Just Best Friends

Chapter 4

We walk about 15 minutes to this nice little cafe in my neighborhood.

When we get there he picks a table for us and we sit down. I order a chocolate croissant and a coffee. Spaulding knows how to make coffee exactly the right way for me. He orders a coffee and a sandwich for himself.

"So what's new in the hood?" I ask.

"Oh nothing really. I found a few hair strands in it the other day." He says looking at his hood.

I laugh. "You dork. What's new?"

"Not much."

"You're hiding something. Tell me! Is it a girl?" I narrow my eyes at him and smile. He doesn't say anything just looks away. "Ohmygosh it's a girl! Tell me everything about her!"

He laughs. "Relax! Geeze. She's probably not going to go out with me."

"Oh please. Who wouldn't go out with you? I mean look at you!"

He looks down at himself. He looks up at me with a confused face. I laugh. "Do you really not see it?"

"Just as much as you don't see your beauty?" He says back.

I look down. The waitress appears with our food and we thank her. I eat my croissant in silence.

Spaulding finally breaks the silence and says, "She's beautiful. And sweet. And caring. And loving. And amazing. And funny. And-"

I cut him off. "I get it. She's perfect."

He stops talking and continues to eat his food. He mumbles under his breath. I look up at him and give him an "I didn't understand what you said" face. He mumbles again.

"If you want me to hear whatever you have to say, say it so I can hear." I say.

"It's nothing." He says.

"Okay. Fine. When you're ready to tell me you will." I say.

We finish our meals and go back to my house. He says he's going for a walk and doesn't ask if I want to go with him so I let him leave. I stay in my room. I look at my nightstand at the digital picture frame. Most of the pictures are pictures of me and Spaulding from when we were younger. A few were of pictures I took on vacations. I reminisce about the times while listening to some music.

When he was ten or so, we were painting his backyard fence green during summer. It was a really hot day. Somehow he had gotten a ton of paint on his hand. I thought it would be funny to paint our entire hand. So I painted my left hand and he painted his left hand, too. I still have the shirt I was wearing that day and it still has paint stains on it. I pulled out the shirt from my drawer and put it on the bed and I lay down next to it. I pull the shirt close to me as I close my eyes, listening to the music and remembering things we did when we were younger.

I slowly drift off and wake up when Spaulding comes into the room slamming the door. I open my eyes and see him standing there and he sees me. "Sorry, I didn't know you were in here." He apologizes.

"It's okay." I say. "You all right?"

He nods and I close my eyes. The last thing I see is him pulling off his shirt and walking into the bathroom.

I wake up to the smell of steak, Spaulding's and my favorite food. I sit up and realize the shirt I pulled out before was not by me like I thought it was. It was on the other side of the bed. Unsure, of how it got there, I pick it up and put it back into my drawer.

I go down the stairs and see my mom, Spaulding's mom, and Spaulding eating already.

"Thanks for waking me up." I mumble to Spaulding.

He ignores my comment and I sit down and start piling food onto my plate.

"Slow down, Brooklyn. You'd almost think you were angry with the amount of food you're eating!" She laughs and I halfheartedly smile at her.

Later that night, as Spaulding and I get into bed he slips off his sweats and shirt and climbs into bed. While we're in bed our legs touch and our hands graze against each other's. Naturally I wouldn't mind but tonight I did. I pull my hand closer to my chest and curl up into a ball avoiding Spaulding completely.

When I wake up, his arm is against my chest. I pull myself out from underneath him and walk downstairs to fix a bowl of cereal. As I pour out the milk into my bowl Spaulding walks down the stairs in sweats and no shirt.

"Good morning." I say.

He mumbles in reply and grabs the bowl of cereal I made for myself. "Thanks. " He says.

"Yeah." I say stubbornly and fix myself a new bowl of cereal. I sit down at the table and eat with him. Our moms walk down the stairs looking ready to go out.

"Good morning sleepy heads." My mom says.

"Morning." Spaulding and I say at the same time.

"We're off to the mall and then the beach." My mom says. "See you later!"

"Be careful out there. Don't talk to strangers." I say. "And be home before 9!" My mom laughs and they walk out the door.

We finish our cereal and walk back up to my room. 

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asks. I raise my eyebrows surprised he's talking to me since we got off on a bad foot yesterday.

"Sure." I say and smile.

I pick out another summer dress with thin straps. We both get dressed and head out.