Page 12 of Going the Distance
“I know, but now we’re watching a movie. C’mon, you like this movie. You know, with Batman and stuff. ‘It’s really awesome,’ ” I sang.
“Those aren’t the lyrics, Elle.”
“You know what I mean.”
“This is so unfair. Youpromised.”
He sounded just like I had earlier, whining to Lee on the phone. I only felt a little guilty, though. I mean, Levi didn’t want to sit here watching my brother play games; at least a movie was better entertainment. Or so I thought.
“What video games?” Levi asked my brother.
Brad’s face lit up, and I could see him wondering if he could win Levi over to his side. “My dad says I’m not ‘mature enough’ for any of the games with guns and stuff, you know, likeGrand Theft Auto,but I’ve got some really cool racing games.” He started naming some of his favorites, meaning: the ones he was best at. “AndZelda.I haveZelda.”
“I don’t mind playing with you. As…as long as your sister says that’s okay?” Levi turned to me, waiting for approval, eyebrows knitted together. “I mean, if you’ve got homework to do…”
“You honestly don’t have to,” I muttered quietly so Brad wouldn’t hear.
“Better than painting nails,” he said. “My sister loves giving me a manicure.”
“Elle, can we play?Please?”
My eyebrows shot up; I couldn’t help it. If Brad was saying please to me, his big sister, then he must’ve taken a liking to Levi. I made a mental note that he would always be my new babysitting buddy from now on if Lee wasn’t free.
“Uh, well, I…I don’t see why not. Good luck trying to beat my high score, though. Even Lee hasn’t managed that.”
So, while Brad set up his console and loaded a game, I left them to it, deciding to finish redrafting my essay on the Cold War that was due on Monday. I opened the Word document titled “College Application Essay”—but after staring at the blank page for a few minutes and not being able to think of something to fill it, I closed it back down. College was all anyone seemed to talk about at school, and even though I knew I wanted to go, I had no idea what I wanted to major in or what I really wanted to do after college. Everyone else seemed to know, which wasn’t really helping me deal with the stress of not knowing. But I felt sure that once I’d written my essay, everything else would fall into place. I’d figure it out. It’d be fine. It had to be.
But this evening I gave up on my essay, too distracted by listening to Levi cracking jokes and Brad getting competitive. Levi glanced over his shoulder at one point to flash a grin at me—and I found myself thinking how unlike Noah’s crooked smile it was. There was something less daring, less exciting in Levi’s smile. It was more like…like he knew a secret, and I knew it, too. I’d heard girls at school talking about his smile. It was pretty charming, I guess.
Even if my brother had been looking forward to hanging out with Lee, he quickly became a fan of Levi, just like the rest of us had. Brad didn’t even complain when I snuck some vegetables onto his plate with his ravioli; he was too busy chatting with Levi about soccer and asking him about lacrosse.
He even went to bed more or less on time—after ten minutes spent arguing with me to stay up longer because Dad wasn’t home yet and it wasn’t even a school night.
“I’ve already let you stay up half an hour longer than Dad would’ve!” I exclaimed for the billionth time.
“Dad won’t be home for another hour, though! Come on, Elle, don’t be so uptight!”
“Lee taught you that word, didn’t he?”
“This issounfair. Tell her, Levi. Tell her to stop being so uptight,” he said, trying to rope his new best friend to his side.
“Sorry, but I’m with your sister on this one.”
Brad scowled but grumbled in defeat. “Fine. Thanks for playing video games with me,” he added, then mumbled good night and stomped up the stairs to bed.
“Don’t forget to floss,” I called after him, even though I knew he wouldn’t. Then I sank back down onto the couch next to Levi. “Thanks for that. For all of tonight. I really appreciate the help.”
“I thought you said he was a total nightmare when you were talking about him in school. Let me tell you—you haven’t evenseennightmare children. Do you want to see my sister when she’s hungry and tired? She gets so shrill and it’s totally insufferable, I’m telling you. I’d switch any day.”
“Wait till her PMS kicks in, too. But you’ll be in college by then, right?”
“Right,” he mumbled.
“Thanks, though. Really. The only people Brad really listens to are Lee and Noah, and that’s only because he completely idolizes them from growing up with them around.”
Levi nodded, and after a pause said, “So…you and Noah. Were you guys friends before dating? I know you and Lee are close.”
I scrunched my face up. “Not…exactly. I mean, kind of. We were when we were all little kids, but then we drifted apart when he went to middle school.”
