She Can't Read Minds

“Where you going, Rand-Rand?” Cal asked, plopping down onto my bed. We’d completely forgotten and moved on from what happened days before. He moved the bag I was filling with clothes and other necessary things into his lap. Tonight was movie night at Leslie’s which I was dreading but also enjoying the idea of. I tossed a shirt at Cal who examined it, made a comment about how he’d never wear it, and then tossed it into the bag himself.

I laughed, “You wouldn’t wear it because it’s mine, not because it’s “ugly.”” Cal shrugged, catching the pants I tossed his way. “Don’t comment on those, kid.”

“I like em’.” Cal smiled, folding them carefully. “Very white.”

“There’s a reason they’re called white jeans, not blue jeans.” I laughed, tossing him my sweatshirt in case I got cold. Cal looked at it with a raised eyebrow while I grabbed some clothes for pajamas. He barely caught those, still looking at the sweatshirt. “What? Why are you staring at it like that?”

“Isn’t this Markus’s?”

I froze, widening my eyes in surprise. He was right. “Toss it back.” I instructed, holding out my hands but he never threw it.

“No, wear it.” Cal suggested, standing up and walking over to me. He held it out so I could just slip it on. Staring at me he smiled. “Take that off and I’ll kill you.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, tugging on one side of the sweatshirt. Cal sat back down on my bed and shoved my pajamas into the bag now back into his lap.

“Because you both matter to me and each other.”

“He hates me.” I said, tossing him a handful of random socks. He looked at the ones in his hands and around him. “I know they don’t match; I don’t care.”

“Marky is upset, not mad.”

“Marky?”

Cal nodded, “Yeah, I’m awesome, I can call him that.” I rolled my eyes grabbing the bag from his lap and shoving anything into it. Cal stood up and walked over to me, grabbing a pen and flicking it into my plastic garbage can. “I won. Anyways, he’s upset that you ran and didn’t say yes.”

“I was nervous,” I argued, “I freaked.”

Cal nodded, wrapping me into a hug, “I know that, Leslie knows that, Martians know that and they live on Mars, but Marky, well, Marky didn’t like that answer.” We stood in silence until Cal asked me, “If I had some cats and I let them roam around, would I have to feed them or would they just eat the shit they found on the streets?” I looked up at him with his serious face and laughed. “What? I’m serious.”

“I know,” I smiled, “but I’ve always wondered that too.”

“That’s why we’re best friends.”

“That, and you make me feel like Einstein all the time.” I laughed watching Cal stick his tongue out at me and shove me away. I rolled my eyes. “Kidding, kidding, kidding.”

“Yeah right, but come on, I’ll drive ya to Leslie’s.” Cal told me, grabbing his coat and slipping it on. He jingled his keys in his hand. “It snowed a lot. Plus it’s slippery; I don’t want you to get hurt.” I smiled at him as we walked down the hall and outside to the car.

“Thanks bro.” I smiled. That sounded strange.