Page 26 of All the Discord
He turned his head, looking off to the right. I leaned out. Off to the side were all the guys, giving me sheepish smiles.
My eyes narrowed as I looked at all five of them. “Did you seriously just use Calvin to get into my house?”
“Maybe,” Toby answered.
I shook my head and stepped back, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with them inside my personal space. “Come on in.”
They didn’t waste any time piling through. Each one stopped next to Calvin and gave him a pat on the back or head to show their appreciation for all his sacrifice.
“You guys are ridiculous,” I muttered.
They grinned, but I looked away, not able to meet their gazes. They were trying to be nice, be friendly neighbors so to speak. Yet all of me felt stiff and awkward with them around.
“Where’re your parents?” Seth asked.
“She’s out of town,” I answered simply, having trouble looking at any of them as I lied. It always felt like something got lodged inside my throat when I lied.
There was a moment of silence before Toby spoke up. “So, tour?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Of course.”
I gave them a quick and dirty tour of the first two levels of my home, which wasn’t much. I was glad that I was working toward a guest room so one of the extra rooms on the first floor was already set up with the furniture from Lindie’s bedroom. I let them think that was my parents’ room without having to really say it. It made me feel a little dirty, but talking about my situation wasn’t something I was ready for.
The house was large for me, but if a family moved in, it would have been the perfect size. The first floor had the living room, kitchen, dining room, half bathroom, and a bedroom with an attached full bathroom, and a storage space off the kitchen with the washer and dryer. The second floor held one master bedroom with an attached bathroom, two guest bedrooms and an extra bathroom. Then the top floor was where my studio was with two rooms and a half bathroom. Then of course a basement I was strictly using for storage since I had so many of Lindie’s things down there. She had enjoyed spending money. Eventually, I’d sell them.
“So… I hate to say the obvious,” Toby said slowly as we all settled in my living room. He threw himself down on the couch, stretching out. “But your house is empty.”
“Why, thank you, Toby. It’s always nice to have the obvious pointed out.” I made sure to lay on the sarcasm extra thick. Even after the tour and all their joking around, it felt wrong. I didn’t want them there, but how did I kick them out? Everything about their visit felt too invasive.
Seth went over to the boxes. “Ignore them. I was the same way when I first moved. It took me weeks to unpack one room.”
“You’re unpacked?” I asked. “Your kitchen didn’t look like it.”
He chuckled. “I unpacked what I needed for the kitchen, and the other rooms are done for the most part.”
“Only because we helped,” Bryan said.
“Should we help you too?” Calvin asked, trying to lift one of the boxes. I was pretty sure that one was full of books, so it wasn’t going anywhere with him.
“Careful, before you hurt yourself,” I said.
Paxon moved quickly, grabbing the box from Calvin before he dropped it on his toes. Paxon whispered something to Calvin as he carefully placed the box on the floor and out of the way. Calvin frowned as he looked down in embarrassment.
“I have some soup for you,” Seth said, digging through another bag. He found it and disappeared into the kitchen.
“I feel okay,” I said. “It was only work.”
Paxon settled next to me. “Are you sure? You don’t seem to be the type to miss school when you don’t have to.”
“And I don’t see you as the type to misjudge your workload,” Bryan added.
I raised an eyebrow. “You’ve only known me for a couple of days.”
“You’re diligent and focused at school.” Bryan shrugged as he claimed my chair.
I frowned at Bryan, not expecting that from him. We had been nothing but fighting or angry with each other since meeting. Neither was Bryan the type to spew bullshit to make someone feel better about themselves. He didn’t look at me, and redness seemed to have gathered at the tip of his ears.
Embarrassed? Shy?