28th, 2019 |

I sigh and pick at the rips on my jeans. Rocky FaceTimed me in a panic this morning saying that I needed to come over ASAP because he has something to tell me about work stuff. After telling him I needed to grab an Uber (because I'm with Rydel), he told me Ross could pick me up. He was out on a breakfast date with Jaz, who was planning on coming back to the house. She's spent the last two nights there, I've spent the last two nights at Rydel's. I haven't seen Ross since our argument three days ago. Don't get me wrong, we still text each other, but we didn't FaceTime yesterday. Or the day before. That's a new record for us.

From Jaz Sinclair:
Just pulled onto your street

I don't reply, I just stand up from off the porch steps and start making my way down to the driveway. By the time I reached the end, Ross was pulling up to the sidewalk. I give them both a wave before opening the back door to the car.

"Good morning." I say with a smile. "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem, bug." I buckle up and lean back in my seat.

"How was breakfast?" I ask. I see Ross' hands grip the steering wheel tighter. I narrow my eyes in on that and try to catch his glance in the rear view mirror.

"It was amazing." Ross shakes his head the slightest at me, staring me down in the mirror. "I've never really been a breakfast person, but I may have changed my mind now." I fake a smile and look away from Ross.

"Sounds like a place I need to try out." Jaz began to talk to Ross after that. I turned my head to look out the window and zone out the two of them. I was tempted to tell Rocky to fuck off and let me get an Uber, but then he'd be suspicious as to why I wouldn't want to spend my time with my best friend. The moment we parked in the driveway, Jaz stepped out and practically ran inside because she had to pee really badly. Ross stood behind me as I grabbed my purse. "You didn't have to pick me up, you know." He winces.

"I tried to get out of it, I swear, but Jaz just kept insisting that going ten minutes out of our way wasn't a big deal." I give him a genuine smile.

"It's okay, Ross. It wasn't... it wasn't that bad." He relaxes the slightest.

"What are you doing later? Jaz is going back to her place and having one of her out of town friends staying over, so I thought we could stay here and watch a couple movies." I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Rydel and I are going out tonight." He furrows his eyebrows.

"To dinner?"

"Drinks." He now raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

"What are you wearing?"

"Does it matter?" I ask him. "I'm single, your sisters single, we're going out to have a good time and maybe meet some guys. I'm obviously going to dress more on the sexier side." He didn't look too pleased with my answer. "Maybe I'll just wear a lace bra as my top and a tight skirt. Tight skirts really show my figure." I was teasing him now.

"That's not funny." I raise my hand up, my thumb and pointer finger only centimeters away from each other.

"Just a little bit." He uncrosses his arms and swats my wrist away. I couldn't help but laugh. "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but you don't get a say in what I can and cannot wear." I walk away from him and head for the front door. He doesn't make another sound, just silently follows behind me. I set my purse down on the kitchen table before walking with my laptop in hand to the garage. I plop down on the couch, letting Ross have his chair beside Rocky in front of the computer. "Alright, boys. What is so important that I had to know right this second?" I ask. Rocky turns around in his chair, a full blown grin on his face. Ross' smile soon mirrored his brothers exactly.