It All Started with a Beanie

(7)

Neil

Tuesday evening

After Erin walked out, I could feel the eyes of my friends on me. When I turned and looked at them, they all had the same look, probably thinking the same thing.

"What?" I say and lift my hands in the air before dropping them down at my sides and joining them in the living room.

"We never said anything." A smirk had appeared on Cam's face, saying everything that needed to be said. A few seconds lasted before Cam spoke again. "Wanna play a game?" And that's what we did. We somehow got Ollie to play Sorry with us again, considering it didn't end well last time.

An hour and a half later, we had finished our game. Yes, it took an over an hour to play a simple board game. But as we all expected going into the game, Ollie did the same thing as last time.

"I swear she cheated!" We all roll our eyes and that's when Ollie began pouting. Last time, Liv won and he hates when he doesn't beat her, so he accused her of cheating. They argued for an hour last time.

"How did I cheat, O? I can't think of one way in how I would've cheated." Liv is always unphased by Ollie's claims, which is kind of expected considering they're twins.

"You shuffled the cards every time. You could've used your powers and made the cards so I got all the bad ones." A brief moment of silence slips in before we all burst out in laughter, realizing how ridiculous it sounds.

We stayed up for a few more hours before passing out. Ollie and Liv decided to spend the night with Cam and me so we all ended up sleeping in the living room. 

Around three in the morning, I woke up. Why? I have no idea. I get a glass of milk and a doughnut from the pantry before heading outside. I make my way to the tire swing in the yard and finish my midnight snack.

I sit on the swing and twiddle my thumbs, letting my thoughts flow with ease. I pull the phone out of my pocket and hover my finger over Erin's contact. After a few seconds, I click on it.

Me: Hey. This is Neil Parsons.

I let it send before continue typing.

Me: I just wanted to apologize for how I acted in math class. I was very immature and I shouldn't have went on. I hope you'll accept this apology and maybe consider a friendship with me.

I stare at the three dots on her side of the screen as I wait for her response.

Wait, why is she awake at three in the morning?

Beanie: I appreciate the thought, but I don't accept your apology. If you want to apologize, then do it in person. I don't believe you until I hear and see you say it.

Wow. I was not expecting that.

She sure is something different.

Yeah, she is.

For half an hour I sat there on the tire swing, just thinking. I truly felt bad for how I treated Erin, calling her out like that in class. I don't know why, but I just felt the urge to go against her. It's not that I didn't believe her, I actually did, but before I knew it, I was talking.

Talking without thinking has always been something I have done. I try hard to keep my mouth shut but when I have something to say, I say it.

That's when the idea hit me.

I quickly, but quietly, go back inside and grab my paint supplies and keys before heading to the school.

It doesn't take too long before I get to the school. I park out of sight of the security cameras, in the pitch black. I set up a small light away from the side wall. I happened to be in all black, so that helped in disguising in who I was. 

I spray paint the wall for about forty-five minutes before finalizing my work. I step back and a smile finds it's way to my lips. I stand there for a minute, just looking. I've never done anything like this for someone, but with her, I felt compelled to. 

That's weird, dude.

I know, tell me about it.

I took one last glance before packing my stuff up and leaving. A car began to drive by as I was walking and I hid in a bush. The car continued to pass and I booked it for my car; I didn't want to get caught.

When I got home, I noticed lights on from inside the house. I parked and made my way to the door. I quietly opened the door, but that was useless considering all of my friends were awake.

"Well look who's back." Cam says and everyone else turns towards me.

"Where were you?" Liv looks into my eyes expecting an honest answer. 

"Just out." She rolls her eyes. Liv has always been protective of all of us, as she is of her family.

"What's that in your hand?" Ollie looks down at the bag, his mouth full of a doughnut.

"Oh, nothing." I push it behind me, but it's of no use. They all know what my spray paint bag looks like. I drop it by the front door and join my friends in the living room.

"What did you make this time?" Cam says.

I sit there for a second, thinking of what to say. I have nothing to hide, but all of them jump to conclusions. So I settle for a simple statement.

"An apology." 

"An apology? To who?" Liv is on her phone when she says this, playing flappy bird. Liv isn't one to look at people when she talks to them, so it doesn't offend me when she doesn't.

"To Bean- Erin. An apology to Erin." They all nod but don't say anything. Ollie and Cam whisper to each other while Liv continues to play games on her phone. I take this silence as an opportunity to sleep, knowing  I have school in a few hours.

But before I fell into a state of sleep, one thought popped into my mind: I hope she'll accept it.