40. pineapple express

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I toss my clothes into a laundry basket before shutting the door of the dryer. I shut off the lights in the laundry room then make my way back upstairs to my bedroom.

Asher sits at my desk, using my laptop to complete his homework. I'm surprised at how focused he is, considering how much he hates doing schoolwork.

"Why do they live in Utah?" He asks.

I furrow my eyebrows, pausing my folding to turn around and face him. The chair is still swiveled in the direction of my desk, but he's turned his head in my direction.

"They were banned from California."

He angles his head. "Fuck you."

"Right back at ya." I grab a blue t-shirt from the basket and fold it up, placing it into my luggage.

He smirks. "Really, when?"

I stop, turning to look at him again. "How was I able to hear that smirk?"

He stands from my desk chair and walks over to my bed. Before lying down, he slips his shoes off. I smile proudly at the fact that I taught him to do that.

"I don't think you should go."

I continue picking out clothes I want to take on the trip. "Why not?"

He shrugs, pulling out his phone as he twists onto his back. I wait for him to say something, but I realize he won't be explaining once I hear a video coming from his phone.

"Asher."

"Hm?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh." He turns off his phone, turning onto his side to face me again. "You don't know these people... what if they're like— fucking weirdos? What if they're fucking cannibals and the only reason that you're invited is because they're gonna cook you up and eat you for dinner?"

What goes on in his head?

My eyebrows furrow as he explains his enological theory. "I thought you were a realist."

"I am."

"Your theory isn't very realist of you."

He smiles, his green eyes having a certain twinkle in them, one that doesn't reveal itself very often. "No seriously though," he says. "You... you're gonna miss Aaron's party."

I take a deep breath, shrugging. Things between me and Aaron this week weren't as awkward as I thought they'd be. If I'm being honest, nothing between us really changed much. With the exception of the occasional arm draped over my shoulder, everything is the same. And I feel like I've pretty much gotten over the fact that our... fling? I'm not sure what to call it. But whatever it was, it's over.

"It's alright." I shrug. "I'll still get him something."

He rolls his eyes. "That's not the point, smart one."

"Excuse you?" I blink. So much attitude today.

"The point is that you're not gonna be there," he explains as he sits up. "Who am I gonna talk to when everyone's wasted? There's not gonna be a cute little sober Estella for me to have a conversation with."

I shake my head, walking to my closet to pull out a few pajama pants for me to add to my small luggage. I fold up them up before neatly placing them inside.

"Are you almost done?" He asks. "We can watch a movie after."

I laugh, cleaning up the clothes scattered around my bed. "You need to leave, Asher. My mom will be home soon."

"But she's not here yet."

I stare at him with narrowed eyes. He flashes me a smile. Then, sighing in defeat, I walk over to my desk and grab the remote to my TV.

"Did you submit your homework?"

He nods as I toss him the remote. I walk out of my room to the bathroom to take my contacts out. Then I slip my glasses on my face, making my way back.

"What are we watching?" I ask as I sit down on my bed.

"Pineapple Express."

My eyebrows furrow as I stare at the screen. "I've never heard of that movie."

"It's about weed," he continues, searching it up on Netflix. "I think you'll like it."

Of course Asher would choose a movie about marijuana.

He presses play, lying down in a more comfortable position. He tugs on the sleeve of my shirt, asking me to do the same. I look down, shaking my head.

"Come on," he pleads. "It's making me feel a little weird that I'm much more comfortable than you are in your own bed."

I roll my eyes, subtly scooting a little further away from him as I lie down on my back. His mouth turns up into the tiniest of smiles, his eyes still focused on the TV screen.

He grabs the throw blanket folded at the corner of my bed and drapes it over the both of us.

Asher wasn't lying when he said the movie is about weed. The entire plot of it revolves around marijuana the characters call 'Pineapple Express'. I find some of the scenes funny. Asher finds the whole movie to be hilarious— top comedy, in fact.

Throughout the movie, he subtly makes small moves to scoot closer to me, up until his head rests on my shoulder. I turn my head to look at him, but he pays me no attention. He remains completely focused on the movie.

Occasionally, he looks up at me. I work to steady my breath, realizing how close we are right now and how warm he is beside me.

"That was funny." He laughs. "You know it was."

I smile. "It was funny."

My eyelids begin feeling heavy about halfway through the movie. I try keeping one eye open at a time to watch. But before I know it, both eyes shut and the sound of James Franco's voice is drowned out. Just as I'm about to fall into a deep sleep for the night, I feel my glasses taken off my face.

-

The nerves really start to set in as the car slows in front of a two-story white house in a neighborhood filled with homes built with a similar design.

"Alright, here we are!" Matthew says with a smile as he parks in the driveway. "This is my parent's house. They're a little strict on the no shoes in the house thing, so you two can just leave your shoes on the rack they have by the door inside."

My mom and I respond with a quick okay and a nod in understanding. Matthew helps her with her luggage as I grab mine from beside me. Once I'm out of the car, the chilly weather hits me straight away.

I rub my hands together to warm them up before pulling up the metal handle of my luggage, following behind Matthew and my mother as we walk up the driveway and toward the front door.

It's bittersweet, watching the way he puts his arm around her to keep her warm. The way she snuggles into his side as they walk together, lying her head against his body.

"Welcome, welcome!" An elderly lady greets us after opening the door, a smile that stretches from ear-to-ear on her face. She's clad in a cozy-looking cardigan, a pair of house slippers on her feet. I'm not sure what the exact rule is about wearing shoes in the house.

She hugs Matthew and my mom. She introduces herself, then introduces me after. I give her the woman a smile, holding out my hand but am quickly brought into a warm hug instead.

