Page 6 of Falling With a Spin
“I don’t know. Does this make me five years old?” Before I can duck out of the way, the freezing water splashes into my face.
“Oh, you are so dead, Caleb,” I growl.
After a couple of hours playing in the water like children, we return just as the starts to set and pack our belongings. I turn back towards the water one more time, remembering to keep this memory with me no matter what happens when we go off to college.
But it was the perfect trip to start and end the summer, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Okay, you have a point,” I say, raising my hands in defense. “But I still can’t go tonight. I promise that I will go to the next one.” I wrap my arms around my 5’11 best friend and hug her.
“You said that last time, Em. I miss my best friend. I just want to spend time with her,” she responds, returning my hug.
Guilt fills my chest. Even though we’re roommates, we rarely sese each other. Our schedules don’t align, as I like to stay busy. Constantly moving. I pull back from our hug, and we sit back on the couch.
“I know, and I miss mine, too. How about we do a movie night on Thursday? We pick something shitty on Netflix and eat fast food till we want to puke. I’ll even invite Caleb over, too.” I finish, hoping this will make up for the lack of time.
“Does Caleb really have to come?” She whines with a disgusting look on her face. They are both my best friends, but putting them in the same room is like being a child of divorced parents. Which, ironically, I already am.
“Yes, he does. I haven’t seen him that much either. I don’t know why you both don’t like each other, but can you at least be civil with him on Thursday?” I beg, giving her the puppy dog eyes.
“Okay, fine, I’ll be as civil as I can. But it was not my fault that the pizza sauce stained his white shirt the last time we were together. He compared me to a Barbie left in the sun for too long.” She rolls her eyes. “Also, who wears a white shirt when you’re making homemade pizza?” she says, shaking her head.
I laugh at the memory.
After Caleb said that, Taylor picked up the bowl of marinara sauce on the counter, tossing it right at him. I couldn’t hold in my laughter at the look on his face and the smirk on her. After that first throw, the kitchen became a war zone, and the homemade pizzas forgotten. We ended up ordering takeout, and the following day, I made them clean the mess they had started. I hoped that would be a bonding moment for them, but it didn’t work. Snide remarks and nasty looks had become part of their routine after that. Like I said, it's like being a child of divorced parents.
“Thank you.” I dropped my shoulders in relief. “Now go get ready for that party.”
“Alright, alright, I will go. But I’m holding you to that promise.” She points her finger at me and closes her bedroom door.
I turn away from her door and look at the living room. Groaning, I run my hands over my face out of frustration. I’m not even sure how our apartment can become this dirty—deciding that changing out of these clothes is my priority before checking anything off my mental list. I grab a pair of shorts and an oversized T-shirt with dainty flowers and throw my hair up in a messy bun before walking out of my room.
Grabbing my phone from the coffee table, I pull up my designated cleaning playlist for when I clean around the place. Music helps me get things done quicker and keeps my head focused.
I’m fifteen minutes into picking up all the trash when Taylor comes out of her room in a black mini-dress with thin straps. Her hair is down in waves, her makeup is simple, and she is wearing silver hoop earrings.
“How do I look?” She does a little twirl in her black stilettos and pops her hip out at the end.
“Gorgeous as always.” I smile and tie up the trash bag. “Have fun, and please call me if you need a ride.” I finish, giving her a ‘mom’ look.
“Yes, mom.” She laughs and walks out of the apartment.
I return and grab a second trash bag when the music stops. Looking at where my phone is, I see an incoming call from ‘Mama.’ A sigh leaves me as I pick up the phone to answer the call.
“Hi, Mom,” I say, picking up the trash and one-offs from the floor.
“Hi, sweetie, I’m just checking in to see how you are doing?”
My mom and I usually have weekly check-in calls towards the end of the week. Since it’s Wednesday, this is a little out of the ordinary.
“I'm doing good, just the usual. Busy with work and classes since school started back up, nothing much going on.” I explain as I pick up a paper plate with at least two days' old ketchup on it—at least, that's what I hope it is. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, I'm doing alright. Just working and hanging out with Liz and Kelly.” Liz and Kelly are her two best friends. She met Liz in one of her classes in her first year of college, and they instantly clicked. She became my Godmother, and her kids- Feyre and Jessica- and I were close growing up. I don’t talk to them much, but they are part of the family, no matter what. When Mom met Kelly about five years ago, I gained an aunt. She always comes over for dinner and vacations with us. She was even there through the rough patches.
Knowing that my mom has two great best friends helped make my decision to go to Crestview much easier. I didn’t want her to be alone; it makes me happy that she has her people. I just wish the amount of effort she put into her friendships, she would just take a small amount of that and put it towards a relationship, but she swore off dating years ago after my father.
“Oh, that’s awesome, mom. How are they doing?” I tie up the second trash bag and set it next to the door. I grab the duster from the closet where we keep all the cleaning supplies.
“They are doing just great! We just booked a Caribbean cruise that we will be going on in a couple of months.” I can hear the excitement in her voice. One of the perks of being friends with Liz is that she is a travel agent. When they go on trips, she has the trips all planned out in advance, and the majority of the time, Mom doesn’t have to pay a dime.