Yearbook Club. ||Joshua Bassett||

No One Asked

Run - COIN

It is currently Saturday afternoon, and I'm sitting in the living room with my brother watching Keeping up with the Kardashians. We like to watch them for laughs. My dad is working on his lawyer duties at the dining table, while my mom makes lunch.

"Seriously, Kourtney is such a bitch." Will says.

"Hey, language!" My mom scolds from the kitchen.

I shrug, "I think Kourtney is the funniest one."

"You're very uneducated for saying something like that."

I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket, and I get up from the sofa and step outside to answer the call. "Hello?" I say.

"Hey Hayden, we all wanted to go to the bowling alley tonight, I thought I should invite you since you're with us now." Maddie's voice echoes through my phone.

"Is there a school thing going on there or something?"

"No, just wanted to hang out."

I smile to myself. This would be the first time I'd go out for fun with friends since I moved here. "Sure, what time?"

*******************

As Maddie and I lace up our bowling shoes, the boys have already started arguing about who's going to bowl first. "You guys go first all the time, let me do it for once." Charlie says.

"The reason we never let you go first is because you suck, dude." Josh retorts.

I stand up, "Why don't you guys flip a coin?"

Josh - as usual - rolls his eyes at me, "No one asked for your suggestion, string bean."

There he goes again, making fun of how skinny I am. I sigh and walk away from him before I get too angry to the point where my whole night is ruined.

"Let's just go from oldest to youngest." Maddie says.

Josh and Mason are okay with that. "That means I'm last." Charlie pouts. Mason pats him on shoulder while trying to fight back a laugh.

Since we're going based off of age, that makes me the third person to go, which is right after Josh. Mason is first, and Maddie is after me. Then last of course, is poor Charlie.

I take a seat next to Maddie and lace my fingers together, waiting for my turn. "I can't remember the last time I went bowling." I say.

"Oh, we go bowling pretty often. Especially since this event center just opened up a month ago." It's Josh's turn, and I mentally curse when he makes a perfect strike. Then, Maddie nudges my arm for me to go take my shot.

I take a blue ball from the dispenser, put my fingers in the three holes, and take a breath. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of them, so I'm a little nervous. I aim the ball toward the middle of the lane and swing my arm back, letting the ball go when my arm swings back to the front.

Strike.

Mason, Maddie, and Charlie all cheer me on. "Woah Joshy, looks like you have some competition." Mason teases.

As the game progresses, Josh and I stay in the lead. When it's his final turn, he knocks down 7 out of 10 pins, which totally messes up his score. "Shit!" He says out of frustration. I grab the same bowling ball that I've been using all night and use the same strategy, landing me another strike. "Oh of course."

"Okay so you basically win!" Maddie says, giving me a high five.

I want to say something to Josh about being a sore loser, but I decide to bask in the glory for a little while longer. "You guys wanna go get some food?" Charlie asks.

We all answer yes, and then go to return our shoes. Maddie needed to use the bathroom before we leave, so the rest of us wait outside for her. Mason comes over to me, smiling. "Funny how you acted all shy about bowling but turned out to be a professional." He says.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you, it was just luck." I laugh.

"Am I the only one who thinks that it's super awkward walking back to your seat after bowling?"

"No! I always feel super self conscious for some reason." The both of us share a laugh, then I look to Josh, who is giving me a dirty look. I think I'm used to the way he acts towards me by now.

"So um...I don't mean to sound like a creep or anything but you look good tonight, I like the fit." Mason compliments.

I look away to hide the fact that I'm blushing. "Stop."

"It's true."

"Thanks.. I've heard I dress like an old person." I say referring to Josh's comment on my first day.

Mason's eyes widen. "You heard that from Josh, huh?" I nod. "Well he obviously doesn't know the first thing about style, have you seen the way he dresses?"

I let out a laugh, then Maddie finally comes back from the restroom, "Alright, lets go!"

***************************

We all settle on going to ihop to eat because it's the only place that everyone is ok with. We sit at the biggest booth we found, located at the back of the restaurant. Mason and I sit next to each other, talking up a storm. For some reason, he's so easy to talk to. He and I just seem have a lot in common. Every once in a while Josh will look at us with resentment, but I don't pay too much mind to it.

After we finish eating, we all go home, Mason dropping us all off one by one. I walk through my front door and see my mom sitting in the living room watching TV. I brace myself for the lecture I'm about to receive. "It's late." she says.

"It's the weekend, Mom."

"I know but coming home at midnight isn't acceptable. You told me you'd be home by 10."

"And I would've been, but we went out to eat after-"

"You didn't think to let me know?" She interrupts.

I sigh, "I'm home now, okay? I'm safe." she shakes her head, indicating that she's still upset with me. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry."

"Okay. Go to bed, young lady."

I head up to my room and get ready for bed, my thoughts running over the whole night. I'm really glad they invited me to go out with them tonight, otherwise I'd be here being bored.

I can't help but wonder why Josh looked so pissed about me and Mason talking to each other. He must've still been mad that I beat him at bowling. It's not my fault that he got used to winning all the time, so when someone is better than him, he gets jealous.

I thought after that day we worked on our project together he would stop being so cold. I guess that's just who he is and i have to deal with it.