A man walks down the stairs, presumably Matthew's father. He wears a pair of glasses, dressed in a sweater vest and a collared shirt underneath.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Lily!"

They share a handshake. My mom smiles, complimenting their home with a tone of respect and happiness, which sounds so strange coming from her mouth.

"You must be Estella!" He smiles as his green eyes land on me. "Come here. Let me introduce you to the kids."

"Okay." I smile, following him down the hall to a large room, where two kids of different ages lounge, each of their heads turning to look at me.

"Hi." I wave, mustering up the best smile I can. "I'm Estella, Liliana's daughter."

"I'll let you all get comfortable with each other," Matthew's dad says before walking back to where the others are.

A young girl, no older than the age of six, walks over to me. "I'm Avery," she says, her big brown eyes lighting up as she angles her head up. "You're very pretty, Stella."

"Thank you." I laugh. "So are you."

"It's E-stella, stupid," a boy interjects, removing his headset and peeling his eyes away from the large flatscreen TV hung on the wall in front of him. "I'm David, nice to meet you."

He seems to be in his early teen years, the same brown eyes as his younger sister. He curses under his breath before placing his headset back on and re-focusing on his video game.

"I'm telling Daddy!" Avery yells as she runs toward the front of the house, dragging a Mike Wazowski plush along with her as she trots over to the adults.

"Oh my God, hi!" A girl who seems to be around my age exclaims as she comes from another room down the hall. "You must be Estella, right? My dad said you were gonna join us. I'm Ansley."

"It's nice to meet you, Ansley."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you," she replies. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna go say hi to your mom real quick."

I nod, looking behind me. She greets my mom with a hug. They exchange a few words, smiles on their faces before she makes her way back over to me.

She offers me a seat on one of the couches in the room. She grabs two blankets from a basket in the corner, handing me one as she sits beside me.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem," she replies before turning to her younger brother. "David, did you even introduce yourself?"

He takes off his headset. "What?"

"I asked if you introduced yourself."

"Yeah, I did."

"Well did you say hi to Lily?" She asks.

He shakes his head. Ansley gives him a an expectant look. Rolling his eyes, he shuts off the TV to greet my mom.

"He's going through puberty so he's like moody all the time." She rolls her eyes once he's left the room. "He thinks he's too cool for everything."

I laugh. "I remember when my brother was going through that phase."

Nate was a monster during his early teen years. Considering the last time I saw him he was fifteen years old, those memories are really the last ones I have of him. I wonder what he's like now. A lot can change in six years.

"Your mom was telling us about your brother," she says. "She said she doesn't get to see him much anymore and that maybe one day she'll fly him over here so we can meet him."

I force a smile. "Really?"

"Yeah," she responds.

"When did you meet my mom?" I ask her.

She thinks for a moment, tilting her head from side to side. "About five months ago. My dad brought her over for dinner at our house. I'm pretty sure they'd been going out for a few months before he introduced us."

I nod along as she tells me the story of their first dinner with her. I force laughs at the funny parts, smile at the sappy parts of the stories. It's apparent that this is where my mom is when she's not at home. She's with them. According to her, I'm quite busy as a senior, hardly ever available to make it to any of their family dinners.

"— propose soon. He's so into her," she continues. "It's really nice seeing him so happy again."

"That's nice." I lie. "I'm really happy for them."

"Yeah, me too," she agrees.

Avery walks back into the room, holding tightly onto her Mike Wazowski plush. She makes her way to the couch Ansley and I sit on, settling into the space between us. She sets her Mike in my lap. I smile, playing with his arms and wrapping them around her body.

"Is your favorite movie Monsters Inc?" I ask her. "You like Mike Wazowski?"

She nods, giggling as she hides behind her comfort toy. Ansley grabs her, tickling her. Avery falls into an uncontrollable fit of cute giggles as her older sister continues to tickle her stomach.

"How was the drive?" Ansley asks me once she's set Avery back down between us. "My grandparents picked us up and drove the three of us here a few days ago. Said they couldn't wait to see us."

I watch as Avery stands up, running her fingers through my hair. "It was okay. It was super long— but it went smoothly."

My phone lights up with a notification. I look down to my lap, reading the text and quickly grabbing my phone from my lap. I look back up to Ansley, finding her with furrowed eyebrows.

"He's messaging me about our psychology project." I do my best to come up with an excuse for Asher's uncalled-for text.

cannibals?

"Huh." She nods. "Weird project."

"Mhm." I agree with a smile. "My whole psychology class is weird."

I don't even take psychology.

I keep feeling the small vibrations coming from my phone. Ansley looks down at it too, stifling a smile.

"Are you gonna answer that?" She asks.

"Yeah— I'm just gonna text him back real quick." I laugh uncomfortably, picking my phone up to check the messages as Avery pulls on my hair, trying to braid it.

cannibals?

ESTELLA??

fuck they already cooked you??

it's too early

there's still four days till thanksgiving

at least they prepare early

A smile grows on my face, even though I'm annoyed with his dramatics. I type my responses quickly:

NO

THEYRE NOT CANNIBALS

SHUT UP ASHER

I put our messages on 'Do Not Disturb' so I can focus on making a good impression to the people my mom has taken a liking to. Ansley hasn't looked at her cell phone since we began speaking. It's rude of me not to do the same.

"Is that your boyfriend?" She asks.

My eyebrows raise. "No—" I shake my head. "He's just a friend."

"Oh." She laughs. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay." I smile.

She stands from the couch, grabbing Avery and setting her onto the floor.

"You're probably really tired," she says as she waves me over. "Come on. I'll show you to the guest room."

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