Better Off Friends

“I can do it myself,” he said one day before lunch as I was opening his locker.

“Suit yourself.” I backed away and watched him balance on one leg and maneuver his crutches so he could open his locker. Once he got the lock open, he had to hop back to make room for the door to swing open. One of the crutches fell as he tried to grab his lunch bag.

Luckily, I was anticipating this and grabbed it before it hit the floor.

“You know, I can make your lunch and bring it with me — it’s not a big deal,” I offered.

“I can do this,” he mumbled.

I teased him. “Oh, poor you, I’m offering to make you lunch. You love my food.”

Danielle approached us. “Wait, are you offering to cook? What does a girl need to do to get some of your chicken salad?”

“Injure yourself,” Levi snapped.

I shook my head at Danielle. “He’s having one of those days.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Levi groaned.

“Come on.” I grabbed his lunch, and the three of us walked to the cafeteria. “If you’re going to be like this all day, we can have you sit somewhere else.”

“Sorry,” he said quietly. “I don’t meant to be —”

I graciously finished the sentence for him. “Stubborn. Ungrateful. Gloomy. A pain in the rear.”

“Yes.” A smile began to warm his face. “All of that and more.”

I set his lunch down, took his crutches from him, and leaned them against the wall. “At least you acknowledge that. And, of course, how awesome I am.”

“Of course.” He smiled as he opened his lunch bag. “How could I ever forget?”

“I honestly don’t know.” I rested my chin on my hand. “How did you?”

Danielle groaned. “It’s amazing how quickly you two snap back into place. It’s almost sickening, really.”

“Levi just needs a constant reminder of how much he needs me.” I knew this always got under Levi’s skin, even though it was kind of the truth. I only teased him about it because he seemed to prefer it when I made fun of him.

Typical boy.

“So what’s the plan for break?” Danielle asked. We only had a few days left before Christmas.

“I’m thinking some sloth combined with gluttony.” I was so tired from studying and carting around Levi. I was looking forward to ten days of doing nothing but watching TV, reading, and stuffing my face. I’d asked Dad for some new cookbooks and was going to try making sushi from scratch. (Starting with California rolls — there was no need to spend the holidays with food poisoning.)

“Ah, sloth and gluttony.” Danielle smiled. “Two of the greatest words in the English language.”

I turned toward Levi. “You invited Stacey to New Year’s, right?” Since Levi wasn’t in the mood to go to any party, I volunteered to cook a big meal that night. Danielle was coming, but leaving early to go to a band party.

He nodded. “Yeah, although I don’t want her to not have a good time because of me.”

“Hey!” I slapped my hand against the table. “Speak for yourself, but I’m a very fun time.”

“Yeah,” Danielle agreed, “read the stalls in the guy’s bathroom.”

“Ha, ha.” I shot her a dirty look.

I didn’t really understand Levi’s relationship with Stacey. I’d thought they were breaking up, but they were still together. And I didn’t fault him for that. She was one of those gorgeous, bubbly girls who’s always smiling and giving out compliments. It seemed like a nice, easy relationship for Levi. Not a lot of complications. And I’m an expert on Levi and complications. So I honestly had no idea why he didn’t want to spend more time with her, even though he was claiming it was for her sake. It seemed like he was always making excuses to not hang out with her. And why on earth would he not want her to be around on New Year’s Eve? His track record of girlfriends being faithful on that day was not great. But he didn’t need me to remind him of it.

Plus, I had learned my lesson. I knew better than to stick my nose in Levi’s relationships. If he wanted to talk to me about it, fine. But I wasn’t getting involved.

Things never worked out when I did.

Given the craziness that preceded it, Christmas was fairly uneventful. Which I was more than happy with.

Since both Stacey and Danielle were leaving New Year’s Eve supper early to go to other parties, it seemed Levi and I would be ringing in the New Year in a very quiet, very unexciting way.

Stacey was wearing a festive minidress and black leggings with silver sparkles. Her hair was pulled back in a silver headband. Levi had on jeans and a sweatshirt. Even Danielle, who was going to hang out with a few other friends after hanging out with us, was wearing a skirt. I did make some effort and wore nice dark jeans and a black wrap sweater with purple sequins.

“Hey, Adam!” Levi greeted my uncle, who was sitting on the couch. “I didn’t realize we were going to have a chaperone. Better cancel the keg!”

Adam laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t breaking hearts tonight, Adam!” Levi teased.

Adam blushed. The ladies certainly loved him; he was a charmer.

“He’s staying for supper, then heading off,” I said. It seemed that everybody had somewhere else to be. Even Dad was over at Levi’s house for their party. I was invited to a couple places but turned them down. Levi wasn’t interested in going far in his condition, although he didn’t want to stay at home and have all his parents’ friends fuss over him. His surgery was in a couple days, so he was understandably in a solemn mood.

The five of us settled down at the dining room table. I didn’t want to go too fancy tonight because I wasn’t sure what kind of food Stacey liked and Levi was no help. I did a basic chicken Caesar salad, ricotta gnocchi with creamy pesto sauce, bruschetta, and baked Alaska for dessert.

“Oh, wow!” Stacey exclaimed with a full mouth. “This is SO good.”

All right, maybe I’d wanted to impress her just a little.

“So,” Danielle said to me as she rubbed her tummy, “I think I have to end our friendship if I want to fit into my dress for the winter dance.”

“It’s six weeks away,” I reminded her.

“Oh, I’m only taking a break.” She eyed the remaining piece of baked Alaska in the center of the table. “I plan on stuffing my face more. I can start worrying about the dance next year.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got less than four hours.”

“Do you know who you’re going with?” Stacey asked Danielle.

Danielle raised her eyebrows. “There’s a certain drummer that I have my eye on.”

“Uh-oh,” I teased. “You know what they say about drummers?”

“That they have excellent rhythm,” Danielle deadpa

“No.” Levi looked at me. “That’s not it. Could you remind me, Macallan?”

“Oi, they’re so chuffed because they can bang a drum …” I started.

Levi graciously continued. “I been bangin’ on me table since I was a wee one. Where’s me groupies?”

“Dodgy, drummers are.”

Levi then delivered the punch line. “Blimey if I haven’t been bangin’ me head listenin’ to you lot.”

Danielle looked at the two of us. “Does anybody ever have any clue what you two go on and on about?”

“I do,” Levi and I said in unison.

Danielle looked at Stacey. “We should get out of here before I start banging my head.”

Not surprisingly, Danielle and Stacey left for their respective parties instead of hanging out with me and Levi. Adam stayed a while to help me with the dishes since Levi needed to rest his leg. Adam also helped me get Levi down to the basement so he could lie on the sectional’s chaise lounge.

“You need anything else?” Adam asked.

“I think we’re good.” I gave him a big hug. He high-fived Levi and then left us alone.

“Now, is there anything else I could get you?” I bowed down as if he was my master.