Girls Like Boys

“Ramsy! Lets go!” I yelled as I leaned back into our room from the hallway, shooting glares at my sister. When she didn't respond, I slipped back in between the door and the wall, leaning forward to pin her with my stare. 
 

Ramsy matched the look, turning to face me from where she stood at the closet. “I’m coming,” she said, before kneeling down to root around for something. 
 

“What are you looking for?” I asked, sighing. “Travis is downstairs and he said that Ryan and everyone are already at his parents’ house. We’re making him late.”

“I can’t find my beige boots,” she answered without looking back at me.  
 
Knowing that she wouldn’t move until she found the exact pair she wanted, I darted into the room, letting the door click shut behind me, and joined her on the ground. I helped her shovel through our mess of shoes, throwing aside everything and making an even bigger mess.  
 
“They’re not in here,” I said after a minute or two, sitting back on my heels to face her.  
 
She shot me a look. “This is our only room, Cody. They’re here somewhere.” She leaned back into the closet and pushed another couple shoes aside.  
 
I clenched my teeth as I bit back my response and reached in, sorting through the mountain of shoes. “Wear these,” I demanded as I pulled a my pair of beige wedges out from beneath the pile. “They match and we actually know where they are.” 
 
Ram sighed, but sat down so that she could pull them on. I climbed to my feet and checked my bag to make sure that I still had everything. Ramsy got up, frowning as she steadied herself.

“I’d rather have my booties,” she muttered, taking a couple balancing steps.
 
I gave her an unamused look and stepped back to the door in my own pair of wedges, ignoring her commentary as she gathered up her things and finally let us leave the room. The dorm was mostly abandoned since almost everyone went home for the holiday, and it was silent as we headed to the elevators. As we left, the girl at the front desk was the only person we saw. She looked less than thrilled to be there. 
 
Because there weren’t many people here, Travis was able to park directly outside of the doors. At first, I barely recognized him. He was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car that was distinctly not the BMW. Ramsy caught on quickly too and met my eyes questioningly. I shrugged and we crossed the lobby, exiting through the glass front doors. 
 
Travis looked up from his phone as we walked up. He tossed it onto the dashboard when I opened the door, letting Ramsy climb into the backseat first. 
 
“Where’s the BMW?” I asked as I dropped down into the passenger’s seat and closed the door behind me.  
 
“I’m trading this out for one that’s parked at my dad’s,” Travis answered as he put the car in drive. He glanced in the rear-view as he pulled out onto the street. “You guys look nice.”  
 
I looked to him, noting the black button-up shirt and dark wash jeans. “You do too,” I replied. I settled into my seat and buckled up, glancing back at Ramsy as she echoed my response.

“My dad’s place is like twenty-five minutes from here,” Trav said, pulling out of the residence hall neighborhood and onto the main highway. We headed in the same direction as his house, breezing through green lights. 
 
The ride went pretty fast despite the fact that Ramsy was still barely talking to us. Travis made up most of the conversation, filling in the silence as he pointed out parts of the city that Ram and I hadn’t seen before. We’d never had a reason to venture out further than Travis’s neighborhood. The farther we went, the less it looked like our same college town. 
 
The buildings got shorter and farther apart; the campus gave way to residential neighborhoods and bigger shops on the outskirts. Travis bi-passed all of it and headed farther out from UA. Eventually, the houses got larger and more spaced out, with fields for backyards. The spread out houses reminded me of home, but these were still distinctly in neighborhoods, unlike our house that sat alone at the end of a gravel driveway. 
 
After a few more minutes, Travis put his blinker on and abruptly turned into a long, black-topped driveway. I sat up straighter as we headed up toward the house. It was three stories and sat kiddy-corner to an oversized garage. The driveway dead-ended into the garage and the house sat to the left.  
 
Travis pulled in behind a row of unfamiliar cars. I scanned them for Ryan’s, but came up empty. Travis shut the car off and my nerves jumped into my throat.  
 
The dark haired boy looked to me and then my sister. “You guys ready?” he asked, reaching into the backseat to grab a jacket. 

I frowned and glanced at the house again. It opened with a set of double doors and had a three-pane window that spanned most of the front. From this angle, I could see inside, but thick curtains obscured everything but the view of a TV sitting on a glass stand. 

Travis grinned at me. “You don’t have to be intimidated,” he spoke as he pulled the keys out of the ignition fiddled with them. “My brother's here and he’s pretty cool. Plus, Ry’s inside, so you’ll have him to stick to.” 

