Priceless

~~~

It was Tuesday afternoon and I had a three-hour break before my next class, so I decided to text Erin and just hang out with her somewhere. I had fallen asleep already last night a few minutes after getting home, that's why I missed her calls and we didn't get the chance to talk about that little accident I caused at the resto concerning Alex. I had been so caught up last night on thinking what to reply to Stephen while I was lying in my bed, that I had drifted off to sleep unknowingly. I just woke up this morning to the sound of my alarm and found my phone clutched tightly on my hand, and when I checked it there were various texts and calls from Erin. There were also texts from my parents, asking how the date went, and there was one from Alex, telling me that he wanted to go out on a date again if it was okay with me. I'd chosen to not reply on any of those texts and just postpone it until this evening.

I got into Erin's car which was parked in the same space it had been the past week and I came into the conclusion that Erin owned that spot already. I smiled at her as I got into the passenger's seat, shut the door and buckled up, as she sat there staring at me, her hands gripping the stirring wheel.

"I swear," she started, "I will not start driving until you tell me what happened last night."

I rolled my eyes, but decided to start talking anyway since I knew that she meant it. "I didn't intend to do that, okay," I said honestly. "I don't know why I was so clumsy last night. I'm still mortified about what happened."

She nodded once and started driving out of her parking space. "How did he deal with you after that, though?" she asked, her eyes on the road.

"He told me it wasn't my fault." I frowned a little at that. "He just laughed it off and told me to stop worrying because he wasn't mad."

I noticed her eyebrows lift up at this. "So his personality is as great as his looks?" she asked.

I contemplated her question for moment. "Well...it's definitely better," I replied. "He's really a nice guy, and he hates formality and publicity as well, so I kinda had fun last night."

Erin smiled at this. "Did he kiss you?"

I didn’t flinch nor did I turn into slight or deep shades of red at her question. "On the cheek," I answered honestly. "And he also texted me that he wants to go out on a date again. I haven't texted him back yet."

"Oh my God, go for it!" she exclaimed excitedly. "He really seems like a nice guy, Bails. Go for it!"

A smile made its way to my face upon hearing her words. "Yeah, I think I will," I said. I knew I wasn't really opening my heart for love yet, but the thought of hanging out with Alex was fun.

"So, let's go to John's house today," she said, changing our topic. "John O, I mean—I heard some of the guys are gonna be there to play a video game or something."

"Okay," I answered, refusing to ask aloud the question that had crossed my mind that moment. Was Stephen gonna be there? I still didn't know whether or not to tell Erin about his text from last night and the way it made me feel. I also wasn't sure how I would act around him now, if he was gonna be there. I mean, he was still so unpredictable around me and I still had no assurance that we were indeed friends.

I kept shut through the whole drive as Erin turned up the radio. I was entertained by my thoughts, mostly about Stephen. Did I like him? I honestly couldn’t tell. I preferred calling it...being interested in him, particularly in his personality towards me. Like I’ve said before, he wasn’t like that with anyone else but me. It was intriguing why he treated me that way.

Soon, enough, we got to John O’s, and the first thing I noticed was Garrett’s yellow car parked outside. I really didn’t know why he picked that outrageous colour. Erin despised it to a high level and constantly begged him to buy a new one, but Garrett never listened. Well, it was his car anyway.

Erin just opened the door to the house, not bothering to knock. “Hey, bitches!” she greeted them all as she entered. I walked closely behind her, and eyed the people who were inside. John O, John Go, Kennedy, and Garrett were engrossed in a video game I was not even the least bit interested in, while Stephen and Jess were seated closely together on the couch. Brian, Pat, Josh, and Jared were nowhere to be seen, so I figured they must’ve gone somewhere else.

“Where’s Jobe?” asked Erin, referring to Josh. It was a little nickname his band called him.

“He, Pat, and Brian bought drinks for later,” Jess replied, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

“And Jared?” Erin asked once more, walking to the couch Jess had been on. I remained standing near the door, not sure whether to sit beside Erin and Stephen, or just follow Jess into the kitchen.

