“They all just sleep on the floor or fight over the couch.”
“Wait you sleep in your room?”
He nods and grabs a piece of pizza. I would have told him not to be rude, but although he looked better after two weeks of solid meals, he still could use a few extra pounds. By a few, I meant a whole lot.
I hear a car and looked out the window.
“There’re curtains…”
“Really Will? I got these two days after getting here when I filled your kitchen with things to cook with. This wall faces the road and is half windows. It’s creepy at night. Or it was. It isn’t now ‘cuz people can’t look in the window anymore.”
“They aren’t girly.”
I roll my eyes. Geez does he think I am that bad? I like a lot of the same things he does.
“Yeah well you are a male. I figured plain solid color curtains were less likely to bother you. Besides, I'm not the girliest person, I hate pink. No matter the color I didn’t think it would take you almost two weeks to notice them.”
“Have you really had them up that long? We’ve been walking almost every evening for the past week.”
I nod, drop the curtain and walk to my room.
“Yeah I’m sure of when I bought them. I gave you the receipt with the purchases on them. You said you’d read them and let me know if anything wasn’t okay so I could return it.”
He shrugs and grabs another piece of pizza.
“Okay well I’m off to my room.”
“You aren’t staying out here to meet everyone?”
I shake my head. “No I’m hiding out in my room. Don’t mind me. It’ll be like I’m not even here.”
“Why?”
I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows. “Really Will don’t you understand the point of a guy’s night?”
“They all know you live here. They are all shocked I let you invade my home, as they put it, and are curious to meet you to be honest.”
I smile. “Well you likely don’t even notice I live here. Or you wouldn’t if I hadn’t made you come out for meals and walks.”
“I would know. I knew the first week. It felt different here.”
Different didn’t sound great. “Ummm, sorry.”
“Not a bad different. That’s not what I meant.”
That was better than before. I’d take it and leave it at that.
“Well enjoy your night. I’ve got my pizza and soda. If you all want me to make breakfast in the morning let me know.”
“Breakfast won’t be before 10 am for us. They all sleep through most anything so feel free to get up and eat whenever.”
And him in his room all comfy, warm, and plenty of sprawling space.
“I can sleep in no problem.”
He nods.
“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out with us?”
I shrug, “I don’t want to interfere Will. They are your friends.”
He just looks at me, likely trying to figure out if I was going to shut myself in my room and bawl, like I had after talking to my mom. I have had a few fits like that since then. Not fits so much as curling into a pathetic crying ball. He catches me sometimes and takes time away from his work to cheer me up. It is nice, but I feel so guilty. I would hate for him to get behind on deadlines. I worry about my own and they are a bit more flexible. Well my editor and agent both are being super nice about my big life changes and needing a little extra time to settle in.
I close the door and open my computer. As I start editing and hear a few people come in. There are lots of ‘hey, what’s up’ ‘s, and the usual bromance stuff. As they all enter I heard two things over and over again. One, they all exclaim about the amount of food since, apparently Will assumes everyone eats as little as he used to, and two, questions about where I am. He really has talked about me from the sounds of things.
Once they are all here I can tell. The crunching of chips has begun and I hear the TV come on and button mashing. It’s a distinct sound, very easily recognizable. Honestly, I am just glad someone is using the systems. Will has every system known to man, with spares downstairs in storage, and never uses them that I have seen. It is insane.
A knock sounds on my door and I hear Will yell at someone to leave me alone. I stand up and answer the door.
“Wow Will you didn’t tell us she was hot.”
What an introduction. Here I thought upon first meeting people say ‘hi and my name is…insert name here’.
“Hi. Is there something wrong? Bobbi said if we needed another food run he would take care of it.”
“I gave you a compliment and I get the cold shoulder. Harsh lady,” the guy says.
I can see Will button mashing and seeming to not be paying attention, but his lips turn up when the boy in front of my door holds his hand over his heart and pretends to be wounded.
“You didn’t technically give me a compliment so much as scold Will for not telling you what I looked like.”
“Oh great, a smart one. Well I drop out boys. Who is next in line?” he says
He leaves my doorway and I sigh. This is another reason I wanted to sit out boy’s night. Flirting. I’m not even fully divorced yet, why would I want to flirt?
“Do you guys actually need anything Will?”
He pauses the game and looks up at me.
“No, but they wanted to meet you so I told them they could get you out here because I wasn’t interrupting your editing.”
“How did you know that’s what I was doing?”
He shrugs; un-pauses the game and returns to button mashing.
“You don’t have a TV in your room. If you were writing there would be music playing. If you were reading we would hear you laughing or sighing more. If you were gaming on your computer we would hear cursing. If you aren’t doing one of those three things you are editing.”
Two weeks of living with me and he knows me so well. Can he really hear me in my room or the living room doing things while he worked? I am never again assuming he is oblivious, but then how did he explain the curtains? He hadn’t even realized they existed even though he walks by them at least once a day. But my writing and reading habits, those he memorizes? Strange man. Though for a male, memorizing certain things about the female you lived with, no matter the type of relationship, is likely a self-defense thing. You don’t want to mess something up and get hit with a skillet.
