Simone

“Give me the remote!” I yelled at my sister, about to tackle her in order to get it.

“No! I’m trying to watch The X-Files!” Lucy complained.

“Give me the remote!” I yelled again. “You can watch The X-Files later!”

Lucy was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. “Go get the door, and maybe I’ll give you the remote.”

“Manipulative,” I told her. “Have you been learning from me, or from Lizzie?”

Lucy shrugged. “Go get the door! Do you want whoever it is to freeze?”

“Um, let’s see…is it Cooper? Because if it is, I’ll let him freeze,” I said. Cooper was this guy at our school. He was in my grade, but he acted like he was older, and treated most of us like dirt.

“Cruel,” Lucy said, giving me a look. “Get the door.”

I scoffed. “Fine,” I said, and went to the door. As I opened the door, I said, “If you’re Cooper, just leave now.” I was completely joking around with whoever was at the door. I didn’t really look at the person’s face until they spoke.

“Who the heck is Cooper?” a male voice asked, and my eyes widened. Could it really be…?

“Tanner?” I asked, grinning.

“Hey, Simone,” Tanner said, smiling at me.

I threw my arms around him in a hug. “I haven’t seen you in forever,” I said. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Si,” Tanner told me, hugging me back.

I let go of him and gave him another smile. “How are you?” I asked.

“I’ve been okay. Life’s been pretty hectic up here anyway,” Tanner told me. “How’s life been?”

“Honestly, amazing,” I answered with a smile.

“Yeah, I hear you’ve been hanging out with some celebrities,” Tanner said, giving me a smirk.

“Yeah,” I admitted, smiling. “One Direction.” Tanner looked like he was about to make a snide comment, so I spoke up. “They’re actually pretty cool guys if you give them the chance,” I told him.

Tanner shrugged. “Okay then,” he said, nodding. “So, want to do something today?” he asked.

“Like what?” I asked.

Tanner shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Got any ideas?”

“Nope,” I said. “Here, come on in. We’ll figure something out.”

Tanner nodded, and came in. He pulled his boots off and hung his coat up before going to the couch. He plopped down in his spot on the couch, the spot he took every year we hung out here.

Apparently, that was the spot that Lucy had been sitting near. She looked at Tanner, a bit surprised. “Uh, hey Tanner,” she said, having not expected this.

“Hey, Lucy,” Tanner said, giving her a small smile in greeting.

Lucy looked between us, and said, “I…I think I can watch the X-Files on my DVD player. I’ll be downstairs.” She went to the TV, shut it off, and grabbed one of the boxed sets off of the DVD shelf next to the console. She left the room quickly, and left Tanner and I alone.

Tanner looked at me once Lucy was gone. “So…” he trailed off.

“So, what’s new with you?” I asked, needing to know. I sat down on the couch next to him.

Tanner said, “Nothing really, to be honest.”

“Nothing really?” I asked, not believing it. “C’mon, Tanner. There’s gotta be something interesting going on in your life,” I said.

He looked at me. “Simone, you know just as well as I do that my life is as boring as heck,” he laughed.

“That could have changed,” I shrugged. “So, tell me!”

“What do you want to know?” Tanner asked me.

“Well, everything!” I exclaimed. “School, your family, a special someone…” I trailed off, nudging his shoulder with a smile.

Tanner just laughed at me. “School’s boring as always, the family’s good, and there’s no special someone,” he told me. At the end though, he sounded a bit sad.

“You okay?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tanner assured me. He gave me a smile.

I nodded. “But you don’t even have a crush?” I asked.

“If Jennifer Lawrence counts as a crush, then yes,” Tanner said, and I just rolled my eyes. “What?” he asked me.

I just rolled my eyes again. “Oh, nothing,” I said. He gave me a look, but gave up and said nothing.

At that moment, someone came up the stairs. The voice was humming, and was on its way to us.

“Simone? Who’s there?” It was Ana.

“It’s Tanner,” I said, smiling as I spoke.

Ana smiled, and gave me a knowing look. I returned it with a “what the heck” look. Ana then looked around me and gave Tanner a smile. “Hey, Tanner,” she said.

“Hiya Ana,” Tanner said. At that moment, we both noticed the bag slung over her shoulders. But, he spoke first. “Going to the lake?”