“He’s with his parents,” I commented.  
 
Travis shook his head and reached to open the door. “That doesn’t matter, Code,” he said, moving to get out the car before either of us were ready. He jumped out quickly and leaned back in to look at us. “Lets go. You won’t calm down until you realize that there’s nothing to be nervous about.” 

My lips parted in surprise as he turned around and shut the driver’s door. I leaned forward and watched through the windshield as he headed toward the front door of his childhood house without us. Ramsy pushed against my seat with her knees. 

“Lets go before he goes in without us,” she said, leaning forward to see him too. “I don’t want to walk into his parents house without him, Cody. That'd be even more awkward.” 

I frowned, eyes narrowed on him. “He won’t go in without us.”
 
Ramsy groaned. “This isn’t a challenge, Cody,” she said, kneeing me again. “If you don’t get out, I’ll climb over the driver’s seat and get out that way. I don’t want to be stuck out here.”
 
She started to lean up between the seats, challenging me to let her, so I groaned and elbowed her back. I threw my door open and made a show of getting out. Ramsy climbed out clumsily after me.

Travis stood by the front doors, smirking. He watched our interaction out of the corner of his eye and now turned to face us both as Ramsy smoothed her dress down and I loosened my bag strap from around my neck. 

“Finally,” he said, reaching behind him to the doors. He opened one of them and stepped backwards into the house, turning as he went. Ram followed after him, and I walked in behind her.  
 
The house was gorgeous, which I’d come to expect from anything related to Travis. The front doors opened up to an open floor plan and we stepped directly into the living room. From here, there was a closet and staircase on the right, the living room to the left, and the hallway continued straight down the center of the house. 
 
Travis began narrating as he led us through the house and down the hallway. “Living room,” he said, motioning to the left. The open room was brightly lit, with windows on both walls. The couch was leather and a narrow table ran behind the length of it. There were moveable, wooden tables in front acting as coffee tables. There was an entryway off of the living room which looked like it opened into a dining room. I could only make out a couple chairs as we kept walking.  
 
Travis pointed to the stairs and the love-seat positioned underneath it. “Leads to the second and third floors,” he said mildly. He led us down the hallway. “This is the bathroom, the study, and… the living room,” he trailed off as the hallway opened up to a gorgeous kitchen. I barely had time to take it in when I noticed the people in the room, and they noticed us. 
 
“Trav!”

I took a surprised step back as a dark haired girl darted toward us and threw her arms around Travis’s shoulders. She was much shorter than him, so it was a reach, but she managed it. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her too. The rest of the group in the room took steps toward him and I quickly looked them over.  
 
There were two older men in the room, who I assumed were Travis’s uncle and father, although I couldn’t really tell which was which. Ryan stood at the end of the counter and offered a small smile when we made eye-contact between the people.

Aside from the girl now stepping back from Travis, there was an older woman who I assumed was Ryan’s mother. She had the same auburn-tinted hair color. The only other guy had to be Travis’s brother; As much as I thought Travis and Ryan shared similar features, Travis and that boy had the same dark hair and ghosting of freckles. It was almost like seeing an older, bulkier version of Travis. 

Travis made the rounds, letting people pull him into hugs and saying quick hellos before moving onto another one of the adults. I watched as the last man stepped up, almost the same exact height as Trav, and threw an arm around the dark-headed boy’s shoulders.  
 
Ram leaned back into me. “Is that his dad?” she whispered. 
 
I shrugged her off. “How am I supposed to know?” 
 
The man looked past Travis, to us, and grinned. 
 
“You must be Cody and Ramsy,” he spoke, stepping away from his kid to come to us. “Trav mentioned that he was bringing a couple friends. I’m Laren Laughlin.” 
 
“I’m Cody,” I said, speaking up first and stepping up so that I was directly next to my sister. “This is Ramsy. Thanks for letting us be part of your Thanksgiving.” 
 
Travis’s dad smiled again. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had anyone else over,” he said. “We’re happy to have you.” He stepped back and Travis slid out of the way, grinning as his father took charge.

“You girls can call me Laren,” he said as he walked back into the center of the room. “Come on in and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the family.” He didn’t wait for us to come in before he started naming everybody.

“This is my sister, Leandra, Travis’s aunt, and her husband, Connor. I’m sure you’ve met Ryan - Leo - already, but this is his younger sister, Chloe.” 

