The Very Thought of You

Chapter 5

"How come you never mentioned that you visit Trevor's house?" I asked Cyrus once we were all back inside his car. He looked at me, a strange expression on his face.

"I've been going there almost every day after school since I was in the sixth grade." He said seriously, "They're family to me."

I smiled at him. Trevor and Cyrus were like brothers. Even after he and I started dating, most of the time Cyrus was there. The two had been inseparable.

"I'm hungry," Hanna groaned. "Let's go somewhere fancy. I stole my dad's credit card."

Hanna's dad was a nice guy. Hanna had stolen his card on multiple occasions and when he'd find out about it, she would fake cry, sending the poor man into distress. Her mom had died when she was too young to remember, and she was his only daughter. He'd had two sons with her stepmother whom she hated for some reason.

"One day your dad isn't going to react differently than you expect." I said, shaking my head.

"I'm not turning down free food. Plus, it's been a while since we've all hung out." Cyrus said, his voice trailing, "We're all still sitting together at lunch this year, right?"

"Of course. We're all still best friends." I stated.

"The bestest." Hanna agreed, shoving him playfully.

We pulled into the lot of an expensive steakhouse. Hanna cheered like a little kid as the hostess escorted us to our table. The décor around us was elegant. The black embroidered chairs were soft providing a nice cushion. Florescent lights coated the white tablecloth, giving a comfortable vibe to the room.

"This is nice." Hanna said, emphasizing the letter I in the word nice.

"Behave Hanna." Cyrus chuckled.

"I'm always on my best behavior." She said sarcastically.

The three of us started to laugh just as someone tugged on my dress from behind. I turned to see Myles' little sister, Shane. The smile on her small face widened.

"Wonderful to see you here, Elease." She beamed.

For a six-year-old, I'd found Shane to be more advanced in others her age. After spending time with her at the party, I realized that she could compose herself better than me at times. I witnessed her have a whole conversation with an adult about the music of Bach and Mozart.

Her being here surprised me. I hadn't seen Myles since I told him about Trevor a week ago. He was supposed to be at a conference with his dad in Detroit until Sunday. Today was...crap. Today was Sunday. Dreading the memorial must've made me forget the day of the week.

"Who's the kid?" Cyrus asked, knocking me from my trance just as Myles walked up behind Shane with his father trailing him.

"You can't just run away like that." He told her.

"I was right." She countered. "Don't pretend you're not happy about this."

"That's enough, Shane." Mr. Hughes spoke up, "Sorry about the rude behavior Shane has shown."

"It's fine." I said, standing up from the table. "Really. I'm excited to see her too."

"It's been a while Elease with an E." Myles said his green eyes locking with mine.

"Indeed, it has Myles with a Y." I said back.

Hanna cleared her throat, her eyebrows raising to me as she sipped her water. Clearly, she wanted an introduction.

"Guys, this is Myles. And this is his father, Mr. Hughes and his sister, Shane." I said, introducing everybody. "These are my best friends, Hanna and Cyrus."

"The Myles?" Hanna started, "You didn't say he,"

"Didn't I say behave yourself." Cyrus said before patting her head. He stood up, shaking both Myles and his father's hand.

"We should let you guys get back to it." Mr. Hughes said bowing his head slightly. "Have a nice dinner."

"You can join us if you want." I offered to Myles.

"Yeah, we'll all be going to the same school." Cyrus added, "Plus, Hanna's footing the bill."

"My dad is actually." Hanna smiled devilishly.

"He'd love too," Mr. Hughes, said answering for him. "You kids order whatever you want. I'll make sure everything gets taken care of."

With that, he whisked Shane away who was complaining about the fact that Myles got to stay, and she couldn't. Myles sat in the chair beside me, shaking his head.

"He's always so pushy." He said, annoyed. "I was going to say yes."

"He seems nice to me." Cyrus chuckled.

"What were you doing here?" I asked, "Were you guys about to eat too?"

"No, just inspecting the place. He kind of owns it." Myles admitted, shyly. I got the feeling talking about how much money his father had made him uncomfortable.

"So, he really is paying for everything." Hanna asked, her tongue nearly hanging out of her mouth.

"Don't mind her," Cyrus joked. "She's a menace all the time. Some days its nearly impossible to deal with."

She ignored the three of us laughing at her as she shuffled through the large menu selection. Dinner was nice. Cyrus and Myles seemed to get along well and true to her word, Hanna scarfed down a lot of food. The waitress didn't even bring the bill out to us. She just told us to have a great night and waved us off with a smile.

"I downloaded it last night," Myles told Cyrus as we exited the restaurant. "There's this level I can't get past though. The one with the sinister doll."

"That took me days to figure out." Cyrus replied, "You'll never guess what it is. Let me know when you get past it."

"You could come over to play anytime." Myles offered.

"Cool." Cyrus said, putting his arm around Myles's shoulder, "You're a pretty cool guy."

"I try to be." Myles chuckled.

"Why don't you two just kiss already?" Hanna joked, swinging open the passenger door.

"Wouldn't that make you jealous?" Cyrus teased as he walked towards her.

Though I knew Hanna like Cyrus, she was too stubborn to admit it. I've known her since we were in preschool, so I knew her wild behavior was something Cyrus brought out of her. She'd been quieter and more reserved growing up. A goody two shoes. I'd loved her then too. But somehow Cyrus' presence had changed her, making her a better person.

"Thanks for the invite," Myles said, turning his attention to me. "I had a really good time. I'm glad I ran into you."

"Me too." I said, fighting back the butterflies that were filling my stomach. "I'm glad I ran into you."

"See you at school?" He asked.

I nodded, "I'll see you there."