All I've Never Wanted

by Ana Huang

  We started walking again, and I made sure to stay close in case he tried to ditch me. When I tried exploring by myself earlier, I’d ended up in an art gallery filled with paintings that were even creepier than the Mona Lisa. I don’t care what anyone says about that being a great piece of art, because the way her eyes follow you around is just creepy.

  With my luck, I’ll probably have a nightmare about it tonight.

  “Are Carlo and Parker coming tonight?” I asked hopefully, when it became clear he wasn’t going to voluntarily speak anytime soon.

  Roman sighed. “Don’t worry, your boyfriend will be here. As for Carlo, who knows?”

  “Aren’t you his friend?”

  “I’m his friend, not his mother.” He gave me a droll look. “Besides, aren’t you his friend too?”

  Well, he had a point.

  “I’m sure he’ll be here. He’s probably just busy,” Roman finally said, noting the look on my face. “Maybe he’s planning Adri’s birthday present.”

  I blinked. “Is it coming up?”

  “It’s a week after homecoming.”

  “Really?” I was stunned, mainly because neither had mentioned it and because I’d expected someone like Adriana to start planning her celebration months in advance. “Why would Carlo be planning it?”

  He sighed, looking aggravated. “Because we surprise her with a big present every year, and we alternate the planning. She’s the only girl in the group, so it’s kind of hard for us to know what she wants. This year is Carlo’s year.”

  I couldn’t help but pull an aww-face, which seemed to make Roman nervous. “Aww, you guys do that every year?” I gushed.

  “That’s so cute!”

  He turned red and let out a small grunt, obviously embarrassed.

  “Whatever. We did it once when we were little and it’s just habit,” he muttered.

  “Isn’t that adorable?” I cooed in a baby voice, delighting in the appalled expression on his face. I laid it on even thicker. “You must be the cutest little friend ever!”

  “God, stop!” Roman shuddered. “Stop doing that! I like you so much better when you’re being a pain in the ass.”

  “Did you just admit you like me?” I exclaimed.

  He flushed. “No! Jeez, stop being so annoying!” He turned and stomped down the hall.

  I giggled, racing after him. “Hey, come back, I’m not done teasing you yet!” I shouted.

  “Leave me alone! Go eat some Pop-Tarts!”

  I burst out laughing when I saw Roman run into a half-open door in his haste to get away from me.

  Oh, I was going to have so much more fun than I’d originally thought.

  * * *

  Carlo tossed his notebook aside with a deep sigh, rubbing his tired eyes. He’d been trying to work on his essay all day, but between worrying and planning Adri’s birthday present, he wasn’t even close to finishing.

  He had to pick this year to come back, he thought with a frown, twirling a pen around his fingers. If only he’d come back next year, when Carlo was already at college—and far, far away from him.

  The only thing Carlo could hope for was that he didn’t stay long. He never did. There was always another fight, another job, another girl, and he’d be gone.

  Suddenly, Carlo’s shoulders tensed as he felt a presence behind him. He whipped around and blocked the person’s punch before it landed, aiming one of his own at the other’s stomach.

  The guy grinned in delight as he dodged out of the way just in time, turning the motion into his famous roundhouse kick.

  Luckily, Carlo was prepared. He’d been in more than a few fights with this one before. He waited until the last minute before ducking and letting loose his own kick.

  Surprised, his opponent stumbled a bit, and Carlo took the opportunity to grab his arms, twisting them behind his back in an iron grip. “How did you get in here?” he demanded. “The door was locked!”

  The guy smirked, not looking at all fazed that he was essentially pinned down at the moment. “Let’s just say I picked up a few things in Rio.”

  “You don’t need to ‘pick up any more things’, Rico,” Carlo said quietly. “Or have you forgotten about what you did two years ago? There’s a reason you had to leave the country.”

  Rico’s face hardened. “I told you, that wasn’t my fault.”

  “The evidence said otherwise.”

  “Yeah, well, the evidence was bullshit. Now are you going to let go, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

  Carlo raised his eyebrows. “I believe I have the upper hand right now.”

  Rico laughed loudly. “Ah, yes, you’ve definitely picked up a few things yourself while I’ve been gone. You never did use to be able to dodge my roundhouse.”

  “Things change.”

  “So I see.”

  Before Carlo could say anything else, his phone rang, and he hesitated before reluctantly letting Rico go. “Don’t try anything funny,” he growled, reaching for his phone.

  Rico smirked. “You have too little faith in me. I’ve changed.”

  Yeah, you say that every time. But you never do. Carlo kept his eye on the other guy as he answered his phone. “Hello?”

  “Carlo, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”

  He sighed. “Hey, Adri. Sorry, I’ve been a bit…busy.”

