Sokeefe - upside down

Rituals and relationship

I needed to apologize. I knew it wasn't exactly my fault, but I still felt really bad about it. He should know I'm sorry. Why is this such a big deal? Just text the kid, Sophie, you got this. He's your friend.

Hey, I'm so sorry. Fitz can be a total dipshit sometimes.
No, no. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong, Foster. Promise
I still feel really bad. I swear he's not usually like that.
Must be the competition then.

Competition? What a weird choice of words. I knew Fitz was protective, but he usually was fine with new people in the friend group. Suddenly Keefe's words came back to me. "Great strategy, by the way! Girls just fall all over you when you don't let them have any friends" it still confused me.

What do you mean, competition? Also, what did you mean when you said Fitz had a "great strategy"?
Wow, you really don't know, do you?
I'm not sure I know what you mean
Well then, I'll let you figure it out on your own. Thanks for checking in, by the way.

Ugggg, boys were so confusing! Let me figure it out? The hell did that mean?

Yeah, of course. Again, I'm really sorry.
It's okay. But maybe to make it up you could come by my dorm tomorrow? Say around 11?
Yeah, sure! What's the room number?
431
Sounds good. See you then

Interesting, he had a top floor room. The dorms were a little separate from our school, but we had our own facilities for on the weekends, such as a cafeteria, library and gym. The building was five stories high, the first floor being all the rooms people didn't live in, and the rest of the floors were dorms, the first digit in the room number corresponded to the floor. The higher the level, the bigger the room and the better the view, the more expensive the rent. Each floor had around 30 rooms, and the building was huge, but the school was rich, so it didn't matter. It was confusing at first, but the system worked. My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, and a bashful Biana stepped in, Dex sharing her expression and right behind her. I guess I had been texting way longer then I thought.
"I'm sure you heard what Fitz said, but unexpectedly he actually went through with it. Dex has to stay here tonight" Biana explained
"I'm so sorry. We'll make a bed for you on the couch later, but for now let's make a small late-lunch, sound good?" I said, hopping up. Biana eyed me wearily, knowing that whenever I was mad or upset I would get overly happy and productive until she made me talk about it. With Dex here she had no other option then to let me ride it out until tomorrow when he left, but then I knew she would sit me down and force me to speak as soon as he was out the door. Oh, well! I had time, so I was going to use it.
"Okay, but then can we play Mario cart or something? I think we all need a distraction" Dex asked
"Of course! That sounds like fun" I agreed, already over by the kitchenette and pulling food out of the cupboards. I was pretty hungry

"Go! Go, go, gooo!" I screamed, determined to win
"You know mashing the buttons harder won't make you go faster, right?" Biana told me, not even taking her eyes off the screen
"I don't care! I'm so close to beating Dex, I just need to go a... little...bit...further!" I said, drawing out the words as I leaned forward and jammed my finger on the controller. I don't care what Biana said, even if I didn't go faster, it felt satisfying. an evil idea popped into my head, and I just had to do it
"Oh my god! Dex, look, Alan guth is walking right outside our window!" I screamed, pointing with my left hand while I still kept a steady hold with my right. Dex flinched for just a second, losing his hold and looking out side
"Seriously? Where?" In that moment I passed him, going across the finish line and winning the race.
"Ha! I can't believe you fell for that!" I popped up and started doing a victory dance, forgetting about the awful day I had for a couple seconds
"No fair! You cheated, using my nerdy-ness against me" Dex complained, crossing his arms and shaking his head lightly. I could see the small smile tugging at his lips, so I knew he wasn't truly mad
"Oh, come on. Let me have this one win. You beat all of us at Mario cart almost every single time!" My blond hair fell from behind my shoulders and framed my cheeks as I leaned in closer to Dex's face, hands on my hips
"Uh, fine, but I should have won" Dex rolled his eyes and marked a line under my name in The Notebook. The Notebook was one of our weird quirks as a friends group, but it was important to us. It held all of our wins and loses, each page dedicated to a different game we played frequently. Our names split the page into sections, and we all had tally marks for how many times we had won a game, all in pen, because all decisions were final. It was weird, like how we always had movies nights on Saturdays In one of our dorms, or how we always had lunch or dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with each other at least twice a week. We had a lot of those little rituals, and they were all required for us.
"Oh" I said simply, my train of thought interrupted.
"Oh, what?" Biana asked
"Well, it's just... I guess we aren't doing movie night, right? It just wouldn't be the same without Fitz." It was only a half question, but Dex answered anyway
"I think we still can. We could show him that we don't need him to have a good time, and that he can't ruin our evening by being an ass" he told me
"Yeah! I don't care if he's my brother, he's being unreasonable and stepping out of line. Plus, I had a special movie planned" she told me, excited.
"You guys can watch it, but I'm going to bed. Today has been tiring. Plus, it'll give you guys more time as a couple" I winked
"We're not a couple!" They both answered, right on cue. Even if they weren't official, it was pretty obvious they liked each other, and from their mutual blush I knew I was right.
"Suuuuureeee. I'm going to bed. Remember, I'm right there, so if you try stuff, don't be too loud" I moved away from them before they could protest, and put on my pjs. I was sooo ready for this day to be over.