All The Things I've Yet to Do

Chapter Four

We finish at the yard around 3am, when we can't take the smell any more. I pray that the scent hasn't seeped into my clothes. After climbing the fence again (successfully this time), we lean against the cars, looking up at the sky.

"I know a place that would be great to watch the sunrise, but that won't be for another couple hours," Christian says.

I shake my head, "Let's save that for another time."

He smiles at me and winks. "I'll hold you to that."

I smile back, knowing that he definitely will hold me to it. After spending more time with him, I appreciated that he fit our group dynamic well. That made sense since he has been friends with Eli and Justin for a while, but he also gets along with Ariel well too. He and Adrian were even play fighting for a while. His flirting wasn't unbearable, and I found myself slowly getting used to it. All in all, he is an alright person to have around.

Smile still on my face, I look around the group. Just like me, they don't seem ready for our time together to be over. I can't help but wonder if my mom is still up. I quickly rid the thought from my mind, not wanting to get upset again.

"You guys ready to go home?" I ask.

"Not really," sighs Ariel.

"If you guys have another idea, I'm down," says Adrian.

Eli turns to Chrstian and adds, "You drove, it's up to you."

He pauses for a moment then says, "If you guys want to come over and hang out, that's fine with me. You heard my mom."

Ariel looks towards me, waiting for my reaction. "I'll go if you go. If not, you can come crash at mine or I can drop you home."

I ponder the suggestion, but ultimately agree. We allow Christian to drive off first, and we tail him. When we arrive, I realize that I forgot how nice his house is. The last time I was here, I didn't really look around the inside. We step in through the front door and all of the lights are off. We take off our shoes and go down the hallway until we reach a door right before the kitchen.
Christian opens it and flips a switch. In front of us is a set of stairs leading down to what I assume is the basement. One by one, we descend the staircase and I'm amazed by what I see at the bottom.

The room before us is fairly large and has several different setups: a TV and couches in the centre; a game area on the left, complete with a minibar plus a kitchen; and workout equipment on the right.

He takes a seat on the couch and gestures around the room. "Welcome to my man cave. The room's soundproof, so don't worry about waking anyone up."

My eyebrows raise. "So this is where you bring all those girls."

He grins devilishly, "You included."

I scoff and follow Ariel to the foosball table. We locate the ball and begin a game while the boys turn on the PS4.

"Maya," she begins, "Why don't you give him a chance?"

I check over my shoulder to see if anyone heard us, but we are far enough away, and the boys are already having a stupid argument over what game they should play. "I don't need a guy right now, Ari!"

"But why!?" she pleads. "Come on, he seems like a good enough guy. He
got his little sister a kitten for her birthday, for God's sake!"

I can't help my gaze from shifting to focus on the guys. Slowly, I shook my
head. "The timing just isn't right."

"What do you mean? We literally have over four more months until we have to go back to school. Even then, it's not like the drive is crazy far," she prodded.