Chapter Thirteen
Brock
The guys, Lexi, and I are hanging out at her house on Friday afternoon. We’re going to watch the new superhero movie that just came out. Cooper, Dean, Theo, and Nate drop down on the floor, which leaves the bed for Gael, Lexi, Finn, and me. Lexi takes her spot in the center and Gael positions himself on her left. I’m about to snag the spot on her right, but Finn shoots past me and lowers himself there. There’s enough room on the bed so they don’t have to be squished, but he’s sitting very close to her. She doesn’t seem to notice or care. Her eyes shift to me and she smiles, gesturing for me to join everyone.
Tearing my gaze from how close Finn is to her, I plop down next to Gael.
“Been waiting for this forever!” Theo cheers, raising his arms over his head. “They say it’s the best one yet.”
Nate raises a brow. “So great that they didn’t play it in theaters?”
Theo playfully jabs him with his elbow. “Shut up.” He glances around. “Did we forget popcorn?”
Lexi stands. “Oops. I’ll get some.”
Finn jumps to his feet. “I’ll go with you.”
They walk out of the room.
My eyes linger on the exit before Gael interrupts my thoughts with some new gossip going around school. Apparently a guy, Dominic, broke up with a girl, Journee, whom he dated since the sixth grade.
Cooper’s eyes light up. “Think she’ll go for me?”
Dean snorts. “You’re not her type.”
Cooper scowls. “Man, am I ever going to get a girlfriend?” He motions at all of us. “Why do we all suck at romance?” He pins his gaze on me. “Brock, did you have a girlfriend back in Boston?”
I shake my head. “No. I mean, some girls showed interest, but I, uh…you know, I was dealing with stuff.”
They nod in understanding.
“Maybe things will change and all of us will have girlfriends by the end of the year,” Gael says.
Theo slaps his hand. “Yeah, man. It’s all about positivity.”
They continue talking until Lexi and Finn return with a few bowls of popcorn. Finn hands two to the guys on the floor, keeping the other two for the ones on the bed.
I notice, again, that Finn sits close to Lexi. Very close.
“Dude.” Gael grabs the bowl from Finn. “Don’t hog the goods.”
“Are we ready to begin?” Lexi asks. “And Coop, don’t ruin the movie by criticizing every little detail. It’s fiction.”
He throws his hands up. “If things don’t make sense, you bet I’m going to tear it apart.”
Dean scrolls through his phone. “Guys, the reviews are terrible. Should we watch something else?”
“No,” Nate says.
They continue to argue, but I barely pay attention. My focus is on Lexi, who nods as Finn bends close and says something to her.
I pull my gaze away. Why am I watching them like that? I don’t want to be a creepy stalker. It’s obvious Finn and Lexi have gotten close over the years. Are they…do they like each other as more than friends? I seriously have no clue.
“Brock.” Gael taps my arm. “What do you think?”
I shrug. “I kinda want to watch the movie based on one of my favorite book series. It’s called Sea Nightmare and it’s about a guy who befriends this weird sea creature and he can talk to him…” My voice trails off as they blink at me. I shrug again. “You know I’m not into superheroes.”
Lexi giggles softly. “You never were and it always ticked you off how crazy obsessed we were with them.”
I smile, too. “Yeah. It annoyed the crap out of me.”
Lexi laughs again.
Finn glances from her to me. “Seems like you don’t really want to be here,” he says to me.
“Finn,” Lexi hisses.
Finn holds up his hands. “Sorry, man. I don’t mean to offend you. It’s just that it doesn’t feel like you’re here. Mentally, I mean.”
Lexi turns to me, squinting like she’s studying me. “Is everything okay, Brock?”
I don’t know. It’s been a few days since I’ve been back and while everyone has been including me, I still feel like an outsider.
And why in the world does it bother me that Finn is sitting close to her? Lexi is free to be close to whoever she wants.
Gael places his hand on my shoulder. “Brock?”
I shove my thoughts away. “I’m good. Just have a lot on my mind. Look, I don’t care what movie we watch. The point is that we’re all together again, right?”
Lexi beams at me. “Right.”
Finn gives me an apologetic look. “I’m really sorry I said that. It’s just…” He puffs out his cheeks. “We used to be able to say whatever we wanted to each other. Good or bad, it was all fair game. But now…”
“I told you I’m not made of porcelain. You can call me out when I’m doing something wrong. It’s cool.”
Finn shakes his head. “You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just really quiet. But I should shut up. If you think your sea creature movie is better, maybe we should go with that. It actually sounds pretty cool.”
“Superheroes!” Theo insists.
All six of them start arguing. Lexi and I exchange a look and she laughs lightly.
I bend behind Gael to ask her, “They’re still like this after all these years?”
“Pretty much. I think they need girlfriends.”
I chuckle. “You might be right.”