Chloe, Trav’s cousin, was quick to shoot smiles at me and Ramsy. She was obviously much younger than Ryan and Travis. I wasn’t even sure if she was in high school yet.
 
Laren drew our attention back as he motioning to the boy in the back. “This is my other son, Mathias. Travis’s older brother.” 

I didn’t know what to say when he stopped talking - if I should greet everyone or not. I glanced to Ramsy, hoping that she’d step up like usual, but she left me hanging there by myself. After a moment, Travis laughed from where he stood near the entryway into the dining room. He pushed off the wall and headed over. 
 
“They’re both very happy to meet you guys,” he said, coming to me and resting his hands on my shoulders. “Lets not put them on the spot their first five minutes in the door.” He pivoted me toward Ryan and led us out of the center of the kitchen as his family laughed and his dad apologized simultaneously.  
 
“What took so long?” Ryan asked as we joined him in his corner of the kitchen and turned around to face everyone else. “I’ve been stuck here all morning with Chloe as my only source of entertainment.”

Travis rolled his eyes. “It’s not my fault you stayed at your parents’ all night,” he said, shouldering his friend to the side as he stood next to him. “I told you that you weren’t going to have any fun.” 
 
Ryan eyed Travis. “You think you know everything,” he commented. “I’ve learned to take you with a grain of salt."
 
I grinned and Ryan matched my smile when he saw it. “How are you guys?” he asked, nodding back to the group of people. “Our family can be a little overwhelming.” 

“I’m fine,” I said, meaning it. Ramsy nodded. 
 
We all looked up as Travis’s brother crossed the space and came to stand in front of us, completing our circle. He was exactly the same height as his younger brother, but a bit broader and more mature looking. He had a dark beard that matched the color of his (and Travis’s) hair and dressed up, in a pair of slacks, a button up, and a sweater. 

“How long are you staying?” he asked, talking directly to Travis. He glanced at Ramsy and me, before looking back to his brother and cousin. From across the room, I could see Chloe watching, waiting for her opportunity to come and join us. All of their parents congregated around the island and started chatting among themselves.  
 
Trav shrugged an answer. “I mean, we just got here, so we’ll probably at least stick around until somebody feeds us.” He pushed his sleeves up to his elbows and crossed his arms over his chest, grinning at his brother.

Mathias rolled his eyes at Travis. “Yeah, alright,” he said, shaking his head at the younger boy. He turned and headed off toward the living room, going up and around the dining room, instead of cutting through.

Travis laughed at his brother and nudged me to follow. The group of us walked after him, leaving the adults as we headed back into the living room. The house wasn’t huge, but it was comfortable and modern. There was almost enough room as we each found places in the living room.
 
Travis pulled the coffee table pieces apart and I realized that they doubled as seating. He pushed them both out of the center of the room and back along the wall under the windows.

Chloe came in through the dining room and quickly dropped down onto the couch, staking her claim. Travis took a seat on the floor in front of the couch and motioned for one of us to take the seat next to Chloe, while Mathias took the end seat. There was more than enough room for Ramsy and I both, but she sat down on one of the stools under the window and Ryan joined her.  
 
I awkwardly climbed around Travis and sat down on the couch. He leaned forward so that I didn’t have to put my shoes on the couch, and then he sat back against my legs. He peered up at me over his shoulder to make sure that was okay. I nodded. 

When I looked up, I noticed Chloe looking at the two of us. I offered her a small smile and then turned my attention to Travis, who’d swiped the TV remote from the coffee table before he transformed it.

“Put the parade on,” Chloe said, nudging him with her foot.  
 
Travis frowned back at her. “Who made you boss? This isn’t even your house.”  
 
She grinned. “This isn’t your house either,” she said, scrambling forward to grab the remote from him. “It’s your dad’s and I got here first.”  
 
Travis held the remote out of reach, leaning toward Ram and Ryan and away from his younger cousin. “I think I have a bigger claim over the TV,” he said, flipping through the channels.

Ryan grabbed the remote from Travis, causing the latter boy to shoot him an outraged and betrayed look. Ryan stood up and leaned over Travis, handing the remote back to his sister.  
 
Chloe turned on the parade and that was the boys’ que to jump into an easy conversation. Mathias asked Ryan and Travis about school, and they both answered congenially.

Ryan said something about a game this weekend and Travis rolled his eyes obnoxiously and turned around so that he was facing me and Ramsy.

Mathias caught the look and eyed his brother. “Are you coming to Ry’s game, Trav?” he asked, pinning the boy with a look.
 