“Yeah,” Ana answered. “I’ve got to go practice my spirals and lunges and toe loops before I forget them,” she said.

That’s when my face scrunched up in confusion. “What?” I asked.

She was in her socks, so she decided to demonstrate. “I’ve got to practice my spirals,” with a lifted leg and a slightly curved back, “lunges,” doing exactly what it seems like, “and toe loops.” That was a thing I couldn’t explain.

“Nice,” Tanner said. “Well, have fun,” he said.

“Thanks,” Ana said, and left us alone.

When she was gone, Tanner turned to me. “So,” he began softly. “You didn’t tell me what was up in your life,” he said.

“Okay. Do you want me to answer the questions I had for you, or what?” I asked him.

“Sure. What’s school and your family like? And do you have a special someone?” Tanner asked me. He had a small smirk playing on his lips as he spoke, which caused me to roll my eyes.

“School is fine. Cooper, that guy I thought you were, is an absolute jerk at school. My family is fine. With my dad taking Lucy on college tours, Mom and I get a lot of time to hang out together. And there’s no special someone,” I answered him honestly. I didn’t want to lie to him about stuff like this.

“Really?” Tanner asked me.

“Yeah. What? Is there a problem with that?” I asked him in response, tilting my head slightly to look at him.

He shrugged. “No, not at all. You’re holding out for the right person, which is a good thing to do.”

I smiled a bit. I was glad he understood what I felt about it. Anyway, so what should we do?” I had to change the subject before he asked all the questions that none of us were ready to go public with.

Tanner stroked his invisible beard as he tried to come up with something. That was a joke between the two of us. I found myself laughing at him, and he gave me a look. “What?” he asked.

“You’re insane,” I told him.

He laughed, and smirked at me. “Oh, come on, Si,” he said. “You know you love me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure, definitely,” I said to him. “Wanna watch a movie or something?”

“Sure, what movie?” Tanner asked me.

“Um…” I began, and got up to go look through the DVD choices. “I don’t know.Lucy brought Super 8, Lizzie grabbed Grease, and I brought nothing,” I admitted.

“Simone Cole, not prepared?” Tanner taunted.

“Oh, shut up,” I snapped at him. He just laughed. I rolled my eyes and looked through the movies again. “Just pick something, if you’re making fun of me.”

“Fine,” Tanner said, getting up. He came to my side, and looked through the DVDs.

As we stood there, examining the DVDs, I felt something brush my hand. I looked down to see it, and his hand was resting against the side of my hand. Tingles shot up my hand and I pulled my hand away.

His gaze lifted to meet mine. “You okay?” he asked. He didn’t seem to have noticed what I had just felt.

“Yeah, fine,” I said, pretending not to have noticed anything either. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” he said. He looked down at the DVDs again. “Can we watch Star Trek?” he asked.

“No,” I said automatically.

“Why not?” Tanner complained. “You never let me watch it!”

“Because I don’t want to watch it,” I said plainly. “If you want to watch it, go call up Michael,” I told him.

“He’s sledding with Lizzie and…what was his name…Louis,” Tanner said. I stared at him. “What?”

“You didn’t know his name?” I asked.

“I’m forgetful,” Tanner shrugged.

I shook my head. “Louis is a member of one of the most popular boy bands of all time, and you can’t remember his first name? Have you been living under a rock?”

“Yeah, I’m Patrick Star now,” he joked with me.

“I can no longer speak to you,” I said jokingly, and turned away. I crossed my arms.

“Seriously?”

I smirked a bit. “Yup,” I said.

He shrugged. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll just go then,” he then added.

I smiled. “Can you at least pick something else? You can watch Star Wars with Michael later,” I said.

“Fine,” he said. “Hunger Games?”

“Perfect,” I said, grabbing it out of his hand. I felt the tingles again and smiled, but hid it the best I could. “Take a seat, Tanner. Time to watch 22 deaths,” I said.

“Way to ruin the ending,” Tanner joked, and I rolled my eyes, putting it in.

But, my mind wandered to the tingles. What had happened? It couldn’t be possible, could it? Tanner, my best friend?

Who am I kidding? It’s not possible.

Or is it?

I really hope Lucy’s okay with giving advice, because I’m going to need some tonight.