Hanging With The Boys

11.

JUST AS I had suspected, by the time Luke and I get to his house, the guys have settled themselves on the couch with bowls of snacks and the first movie already cued up and ready to go. We drop our bags in the foyer and then go to join them.

"What are we watching?" I ask, plopping down on the couch next to Tyson, Luke sitting on my other side. "The Scream movies." Ian tells us from the other side of the couch. "Great!" I say excitedly, stealing the bowl of M&Ms from Tyson's lap. "Don't worry Henley. If you get scared, I'm right here." Tyson says, opening his hand and placing it between us so I can hold it if I need to. "I won't get scared. You on the other hand, I'm not so sure about." I tease, giving him a playful shove. "I'm tough." I add matter-of-factly. "I'm sure you are." Ian smiles. "She's tougher than you think." Luke says pointedly, prompting Forrest to raise his eyebrows at me, making me wonder if he is aware of what happened between Merissa and I earlier. It wouldn't surprise me if she already took the liberty to cry to Forrest about it. "I can hold my own." I say proudly, snatching the remote from Tyson and hitting play.

As the movie starts playing and we all sit on the couch, next to one another with various different snacks, my sadness and frustration drift away. That's what I like about hanging out with the guys. No matter what mood I'm in beforehand, while hanging out and even after, I'm always happy.

Halfway through the second movie, Tyson hits pause. "What the hell?" Ian yells, seeming like he'll punch him for deciding to pause the movie just as it's getting to the good part. "I like to keep the suspense going." He smirks. "But, I'm also starving. These M&Ms can't sustain me for much longer." His comment about the M&Ms prompts me to look down at the bowl sitting in my lap, which is now almost empty.

"I knew I didn't eat the whole thing myself!" I say, pouting at Tyson but secretly happy that I didn't gorge on a king size bag of the chocolatey candies. "Yeah, it was kind of easy to steal them since you were so into the movie you didn't notice me taking multiple handfuls. And it also helps that you only eat one at a time." Tyson explains.

"We could order some pizza." Luke suggests. Without hesitation, Tyson pulls out his phone and dials the number to the local pizza place. "Hi...I'm good and you...great...can I please get 2 large pizzas, one with meat, lots of meat and the other with lots of cheese. One second." He says into the phone. "What do you guys want to drink?" He asks, putting his hand over the phone. Luke and I request sprite and I glance over at Ian and Forrest. Forrest is staring intently at his phone, his brow furrowed. "I'll have a Coke." Ian says. "Same." Forrest mutters, not even looking up from his phone for a second.

"2 cokes, 2 sprites and 1 mountain dew, please." Tyson tells the person on the line. "Is everything okay?" I quietly ask Forrest, nudging his leg with my foot to get his attention. "Yeah, everything's fine." Forrest replies, finally turning off his phone, and tucking it away in his front pocket. I decide not to press the matter further, but I would bet money that he was texting Merissa and it was most likely about today's earlier events between me and her.

"You shouldn't have gotten mountain dew. Henley's going to educate you on the high caffeine levels." I hear Luke telling Tyson once he hangs up the phone. I can't help but laugh at how well Luke knows me. "You're gonna tell me about caffeine? Girl, you work at a coffee shop." Tyson counters. "Touché." I laugh.

He hits play on the movie once again and we turn our attention back to the TV while we wait for our food to show up. As I'm about to put the third movie on, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it!" I say eagerly, hopping up from my crouching position in front of the DVD player. Now very hungry myself, I'm practically drooling just at the thought of pizza. Luke hands me a twenty and a ten and I skip to the front door around the corner.