“Out on a date with Rachel.” It was John O who answered that, but he was still focused on his video game. “Fuck you John!” he exclaimed suddenly, and I figured it was because of the game.

“Did you mean yourself, or Baby Gomez?” Erin asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little as both Johns frowned.

“I meant him,” John O snapped. “Shut up Erin, you still owe me from last night,” John Go said simultaneously, and this made me turn back to Erin.

“Why did you drag him along anyway?” I asked curiously.

Erin rolled her eyes, “Duh, I didn’t want to go alone,” she said. “And Garrett here didn’t want to come with me.” She glared at her brother, “Jess, Pat, and Brian had plans already, and Kennedy was drunk to the bones so pretty much everybody decided to take care of him instead of going with me. My only choices were either of the Gomez’ brothers who were still both sober enough, and Stephen here was so fucking insistent on, and I quote, ‘having fun rather than suffering with me’.” She turned to glare at Stephen. “I tell you, you’ve missed a great show last night. You missed half of your life,” she told him.

I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration as I started walking to Garrett’s side. “Stop making it worse,” I said as I sat on the floor and watched the boys play. But their video game didn’t make any sense to me.

“It was a dinner date, Erin,” Stephen said, his voice void of any emotion, “Had I gone with you, I would have been bored to death spying on her and her boy toy.”

My cheeks flamed up at the term Stephen had used to call Alex. “His name is Alex,” I stated. “He’s not my boy toy. He’s the guy my father set me up with.” I didn’t know why I felt like explaining it to him. He probably didn’t care anyway.

“I couldn’t care less about his name,” Stephen said in that same voice. “My point is, it’s boring to watch people who are out on a date, and for this reason I chose not to come with Erin last night.”

I just pouted, fully accepting and respecting his point; it was just that he had referred to Alex as my “boy toy” and it irritated me a little. Alex was in no way my “boy toy” or whatever Stephen had in mind about him. He made it sound like I was playing with all the boys in town’s hearts, and he knew that wasn’t the case.

“Yeah, well, last night was priceless,” Erin said, clearly not bothered by Stephen’s statements. But she didn’t go on with the story anymore as she asked, “Do you have ice cream in here, John O?”

“Yeah, go check it in the fridge,” John O replied. I tilted my head to the back and saw Erin standing up. Then my gaze moved to Stephen, who had a lighter and a stick of cigarette in his hand. In a split second his eyes met mine, and then he got busy smoking so I just turned back to the nonsense video game and wished to be free of the sudden awkwardness I was feeling around me. Thankfully, the others arrived, and Brian saved me by casually conversing with me.

An hour later, everyone was drinking but Erin and me, since we still had to go to school. However, school and Garrett’s warning of killing her if she had more than three sticks didn’t stop her from smoking with Stephen. Meanwhile, I was enjoying my Coca-Cola as I sat on the couch with John O who kept taking glimpses of Erin as she stood there on a corner with Stephen. “So, you have to tell me something,” he started in a low voice, making sure no one else could hear him.

“What’s that?” I asked, keeping my voice as low as his.

“Do you like him?” he asked, looking at the spot Erin was, and I didn’t have to follow his gaze to know who he was referring to.

“No.” My voice was full of conviction and I was firm at that. But I should have known John—he was not gonna buy that.

“No, or you don’t know?” he pressed.

“I’m pretty sure I’m just...intrigued by how he treats me,” I answered, now lifting my gaze to Stephen and Erin. All I could see was Stephen’s back, though, and his left hand which held his cigarette. Soon, he started running his free hand through his hair, and this was when I chose to look back at John. “What made you ask, though?” I asked, curious as to why he suddenly opened it up.

He shrugged a little and put his bottle onto his lips. “I dunno, I just kinda had this weird idea of the two of you getting together.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “You’re crazy,” I simply said. But then I contemplated his idea for a second, and then I turned to look at Stephen and actually wondered how it was like dating him.

~~~