16. Mia
MIA
Walking back to the house between Diego and Aaron, I was so keyed up that I was practically skipping.
“So, I take it you had a good time?” Aaron said rather dryly as I actually did skip for a few steps. Too bad the tutu was gone, I could’ve tried a pirouette or something.
“Yes! We kicked ass.” I raised my palm up, and Diego high-fived it. “Next time I have a really boring paper to write, remind me to go on a scavenger hunt to get my energy up.”
Diego laughed. “You may be energized, but I’m tired. Guess that makes me an old man.”
“An old man of twenty-three,” I scoffed.
“Yeah,” Aaron chimed in. “You’re not eighty. You just act like it sometimes.” They’d been friends for over a year, so I hoped Diego took the teasing in the spirit intended.
Even better, he defended himself. “Did I act like an eighty-year-old when I fielded that soccer ball?” he asked me.
“No,” I said cheerfully.
“Or when I lifted you up on my shoulders?”
I shook my head.
“Or when I caught you when you fell out of the tree?”
I laughed. “I’m very glad I didn’t land on a senior citizen.”
Aaron peered down at me. “You fell out of a tree?”
“Yes. But it was nothing a first-place team couldn’t handle.”
“All right,” Aaron said to Diego. “You don’t act like an old man. But you have old-man knees.”
We all glanced automatically at Diego’s tan legs. His knees were quite visible beneath the shorts.
“No, I don’t,” said Diego.
“No, he doesn’t,” I said at nearly the same time, and he smiled at me.
And I smiled back. And that was the moment I knew it was okay to talk to him. To like him, actually. As far as he knew, we’d met the day I moved in here. If he hadn’t recognized me by now, he wasn’t going to.
From now on, I was going to think about Diego as just another one of my roommates, not the guy from the party. Just like I didn’t feel like I was the girl who acted that way that night. That was a drunk, depressed version of myself that I didn’t intend to let take over again.
So that left me free to be myself around Diego and to like him for who he was now. Except for the part where he made me cook dinner every six weeks. To be fair, few people in the house liked that. Except maybe Diego himself.
When I got back to my room, I immediately changed. That was it… I wouldn’t have to don another Halloween costume for a year. Hopefully longer. Except I’d have to wash Jenna's shirt and see about getting her a new tutu.
Evan was in the kitchen when I entered. "Congrats!" he said. “Go Team Baylor House.”
I laughed at that. Team Baylor House did sound rather formidable. "Thanks.”
A noise came from the backyard.
"Who’s out there?"
"Cody's raking leaves," Evan said. "I don't see how that's better than cooking, but hey, if he’s fine with it, good for him."
I grabbed a water bottle and headed out back. Cody had on jeans and a hoodie—and headphones, of course. He’d raked the brown and crumbling leaves into a large pile that was nearly up to my chest.
I watched him for a minute or two. There was something I liked about his movements, which were efficient and controlled. Then he spotted me.
"Thought you could use this." I handed him the water bottle as he lowered his headphones, keeping them around his neck.
"Thanks." He opened it and drained about half of it.
"Good job out here."
He nodded. Apparently one word was all I was getting out of him today.
Then the back door opened, and Aaron came out.
"Did Mia tell you her news?"
Cody's eyebrows rose as he looked at me.
"We won," I said, unable to stop the smile that accompanied those words. "Diego and I—we won the scavenger hunt."
"Nice job," he said.
There, I’d gotten him to say two words. Then he added more.
"What did you win?"
"A gift certificate to some Italian place along the riverfront."
"Forzano's," Aaron said. "It's excellent. Have you been there before?"
I shook my head. "I think it's a little out of my price range."
Aaron's cheeks colored briefly, and I remembered what Raymond said about his family being loaded. Did that bother him? I didn’t see why it should matter to anyone.
"Well, now you’ll get to go,” he said. "I know you and Diego will enjoy the food."
That thought gave me pause. The gift certificate did belong to both of us, so I guess that meant it would be me and Diego going together?
I hadn't thought that far ahead. Yes, I’d just vowed to accept him for who he was now, not who he was at the party, but the two of us together at a fancy Italian restaurant?
That was a big leap from running around campus in costumes.
“If he takes you there next week, you’ll have two incredible dinners,” Aaron continued.
Huh?
He smiled at my confusion. “My grandparents’ anniversary. Say what you will about my big, loud family, but they know all the best caterers.”
Caterers? I didn’t think I’d ever been to a catered event. Did his family also have butlers and chauffeurs and all that? I had no idea what I’d wear around people that rich, but Tori had promised she’d help me find the perfect dress.
