My Girl

“Oh…hey Elise.” Parker answered the door when I knocked on it for a second time, and by the way his face twisted into a confused smile, I could tell he wasn’t expecting me at his doorstep.

“Hi.” I looked behind him and saw that Arielle wasn’t in the room. “Uhm, Arielle invited me over…” I suddenly felt stupid for standing on his doorstep. If I hadn’t made my reputation bad already, I’m pretty sure it would suck when Parker told our entire class about how much of a loser I was for hanging out with his little sister.

“Right. Come on in.” He opened the door wide enough for me to get in and closed it tightly when I was inside, smiling awkwardly when we made eye contact as he sat back down at his spot on the couch. He took the TV off of mute and I could tell he was watching some reality show.

“Is Arielle upstairs?” I asked. His eyes widened and he smiled sheepishly.

“Right. Sorry. Uhm, she’s actually in the basement with Steph, I think, I will show you where it is.” He got off the couch again and led me down a hallway that was on the other side of the living room, opening the last door on the right.

“Arielle? Elise is here.” He shouted down the steps, smiling at me again and moving out of the way so I could get through. When I peeked my head around the corner I saw Arielle standing at the bottom of the stairs, along with another girl that looked to be a few years older than me, probably somewhere around Parker’s age.

“Hey Elise!” Arielle smiled widely as I quickly made my way down the stairs. The basement door shut behind me. “This is Steph, Steph this is Elise.” Arielle pointed to the girl standing next to her. I smiled and said hi quietly, looking around the basement.

A large couch sat in front of a big screen TV, and some video game was flashing across the screen.

“What is this?” I asked, nodding toward the TV. Arielle stared at me for a few seconds.

“You must be kidding.” She looked over at Steph, who had a small smile plastered onto her lips. “You have never seen Rockband?”

“No. Not really.” I laughed sheepishly, watching Arielle quickly run to a box that was sitting next to the TV. She strapped a plastic guitar around her shoulder and handed the other one to me. Steph sat down quietly at the drums and got the game set up.

“Can you play guitar?” She asked me, punching a green button in so her player was locked in. I did the same and watched as the screen changed.

“Kind of. Not well, at least.” I answered. Arielle nodded her head and turned her body toward me.

“Okay. So your on the left screen.” I glanced at the TV and saw it split into three. “All you have to do is when the icons come to this,” She pointed to a flashing square around the neck of the guitar. “…is hit that color button on the guitar.”

I nodded my head and watched as Steph and Arielle quickly got ready, and the music began to play.

I had seen Arielle set me to easy, but when it was my turn to start in, it sure didn’t feel that easy. I struggled through the song and Arielle had to save me at least twice.

“Looks like somebody is playing for the first time.” A voice came behind me and startled, I whipped my head around, watching as Parker made his way down the stairs of the basement.

“Well…” I looked at Arielle and Steph, who seemed unfazed by Parker coming downstairs. They were now sitting on the couch in front of the TV, talking about something I couldn’t understand. “…yeah. It is.”

“I just so happen to be the expert.” Parker said proudly, reaching for the guitar that was still in my hands. He hit a few buttons and smiled at the screen, nodding for me to look at it. I looked away from his face and stared at the TV, which was now on the top scores list. Except for the last entry, who Arielle’s name was under, Parker’s name flooded numbers one through fourteen.

“Impressive.” I replied. Parker smirked and nodded, looking behind me at his sister and her friend.

“So, what is everyone’s plan for tonight?” He questioned. Arielle looked up and shrugged her shoulders. I didn’t have any siblings, so I wouldn’t know, but the way Arielle and Parker seemed to just be two best friends seemed kind of strange to me. Kind of like Joe and Nick.

I felt my stomach swirl as I referred back to him, like I had been the entire night. I wonder if Nick had ever played Rock Band.

“We’re probably just going to hang out.” Arielle continued, looking at her brother. “Did you have anything in mind?”

“Maybe indoor put-put or something. I don’t know, a few my friends were going there, I could drop you off.” Golfing. My stomach continued to twist, but Arielle must have realized something because she replied back to her brother.

“I think Elise has had enough golfing for the season, Park.” Steph laughed quietly, and Parker glanced back at me, his cheeks tinted a slight red.

“Right…I forgot.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave me an apologetic look.

“It’s cool. You guys go without me, I have to get back anyways…my mom me I couldn’t stay long.” I glanced outside, sighing when I realized it was pouring out. Arielle nodded her head and opened her mouth to speak.

“Do you think you could hang out this weekend or something?” She asked. I felt Parker’s and Steph’s eyes on me, so I nodded my head.

“Sure. I will stop by sometime tomorrow.” I told her, pulling the sleeves of my sweatshirt down to my wrists.

“Elise, I will walk you home.” Parker suddenly seemed serious about something. And the way he whipped an umbrella out from the closet next to the steps, I wasn’t about to tell him to stay.

I followed Parker out the back door of their house in the basement and shivered when the wet grass flew around my sandals.

We silently made our way across the road and over to my house, and Parker didn’t talk until we walked past my empty garage. He looked in and saw that there wasn’t any car there.

“Your mom isn’t home?” He asked, walking up my porch steps. My palms turned sweaty. He had probably figured out I was lying about my mom telling me to come home soon, she wasn’t even here herself.

“No. She must have…gone out.” I said, feeling my cheeks turn hot even as the few wet raindrops fell onto them. When we were fully under my roofed porch, Parker closed the umbrella, shaking it out slightly.

“Sure.” I wasn’t sure if he had used to word to agree with me, or to show me his uncertain sarcasm, but I reached out for the door handle and chose to ignore it.

“Elise, could I ask you something?” Parker asked as I twisted the door handle. I nodded my head and shut the door, leaning up against the frame of the front door and watching as he spoke.

“I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but why did you come over tonight?” He sat down on the railing of the porch, the top of his grey t-shirt getting wet. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Because Arielle invited me over.” I said matter-of-factly, watching him strangely. He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. The way they flexed made my eyes stay on that area.

“She’s my little sister…” I looked up at him and nodded my head, opening my mouth to speak. “…and if your going to lie to her and tell her that you cant stay for different reasons besides you just not wanting to, I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to come back tomorrow. I don’t want to be rude to you, because I know things kind of suck right now.”

I stared at him and felt my hands start to shake, my eyes filled slightly with tears. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings in any way.” I answered, sitting down on a deck chair so my legs wouldn’t give out. I couldn’t believe something like that would come across to Parker. “Things are kind of tough right now, and I just felt like I was getting overwhelmed.”

“You could have just told us that in the first place.” His voice was softer now, and he hopped down from the porch railing. I nodded my head and felt his presence in front of me. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t want to do that to you.” I said, feeling myself turn embarrassed again. Parker sat down in the chair next to me. His hair was slightly soaked, falling in front of his eyes as he looked down at his crossed hands.

“I don’t mind.” He stood up though, glancing down at me once again. “When your ready.”

I nodded my head in agreement and watched as he walked off the porch, not even caring if his closed umbrella swung on his arm next to him. He was halfway across the street that separated our houses when I found my voice to speak.

“Parker!” I shouted, watching as he turned around. He squinted his eyes through the rain and smiled over at me. “Thank you.”

He gave me a thumbs up and laughed, running the rest of the way to his house as the rain picked up again. I smiled and felt my hands fall across the doorknob. I entered the house and closed the door behind me, instantly reaching into my back pocket and pulling out the note that was left on my front porch from earlier that day.

I liked you. I’m pretty sure I still do.