  She paused. “Are you with—“

  “Yeah.” His reply was curt.

  He could practically hear her thinking over the phone. “Well, you don’t need to constantly deal with that bull, C. Listen, we’re having a bit of a get-together at Roman’s in about an hour. Why don’t you come? Take your mind off things.”

  Carlo frowned, pondering the offer. He wanted to keep a close eye on Rico, but it was true. He’d been so stressed since Rico came back that his head was about to explode. It would be nice to hang out with his friends and relax a bit. “Maybe.”

  “Carlo…”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “I know, I know. I’ll be there.” He ended the call and glared at Rico, who was fiddling with a picture on his nightstand. “Don’t touch that.”

  “Tsk, tsk.” Rico picked up the photo, which was of Carlo, Roman, Parker, and Zack at Machu Picchu. The photo was taken a few years ago when they’d gone to Peru during summer break. “Who was that? One of your little friends? I haven’t seen them in a while, it’d be nice to say hi…”

  “Leave them alone,” Carlo ground out.

  Rico set the picture back down, a hurt expression on his face, but Carlo knew it was an act. “You know, you’re always so nice to everyone except me. What do you think I’m going to do? Kill them?” He laughed.

  “You can’t blame me. Who knows what you’re capable of?” Carlo snapped.

  “That didn’t stop you from picking me up Wednesday night.”

  “I had no choice.”

  Rico’s eyes darkened. “I told you, Carlo, I’ve changed. You said so yourself. Things change, people can change too.”

  “Not you.” Carlo suddenly felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “You never change.”

  Rico frowned, looking away. “That’s not true. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  Carlo clenched his jaw. “We’ll see about that. Breaking into others’ rooms doesn’t necessarily help your case though.”

  Rico shrugged. “That was just for kicks, to see if I still got it. You

  worry too much, little bro.”

  “You can’t really blame me, after what you’ve put this family through,” Carlo said tersely. “I have to be somewhere tonight, so do your best and try to stay out of trouble.”

  Rico chuckled. “I swear, sometimes you act like you’re my older brother and not the other way around.”

  Carlo’s lips thinned as he brushed past Rico, grabbing his keys. “Well, someone has to be the adult around here.”

  And with that, he stormed out the house, leaving his brother behind.

  C
HAPTER 16

  “I’m not going in there.”

  “Stop being such a wuss!”

  “I’m not being a wuss!”

  “Yes, you are!”

  “No, I’m not!”

  I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest and glared at the violet-eyed boy standing in front of me. There was no way in hell he was going to get me into that room.

  Roman matched me stare for stare, and I don’t know how long we would’ve stayed there if Carlo hadn’t come along, holding a giant bowl of buttery popcorn and a bag of Hershey’s Kisses.

  My nose instinctively twitched as the smell of popcorn hit my olfactory senses, and I couldn’t help but tear my gaze from Roman’s to stare at those tiny little foil-wrapped balls of deliciousness in Carlo’s other hand. Well, they’re not really shaped like balls, but you know what I mean.

  Roman smirked smugly, obviously thinking he’d won the stare down.

  “You did that on purpose,” I said accusingly, pointing at the food.

  Carlo cast an amused glance in my direction. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You know I can’t resist chocolate and popcorn!” My mouth literally watered as I reached to grab a handful of buttery goodness.

  “Nuh-uh.” He pulled the bowl out of my grasp. “You’re not getting any unless you promise to go in there and watch the movie with us.”

  I pouted. “Carlooo…”

  The Colombian smiled cheekily and turned to walk into the Fioris’ private theater. “See you soon!”

  Unable to help myself, I stomped childishly after him, but not before I heard Roman mutter, “Oh, now you go in,” under his breath.

  In all honesty, I didn’t really mind. I was glad Carlo actually showed up for the dinner party, since I haven’t seen much of him in the past few days. He’d been a bit moody and distracted at the beginning, but it’s nice to see he was back to making fun of me again.

  Although I am not at all happy about what we were about to do. How did a dinner party turn into a scary movie viewing, anyway?

  I was about to go take a seat next to Adriana when Zack plopped down into the cushy leather chair with a groan. Considering the boy had destroyed almost half the food all by himself, I was surprised he could still move.

  With a sigh, I took the only seat left—right in between Carlo and Roman.

  “So what are we watching? No Strings Attached?” I chirped faux cheerily, hoping to plant the idea in their head.

  “Nice try.” Adriana picked up the remote and pressed a button. The lights immediately dimmed, and I shivered a bit as the giant movie screen flickered to life. “We’re watching The Grudge.”

  I suppressed another shudder as I thought about the creepy DVD cover. This was not going to be fun.

