Chapter 4 #2
Jett: Fair. So when’s this mysterious “thing” you have to do?
Ellis: Family dinner on Long Island. Can’t escape.
Jett: Brutal. They had better at least feed you well.
Ellis: My mom’s making pot roast, so yes. Definitely.
Jett: Okay, you’re forgiven then. Pot roast is sacred.
Ellis: I’ll let her know you approve.
I bit my lip, trying to decide if I was pushing too hard, going too fast. But something about this felt easy. Natural. Like we’d been texting for months instead of minutes.
I finished my workout in a weirdly good mood, the sort that usually only came from a successful event or a really great hookup. But this was different. Just talking to someone. Getting someone’s number. Making plans that might not even happen.
And I was smiling about it like an idiot.
Movie night at Sierra’s was a sacred tradition. We rotated who picked the movie, but attendance was mandatory unless you were literally dying.
This week, it was Raven’s turn, which meant horror. Always horror with her.
I showed up at seven-thirty with a bag of gourmet popcorn I’d grabbed from the fancy market in Park Slope, truffle Parmesan, because we had standards, and let myself in with the key Sierra had given me years ago.
“I’m here, and I brought carbs!” I announced, walking into her living room where everyone was already sprawled across her furniture.
Salem, Sierra’s cat, gave me a slow blink from his throne on the windowsill. I saluted him.
“Truffle popcorn?” Calliope grabbed the bag from me. “Jett, you spoil us.”
“Someone has to maintain our cultural sophistication.” I flopped onto the couch next to Raven, who was already queuing up the movie. “What fresh hell are we watching tonight?”
“The Descent.” Raven pulled it up before anyone could object. “Cave diving, claustrophobia, and creatures that eat people. It’s perfect.”
“You have problems.” Sierra’s voice floated from the kitchen with a smile baked in.
Calliope had brought skull-shaped sugar cookies arranged on Sierra’s coffee table like tombstones. “For the vibe”, she’d said.
The opening credits started, and we settled in. Calliope claiming the armchair, Sierra curled up on the loveseat, me and Raven sharing the couch with Salem eventually migrating to Raven’s lap because he was a traitor.
Halfway through the movie, during a particularly tense scene where the women were crawling through an impossibly tight cave passage, Calliope paused it.
“Okay, no, I have to ask. Jett, what’s with you?”
I looked up from my phone, where I’d been definitely not checking to see if Ellis had texted again. “What do you mean?”
“You’re smiling at your phone. You’ve checked it like six times. This is deeply suspicious behavior.” She narrowed her eyes. “Who is he?”
“There’s no one, babes. Drop it.”
“Liar.” Raven didn’t look up. “You have that look.”
“What look?”
“The one where you’re trying very hard not to look interested, but you’re totally interested.” Sierra leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Spill.”
I sighed, knowing I wasn’t getting out of this. “It’s nothing. Just some guy from the gym.”
“Some guy from the gym,” Calliope repeated slowly. “And you have his number.”
“We exchanged numbers. For gym advice.”
All three of them stared at me.
“Gym advice.” Raven’s voice was completely flat.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been going to that gym for six years,” Sierra pointed out. “What possible gym advice could you need?”
“Maybe I’m mentoring him. Being a helpful community member.”
“You’re full of shit.” Calliope grinned. “What’s his name? What does he look like? Is he hot? Obviously he’s hot, or you wouldn’t be checking your phone every five minutes.”
“His name is Ellis. He’s tall. He’s… yeah, he’s hot.” Saying it out loud felt like admitting something. “But it’s not like that. We’re just… I don’t know. Talking.”
“You don’t just talk to people,” Raven said. “You flirt with people, sleep with people, or ignore people. There’s no in-between.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Maybe I’m trying something new,” I said, going for casual and probably missing by a mile. “Being friends first, or whatever.”
“Friends,” Sierra repeated, and there was something soft in her voice. Almost hopeful. “That’s… good, Jett. Really good.”
“Don’t make it a thing, Camera Girl.”
“Too late,” Calliope said. “It’s already a thing. When are you seeing him again?”
“I don’t know. Maybe never. He might ghost me.”
“He won’t.” Sierra spoke with annoying confidence. “If he gave you his number, he’s interested.”
“Or he’s just being polite.”
“Boys don’t give out their numbers to be polite,” Raven argued. “Trust me. I’ve been on the receiving end of ‘polite’ and it’s much more passive-aggressive.”
My phone buzzed.
Ellis: How’s your Friday going?
My heart did something stupid.
“Oh my god, he’s texting you right now, isn’t he?” Calliope practically launched herself across the room to see my screen.
I held the phone out of reach. “Personal boundaries, please.”
“Let me see!”
“No!”
“Just text him back,” Sierra said, laughing. “Don’t leave him hanging.”
I looked down at the message, at Ellis’ name on my screen, and there it was again, that pull in my chest.
Jett: Movie night with the crew. Currently being interrogated about who is texting me.
Ellis: Oh no. Should I be worried?
Jett: Depends. Do you have any dark secrets I should know about?
Ellis: Nothing too exciting. I’m pretty boring, actually.
Jett: Somehow I doubt that.
I looked up to find all three of my friends watching me with varying expressions of delight and concern.
“He seems nice.” I sounded defensive, even to myself.
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Raven asked. “That he’s nice?”
“I don’t date nice guys.”
“Maybe you should start.” Sierra’s voice dropped.
I opened my mouth to deflect. Stopped. Because maybe she was right. Maybe I should try something different.
Or maybe this would crash and burn like everything else, and I’d end up right back where I started.
“Can we please just watch the movie?” I asked.
“Fine,” Calliope said. “But you’re giving us updates. Regular updates. I want to know everything.”
“There’s nothing to update.”
“Yet.” She pressed play.
I turned back to the screen, but I wasn’t really watching. I was thinking about Ellis, about the way he’d looked at me in the gym, about the careful way he’d asked for my number, about the fact that he was texting me on a Friday night instead of going out.
About the fact that I wanted to see him again.
Soon.