17 #2
"Yous bois are being weirder than usual...
of a morning," Levi said, reaching across where we all sat on the floor in the lounge, three boxes of pizza between us.
Rome and I shared because we both loved chicken and sweet corn.
He sat across from me, gobbling several slices like he hadn't eaten in days.
It was the first time at the bungalow that he wasn't picky about what he ate.
The other boys shared one plain cheese pizza and another loaded with veggies.
Whenever they grabbed a slice of the latter, I reached across and ate the oily toppings that had fallen back onto the box—limp and coated with mozzarella.
"So, this is it, yeah?" Nathan said, acknowledging it was our last day together off grid. The film crew had wrapped and left for good, leaving us alone for several hours until my mum arrived to drive us back to her place.
"It's been real," Rome said, mouth full.
I got up, staring absently at the fridge magnets as I poured us all soda. Alex requested water, so I grabbed him a bottle. He'd been staring at me strangely all morning, and I hadn't had a chance to pull him aside and ask what was wrong yet.
"Next few months gonna be mad, won't it?" Nathan continued. "The listening par-tee—" Everyone piped up to mimic the way he said party, to which he burst out laughing and joined us in repeating the word like he hadn’t said it himself.
Levi knocked his drink over and I yelled "Noooo!" dramatically. I was dead. My dad would chew me out, then my mum would rip my head off for upsetting him. The one thing he’d asked was that we eat in the dining room only, but the boys had cried about wanting to watch the telly, so I relented because it was the last day. For fuck’s sake.
"For God's sake!" Alex snapped. "You've had one job, Leo mate, not to screw it all up for the rest of us! Poor Ralph."
We piled the spot with napkins and went back to discussing our upcoming schedule. Rome held up a few fingers to count while Nathan called out our upcoming gigs, chiming in to correct him whenever he missed something important. A few of his fingertips were still greasy from the pizza.
"We've got: the Late Show, Teen Awards, Sweden, Germany, France—"
"So much bloody press," Rome chimed in.
"Yeah..." I muttered, reaching to grab the second to last slice. I chomped while they continued, stretching my legs out beside the box and wiggling my bare toes.
"We’re gonna be mad by the time it's all over, bois. Dey've got us goin’ non-stop," Nathan concluded.
"Not to mention," Rome piped up again. "We've got the start of the tour in December, yeah? And the X-Mas Ball? I've heard that's a great gig, that."
"And the video shoots," I added.
"And the signings. You’ve nearly forgotten those," Levi insisted. "We're going to be wrecked by the time it's all over, bois, d’you reckon?"
"Proper wrecked..." Alex added, flinging his fringe out of his face.
Suddenly I was aware of how quiet he'd been. Something was off for sure. Normally he didn’t pick any bones about interrupting or leading the group discussions, but today he was as quiet as a church mouse.
Like he was waiting on me to say something first. After he’d finished eating and got up to toss his plate in the bin, I followed him into the kitchen.
"You didn't have to get that, mate. Sorry, I could've taken it for you," he said, grabbing my plate.
"No worries," I replied, noticing how he avoided looking me in the eye. Oh fuck, did he know?
He stepped on the bin's pedal to open the lid, balancing our plates in either hand, but the lid wouldn't budge.
"It sticks sometimes..." I said, giving it a kick on the side. "When all else fails, you just have to go at it the old-fashioned way."
I lifted the lid for him and he dumped all inside. Before he could slip back into the lounge, I asked him what was up.
“Just tired, lad.”
"You pissed at me or something?"
"Awe, widdle Ralph..." he said, pinching my cheeks. Always the condescending ass. "What on earth gave you that impression?"
"You've been looking at me weird all day. Did I, uh, annoy you or something?"
“Dunno, mate.”
“What’s up?”
“It's just that...I kind of feel like you've, y’know, been avoiding me since we got here. Right?"
Finally, it dawned on me I had in fact been a little distant from everyone else in my pursuit of Rome, and Alex was used to me being right under him most days. To avoid suspicion, I denied it, even though he was correct.
"Alex, mate, you and I just walked to the store together yesterday. Just you and I, remember? And who did I sit by last night during the movie?"
"Yeah, but we haven't really spent any real time together, though, have we? We haven't talked about anything..."
"Yeah..." I conceded. "But it's been difficult, y'know, with the filming and the crew in and out and everything. Trying to play host—”
“More like hostess—”
“Shut up!” I shoved him with a laugh. “And then the boys being here too—"
"I know, I know..." he relented. "I'm just being silly, is all. Guess I'm a bit knackered."
"Wanna have a lie down? You could have the bed all to yourself. I'll make sure we keep quiet."
"Thanks, mum, but I'll be ok," he grinned. We started back into the lounge, but he stopped me again. "You've been spending a lot of time with RJ lately, right? Or at least that's what I've noticed."
"A little. Same bed and all."
"Obviously."
My heart raced. I prayed nothing was obvious about what we'd done, but was beginning to think it was written all over my face. Was he starting to piece together our inside jokes and our refusal to get out of bed most mornings?
"How's he been? He as moody at night as he is during the day?"
"No," I chuckled. "He's just really chill, y'know? Like...he sort of just reads his phone and then checks out. Sleeps really easily."
He cocked a playful brow. "He hasn't tried anything has he?"
"Mate?!" We laughed. "Hell no! I'd be sleeping on the sofa if that were the case, to be honest."
"Right, exactly," he fixed his fringe and spoke beneath his breath for the next part. "I heard...from a reliable source...that he's been pretty mad about Stevie lately."