TWENTY-THREE

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The museum trip was surprisingly not that boring, but that's because we weren't even looking at art. I mean, we viewed a couple pieces here and there but we mostly hung out at the arcades, food stands, and the lounge. It was pretty fun, but one single thought followed me around like an annoying pet.

I can already see it: Tape securing brown boxes, a large uHaul truck in the driveway, an empty house with good an bad memories about to be left, leaving friends that I'd never thought I'd make...

"Y/N," Alana spoke beside me, "Are you okay? You're kinda um.. staring into space."

"Oh, uh, yea sorry," I chuckled, snapping out of my thinking, "I'm just thinking about stupid random shit."

"What kind of 'random shit'?" Zoe asked, seeming a little curious.

"I- um.." I quickly thought, "Like, if there's a milkshake in one yard and a cold one in another, where do the boys go..?" I cleared my throat, hoping they would buy it. They definitely did because they all just stared, deep in thought.

Gianna stood up from the table in the lounge. "Well, I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm gonna try to beat my other high score at the arcade." she said, grabbing her bag and quickly finishing her drink. "Who's coming?"

"I'll go," Alana stood up.

"Me too." Zoe glanced at me before grabbing her bag, "What about you,
Y/N?" she asked.

"I'll follow you guys." I replied grabbed my stuff. "I'm just gonna use the restroom and stuff. You can go ahead, I'll catch up."

The three of them nodded and went off the the glowing arcade across the room. After using the restroom that was surprisingly far from the lounge, I took the time to take a short stroll around the floor and decompress. Even though it was a pretty relaxing day, I thought a little bit of time to myself wouldn't hurt. I stared blankly at the random art scattered around and I eventually found myself at a retro gift shop.

After looking around aimlessly and smiling at all the stupid toys and stuffed animals, a book behind the register caught my attention. As I walked closer, I started to recognize the hardback cover.

The last time I saw a copy of it was in 4th grade. I could remember the short haired boy who always sat alone at the curb during recess, the boy who hated spoilers as much as I did. I could remember the boy who threw a fucking printer at a teacher.

"It's the last one." A young store clerk explained, startling me. I turned around. "It's pretty good. Have you read it?"

"It's been a while." I sighed, glancing back at the book.

"Sir?" I turned back to the worker, "How much is it?"

"10.99."

"Here." I gave him some cash and he handed me the book.

"Congrats on being the last buyer." He smiled.

"Thank you sir."

"Y/N?" Zoe called from the entrance, holding a giant stuffed bear. "We're about ready to leave, and they're about to kick us out. We should probably leave."

Giggling and smiling at the book, I said, "Yea, let's go."

Zoe and I gathered Alana and Gianna, but before that they almost had fight with the claw machine. I could tell the workers were about ready to kick us out. It was pretty obvious others thought we were crazy. We all ended up leaving the building in fits of laughter.

"Oh my god, Y/N, you should've seen it." Zoe excitedly said as she got in the divers seat, "The fucking game broke just as Gianna was about to beat it."

I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined Gianna about to have some kind of wrestling match with the arcade machine. When I turned back to look at her from the passenger seat, she looked calm but it was clear she had a chip on her shoulder. "It wasn't that bad." She laughed as she stared out the window.

"You wanted to punch the machine, didn't you?" I asked as I chuckled.

"Yep." Gianna nodded.

Before I knew it, we were already dropping people off. Soon, Zoe and I were the only ones left in the car. It was silent for the most part until we got to a red light.

"So, you and my brother.." Zoe's eyes widened as she realized what she just said. "Crap, I'm sorry, that was probably really awkward and weird." She laughed nervously.

"What? No, it's fine. Connor's great." I replied, "Don't worry about it." I tried to hold back a smile.

"It's so weird to see him not as angry. I mean, he's still always pissed off, but like, not as much." she explained, "And around you, he's just a little calmer, which is nice."

I gulped, not knowing what to say. Was she trying to get something through?

"What I'm saying is, you really help him. You stick with him." Her voice was filled with some kind of regret.

"Zoe.."

"You were able to do what I could've done." Zoe finally said, "That's kinda what I've been saying."

"You can still just be there for Connor you know." I explained, "You're his sister."

"I know but.."

"Zo, you're his sister, it's not bad to be there for him." I assured her.

A smile grew on her face as she pulled into my driveway. "You're right. I'll uh, see you later." she said. I nodded as I got out of the car and entered my house, remembering to grab my stuff and the book.

My dad was sitting on the couch, the TV blaring in front of him. His eyes were glued to his phone and he was rapidly typing.

"Anything new?" I asked, anxiously awaiting his answer.

He shook his head and kept typing, "Sorry, we'll just have to see what happens kiddo."

All I could do was nod and drag myself upstairs to my room. I dropped my stuff beside my bed and changed into comfortable pajamas. As I grabbed my phone, I crawled under the covers and opened up Connor's contact.

Me: what episode of the office did we leave off of?

Connor: idk, around season 3

Me: thanks :-)

Connor: are you watching it?

Me: yea

Me: i wish you were here though, it's more fun to watch it with you

Connor: me too

Connor: i also wish i didn't have to go fucking skiing

I laughed at his message and opened up my laptop, which was just sitting next to my bed.

Me: are you gonna start ranting?

Connor: probably

I tapped the call button and he immediately answered.

"Rant."

~Weird~   Connor Murphy x Reader (DEH)[COMPLETE]Where stories live. Discover now