Trav turned to look at him slowly, unamused. 

Mathias grinned. “What? He’s your family - you should be there to support him.” 


Travis rolled his eyes at the lecture. “I’ve been there,” he defended. “But he has thousands of other people screaming for him. I don’t see why I can’t miss a game here or there.” 
 
Ryan laughed. “You just want to skip it because everyone else is going to come,” he said, referring to their family, the people in this house.  
 
Chloe frowned at him and then turned to look at me, and Ramsy behind me. "Are you guys going?” she asked, turning so that she was sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing us both with her back to Mathias. 
 
I glanced at Travis and then Ryan. "I don't know," I said honestly. 
 
"You should come," Ryan said, grinning at his cousin. "You don't have to stay with Travis all the time. I promise it'll be a good time, even without him."  
 
Travis rolled his eyes and pivoted to Ry. "I'll go if Cody goes," he said obnoxiously, "but we're going to sit on the other side of the stadium." 
 
Chloe glanced to Mathias like he could control Travis's decisions. I shook my head at the hunter-eyed boy and faced his younger cousin. "We will not," I told her and the others. "He's just being annoying." 
 
Trav shot me a skeptical look, but didn't dispute my words. The group of us looked up as Ryan's mom stepped in through the dining room. She walked to the center of the room and smiled at us. She had the same auburn-tinted hair as Ryan and was thin like him and Travis, both. I could see where Chloe got her height from. The entire family was above average. 
 
"Math, Trav, go help your dad get lunch on the table," she said, nodding back to the dining room. 
 
Trav, who was still on the floor, crawled forward a bit so he could see through the dining room into the kitchen. When he found what he was looking for, he moved back into his original spot and leaned back against the couch. "He's got it," he said, grinning at his aunt.  
 
Mathias shook his head at his brother and pushed up off the couch, stepping around his aunt and disappearing into the kitchen. Travis grinned even more and turned his attention back to Leandra.  
 
"Get up and get in there," she said, nodding to the dining room. "It's time to eat, guys." She motioned for us all to get up, so I climbed up from the couch, stepping over Travis as I went. He groaned and stretched out so he was lying on the ground. 
 
Ryan and Ramsy stepped over his arms and legs as they followed Travis’s aunt and Chloe out of the room. I turned to follow them, stepping over Trav’s arm, and he reached up and grabbed onto my ankle.

I gawked as I tripped over him. I grabbed the seat of the couch to steady myself and turned back to glare at him. "Trav, let go of me," I said, trying to pull free.

I put my foot down and turned around to face him. He smiled at me, attempting to be cute, and reached his hands up to me. “Pull me up,” he said.

I rolled my eyes at him, but grabbed his hands anyway and attempted to heave him up from the ground.

“You’ve got to help me!” I said as I tried to pull him up. He lifted a few inches off the ground and then I dropped him back down.

He groaned as he landed flat on the ground. “You’re going to make my lungs collapse,” he complained, narrowing his dark eyes at me. “Use your muscles, Cody.”

“What muscles,” I complained, attempting again to pull him up. He bent his knees and tried to use his momentum, but it wasn’t enough to get him completely up on his feet.

“Trav, stop messing around and get in here,” his dad called, peering in from the dining room.

“I tried to tell him,” I said, smiling sweetly back at Travis’s dad. “But he’s too busy being a nuisance.”

Travis glared at me and reached out to hold onto my ankle again. He scooted over so that he was laying right next to me and slid his hand down so that he was holding onto my wedges.

“What kind of shoes are these?” he asked off-handedly. “They look kind of dangerous. I didn’t know you could walk in shoes like these, Code.”

I smiled as Laren rolled his eyes. He stepped further into the room until he was in front of me. He put his foot down on Travis’s forearm, causing the boy to cry out dramatically.

“C’mon, Dad,” he complained. “Whose side are you on?”

Travis winced as Laren put more pressure on his arm. “Traitor,” he cried, finally letting go of me.

“Lets go eat, Cody,” Laren said, putting his arm around my shoulders and turning me toward the dining room. A lot of Travis’s family already made their way to the table. I caught Ryan’s eye as I stepped into the room and I quickly pivoted around the table to sit next to him. Ramsy sat on his other side, and Mathias was down from her.

“You’re all a bunch of traitors,” Travis whined as he came in and moved around to our side of the table. “You’re all supposed to love me more than the weird people I bring over. They’re not even related to you.”

Ryan grinned. “We didn’t get to choose that,” he said.