Might as well call Crew back since Calina didn’t want to hang out. Setting my phone on my nightstand, I turn over on my side while I wait for it to connect, which doesn’t take long.
“Hey, hey, bro. Didn’t expect to hear from you tonight.”
“Yeah. I stayed at Calina’s for, like, thirty seconds before she got pissed and kicked me out.”
“What? Why?”
Pondering for a second on if I should tell him the truth, I decidewhat the hell? “She, uh. She thinks you don’t like her.”
Expecting him to deny it or act appalled, I’m a bit shocked when he stares at me with a bored expression, saying nothing.
“Do you? Not like her?”
For a moment, he looks everywhere but at the phone, rubbing the back of his neck. “She’s not my favorite person,” he deadpans.
Laughing, I say, “What? Why? You just met her.”
“Don’t really wanna talk about it.”
“Come on, Crew. Please? Just tell me. I’m not going to get mad. I promise.”
Running a hand through his hair, he lets out a heavy sigh. “She just… I don’t know, man. You deserve better, and she keeps you from your friends. I don’t want to lose you.”
This is the second time this weekend that he’s mentioned losing me, and I don’t understand where it’s coming from. In all the years we’ve been friends, he’s never said something like that. “Why would you lose me, dude?”
“Because of her. She clearly didn’t like me.”
“Well, to be fair, you didn’t like her either.”
He scowls at me. “It’s different.”
“Crew, what’s going on? This is the second time you’ve insinuated that you’ll lose me.”
“Man,” he grumbles. “Can we not go there?”
“Please?” I’m at such a loss.
“You’re my best friend, bro.” He pauses, and the phone suddenly falls, the ceiling becoming the only thing I can see. “Fuck, I can’t fucking look at you while saying this shit. You’re the only person who’s never left me. My parents are… well, you know how they are, and friends have come and gone over the years, but not you.”
Damn. Never thought of it like that. “But why are you worriednowthat you’re going to lose me?”
“It’s not just now. It’s honestly been since we went off to college. It’s been hard being so far away.”
Him choosing to stay home and go to Western instead of WSU has always been a touchy subject. WSU was always his dream and when he got injured and lost his scholarship, everything changed. Part of me can understand why he chose to give up on WSU altogether. It’s not that heneededthe scholarship to afford college, but it was a shot to his pride that he lost it all. And while I understand that, another big part of me wishes he would’ve come with us anyway.
Not that I’m going to say that to him. He’s finally opening up to me about his feelings, and I refuse to ruin it by bringing that up.
“It’s hard being far away from you, too. Summer is literally next month, though. I’ll be home before you know it. And you aren’t going to lose me. Ever. I promise, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” His voice is quiet and timid. Being vulnerable has never been easy for him. I’ve always been the talker, the emotional one out of the two of us. Him admitting this to me just now is huge.
We end up both turning on Order of the Phoenix, where we left off yesterday, and watch the entire thing together. I don’t know who fell asleep first, but we both passed out still on the phone with one another—something we used to do as teenagers all the time.
Chapter Seven
Crew
The next few weeks fly by. The last month of the school year is always intense and jam-packed. Finals are coming up next week—which I’m not fucking ready forat all—and I’ve barely had a moment to breathe.