It was time to change the subject, and I turned to Cody.
"How did it go with Susan?"
"Suzanne," Aaron corrected. He had a good memory.
"She got first chair," Cody said,
"That’s great,” I said. Cody must be a good accompanist, or I doubted her tryout would’ve gone that well. "When do I get to hear you play piano?"
Cody shrugged noncommittally, not wasting any more words than necessary as he dragged the rake across the grass.
Aaron laughed. "Maybe when you try out for orchestra." He surveyed the huge pile of leaves and tilted his head at Cody. "Want us to get some trash bags?"
Again, Cody shrugged, and he took another drink of water.
Aaron was still eyeing the huge pile of dry, brittle leaves. "Did you guys ever jump in leaf piles when you were kids?"
"I did once. I got in trouble for it,” I admitted.
Aaron grinned. "Me too."
Cody just shook his head as if we were both crazy.
"Think we'd get in trouble if we did it now?" Aaron had a gleam in his eyes.
"Yes," Cody said flatly.
I didn't blame him. It was obvious he'd spent a long time working on this. However, I had to admit it was tempting. Today seemed to be my day for acting like a little kid—running across campus, riding on Diego's shoulders, climbing trees.
Jumping in a leaf pile seemed to fit right in.
Aaron's eyes met mine.
"Don't," Cody warned.
"We'll rake it back into a pile afterwards, and we'll even bag it up for you." Aaron looked over at me and I nodded in assent.
Cody leaned on the rake and gave us a withering look, as if we were acting like children—which was exactly the point. We walked to the other side of the yard, and Aaron waved Cody out of the way. "You're in the landing zone."
Sighing, Cody walked a few feet off. Aaron grinned at me and took my hand.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
He counted to three. We ran.
We jumped.
We landed with a big explosion. Leaves flew everywhere as we sank into the midst.
Laughing, I twisted around on my back and had a clear view of the blue sky, at least until leaves floated back down, almost completely covering me.
It made me think about when Diego had pulled that leaf out of my hair. It would be a full-time job if he tried to do that now.
Aaron shoved an armful of leaves out of the way so he could see me.
His hair had so many leaves in it you couldn’t tell its color. "You look like a Sasquatch."
"So do you."
I wiped my hands on my shirt, but it didn't do much good. There were bits of leaves and twigs everywhere. Then I slapped my hand over my eye, giving a little shriek.
"Ow!” Still holding my eye, I managed to make it to a sitting position, my butt sinking further into the pile, and looked at Cody. "Where’s the water bottle? I have to flush out my eye.”
He came over, and I turned my head, shooting Aaron a quick wink with my other eye. He bit back a smile, and we waited. Then Cody was there, holding out the water bottle.
I reached out for it but grabbed his wrist instead. Aaron snagged the other one, and we pulled.
After landing in between us and sinking deep into the pile Cody didn’t hesitate to dig his way to the surface and extract his revenge.
So then there were three of us acting like little kids, but it was fun, and I regretted nothing.
Not even the hour I was going to have to spend brushing twigs and debris out of my hair later tonight.
“Cody! Hey, Cody, wait up.”
It was the Monday after Halloween, and he’d made a beeline out of class as soon as the professor dismissed us. He was already ten feet ahead of me on the sidewalk, but he stopped—without looking back.
“Are you avoiding me?” My voice was joking.
“Yes.” His wasn’t.
“Really? Why? Are you mad about the leaves on Friday? We hauled them all away.”
“No.” He resumed walking.
It took real effort to dodge through the crowds of students and move fast enough to get in front of him.
He stopped, perhaps sensing that I wasn’t going away. “What?”
“Tell me why you’re avoiding me.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Finally, he shook his head as if resigning himself to actually having to use words and sentences. “I talked to Aaron last night.”
“And he told you to avoid me?”
The long-suffering look Cody gave me wiped the smile from my face.
“Sorry, I was just kidding. Please tell me why you’re upset.”
“You’re the one who should be upset,” he muttered, managing to slip past me and continue toward the music building.
I had to jog to catch up yet again. Why did all my roommates have such long legs? Well, except Evan. He was about my height. “What do you mean?”
He kept his eyes on the ground, his hands in the pocket of his jacket. Finally, he said, “I didn’t hear you.”
I spoke a little louder. “I said, what do you mean?”
Cody shook his head. “Not now. Last week. Aaron told me you had a nightmare.”
Oh. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “Did he tell you what it was about?”