“You game?”
I sighed. Boys.
“Just cuz I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t game you know.”
The boy had retreated from my door and shrugged as he walked towards the kitchen and threw more pizza onto a paper plate. Will must have warned them. Good boys.
I look over the rest of the group and realize all but Will,another boy playing, and the one that had knocked on my door were staring. Okay don’t make me uncomfortable or anything.
“You should just say hi and introduce yourself. They will stare less after.”
I sighed; but since Will knows the boys better, I’d take him at his word.
“I’m Trisha. I write novels. I enjoy reading, gaming, anime, swimming, camping, and photography as hobbies. I’ve always wanted to have a pony, travel, and move far away from my hometown which I now have. Is that enough?”
Will smiles but doesn’t respond.
“That was generic.”
This kid is mouthy. Well he is probably as old as me so not a kid, but he sure as hell is still acting like a teen.
“Yes well, we can’t all have witty comments like, ‘wow you’re hot’.”
Everyone laughs and I take a bow. A very flourishing bow.
“I think I like her. You should keep her Will.”
I roll my eyes. Am I a pet monkey or something?
“She’s a person Steve. She will stay as long as she wants, I believe she said ‘three or four months so you can hire someone else and I can have time to find another job and place to live’.”
“Thank you Will.” I say.
Be
cause Will is being nice I come out and sit on the arm of the couch near him.
“Whatcha playing?”
“Anything arcade style tonight. Want a turn?” Will paused the game and hands me his controller. The entire group make a gasping or choking noise all at once.
“What the hell is wrong with all of you?”
“Ignore them.”
Will glares at everyone and they all turn back to their food and the game. I lose the first match, which I blame partly on not knowing what the hell I am doing. I win the second which shocks my opponent Tommy and the third we kill each other at the same time. Gotta love the double kills.
I give Will back the controller, but squish myself down next to him. There are already three people on the couch so I shouldn’t fit and I don’t well, but Will and the others don’t complain. They just squish together making more room for me to half sit on the couch and half squish Will.
Throughout the rest of the night I play a couple more times, but mostly cheer for Will. They pointed out the unfairness of him having a cheerleader when he is already one of the better players. I tell them to be nicer and maybe next time I will cheer for them. They forgive me for only cheering for Will when I show them the airbeds I got for them. From there it was all uphill. All in all it was a great bonding experience.
I learn more about Will through embarrassing stories from his friends, which I find hilarious or adorable and don’t hold back on saying so. I also get to know more about him by getting to know his twelve closest friends. The conclusion: he, all of them really, are nuts.
The next morning I sneak out and grab all the breakfast stuff I have piled up in the fridge . I pull out over a dozen eggs and two packages each of sausage, bacon, and hash browns. I mix up some pancake mix and pour some on the griddle I picked up. I make plain, only because I have no idea what the boys like, and I put the sausage and hash browns in the oven to cook while I grab a skillet for the bacon and eggs.
When almost everything is done and I am finishing up the last of the eggs and bacon, the boys start to rise. Will come out of his room rubbing his eyes and sniffing.
“What smells good?” he says through a yawn.
It is 10 am so I’m not sure I can really call it breakfast, but it is breakfast food so what the heck.
“I made breakfast for everyone. Bacon, sausage, hash browns, scrambled and sunny side up eggs, and pancakes. I didn’t know if anyone liked blueberry or whatever so I made them all plain.”
“If it tastes as good as it smells I’m asking you to marry me.”
I can’t help but blush and roll my eyes. I’m not sure if I want it to taste good or not anymore. Normally, I like it when people enjoy my food, but I’m not sure how I would feel about being proposed to after knowing someone for only twelve or so hours.
“She’s already married Steve.” Will says as he grabs food and sits down to eat. That was uncalled for. It is my business that I am getting a divorced.
Everyone turns to stare at me and I do something very childish, but at the moment I don’t care. I drop everything and stomp into my room, slamming the door behind me. It is silent in my wake. All I can hear is the sound of forks scrapping and food being eaten. No one speaks. It is as awkward with me gone as while I was there. Well I hope Will chokes on his uncomfortableness.
A knock sounds on my door and I ignore it, but it opens anyway. This Tommy is looking to get hit.
“Hey come out and eat with us.”
“No thanks. I will eat later.”
“If you don’t grab it now there might not be any left,” he says.
I shrug and keep sitting on my bed sulking. He comes in and is careful to leave the door open so I won’t feel as awkward.
“We don’t care if you are married.”
I think back to the staring and silence and just laugh.
“I bet you know tons of people that are married at our age.”
“Actually I do. But most marry for the wrong reasons and refuse to get divorced because money is involved.”
I shrug. “Well my soon to be ex has some money, but I don’t want it. I just don’t want to be with him anymore. He’s a lying, cheating scumbag.”
