"And she just ignores me. Everytime I walk up to her in the hallway, when we sit with them at lunch. It's like I'm invisible." Robert grunts, throwing the ping pong ball into the air before serving it across the table.
David passes it back with ease and smirks, "I wouldn't know. Riley and I are practically getting it on already."
I wrinkle my nose in disgust.
Right now, we're in David's basement. I'm lounging on on a bean bag, eating cheese balls out of a giant bowl.
"Don't talk about girls like that, dude." Robert slams the ball on the table and David dodges it.
"Rob's kicking your ass dude." I say with my mouth full.
"I'm supposed to be the athlete asshole." David mumbles.
He picks up the ball off of the floor and throws it to Robert so he can serve.
"I really like Claire," Rob gushes, "She's pretty and tech savvy and smells like strawberries."
"Those are some of the dumbest reasons to like a girl, dude." David scoffs.
I nod in agreement, "You suck, Rob."
He rolls his eyes, "Okay, why do you like Riley?"
David pauses, missing the shot and cursing to himself when Rob scores another point.
"She's amazing man. We can talk for hours, and never run out of things to say. She's smart, and compassionate, and sarcastic."
Rob and I look at David with our mouths ajar.
"Stop looking at me like that." He groans.
"Aw, Davie Wavie is in love." Rob sings out.
"Shut up."
I grin and get up, walking towards David slowly. Robert closes in on his other side.
"Get him!" Rob screams and we attack.
The three of us are rolling around on the ground, wrestling each other waiting for the first one to give up.
"Get your crotch out of my face!"
"Get your face out of my crotch!"
"Boys, I hate to interrupt- whatever it is you're doing, but dinner's ready." David's mother stands on the stairs with a knowing smile.
My hand is pushing David's face into the carpet while his legs are wrapped around Robert's chest, who's foot is pressing against my cheek.
"Be there in a minute, Mom." David's muffled voice calls.
She rolls her eyes and walks back up the stairs.
"Say Uncle." Robert shouts.
"No you say Uncle." David grunts.
I laugh, "Technically, the both of you already said it."
This statement causes their grips to weaken and I roll out of the embrace.
"We've defeated ourselves." Rob frowns.
David takes a gasp, "God that carpet smells awful. It feels so good to breathe again."
"Last one up the stairs has to sit next to Ralphie." Rob yells before scrambling to his feet.
No one wastes a second as we race up the stairs, pulling each other back and tripping ourselves until we all finally push our way to the top of the stairs.
Me and Rob scramble to the top triumphantly and look at David who stands only a second behind us.
"Aw man."
Rob laughs, "He's your brother, dude."
"He smells." David whines.
The table is set and everyone is already seated. David's father and mother are laying out the plates and silverware, they're only getting the table ready before they go on their own date night.
The twins, Colby and Caleb, are sitting side by side,'eagerly waiting to dig into the spaghetti sitting on the stove.
Ralphie, David's three year old brother is sitting at the table in his pull up only, grinning as he plays with toy cars at the table.
David's older sister, Ashlynn sits at the table on her phone.
"Alright boys, here's dinner, Ashlynn's in charge until we get back. There's ice cream in the freezer for desert."
"Okay, Mom. Have fun guys. But not too much fun." David winks at his parents and I punch his shoulder.
"Gross dude."
David's parents laugh and say goodbye one more time, pointing out the emergency numbers on the fridge one more time before leaving the house finally.
It's pure chaos from there.
The food is distributed and all of us are scarfing down the meal like it's the last one we'll ever eat.
The spaghetti is heaven. Pure bliss in my mouth.
It reminds me of the dinner I had with Mel last week. Why does everything I do remind me of her?
I look up and see David sneakily reaching across the table to steal his sister's garlic bread, she's holding her fork in one hand and her phone in the other.
He's almost got it when Ashlynn puts the fork in her bowl and slaps his hand on the table, holding it there until David whines enough to annoy her.
"How'd you know?" He asks, pouting.
"I'm autistic, not stupid." She replies blandly, and I'm reminded of the fact that the seventeen-year-old across from me has high-functioning autism.
You would barely be able to tell if it wasn't for her insanely high IQ and hatred of being touched and crowded rooms.
David frowns, "I wasn't implying that you were dumb." He's really protective of Ashlynn, even though he's an idiot, he's a good brother.
"It was a joke." She states. Ashlynn, from what I've learned, is good with her family. She understands them and they accommodate for her.
"I knew that." He's blushing now.
Rob snorts, "Sure you did, big brain."
"I will shove this spaghetti down your thr- oh my god, Ralphie hold it in." David groans as his little brother lets out a loud burp.
The toddler giggles.
Suddenly, Caleb looks at Colby and they both grin, "Food fight!"
It's the most chaotic dinner I've ever gone to. And I love it. I launch a meatball at Rob and it hits him square in the eye.
"Oh it's on, pretty boy."
I walk home with my shirt covered in spaghetti sauce, with meatballs crushed in my hair, and a smile on my face.
It's not until I'm passing her house that I remember Mel.
My mom and brother are watching tv in the living room, they don't notice as I sneak past them up the stairs.
After I change, I look out my window and see the light on in Mel's room. She's curled up in bed with her back facing me.
I see her shake slightly and I whisper to myself, "I will fix you Mel. No matter what it takes."
__________
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Someone Willing to Stay
Teen Fiction"Damn it, Mason, you can't fix me. I'm not some used car that needs an oil change." I'm standing at the edge of my driveway. If I take one step towards that house, then I go back to my life. The life I've had since Mason left. Since he abandoned me...