Lexi stands up. “Okay, boys. I’m the queen and I decide what we’re watching.” She turns to me as everyone quiets down. “Since Brock is back and we’re super, super happy, I give him the honor of choosing.”
Theo widens his eyes, begging. I think the guys would enjoy Sea Nightmare, but since this means so much to Theo, I pick the superhero one.
“Yes!”
Lexi puts it on and we start watching. The opening scenes are okay, but the second the villain is introduced, I wonder if we’re watching a professional movie or something silly produced by people who have no clue what they were doing.
“What the heck?!” Cooper grumbles. “You call those superhero uniforms? Geez.”
Dean says, “The reviews weren’t lying. This movie sucks.”
Theo motions for everyone to quiet down. “It’s decent so far.”
We manage to make it through the movie, but no one, not even Theo, has anything good to say about it.
“What a waste of time,” Nate complains. “Movie nights at Lexi’s are supposed to be awesome. But it got messed up.”
Lexi rolls her shoulders. “We’ve watched sucky movies before.”
“Not like this,” Gael says. “Feels like we need to watch another to make up for it.”
Nate raises his hand in the air. “I vote for Brock’s movie.”
The rest of us agree.
“But we need more popcorn,” Lexi says as she stands up. Like before, Finn rushes to help her and they exit the room. I try not to stare at their retreating forms.
The guys talk about different topics before Lexi and Finn return, followed by Lexi’s mom. “Hey kids,” she greets with a smile. “You all staying for dinner?”
“Depends what you’re making,” Theo jokes.
She tilts her head to the side. “Does homemade pizza sound good?”
“Heck yeah!” Nate says.
She laughs, tells us it’ll be ready soon, then leaves the room.
I turn to Lexi. “Wow. I forgot about your mom’s special pizza.”
She grins. “She perfected it over the years and it’s even better than you remember.”
The others nod and cheer in agreement.
“Do you think she needs help?” I ask.
“I always ask and she tells me to hang out with my friends. I think we’ll just bother her if we try to help.”
“Besides, we suck at cooking,” Dean tells me. “Remember when we tried to bake those cookies for the bake sale, guys? We made a mess and burned the cookies.”
The rest laugh as they talk about the memory. I once again feel left out, but I don’t have a right to complain or blame anyone. I chose to cut myself off from them.
Just as we’re about to start the next movie, Lexi’s mom calls us down for dinner. Like a herd of hungry elephants, we stampede down the stairs. Well, everyone except for Lexi and me. We go down the stairs together, our hands only inches apart. I wonder if she’d hate me if I slipped mine in hers. I move my fingers a tiny bit toward hers and…
“Hurry up, guys!” Theo calls at us. “We want pizza!”
“Pizza! Pizza!” the others chant.
“Coming,” Lexi calls. She playfully rolls her eyes at me. “You’d think they’re starving or something.”
“Zoey used to make fun of me because I was always hungry and ate a lot. She said I’d make my grandparents go broke.”
She laughs. “Older sisters.”
I laugh, too. “Older sisters.”
She’s about to say something, but Finn calls, “Saved you a seat, Lexi! Best seat in the house.”
“I always sit there,” she informs him as we enter the kitchen.
The guys are crowded around the table, with two chairs empty, mine and Lexi’s. She settles down in the seat in the center while I take the last available one. The table is a square and my seat is a bit far from hers.
Lexi looks at me, and I think she seems a little disappointed that we’re not near each other. Or maybe my eyes are seeing things that aren’t there. I’m definitely disappointed that she’s far from me. And…I don’t want to think about Finn who’s right next to her.
“Yes!” Cooper shouts as Mrs. West brings the pizza over. “This smells awesome.”
We thank her and dig in. The second I take a bite, I’m brought back to years ago, when I used to eat this pizza along with the rest of the gang. It’s comforting that some things haven’t changed, even though I have changed a lot.
“You need to open your own pizzeria,” Dean tells Mrs. West as he devours his food. “I’m serious.”
Lexi’s mom chuckles. “Thanks, but you know I love my job as a nurse at the elementary school.”
As we eat, I feel eyes on me. Glancing up, I spot Lexi watching me. But when our eyes meet, she quickly looks away, her cheeks red. Finn says something to her, but I don’t think she’s paying much attention to him.
Maybe those two really are just friends.
But what does it matter? Why do I care if Lexi likes Finn? She and I have to rebuild our friendship. I need to make up for all the pain I caused her. I can’t even think about the possibility of being more…
After we finish the amazing pizza, we gather back in Lexi’s room to watch Sea Nightmare. I’m on the floor now, while Lexi and Finn are together on the bed. But Cooper and Nate are between them.
Lexi is behind me, her legs knocking into my back every so often as we watch. She bends close, “Sorry for kicking you. I can’t sit still. The movie is so intense and a little scary.”
Reaching back, I take her hand in mine. It’s not a comfortable angle, but hopefully she won’t be scared anymore. She gives my hand a squeeze, letting me know she appreciates my being here for her.