“Whatever.” He stalks out the kitchen and bangs the front door hard when he leaves.
“Don’t tell me, is he the no one worth mentioning?’ I raise my brow at her, and she shrugs.
“Come on,” she tells me avoiding my question, tugging on my arm, making me get up.
We end up in the living room. I am on my stomach on the couch and Peyton is sitting on the floor with her back pushed up against a pillow below the arm by my head. She keeps throwing her head back and catching popcorn in her mouth. I look around the room. The wall behind the TV is lined with Peyton’s school pictures. Appears as though her grandparents are proud of her. My Mom never buys my school pictures, always says she can’t afford them. She snaps a picture of me herself every school year.
“You really like this depressing stuff?” This movie is seriously miserable.
“Yup,” she says, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.
“You didn’t answer me earlier. Are you and Josh like a thing or something?” I shouldn’t press it, but I want to know.
“Not really, we hang out sometimes, but not often.”
“He’s a jerk and he’s too old for you.”
She scrunches her nose in response, twisting so that she is resting on her knees close to my face. I can almost taste the butter on her lips. “He is fifteen and I will be fourteen in a few weeks. He’s the same age as you.” She lectures and taps my nose with her finger, smearing butter on me. “I will be a freshman. I j
ust don’t want to go to Karson’s party, she’s a total plastic bitch.”
“Oh, I was thinking you were two years younger than me. But still — he’s a jerk.”
“Same could be said for you. I waited a half hour at the park for you.” Her eyes narrow on me.
“We aren’t talking about me though.” I sit up, wincing as I stretch. My back is still on fire.
“Did you want to go to the party?”
“No, my back is killing me.”
“More aloe?” She gets up from the floor and places her empty bowl on the coffee table.
“You mind?”
“I think you just want me to rub on your back,” she teases.
“Maybe if it didn’t feel like you are going to rip my skin off.”
She sticks her tongue out at me, and then orders me back into the kitchen.
“Anything cool happening this summer?” I ask, trying to get my mind off the pain from my sunburn.
“Well there is this one thing I want to do, but I can’t find anyone to go with me. Fourth of July weekend is the ultimate horror fan experience. You rent a tent depending on the experience you want, but you try to survive the night camping like you are starring in your own scary movie.” I can feel her smile as she talks more about it. “It’s supposed to be amazing.’”
“I would be down. But do you think your Nana and Pappy will allow you to go overnight for it?” I ask, as Peyton slathers more slime on my back.
“It’s what I want for my birthday, so they will totally allow it if we can get a group.” She grins at me.
“I’ll see what I can do. The guys in my band might come with. They just live in Murfreesboro.”
“You didn’t tell me you are in a band!” Her eyes are wide. “So, what do you guys call yourselves?”
“Nothing yet. We just mess around in my buddy Austin’s garage on the weekends.”
“Are you guys practicing for battle of the bands?” She questions getting a stick of string cheese from the fridge after washing her hands.
“Nah, we are nowhere near close for something that big.”