  One hour later

  “Aaaaaaahhh!” I was nearly crying as I buried my face in the tiny nook between Carlo’s shoulder and the back of his chair, my nails digging sharply into his arm.

  I hate horror movies!

  The others erupted into laughter at my fright. Well, at least some people found this funny.

  I would’ve lifted my head to glare at them, except I was too scared to even risk the chance of seeing whatever it was on the screen.

  For the past sixty minutes, I’d been “watching” the movie with my hands over my eyes, which meant I could only see the lower left corner of the screen. Nevertheless, the sounds alone were enough to send shivers down my spine, and not the good ones either.

  “Uh…Maya?”

  “Yes?” I whimpered.

  “You’re cutting off my circulation.”

  I peeked out from behind Carlo’s shoulder and looked down at his arm, which did look a bit whiter in the area where I gripped him.

  “Oh, sorry,” I mumbled, embarrassed. I let go, leaving behind a clear set of nail indentations on his forearm.

  “It’s all right, I’ve gotten used to it already,” Carlo said wryly.

  “Are you trying to make a move on my girl?” Parker joked, clasping his hands behind his head.

  “More like your girl’s trying to make a move on me.”

  Parker gave me a faux offended look. “Maya. I never thought you would do such a thing.”

  I scowled as everyone laughed at me. Again.

  “Aw, My-My, it’s ok, it’s just a movie!” Zack exclaimed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “I’m not afraid, I’m paranoid,” I grumbled.

  “You guys, stop making fun of her,” Adriana scolded, even though she was smiling.

  As the others continued to rib on me, though, a light bulb suddenly came on in my head, and I forgot about the movie as I realized something.

  Roman had said Adriana’s birthday was a week after homecoming, but it wasn’t just her birthday. It was Zack’s birthday too! Which meant I had to get two presents. Unfortunately, my money supply was dwindling fast, and besides, I had no idea what to get them. I mean, what do you get two people who already had everything?

  I needed help.

  “Um…I’m going to get more popcorn,” I announced, standing up and grabbing the empty bowl. I made sure to avert my eyes from the screen. “Carlo, can you come with me?”

  “Scared to go alone?” he teased, but he followed me nevertheless.

  “Don’t hit on my girlfriend!” Parker yelled after us.

  “I think you should worry about it being the other way around,” Carlo replied.

  I smacked him lightly on the arm. “Don’t encourage him!”

  Carlo just laughed.

  I smiled. “It’s nice to see you laughing again.”

  He glanced at me in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  I shrugged, our footsteps echoing in the vast marble corridor.

  “You’ve been kind of…down all night.”

  A flicker of emotion crossed his face before Carlo looked away. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

  “From planning Adriana’s gift?” I guessed.

  He paused. “Yeah.”

  “I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” I pushed open the doors that led to the kitchen. “Are you guys planning a big gift for Zack too?”

  Carlo laughed a bit as I filled up the bowl at the popcorn machine. Yes, they had a freakin’ popcorn machine in the kitchen.

  “No, he likes getting a lot of different gifts. Makes him feel special.”

  I smirked. That sounded like Zack, all right. “I kind of need some help, then. I’m not sure what to get Adri and Zack for their birthday.”

  I set the bowl on the counter and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. Popcorn was delicious but seriously dehydrating. I tossed the second bottle to Carlo, who easily caught it.

  “Thanks.” He fiddled with the cap. “You don’t have to get them anything. You can actually join in with us on Adri’s present.”

  “What? Of course I do!” I exclaimed. “They’ve done so much for me, especially Adri…”

  “She doesn’t really like to make a big deal out of her birthday,” Carlo explained. “Honestly, the presents are more formalities and tradition than anything else.”

  “Well, it’s a tradition I want to participate in,” I insisted. “And ok, Adri is taken care of, but what about Zack? You know himbetter than I do. We can go sometime this week.”

  “You’re quite the persistent little thing,” Carlo teased.

  “Does that mean you’ll help me?” I asked hopefully, giving him my best puppy-dog face.

  He laughed, ruffling my hair. “Who can resist that face? Are you free after school Thursday?”

  I nodded, beaming.

  “Good. It’s a date then.”

  * * *

  I’m happy to say I managed to drag out our little popcorn-filling mission long enough that the movie was almost done by the time we got back to the screening room, though I supposed the time we took made it a bit suspicious, because when we settled into our seats again, I saw Roman flashing us annoyed looks. />
  “What took you guys so long?” he demanded.

  “We…uh, accidentally spilled the popcorn all over the floor,” I lied, nudging Carlo sharply in the side when he snorted at my very lame and blatant lie.