"We were thinking of having a movie night on the eleventh. You down?"
Even though Jake couldn't see my face, I grinned. "A movie night, huh?" I repeated, holding the phone close to my ear.
His tongue clicked from the other end of the line. "Well, I mean, if we're safe about it, and it's just us... I mean, I haven't seen anyone else or been out of the house in like, a full month."
My grin didn't wane. I knew how he felt -- while others ditched the rules and partied, my friend group actually listened and stayed inside during the pandemic. It was borderline painful listening to stories about other people getting to enjoy time with their friends all because they didn't care, all while, at least to me, my friend group just had to stay separate, just drifting farther and farther away from each other. This was a welcome change.
"Yeah yeah," I quickly agreed. "I'll be safe. I mean, I have been safe. This can be like our cheat day."
"Our what?"
"You know, like when you diet, you have a cheat day and eat cake. We've all been good, so we get to have a cheat day."
"Wouldn't know dude, never had to diet," Jake's voice cockily rebutted. I smiled to myself -- Jake was one of those neo-hippie types, with the long hair and the carefree attitude, but instead of listening to Grateful Dead or whatever, he went to the gym and did karaoke and other bro-y things. He looked like he would be this sensitive sweet guy, but underneath, he was all arrogant charm, a combination that seemed to work well in his favor.
I was kind of the opposite. Even though I looked like I would fit in at a soccer club or the popular table or something, I was kind of shy and geeky below the surface. It was hard to call myself good-looking, but I knew other people thought I was. I couldn't really accept it, but I could accept other people were saying it. Plus, it turned out being attractive and being shy was a combination that worked out in my favor sometimes too, just not in the same way. "Nice," I laughed dismissively. "So who's in?"
"That's the tricky part," Jake admitted, his voice reflecting annoyance. "If you're in, so far it's just you, Katie, and... you met John?"
"I don't think so, is he a friend of yours?"
"Friend of Katie's. I've only gotten to talk to him a few times, but he seems chill."
Katie was probably my oldest friend in the whole world. It was one of those friendships where we were each others' rock, but more importantly, it was one of those friendships that couldn't be complicated by anything. We went on double dates with each other, changed in front of each other, and in our first year of college, only a few months ago, I tried using my photography major to help her get the best nudes, and she tried using her charm and knowhow to make me the best Tinder bio possible. We were entirely comfortable with each other.
Sadly, the Tinder bio went nowhere, and once the pandemic began, I ended up deleting it. It just became a lose-lose where if I didn't match with a girl, I got sad, and when I did match with a girl and the conversations went nowhere because I didn't know what to say, I got sad, and when we clicked, I got even more sad, since we couldn't leave the house.
Katie was what people called "nerd cute." She was a little thicker around the middle than she wanted to be, and had glasses and a brown-haired ponytail, and to top it off, had a liiiiittle bit of an annoying "um actually" habit, always wanting to one-up everyone in the room. Still, she more than made up for it by being a good friend, and at this point, nothing could drive a wedge between us. Jake only droves wedges once or twice, and even then, the wedges never stuck for long.
"That's cool, but... is that it?" I asked.
He sighed. "Yeah, I know. Lindsay is out, as is Mike."
"Wendy?"
"With her lung thing? Nah, she's not taking any chances. Hell, she gave me this whole speech about how irresponsible we're being." He clicked his tongue. "This stuff is probably hitting her hard."
"She's probably jealous she can't be there with you, dude," I joked. Jake had a habit of 'accidentally ending up' sleeping with most of the girls, and a few of the boys, in our friend group. "Give Jake enough time," we all used to joke. It was a bit of an open secret. Wendy happened to be his latest development, and even though both of them kept it under wraps, Jake's sexual history was hard to hide for too long. With one exception, he was always pretty gracious and kind to them both before and after he slept with them, so it was never an actual issue, but it was still something fun to tease him about, especially since...
"Hey, c'mon, it wasn't like that!"
...It was the one thing he was embarrassed about, as if he hated the idea of being seen as this slut or something. As far as I was concerned, good for him. I would have loved to get around as much as he did, but it kind of wasn't my style to sleep with friends. If I was going to date or screw anyone, I didn't want it to be someone I had history with.
I laughed. "Sorry," I said with zero meaning.
"You in or out?" he barked. I could hear him blushing through the phone.
"I'm in, I'm in," I laughed. "What's the plan?"
***
Helpfully, all of Jake's housemates terminated their leases and ran home at the first news of the pandemic, but Jake himself had no plans to return to his parents' house no matter what, which meant he had a house all to himself. It helped that Jake's house's basement was the coolest living room a student could want, with shag carpeting and plush couches and even some kind of bar.
I was the first to arrive with plenty of time to spare, which meant the two of us got to spend some much-needed time lounging on the plush couches catching up with each others' lives. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, there weren't a lot of life events to talk about, but it was still cool. I at least had my parents to hang around -- I had no idea how Jake kept his cool not leaving the house and being the only one there.
Shortly after, the doorbell rang. Jake swung his legs around the top of the couch and almost flipped himself around the couch to start racing upstairs. I followed, opting to get up normally like a human being, and ran up the stairs to see him opening the door.
Katie burst out of the sunlight to hug Jake, then me. "Aaaah~!" she sang excitedly. "I missed you both so much!" She was practically bouncing on her heels as she hugged us. Her friend was unquestionably more shy about it, slinking in behind her.
John had short blond hair and a lot of freckles on his face, topped off with what looked like a permanent blush. He was dressed super casually, in a baggy t-shirt and some kind of track pants. Katie whirled around and threw a smile his way. "And this is John. John, Ethan."
I held up a hand politely in a wave. If he was shy, may as well lead the way. "Yo!"
"Hey," he replied in a highish, nervous voice. I didn't get much more out of him, and that was fine. It would probably take a while for him to get used to the group. Then again, he already knew Katie well and Jake kind of well, so I guess that was a good head start.
Katie had a tote bag around her shoulder, which she hastily opened. "Okay, I got the snacks," she announced. "Doritos, Lays... Spicy Cheetos for Jake..."
"Damn right!"
"...Aaaaand iced tea." She pulled out a large thermos.
"...You bought a jug of iced tea just to pour it in a thingy?" Jake pressed.
"Um, no," Katie swiftly replied. "You just asked for 'iced tea,' so I brewed my own. It's sweet, you'll like it."
"I was kind of going for the 'iced tea your mom got for that barbecue in grade two' vibe here," Jake protested.
"Well I'm not your mom," Katie argued back, then winked at him. "So I guess you're gonna have to drink this. Believe me, you'll like it. It's white peach."
"That the brand?"
"Nah, the brand is MEM tea or something."
I shifted towards John and scoffed loud enough for only him to hear. "Wow, listen to these two, huh?" I asked him with a friendly tone.
I was worried he'd back away like a scared mouse, as if 'blushy and nervous' was the only thing to his personality, but luckily, he cracked a smile. "Yeah, it seems to happen every time," he lightly replied.
"Oh, so there have been other movie nights?" I asked.
