Out of Grasp

"Do you have any aces?"

"Nope, go fishing, hoe!"

"Do you have any threes?"

"No. Go fish."

"Fuck you. I hate fish."

I woke up this morning to find Nick, Justin, Eric, and Andrew lounging around in my living room, watching Pawn Stars and eating all my food. It really wasn't a surprise though and I got over the fact that they had broken into my house and crept back upstairs before they could see me in the simple t-shirt and boy short combo I had worn to bed last night.

I made my way downstairs after getting dressed and somehow, I got roped into playing Go Fish with Nick, Tori, who showed up ten minutes after I sat down in the living room with the boys, and Eric, who was currently pouting at having to pick from the deck of cards resting in the middle of us all. I was laying on my stomach across from Tori who was in the same position, while Nick and Eric sat across from each other, their legs crossed in front of them.

"These people are fucking greedy. This guy is being offered five-hundred dollars for some prehistoric wagon that's been passed down in his family for free and that's not good enough for him!" Justin shouted angrily at the TV, throwing the pillow he had been resting against at the screen.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't take your anger for humanity out on my TV. Not all of us have the money to go out and buy a new one," I scolded. Justin smirked, apologizing sarcastically, before picking up the remote and searching through the channels for something different to watch.

"Hey, someone ask me for something! I have half the deck in my hand and my palm is sore!" Tori demanded, a sour look on her face.

"You really suck at this game, babe,"Eric laughed.

"At least I don't curse everyone out when they claim to not have a certain card."

"She has a three and won't give it to me! I know it!" He pointed an accusing finger at me and I leaned forward, biting it. Eric yelped, his head snapping in my direction as he cradled his finger to his chest, an incredulous look on his face.

"Ouch you bitch."

"Don't accuse me of lying and I won't have to bite you."

"You have a three and just don't want to share!"

"I don't have a three!"

"You're lying!"

"You're about to be dying!"

"Okay, okay, okay, calm down. Eric stop being a baby, Emily....stop biting people," Nick said. "Whose turn is it?" He asked.

"Mine," I chimed. "Tori, do you have any kings?"

"Yes! Sweet baby Jesus, take them!" She said, throwing three cards at me. I grabbed them and the one king I held and placed it in the pile of matching cards next to me.

We continued playing for another fifteen minutes, before Nick won. After we watched him do a victory dance, we cleaned up the mess of cards and began setting up to play King's Corners next.

"So Emily, you never actually told me how your date with John went," Tori said, shuffling the cards expertly.

"It was nice," I smiled, pulling at loose strands on the carpet.

"Just nice? Come on, this is JohnO we're speaking about here," Nick smirked, messing with the necklaces around his neck.

"I don't know what else to call it. We went to the movies and he was a gentleman..."I trailed off, flashes of our night racing through my mind.

"What aren't you telling me?" Tori asked, her eyes accusing.

"Nothing."

"You're avoiding eye contact and scratching your arm, so I know your hiding something." I stopped rubbing my arm, cursing my nervous habits and the fact that Tori knew them all.

"I'm not hiding anything. You're just being paranoid," I defended myself, trying to keep my eyes focused on her face so she wouldn't think I was avoiding eye contact.

There really wasn't anything that I hadn't told her. I filled her in on everything about our night, from the door holding to the fact that we planned on going on a second date. I hadn't left anything out except the kiss. And that was something I was not telling her about. She wouldn't let me live it down, nor would she hesitate in telling Melanie. I can already feel my face burning with the amount of embarrassment the two of them would cause me.

It wasn't that I was embarrassed or ashamed of the fact that John had kissed me, because that isn't the case at all. It's just that I don't want them to think that there's more to my relationship with John than a platonic one. Maybe in the future there will be, but as of right now, we're simply friends and I don't need Tori or Melanie constantly badgering me or John.

"I haven't checked Twitter in over 15 minutes!" Eric mumbled in his nerd voice, a very believable impression.

"Oh, no. Someone call the police."

"Do you know what kind of stuff I could have missed? I follow some very important people!"

"Like who?"

"Like...Barack Obama!"

"You follow the president?"

"Yes, yes I do."

Nick, Tori, and I all shared a look, before turning back to the card game before us. And that's what we did all day. We watched TV, played cards and board games, ate too much food, and laughed until we basically peed ourselves.

