About Last Night

Sam. Freaking. Rivers.

Well, this is just fantastic. My life has become a Netflix movie. Why? Oh, it's maybe because I've fallen for my best friend's brother, and he maybe also has feelings for me, but I've messed up. BIG TIME. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me take you to that day where everything changed for me. The summer that changed my life. This is the story of how I fell for my best friend's brother. Buckle up, dear reader. It's going to be one heck of a ride.

"Okay, Raven. This question will determine the fate of our friendship. Pineapple on pizza or no?" I internally sighed at my slightly crazy best friend's question. Does it really matter what does or doesn't belong on pizza? But of course, I just simply say, "Of course it doesn't! I'm not a monster or anything." Mikayla sighed with relief and said, "Well, that's good because I will always want to be your best friend, no matter what your tastes are in pizza toppings." I laugh and lay back on my bed and can't help but think about me and Mikayla's backstory. You see...we were best friends since the moment we could walk and talk. She has always had my back no matter what, and I never asked her to. It was just who she was, and I admired her for that. Along with being one of the nicest people I know, she's also really kind and pretty in a girl next door way. She has beautiful long caramel brown hair that just cascades down her back effortlessly, unlike my mid-length straight black hair. She also has these crazy big dark hazel eyes that anyone could just get lost in if they stared at them for too long. Mine is just a weird shade of bluish-grey, thanks to my mom. Mikayla is just someone who you'd want to be friends with, and she'll consider you a friend just like that. She's a true Hufflepuff, and I'm just a Ravenclaw, and no, it's not a coincidence that my name is in the house name from Harry Potter. I'm named after the actual bird, but I happen to like my name, but anyway, back to Mikayla. She and I tell each other everything. It's our thing to never keep secrets between each other. Whether it's school, boys, drama, the hottest character from our favorite TV shows, etc., we trust each other, and that's what counts. She's a true friend, and I don't know what I'd do without her in my life. 

"Hello!! Earth to Raven, come in Raven!" Mikayla said as she was snapping her fingers at my face. "Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. What were you saying? I swear I'm listening, I promise." She rolls her eyes and says, "What do you think about Sam coming back from Texas? He's coming back to California to finish his senior year here!" I simply just stare back at her and can't help but think about Sam. Her really hot eighteen-year-old brother. Someone I just can't be with because I don't want to ruin my friendship with Mikayla. She'd be devastated I kept this from her, but I just can't tell her how I truly feel about him even if we'll never get together. He moved away with his girlfriend, Cara, but I had no idea he was coming back until now. "So why is he coming back? Did something happen with Cara?" "Yeah, they broke up because he got homesick, and they had a big fight before he left. I never really liked her that much anyway, if I'm being honest. She always had an opinion about others, even if you didn't want to hear about it. I really missed him being here and listening to his hard rock music blasting from his radio while he played video games on his PC." Wow. This was a lot to take in. I mean, Sam. Freaking. Rivers. He's really coming back. I wasn't all that surprised about the breakup, though. It seemed like a really last-minute kind of thing to do, and it seemed like Cara just wasn't a good person for him. 

"Yeah, he was pretty chill even though we never really hung out together that much. He always was too busy with school or gaming." I said without being too suspicious, talking about the one person I try to forget about even if he left and never said a word to me about it. It still confuses me to this day about why he just up and leaves all because of a girl, and it ended up with a breakup, and he's coming back. Who would've seen that one coming? Mikayla just snickered and said, "Well, yeah, that's my brother, all right. He always had to make sure he was on top of his grades and still make time for gaming with his online gamer buddies. Anyway, what did you wanted to do during the summer? We never got to talk about that much on the last day of school." Ah yes, the summer after eleventh grade. We always tried to do something fun together every summer. Like last summer, we went to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and rode on as many rides as we could before we had to go back to the hotel we stayed for the weekend. We had a blast together, but I forgot to put on sunblock and had to endure a terrible sunburn on my face and back. Yeah, good times, all right.

"Hmm...I really want to make lanterns and light them up and let them go up into the sky. I've always wanted to do that ever since we first watched Tangled together." Mikayla gasps and says, "Oh, we should totally do that! And come on, Flynn Rider is definitely the hottest Disney prince, and you know it." I laughed and shook my head while I said, "No, Prince Phillip is the hottest prince, and there's nothing you can say to change my mind about it." I stuck my tongue at her while saying this, and she had the audacity to say, "Don't make me drag you to the mall, girl. I will do it even if you hate clothes shopping." I pout and fold my arms together because she is right. I despise clothes shopping because it's just such a long and boring process that no one should have to endure, even though I really needed some new outfits for this summer. I sighed with dread and said, "Ugh, fine, let's go to the stupid mall, but I swear if we're there for even 3 or 4 hours, I will personally spoil the season finale of Supernatural for you." She glares at me and throws the nearest pillow at my face, and says indignantly, "Don't you dare ruin the end of Supernatural for me! I'm going to cry regardless because it's ending after 15 long years of it airing! You'll never understand that I'll always be team Dean forever!" I rolled my eyes at her dramatics and said, "Oh, you'll be fine, and you know Sam is better than Dean anyway." She glares at me before leaving my room and loudly says, "Oh, shut up and come on before we stay at the mall for 5 hours!" I laugh and sprint after her along with getting my purse and car keys, and we're off to the mall.

---2 hours later---

We had just pulled up to my house's driveway when I look over next door to Mikayla's house and see a very familiar red Mustang sitting in the driveway at Mikayla's house. "Uh...Mikayla. When did you say Sam was coming back from Texas?" "Tomorrow morning. Why?" I look over at her with a look on my face and say, "Then why is your brother's car sitting in the driveway at your house?" She looks over, and her face is a mix of emotions. Surprise? Excitement? Anxious? Anger? All of the above? "Well, I guess he's here early?" "Well yeah, I guess so because his car is literally right there!" She just looks at me apologetically and says defensively, "I didn't know he was coming back today! I thought he was coming back tomorrow morning! I guess it was supposed to be a surprise, but apparently, it's not anymore. Come on, let's go say hi to him then!" Yeah, that's basically the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn't want her to be mad at me for not being supportive and nice, so I just say, "Okay, sure, let's go say hi to him then." We get out of my car and walk the short walk over to Mikayla's house. Once inside, Mikayla calls out his name, and we both hear, "Mikayla?" And then I hear his footsteps come down the stairs, and then he's there in front of us in all of his 6' 4" glory. He's just as I remember. Tall, emerald green eyes, short wavy brown hair, and that darn smile of his just make me want to melt on the floor. But I pull myself together until he looks over at me and says, "Raven?"

And that's all it took before all my feelings for him came rushing back to me, and then I realized a huge thing.

Sam. Freaking. Rivers. Is back. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Or the fact that I have feelings for him, and Mikayla doesn't know about it.

So much for a drama-free summer.