Changes | Shaylivia

Chapter 11

Shayne:

I woke up from this morning with a stiff neck. Probably from sleeping on the couch or should I say, attempting to sleep on the couch. It was currently a mess of littered bodies. Courtney lightly drooled on my chest as she was sleeping. Her legs were on top of Keith who was currently squished shoulder to shoulder with Olivia. Thankfully it seemed I was the only one awake.

I carefully maneuvered my way out from underneath Courtney in a way that she didn't wake up. Once I was free and sure she didn't wake up, I moved to the kitchen to rummage through my cabinets for something to eat. My phone dinged from my pocket and I silently cursed myself for not setting it to vibrate.

It turned out to just be a Facebook post notification from Julie. Julie used to be one of my good friends but then she had to move away. I grabbed some pop-tarts and decided to check it out since I had nothing better to do.

It was a nice picture of her riding a horse in Montana. I gave it a like and decided to message her to see how she was doing. We hadn't talked in a while but hopefully we were still friends.

-Nice horse! I didn't even think you could have fun in Montana-

A few moments later, She sent a reply.

-Shayne! Long time, no see. How are ya?-

-I'm good, how are things?-

-It's pretty chill over here-

-That's good, it still sucks that you had to move-

-I didn't have to...-

-Huh? What do you mean?-

-Ask your girlfriend-

-Courtney? Why would I ask her?-

Just as I sent that last message, arms snaked around my back and hands rested on my pecs.

"Morning babe" Courtney said softly before giving me a peck on the cheek.

I set my phone down and looked back at her.

"Morning, how'd you sleep?" I asked.

"Uncomfortably" She joked.

"True, my back is still sore" I agreed.

Courtney let go of me and opened the fridge to look for something to drink presumably. She had the bottle of orange juice on the counter and was reaching for a glass cup from the cupboards when remembered what Julie said.

"Hey you remember Julie right?" I asked her.

She shifted and put down the cup on the countertop. She twirled around and leaned her back against the countertop while she looked at me.

"Hmm.... Julie.... Julie.... Julie... Nope, doesn't ring a bell" She said.

"Julie Theroux? The girl you were best friends with for like three months?" I stated.

"Oh her! What about her?" She asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Well I was messaging with her earlier-" I began.

"You were?" She asked.

"Uh yeah and I asked her why she ended up moving so suddenly and she said to ask you about it for some reason" I said confused.

"Why would she say that?" Courtney asked.

"I have no idea, I thought you might know" I said.

"That is weird" Courtney said.

Noah and Mari both came into the kitchen at the same time then.

"What's weird?" Mari asked as she opened up a bag of bread.

Meanwhile Noah busied himself with the pop-tarts, trying to decide on brown sugar or strawberry.

"I was talking to our old friend Julie earlier" I said.

Both Noah and Mari stopped what they were doing and shared a look with each other before glancing at Courtney.

"What about?" Noah asked.

"Just this and that, but when I asked her to move she said that I should ask Courtney" I said.

Again Mari and Noah shared a quick look with each other and then my girlfriend.

"Um why do you guys keep looking at each other?" I asked genuinely confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm just looking for the toaster for my pop-tarts" Noah said.

"Guys this isn't a movie or TV show, I'm like a foot away from you and I have working eyeballs, why do you keep looking at each other as if there's some secret?" I said annoyed.

Mari opened her mouth to answer my burning question but just then Olivia walked into our little kitchen rendezvous. Mari sensed the opportunity and shifted the topic of the conversation.

"Well good morning sleeping beauty!" Mari joked.

"Hey" Olivia grumbled.

"What's up with you?" Courtney asked.

"Not really a morning person" Olivia responded.

Sensing another conversation starting to bloom and that I wouldn't get an answer to my previous question, I got up and left the room. I wasn't really mad but rather, miffed that they seemed to be avoiding answering the question. I ran into Keith coming out of the bathroom on my way back down the hallway. He excused himself and then went towards the kitchen. I continued and went upstairs to go change my clothes. I had my pants on but my shirt was only halfway on when my door opened.

"Hey Shayne-"