"....so, I accidently grabbed her-..."

"Wait, John's calling me," Nick said, interrupting Eric from finishing his story. He stood up and walked out of the room, his keys jingling with each step.

"Someone better be dying or I am going to be pissed that my story was interrupted for now reason," Eric muttered, crossing his arms with a pout.

"You really are like a two year old, you know that?"

"Sometimes I feel more like his babysitter than his girlfriend," Tori smirked.

"You can babysit me anytime, baby."

"Get a room!" Justin groaned.

Nick came back a few seconds later, jumping over the couch and plopping back down on the floor in his previous spot. "John and the rest of them are at some Mexican bar for food and drinks and want us to meet up with them."

"Oooh, Mexican bar, bebidas, musica, mojitas!" Eric said in a high pitched voice, standing up and moving his hips around.

"I worry about your sexuality sometimes," Andrew declared.

We chuckled at Eric's insulted expression, standing up and stretching.

"Okay, you boys clean. Emily and I are going to go get ready. Clean boys, clean!"

Tori grabbed my wrist and pulled me up from my spot, dragging me out of the living room. I turned towards Nick, giving him a pleading look and mouthing 'Help me'. He gave me a sympathetic look and a thumbs up, before Tori completely pulled me out of view.

"You are crazy if you think I'm changing," I told her as we walked into my bedroom. She dropped her death grip on me and walked straight to my closet. I sat down on the edge of my bed and watched her raid my clothes.

"Emily, seriously."

"Seriously nothing! What I'm wearing is fine for a bar."

"Aren't you the least bit worried about what John is going to think?"

"Are you saying I look ugly?"

"No!"

"Then why should I worry about what John thinks?"

"Just, you add a little flare to your wardrobe, you know?"

"Not really, no."

She sighed, pulling a floral dress out of my closet and holding it up to her body, looking in the long mirror attached to the inside of my closet door.

"Fine, don't change. But one of these days, you're gonna need to show off those legs of yours."

I ignored her comment and instead went into my bathroom, brushing through my straightened hair, adjusting my black beanie, and fixing my make up. Tori showed up next to me seconds later doing the same thing. I left the bathroom so she could have the mirror to herself and went back to my room, grabbing my wallet, cell phone, and single house key off my dresser, putting everything in my jean pockets.

"Ready?" Tori asked from my bedroom doorway. I nodded my head and followed her out of my room, shutting off my light behind me.

The guys were all waiting outside for us so after turning off all the lights and locking everything up, I made my way out to them, Tori right behind me. Andrew, Eric, Justin, and Nick climbed into Justin's car and Tori and I climbed in mine.

"What bar are we going to?" I asked Tori as she searched through the various CD's in the side pocket of the passenger door.

"Just follow them," she said, gesturing to the car full of boys backing out of my driveway behind us.

I did as I was told and just followed Justin, hoping that I wouldn't loose him in the traffic. As we drove out of my neighborhood, Eric stuck his head out of the back window, waving to Tori and I. I giggled as Nick's hand, I knew it was his because of all the bracelets, shot out and grabbed Eric's face, pulling him back in the car.

"Your boyfriend is just a tad bit out of his mind," I told Tori with a smile.

She nodded her head, a love-struck look taking over her face. "Yeah, but I love him none-the-less. At least he's not some lazy, workaholic th-..., "I noticeably winced as she said that word, my mind instantly going to James."...oh, shit, Emily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean...I-I wasn't trying to-..."

"It's okay. I know you weren't comparing him to James on purpose."

It was silent for a moment and I could feel Tori's stare on my face as we drove in silence. "How are you holding up? I mean everything just happened so fast and it didn't help that I was just pushing you to start fresh without giving you time to get over James."

"I'm doing okay, actually. Having you, Mel, and all the guys makes it easier. You all keep my mind off of petty things. Believe me, I'd much rather be out having fun than crying over a break up."

"You're sure you don't need to talk at all?"

"I'm sure. And If I do, you know I'll come to you."

"Good," she smiled, giving my arm a reassuring squeeze. "Now, let's get to this bar. I'm ready to party!" She gushed, pronouncing 'party' as 'par-tay'.

I laughed at her happy mood and adjusted my sunglasses, before we jumped into a conversation full of giggles and insides jokes.