Something There

Chapter Four

Chapter Four:

Just as the five of us are prepared to pile into Ryan's SUV, a metallic silver Minivan pulls into the parking lot two spots over, honking its horn multiple times until we collectively turn to face the vehicle. The passenger seat window rolls down, and there appears Daniel, leaning across the from the driver's spot to stick his face out the window.

"Get in, losers!"

Jasmine instantly reaches for the backpack resting at her feet, slinging it over her shoulder and racing towards the car.

"Shotgun!" she calls out as Daniel falls back in his seat, laughing. She yanks the door open to slip into the seat just as Ryan locks his car and we all head over.

We always have a constant argument on how I always get forced into the back seat seeing as I'm the 'shortest and tiniest' of the group, but I'm already exhausted due to all of the day's events so I climb into the very back with no complaint.

Mateo follows, sitting next to me, and I watch as Bryce sits in front of me.

"Nice ride. You've reached full soccer-mom status," he teases.

Charlie snorts loudly, and Jasmine reaches an open hand back for Bryce to high-five. I kick the back of Bryce's seat, and he seems satisfied. It's his turn to reach back now, as he pinches my leg much to my objection. I swat his hand away and he grins back at me.

"So what's the plan? Bowling again? Daniel asks, pulling out of the parking spot and driving over to fit into the line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot.

So this is what he did as he skipped last period, it seems.

"Hell no, Lexi's just going to win again," Jasmine argues. Daniel and Ryan nod in agreement, and I want to crawl into a hole and hide. Mateo places his hand atop of the seat with his palm facing the ceiling, and I set my hand down on his. He intertwines our fingers, giving my hand a brief squeeze.

"How about mini putting?" Bryce offers.

Everybody seems to ponder the suggestion, until Jasmine says, "Sounds good. She'll still win but I'm sure it won't be as pathetic as bowling last month."

Mateo drums his fingers on the window a couple times to gain everybody's attention. "It's really not her fault she's great at everything. Maybe you should try to get a few less balls in the gutter next time."

Daniel practically wheezes and I hear Charlie snicker a tad bit.

"Well screw you," Jasmine huffs from the front seat, and it all just reminds me of how thankful I am to have met this group of people.

The ride to golfing was fairly quick as there's a Putting Edge located fairly close to our school. It was a quiet ten minutes, apart from when some Ariana Grande song came on the radio and Daniel turned the volume on the stereo up so loud I feel some permanent hearing loss coming on. Him, Jasmine, and my brother ended up screeching all the lyrics at the top of their lungs, and it's a blessing when the songs and singing comes to a conclusion. The radio volumes gets turned down, and Bryce turns to my brother with some smart remark at the tip of his tongue.

I kick his chair again to stop the words from leaving his mouth.

Mateo chuckles lightly, and I remove my hand from his as the car comes to a stop. I unfasten my seat belt but I still catch Charlie's death glare for Bryce out of the corner of my eye.

"I'd like to see you do better," Charlie retorts defensively, and Jasmine spins around to face me before she climbs out of the car.

Even though she doesn't actually say anything out loud, something in our best-friend-telepathy allows her to still get the exact message across.