Just a Girl

It had taken about a half hour for my brother to explain how he’d been tricked into coming to Portland and that it was all just a scam. He said he didn’t want to tell me because he was afraid I’d be ashamed of him. I had told him not to worry about it and gave him a big bear hug, which felt good, not having seen him in so long.

“Wow Josh.” I said, going back to the other couch. “We’ve been here almost and hour and you still haven’t introduced me to your girlfriend.”

“Well you haven’t introduced me to your boyfriend.” He challenged.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I yelled in exasperation.

“Sure he’s not.” Josh said doubtfully.

“He’s not.” My face flamed once again.

“Well this is Michelle.” He said, putting his arm around the pretty brunette’s waist.

“This is Zeke.” I said, wrapping my casted arm around Zeke’s once again.

“Oh my god Cara.” Josh said.

“What?” I said, a bit freaked out. Was there a spider on me?!

“What happened to your arm?!”

“Oh, that.” I sighed. “I went skiing.” I explained.

“Oh, I see.” He said, nodding his head, showing me that he understood. He knew full well how clumsy I was and even teased me about it when I was littler.

My dad entered the room from the kitchen with a tray of mugs in his hands.

“Who wants hot chocolate?” He asked. Wow, this was very odd. He almost never cooked for me when I was a kid.

“I do!” Josh and Zeke yelled at the same time.

“Me too.” I said.

“Yes please.” Michelle said.

My dad passed a mug to each of us and took one for himself, sitting beside me on the couch.

“Should we catch up?” My dad asked. “I know I’ve missed a major part of your lives, but I really want to be a better father.” He looked sincere, but one could never tell with him.

“Well, we haven’t really told anyone this, but Michelle and I are getting married.” Josh said, grabbing Michelle’s left hand and showing us her engagement ring, then holding her hand in both of his.

My mouth fell agape. When we were younger, Josh had kept telling all of us how he never wanted to get married, or have kids.

Oh no. He wasn’t marrying her because she was pregnant was he? I have a feeling that’s the only reason my parents got married, and look how that turned out.

“Congrats!” I forced out.

“I thought-”

“Yeah, yeah. But I was just a naïve, selfish teenager when I said that.” He said, his eyes locking with Michelle’s. “I never thought I’d find love.” Michelle blushed and looked down.

“Aw!” I squealed. “Josh’s in love!”

Michelle blushed and even deeper shade of red and Josh scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I always thought you’d get married before Josh would, to be honest.” My dad said turning to me.

“I’m working on it.” I said, smiling.

“What?!” My dad yelled.

“Just kidding.” I laughed.

“You’d better be!” He said.

“I’m not tired anymore.” Zeke and I announced at the same time. I looked over at him and smiled.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“No more hot chocolate before bed?” Zeke guessed, while I said, “Movie Marathon!”

Everyone started laughing, including me.

“That sounds fun.” Josh said.

“Dad?” I turned to him, asking his permission.

“You kids have fun, I’m going to bed.” He answered, setting his hot chocolate down on the coffee table and giving me a hug. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.” He walked over and gave Josh a hug. “How about eggs for breakfast?”

There were a mixture of ‘okay’s’ and ‘yeah’s’, and even a ‘nom nom nom’ from me. It was something I had done for a few years now whenever something sounded good.

“Ok.” My dad laughed and walked away, up the stairs, pausing and turning back before he go to the top. “Movies are in the cabinet under the TV.” He turned back around and walked the rest of the way up the stairs.

“Which movie should we watch first?” I asked, kneeling in front of the cabinet.

“Are there any horror films?” Josh asked. Of course. His favorite.

“We are not watching a horror film.” I said firmly.

“Fine.” He sighed. “Be a little girl.”

“I will.” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“How about and action film?” Michelle suggested.

“That’s good with me.” Zeke said, Josh and I nodded in agreement.

“I like her.” I mouthed to Josh, turning back to the movies. I found an action film and searched for the DVD player.

“Josh, can you please set this up?” I asked. “I’m not sure how to work this thing.” I said, gesturing toward the DVD player. Technology and I weren’t on the best terms.

Josh sighed, but got up kneeled beside me. He snatched the movie from my hand and I went back to sit by Zeke. He wrapped his arm around me and I brought my legs up to my chest, curling up to Zeke’s side. He wrapped the blanket my dad had given him around both of us. Ah, warmth. It was my best friend, especially since I was cold all the time.

“It wasn’t even that hard.” Josh said as the movie started.

The crappy dialogue of the movie was the only sound in the room; everyone was pretty peaceful.

I’m not going to lie. The movie bored me to death. I hated action flicks. Hated them. But I wasn’t going to ruin everyone else’s movie marathon.

Zeke’s POV:

I could tell Cara was bored out of her mind, it was pretty clear on her face. I hadn’t actually been paying attention to the movie. A flurry of thoughts were being thrown around in my mind, too many to concentrate on really anything. They were hopping from one thing to the next, thought to thought.

I thought of the night when I drove Mrs. Chenn to the hospital to see Andrew and Cara was there. She was so torn up, and I didn’t blame her, it was just hard to see her like that was I was so used to my Smiley Cara, as we used to call her. Tingles of nostalgia were sent down my spine at the thought.

Flashback

I walked around the playground searching for my best friend. I ran when I spotted her long, dirty blonde hair, flowing around her in the wind. She was on the swing, pumping her legs trying to get momentum built up.

“Hi.” She said as I approached her.

“Hi.” I said. “Want a push?” I asked.

“Sure.” She said.

I came behind her and pushed on her back as hard as I could, sending her flying upward. I quickly backed away before I got hit with a foot.

“Thanks.” She said, smiling broadly.

“No problem.” I said, sitting on the swing next to her.

She turned to me, still smiling slightly. “I’m going to give you a nick name.” She said.

“Okay, then I’m going to give you one too.” I replied.

“I’m going to call you Zeke the Geek.” She said, giggling at what she thought was the best thing ever.

“Then I’m going to call you Smiley Cara.” I said. It was quite fitting, seeing as how she did smile very often.

End of Flashback

My drifted to thoughts of each time that I’d gotten to comfort Cara. I wished she would realize my feelings for her. And not just as a friend or sister, but really felt for her. I was almost positive she didn’t feel the same way, which is why I had never confessed my feelings. I didn’t want to wreck our friendship over something that turned out to be a silly little crush.

My eyes dropped down to her sleeping form. Should I wake her up? Or let her sleep? I could take her up to bed. After all, I didn’t want her to wreck her back from sleeping in a bad position…