Chapter 28: "Pranked lol"

- Brandon's POV -

---------

After the afternoon spent with Taylor’s family, I promised to get together with them soon, if not regularly. They didn’t live too far from my apartment, and I could tell that the absence of Taylor’s dad was already taking its toll on her mom. As for myself, I had to admit that it was nice to have someone to hang out with.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” I mumbled to the shower head as I washed my hair, “Aiden and Jamie are nice. But it’s fun to hang out with kids and adults and someone my age all at the same time. Like a family.”

Do I want a family? I found myself wondering. I guess. But I can’t really see myself actually getting there. Like, eventually having a family: sure. Getting to the point of having a family? Not so much. I mean, who’d want to date me? Who do I want to date? Who do I see myself ending up with?

“She’d have to like socializing,” I reasoned as I dried off. “I’m such an outgoing person, and I don’t think I’ll ever give that up. And she’d have to want kids. Because I want kids. I suppose she wouldn’t have to know how to cook, since that’s my thing. Wouldn’t hurt, though.”

Taylor and I had been texting everyday, and I was learning more and more about her. She was fun, but I didn’t want to date her, or anything like that. I snapped my fingers. “I forgot to ask her if she knows Aiden’s Jamie!” I quickly texted her about it. She replied in the affirmative--her best friend was actually Aiden’s girlfriend! 

“It’s a small world!” she texted.

“I know right!” I replied. “We should all get together sometime! It would be fun to have all of us there together.”

“Totally! Hey, speaking of getting together, we haven’t gone to Starbucks for our now-regular meeting in a while. You free?”

I glanced at the date. It was Sunday, I’d already gone to chess club, and I had nothing to do. “Sure.”

“5 pm?”

“I’ll be there.” I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and straightened my glasses. A t-shirt and jeans worked fine for me, so I decided not to change. When I arrived at Starbucks, Taylor was already waiting for me at our regular table. I ordered myself a mocha frappe and sat down in the chair across from her.

“Do you think we should see a psychiatrist?” she asked.

I blinked. “Uh. Good question.”

“I mean, I’ve been thinking.” Taylor took a bite of what looked like lemon pound cake and gestured with her hand. “You went to the doctor after you got struck, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And they said there was nothing wrong with you?”

“Yes again.”

“But what if it’s psychological?” she pressed. “What if we need to get MRIs, or something?”

I nodded slowly. “Good point. But didn’t you say that you haven’t told your mom about it?”

“Oh, that’s true.” Her face fell. “I guess I should tell her at some point, but that does bring up the part about money. Brain scans are super expensive. I don’t know if we can afford it right now.”

“True. I wish I could help you,” I said sincerely, “but if we tried it then my parents would definitely have to help me pay for it and I don’t know if I could pay for your half too.”

“I wouldn’t expect or ask you to,” Taylor assured me. “Well, so much for that. I wish we could figure this thing out.”

“How long has it been since we’ve been linked?” I asked.

She counted on her fingers. “Two months? Three? Maybe two and a half.”

“Wow.” I shook my head. “You know, I’m almost getting used to it. It is kind of annoying, like when you’re super angry or stub your toe or can’t sleep. But it’s not too weird to me anymore. Does that make sense?”

“It does. I guess I’ve reached that point too.” Shrugging, she sipped her drink. “It’s better now that I know what it is, and we can talk about whatever the other is feeling. Like when you’re having a bad day. All I have to do is text you, and talk to you about it. Then I can understand what you’re feeling, and therefore what I’m feeling.”

“Complete openness is going to have to be part of our friendship,” I snorted. “You can’t hide anything from me. I. Will. Know.” I leaned in for emphasis. She laughed.

We spent the next hour and a half just talking--about the funny instances that come with a psychic link, about our families, and about life in general. I enjoyed our time together. 

When it was time for us to part, I gave her a short hug and a smile. “Be safe!”

“You too!” She returned the smile before driving off. 

I took advantage of being out of the house by doing some grocery shopping. A new summer squash soup was on my menu for tonight, and I needed a couple of ingredients. I was home in short order, and listened to my soundtrack radio while I made the soup. Just as I was sitting down, I heard a knock at my door. I glanced at the clock. “Who could that be?” I mused. Stranger still, when I opened the door, there was no one there--just a box. I checked the hallway. It was empty. 

My curiosity was piqued, so I opened the package before sitting down to eat. Inside was an airhorn, a handful of glitter, and a sticky note in Aiden’s handwriting: “pranked lol.”

I snorted in laughter. “That idiot.” I dialed up his number and he quickly picked up. “Hello, is this management?” I pressed on without waiting for an answer. “I’d like to report harassment at my apartment. Some idiot kid keeps pranking me and I want them arrested.” 

Aiden laughed long and hard. “Did you like it?” he asked. 

“It’s beautiful,” I said sarcastically. “I can’t wait to annoy my neighbors with the airhorn. Or maybe I’ll rig your car so that it goes off when you press the gas pedal.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Oh? Is that a dare?”

“You heard me, sonny,” he said, mockingly threatening. 

“Better watch your back when you drive to school, bro,” I chuckled. “I might actually do it.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He paused. “How’ve you been?”

“I’m alright.” The sudden subject change was awkward, but I was used to it. Aiden genuinely cared about me; it was just hard for him to show it. “Been doing better, I suppose.”

“Well, good.” He sounded satisfied. “That’s good. You down for a football game sometime soon? I owe you for making dinner when me and Jamie came over.”

I cringed inwardly. Football was so boring. “Sure,” I said. “Next time you get tickets, or there’s one on TV, just call me. I’ll do my best to be there.”

“Awesome. Hey, I gotta go. Jamie my getaway driver wants to go out to eat, and you know I always have to do what she says.” There was a soft “oomph” from the other side of the phone, presumably caused by a punch from Jamie. I grinned. 

“See ya, bro.”

“Bye--ow!”

---------