Being The New Girl

9: I'll Bring the Popcorn

It turns out that, unfortunately, torturing Luke and Matt cannot last forever, because too soon, it is time for me to head home. My mom made me promise that I'd be home by nine thirty, and stupidly, I'd agreed, not anticipating how much fun I would have.

"Thank you for having me," I say to Lily and Andrew with a genuine smile. "I had a great time."

"Well, it was wonderful having you," Lily exclaims, rushing to wrap me in her arms. "Now, please come back soon and supply me with more photos of Luke like the ones we took tonight. If you don't, I'll be disappointed," she whispers in my ear.

I giggle, and Luke looks at me strangely. I simply grin back at him, and, to his mother, I say, "Oh, don't worry. I plan to take many more embarrassing photos of him. Then, when I show them to him, I can take even more pictures of his reaction."

Lily pulls away and wags her finger at me. "See? This is why I like you. Wait, let me see your phone." I hand it to her questioningly and she taps the screen for a few seconds before handing the phone back to me. "Here. Now you have all my contact information so that you can send me those photos right as you take them. That way, Luke will never have a chance to delete them first."

"Right. We cannot let that happen," I say in all seriousness.

She shakes her head at me in amusement and walks away to stand next to her youngest, excluding Megan, who is already in bed. Lily's spot in front of me is quickly filled by Andrew.

"It was a pleasure to have you in our home tormenting our boys. Please come back as soon as you can so I can watch the next episode my new favorite show, starring you three."

He grins as his words cause Matt to scowl and mutter under his breath something about hating us all.

Luke aims a death glare at his father. "Really, Dad? Really?"

Andrew shrugs and claps me on the shoulder. "But seriously, visit anytime you want."

"Trust me." I smirk, winking at Matt discretely. "I'll be back to finish the job. Oh, and I'll bring the popcorn."

"Yeah, yeah, funny. You can leave now," Matt states bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Matt! Be nice to the girl," Lily scolds.

I wave my hand at her dismissively. "No, it's okay. I deserve it. And I'll take that as my cue to leave."

I glance at Luke, and he nods, gesturing to the door. I bid my final goodbyes to the family, and head down the front steps towards Luke's car. The temperature has dropped significantly since school ended earlier today. 

It is probably a pretty normal for the area—coming from a beach town, though, I am not used to it. Goosebumps instantly appear on my bare arms, and I rub my hands up and down them, silently cursing myself for not having a wardrobe that expands very far past tee shirts and shorts, which I, of course, just so happen to be wearing.

"Well, that was fun," I declare as I settle into the passenger seat of his car.

He nods, his hands focused on steering the car, but his mind seemingly drifting elsewhere.

"Hello? Are you deaf now or something?" I question, waving a hand in front of his face when he fails to respond to me.

He blinks, and takes a second to glare at me before turning his eyes back to the road. "No. I'm just thinking about how you're never coming back to my house."

I let out a cry of indignation. "What, why?"

"Because you turned my parents against me. And, more importantly, you made me dress up like a girl," Luke whines immaturely.