Breathe

twelve

[ nora ]

"Nora, where's the popcorn?" Georgia asks from the kitchen.

My friends decided that I needed to spend more time with them, so they marched over to my house with a box full of movies and blankets.

"Do you have any candy?" It's Spencer's turn to talk. "I really like putting skittles in my popcorn."

"There are some m&m's in the left cabinet and the popcorn is by the microwave."

Soon, Spencer and Georgia enter the room with two large bowls of popcorn and a few bags of candy. Bottles of soda and water sit in front of me on the mini table.

"You must really like m&ms. There are tons of them in there." Spencer plops down next to me. "There must have been at least forty bags."

Georgia sits a little more gracefully.

"Actually, I'm not a fan. My dad has a really bad addiction to them. He buys some nearly every weekend." I lean in close like I'm about to tell a secret. "I have a Jolly Ranchers fetish."

Georgia grabs a water. "I didn't see any Jolly Ranchers in any of the drawers."

"That's because I hide them really well." I smile at both of them.

They've both been extremely great friends to me. Sleepovers, movies, and eccentric conversations at the lunch table had become our things.

Plus, when I started talking to Cole more, they didn't judge or get mad at me for spending less time with them.

They simply invited themselves in to watch a Star Wars marathon.

I press play to start episode one.

"You know what bugs me?" Spencer pronounces loudly.

"People that talk during movies?" Georgia gives her a sarcastic grin.

"No." Spencer then turns her attention to me, waiting for an answer.

"No idea."

"Gosh. Do you guys not listen to anything I say?"

The famous Star Wars music plays behind her speech.

"Christopher makes me mad. You know, he's probably out with some other girl right now. I asked him if he wanted to hang out this morning and he never responded."

"Spencer, it's lunchtime."

"Yeah, and it's been over an hour." Her eyes widen.

She's overly protective, or maybe suspicious would be a better word, but she really does care about him.

"Look, Spence." Georgia has on her sympathetic face that she makes whenever she's about to break hard news to someone and wants to soften the blow.

"You're being a little paranoid. You're a crazy girlfriend, okay?" She takes her hands. "Can you understand?"

Spencer shakes away from her grasp and sinks further into the couch.