“That’s the spirit.”
He is a cheerful fellow and it is easy to forget I’m mad. I stand up and her everyone scuttle from the wall by my door back to their seats. Geez what are they five?
I go back out into the kitchen and grab some bacon and pancakes. I hate sausage and eat my eggs in a weird way. No yolk, fried hard. I hadn’t made any because I didn’t want to put more effort than needed this morning. Besides I am getting plenty to eat. Despite Tommy’s threat, they hadn’t eaten everything….yet.
“So the food’s good. Once you are divorced let me know so I can ask you to marry me too.”
I smiled at Tommy and nodded. “I’ll tell you. Doesn’t mean I will say yes.”
He laughs and shrugs. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“You can, but I suppose it wouldn’t be fair. It’s hard to find good home cooking.”
They all nod in agreement. I am so great at making friends.
“So how did you all meet Will?”
They launch into a story about a gaming challenge Tommy had posted online and they all had shown up for. Apparently the winner would get five hundred dollars and a shiny trophy. Might as well hang a sign saying Geeks ’R US in this house.
“Who won?”
“Oh haven’t you seen the trophy in Will’s room?”
“I’ve been cleaning in there for two weeks and I haven’t seen any trophy ever.”
Tommy and a couple others go flying out of their seats heading towards Will’s room. Will gives them an annoyed looks, but I follow anyway. I’m glad because they are tearing the room apart.
“Hey! I have to clean in here you know!”
“Well this was all from under the bed.”
Will comes running in upon hearing me scream. Is Tommy serious?
I go over and look at the stuff they dragged out from under the bed and tossed on top of it. Why is all of this under the bed?
“Don’t you clean under here too?”
I shake my head.
“No, I thought only teen’s shoved stuff under their beds. Like porn and what not. I mean I’ve seen people have drawers or boxes of stuff under there like storing winter stuff, but I didn’t think it’d be stuffed with random loose stuff.”
Will starts grabbing stuff away from them and trying to toss it to the floor to kick it under the bed.
“Leave it alone guys. Go eat.”
Poor Will is getting annoyed. All of his private things are being pulled out. So far no porn, but if I see any I am so leaving.
“Ah ha! Here it is.”
I jump onto the bed, landing on my butt and only bouncing a little. I grab it and look it over.
“How many people came to try to win?”
“About two hundred. I put everyone’s name in a hat and drew names for who went against whom. It was tiered so everyone only played once a day and had rest time so they were always at their best. Also that way I didn’t have to feed anyone and no one had to stay over.”
“Good move.”
He nods and I hands the trophy to Will.
“Cool. See I’m more casual. Not talented enough to win a trophy but I still enjoy playing. What game did you play?”
“We did the Halos.”
I rolled my eyes at Tommy’s answer and sit back against the headboard.
“Who hasn’t entered a halo tournament?”
Tommy shrugs. “It was a big thing then.”
I laugh. They still are now. “I hear ya.”
I grab some of the stuff they pulled out and sit up to look through it. Will hasn’t threatened us so far, so I figure we are still safe from prosecution for now.
“What else you got hidden away Will?”
“Some awards and stuff.”
He sounds so happy with us. Not! “What kind of awards
?”
He shrugs and starts stuffing things back under.
Tommy grabs a binder and sits on the bed next to me, opening it. There is award after award starting from grade school all the way through college. He is really computer smart. Building, programming, and everything to do with them.
“Now I feel exceptionally computer illiterate. I can turn mine on, shop online, check my email, and use word. That pretty much covers it.”
“Look at this. College graduate when he was only nineteen. His Master’s.”
“Okay Will, my respect for you just went up like a thousand percent. I knew you were smart but damn. You really hit the bottom of the barrel helping me make my website.”
By now all the guys are in or just outside of Will’s room watching the commotion. Tommy and I sit on the bed looking through the degrees, awards, and so on while Will mumbles about nosey people and continues to stuff things back under his bed.
“That’s how you met?”
I nod to the guys. “Yeah, I did a lot of research on people that made websites. Will’s name popped up. It said he had started out doing those things but dropped it after he went on to greener pastures. But you know everyone wants the best so I emailed him anyway.”
“He agreed to take you on as a client? He hasn’t made websites in years.”
I nod. “I must be special. Or desperate sounding. But hey whatever works.”
They all laugh while Will just grumpily glares at us lounging here on his bed. I bounce on my butt a bit and lay down, stretching.
“Your bed is comfier than mine. No fair.”
“The furniture came with the place. I had no control over it. It was easier to rent a furnished place so I did. Then I don’t have to shop.”
“You should take the time to. Get a sectional couch. One where one side turns into a bed. Then three people could sleep on that thing. Forget the futon idea. Get one of those; push this couch against the wall. Four people can sleep comfy at night.”
Everyone agrees looking contemplative and nodding.
“We like this girl. She’s smart, and she feeds us good food and is trying to help us not wake up with back pain.”
“That’s me your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.”
His & Hers Page 3