Every Breath You Take

39

The drive home wasn't long and for most of it, Casey had been ranting about some girl she had a show-down with in the bleachers. I didn't exactly catch what the whole commotion had been about, but considering that Casey was the same girl who had whacked some poor guy on the back of the head to make it look she wasn't spying on Nick and I... I can guarantee that whatever it was they were fighting about would've made me burst out laughing.

I felt bad that I wasn't really involved in her rant tonight, but it wasn't like I could help zoning out in the car. Everything that had happened with Nolan was still fresh in my mind. Part of me was still shocked that Kaden had said all those things to Nolan. I mean, for most of my life I had pictured Kaden as someone he really wasn't, and tonight just went to show how much I really didn't know about him... How much I had assumed about his character.

But then I thought about Kaden in a different way. I thought about him as the boy who had sat down at the edge of a pool not too long ago and had never judged me once for the things I said or did. He was the same boy who had told me things, said things, that had affected me in more ways than one—affected me in good ways.

So I guess more of me wasn't shocked about what had happened but... I don't know...admired? Admired Kaden for the things he could say or do in the moments that needed it the most? Don't get me wrong, he was the biggest, perverted goofball with too many sexual innuendos up his sleeve, but he was a good guy in his own little ways...

"Are you wearing a tutu?!" Cole shrieked from the couch, Cheeto powder all over his face, his hand deep in the bag of Cheetos, and his eyes trained intently on the tutu Casey was currently flaunting around in.

"Yeah," Casey hummed, her grin turning absolutely wicked, "You jealous?"

Cole scoffed, waving a hand in dismissal, "I have five hundred million of those... in rainbow colors too."

"But you don't have this one." Grinning to herself, Casey tugged at her gold and red tutu, doing a few teasing twirls before landing square on Cole's lap. The poor guy's eyes bulged from his face like one of those chew toys with eyes that popped out of the sockets when you squeezed them.

Laughing to myself, I looked towards Nolan at my side, his arm slung over my shoulder, "Hey, I'm going to go shower real fast. Can you entertain the troupe?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" He saluted cheekily.

Running upstairs, I quickly hung up Isaac's letterman's jacket in my closet before dumping my dirty clothes in the hamper and jumping into the shower. Usually, I liked to soak in the warm water for longer than I should but considering that a giant blob of needy boys was waiting for me in the living room, I decided that Cole coming into the shower to get me was not on the list of things I wanted to happen right now.

Turning off the water and toweling off, I did my nightly routine and changed into a Nike sports bra and my Batman pajama shorts, throwing on a hoodie on top of that. Sometimes I slept with a tank top and shorts, and other times I slept with just a sports bra and shorts—it just depended on what was or wasn't in the wash.

Shaking out my hair until it hung in damp, messy strands, I hung my towel up and opened my bathroom door.

"Emmy-Baby!"

"What the freak?!" I shrieked, nearly jumping through the roof. I swear to god, these boys were the neediest people I had ever met! How the hell did they even get into my room anyway? I locked the damn door! 

"How did you guys even get in here? I locked the door!" Folding my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes at Cole, the most probable culprit of this grand entrance. He was sprawled out along my bed, already changed into his sleeping sweats, and quite clearly missing a shirt.