4. I Have an Idea
4
I Have an Idea
Carson
It’s pretty late when I get back to the house, which is as crowded as it can get with five guys in varying programs living under one roof.
Especially when three of them are squished on one bed, watching something on a laptop. Wow, that looks uncomfortable.
Since Enzo’s still working, I’m left with the rest of my roommates. First, there’s Adrian, who has this whole broody, mystery vibe on the outside. In reality, he’s the biggest film geek I know.
Jake is squished in the middle, considering that he’s the shortest after Enzo.
Finally, Mason. Aside from being the tallest of the five of us, he’s also the smartest and pretty introverted. We don’t see him around the house as much because of how dedicated he is to his studies.
Once I hear gunshots, I lean over Adrian’s shoulder and glance at the movie they’re watching. “What is this?”
Adrian is the first to respond. “ Die Hard , duh. You know this, Carson.”
“Yeah, I know.” Die Hard is one of the best movies ever made. “Why are you watching it in the middle of October?”
“Because we can?” Mason asks, confusion lacing his face as he stares at the three of us like we’re the Three Stooges. “It’s our choice.”
“Here we go,” Jake mutters like he’s about to hear my rant on the action film in front of us. “It’s not a Christmas movie, Ryder. We’ve talked about this so many fucking times.”
Of course, Jake knows what I’m going to say. “Does it take place during Christmas?”
He nods.
“Then I rest my case,” I declare, throwing my hands up. “It’s more appropriate to watch during the holidays.”
“You are going to die on this hill, aren’t you?” Adrian groans.
I raise both brows at him. Fuck yeah, I will. To me, it doesn’t feel right to watch it any other time—except maybe in July, when the whole Christmas in July thing happens.
“I don’t even know why I asked,” he mutters to himself. “I’ve tried showing you much better movies but you always come back to this one but you hardly watch it.”
“Miller, it’s a matter of preference.”
“Well, coming from me, your preference should expand to more than just Bruce Willis with a major superiority complex defeating Severus Snape.”
“For your information,” I argue. “I do watch other movies.” Is that a lie? Kind of. Growing up, I was a little too busy to watch them. However, if someone had an extra ticket to the cinema or if Carly was watching a movie in the living room, then I would watch.
“Name one movie that doesn’t belong to Disney or isn’t in the Die Hard Franchise.”
I lift a brow. “ Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. ”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “That’s on me for setting the bar too low.” At my grin, Adrian narrows his eyes. “Oh don’t act so smug, Ryder.”
Shrugging helplessly, I hop onto the bed and squeeze myself next to Adrian. “Shall we continue?”
“Do you want us to start the movie over again?” Mason asks.
“No need,” Jake answers for me. “At this rate, he can probably re-enact the entire film from start to finish.”
I lean over to give Jake a shove, which has him tumbling over to Mason. The laptop tilts over on its side, resting on Mason’s left knee. Just for one night, I let myself forget about my schoolwork. That’s what Friday nights are made for—to relax. The rest you can worry about on Saturday and then relax again on Sunday.
Throughout the film, I start to realize why I don’t watch movies with Adrian. He’s a stand-up guy, I swear. However, his biggest weakness is the inability to hold back from making comments about production. He is the only person I know who does this—aside from my sister, that is—and it’s really fucking annoying.
“Adrian, if you make one more comment,” Mason grumbles. At least he’s not sitting next to the film critic.
“Hey, Carson,” my cousin approaches me after our lecture. “Are you coming to tonight’s party at my place?”
I shake my head as I shove my notebook into my backpack. “Sorry, Bales. I promised Carly I’d go to a screening of hers.”
She rolls her blue eyes—ones very similar to mine. Despite being my cousin, she looks more like she could be my older sister, instead of being a year younger than I. “She’s still in her film producer phase?”
I shrug. “That is what she’s majoring in, after all.”
“And she couldn’t do that here instead of the rival campus?”
I don’t remind Bailey about how my twin sister didn’t get accepted into USC because it still stings. Not just for Carly. UCLA was her second-best option. It was also my first choice but I had been rejected.
“I gotta support my sister,” I tell Bailey. Especially when my parents can’t, or just choose not to. Like now.
“If this wasn’t for Carly, I’d call you a people pleaser.” She then taps her chin. “Wait, you still are.”
I narrow my eyes. “No way.”
“Cars, how are you at this school again?”
“Touché.” I hate how she’s right about that. My whole life has been built around not having a single person hate me. My family, friends, roommates—I would do just about anything. Obviously, I’m failing.
“You don’t even want to stop by after?” She raises a brow. “I could introduce you to one of my sisters.”
She’s talking about her sorority sisters. Because Greek Row is totally the place to find a good hookup. “Maybe I’ll stop by, but please don’t set me up.”
“Why not?” She tosses her blonde hair to her shoulder. “A lot of them want to meet you. Besides, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have found Jake.”
“All I did was introduce you two,” I point out. “You did the rest on your own.” A lot of it. To this day, I haven’t found a way to bleach the sound out of my ears without going deaf.
“I would beg to differ,” my cousin huffs. “But I better see you there, even if it’s for a minute.”
“Don’t count on it,” I call after her as she saunters off towards one of her friends. I’m about to leave when a familiar voice causes my ears to perk up.
“I’m not doing it, Lucia.”
“Diana,” Lucia sighs in frustration. “You know what your counselor said!”
“I know but I can solve this myself.”
Slowly, I turn my head to the source of the conversation. Sure enough, Lucia is standing over Diana, who is still seated in her chair. Her figure is almost bent over like a question mark,
Both girls have frustrated looks on their faces. Though Diana’s is mixed with…defeat? That’s odd.
“I don’t want you to get kicked,” Lucia says. “Just ask him or something.”
“No,” Diana responds harshly. “You know how I feel about—”
“Yes, I know but I don’t care. And, frankly, you shouldn’t either.” Lucia moves her braids over to one shoulder. “Passing this class is far more important than holding a grudge.”
I quickly look away, thinking she would have seen me watching them as she adjusted her hair.
Are they talking about me? About what?
“Sit on it, D,” Lucia says with sincerity in her voice. “I would really hate for one stupid grade to fuck up your future.”
And suddenly, a lightbulb turns on in my head.
As Lucia heads towards the door, I quickly grab her wrist, halting her. She looks up to meet my eyes and lifts a dark brow. “Why did you do that? A tap on the shoulder would have sufficed.”
Whoops. “I need to ask you something.”
She then lifts her other brow, intrigued. “Go on.”