More Than Friends?

Chapter 3

It's about eleven when the movie is over and I finally go home. I walk in and turn on the lights. Sitting right on the spot where I usually leave my keys is a sticky note. It reads:

"Tanner, you're father and I went to a play in the city and are spending the night in a hotel. -Mom"

I guess they did forget.

***

I don't wake up until I hear a banging on the front door.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" I yell as I throw my mess of hair up into a bun. It's so long and I can't stand it most of the time, but I refuse to cut it.

"What do you want?" I say as I answer the door. Craig and Mark are standing in front of me.

"Do you want to help me set up for the bonfire tonight-" Mark cuts Craig short.

"Or go with me to the airport to pick up my buds?" they ask.

"Sleep. Is sleep an option?" I say groggily.

"Nope. Now pick." Mark smiles when he says this.

"You." I say pointing to Mark. I figure I can sleep a little bit on the way there.

"HAHA." Mark says as he turns to Craig.

"I need ten minutes to get ready. Please come in, feel free to raid my fridge the both of you." I say as I open the door wider so they can enter.

When I walk back down stairs I find the two boys in my kitchen, eating some cereal and sipping on some coffee.

"Ready?" I say cheerily as I bounce into their site.

"You're gonna like dress up for the bonfire tonight, right?" Craig asks when he sees me in Nike running shorts, trainers, and a long sleeved soccer shirt.

"I suppose I will." I say as I roll my eyes and smile. It's not often the boys get to see me in something other than athletic clothes so when they do, they like to make a big deal about it.

"You could just wear that. You pull it off quite nicely." Mark says as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"AWW thanks bud." I say as I pinch his cheek and reach over his shoulder to grab an apple.

"Okay. Well there's a lot to do before tonight so we better get 'er going. Mark you're still helping me set up after you get back from the airport, right?"

"Yeah. I should get there around 4." Mark responds to his brother as he finishes off his coffee and puts the mug in the sink adjacent to him.

"Let's go then!" I say as I grab my keys.

***

When Mark and I are in the car it doesn't take long before I realize I'm not going to get any sleep.

"So what are you going to wear?" he asks casually as he turns down the road leading out of our neighborhood.

"It's a surprise." I say as I take a bite of the apple I grabbed before leaving. We're quite for a second, the music filling the silence before I speak again. "Oh. You know my friend Rachel from the team?"

"The one with the short brown hair?" he asks a little intrigued.

"Yeah that one. Well she's going to be there tonight and I guess she's going to ask you out." Mark laughs at this.

"Really?" he asks once he realizes that I'm being serious.

"Yeah she asked me to 'put in a good word for her'." I say making air quotes.

"Oh okay. That's cool I guess."

"Are you going to say yes?"

"Nah. She's not really my type. Plus isn't she the one who-"

"Yup." I say cutting him off, I know exactly what he's referring to.

Rachel broke her last boyfriend's heart. What was weird was no one saw it coming. She acted as if she was completely infatuated with him, told him she loved him, and then one day bam. She broke up with no explanation and never spoke to him again. No one knew why she did it, but I had a theory she did it because she liked to watch the boys wallow in pain. She got hurt pretty bad sophomore year by a boy and she hasn't been right since.

"Yeah I don't really need that sort of thing in my life." he says simply.

Good. I think to myself.

"So who are we picking up?" I question as we get closer to the airport.

"Stale, Mikkel and Maxence."

"Oh my gosh I haven't seen Max in ages." I say recalling the last time he visited.

"I know. He was super excited to hear that you're going tonight."

"How long are they staying?" I ask, hoping I can have some time to catch up with my old friend.

"Well they're going camping with us next week. You're still coming, right?

"Yeah. I'm done with classes so I don't have to go back until graduation in two weeks...well and practice for championships."

"Can you miss practice Monday?"

"Yeah, I already cleared it with my coach."

We pull into the airport and Mark finds a spot in the garage. It's noon and their flight isn't getting here for another half hour so we decide to get some food.

When we're done eating it's 12:30 so we make our way to their gate.

"SPARKY!!!" Stale and another boy that I assume is Mikkel yell. I've met Stale before briefly but I've never met Mikkel. I can't get a good look at him but I can tell he's tall.

"Tanner?!" I hear from a distance. Maxence quickly picks up his pace and I start to run towards him.

"Max!" I say as he picks me up in a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"You too oh my gosh you look amazing. Mark said you grew up a lot since I last saw you but wow. You look beautiful. You seeing anyone?" he asks and I laugh at this. Max and I always mess around like this but neither of us is ever serious.

"Nope. Still single." I say as I twirl a stray group of hair around my finger dramatically.

"Well looks like I'm going to have to keep the boys away from you tonight." he says as he puts his arm over my shoulders and we make our way towards the others.

"Tanner! It's so good to see you." Stale says as he comes up and gives me a quick hug.

"You too! I'm digging the haircut." I say as I ruffle his hair playfully.

"Tanner, this is Mikkel. Mikkel this is Tanner, you've heard me talk about her before." Mark says gesturing to the tall boy next to him. Now that I can get a good look I notice how cute he is. Sometimes it pays off having snowboard friends.

"Only good things I hope." I respond to Mark as I flash Mikkel one of my famous smiles.

"Of course. But he certainly did not do you justice when he described you to me. You're really pretty." He says as he extends his arm, I can see a tattoo peeking out from underneath his sweatshirt. This makes me blush.

"Haha thanks." I say nervously as I lightly grab a hold of his hand and shake it.

"Okay, well need to get going. Craig needs some help setting up." Mark says suddenly, ending the introductions.

A/N: What do you think guys? Could Tanner and Mikkel be a thing? Like and comment if you enjoyed the chapter! Happy reading xx.