Trivial talks.

It was only a few minutes later that Grace arrived, closing the door behind her and waving at us. Her eyes looked sleepy and a yawn escaped her.

“Good morning, good morning…” she said.

“What? Had a bad night?” Sarah asked her.

“Far from it. I wanted to stay in bed.” She pouted.

“You could’ve stayed 20 more minutes easily, you know?”

Grace chuckled. “Nah. Cozy as I was, I figured it would still be better to come here early.” She took a seat to my right and got comfortable against me, just like Sarah to my left.

“Good morning Gra…” My words were caught short by her lips pecking me in the corner of mine.

“Good morning, Oliver. Had a good weekend?” she asked teasingly.

“The best weekend,” I told her, then laughed. “But you know all about that, don’t you?”

“We may know a few details, yes…” Grace laughed with me. “What were you two talking about before I got here?”

Should I go for it?

…

I wanted to, so yes.

“Sarah was saying I can complain about her.”

“Hey!” the blonde exclaimed.

“Oooh, we can complain about Sarah? Let’s see…” Grace started counting with her fingers. “She takes my plushies and leaves them in the wrong spots, eats more than her share when we order pizza, has terrible taste in music…”

That last one made me look at Sarah with a raised eyebrow. “Terrible taste in music?”

“Slander. What’s wrong with electronic music?” I unintentionally winced, which I immediately regretted. “What?”

“They’re not real instruments!” Grace told her. “It all just beeps and wubs.”

“I don’t sit on a chair in front of a fireplace listening to it. I like dancing to it. And even with all the wubs, it’s better than all the country rock you listen to.”

Grace sighed. “You know, I’m not even going to try defending it. I don’t know why I like it, I just do.” She sounded almost resigned to her fate, which was pretty amusing.

“And what about you, mister music connoisseur?” Sarah asked me, poking my chest. “What kind of music do YOU like that you can cringe at my tastes?”

IT WAS AN UNINTENTIONAL REACTION! I didn’t mean to judge! Just because I dislike electronic music doesn’t mean I hate people who like it! “Um… Hard rock and a bit of metal are my go-to,” I admitted.

“Well aren’t you hardcore…” Sarah mocked me and stuck out her tongue. Her face was too funny so I couldn’t help but laugh, and seeing that she started laughing, too.

The door to the room opened again, and under its frame stood Mila. I saw her eyes move from Sarah to Grace a few times before she closed the door behind her and walked to us.

“Good morning Mila,” Grace said. “I thought you’d be the first one here. What took you so long?”

“My brother spilled yogurt on my skirt and I had to change.” Mila then stood in front of us, looking down. She looked at Sarah to my left and Grace to my right. Then, without warning, she sat on my lap, facing me and with her legs around my waist. Then, without another word, she got her arms around me and mashed her lips against mine.

I was startled from how sudden it all was. I didn’t even get a chance to say good morning! But even so, I quickly got my bearings and kissed her back, my arms holding her closer. She moaned softly and pushed her tongue inside my mouth.

It was like an electric shock to whatever part of my brain handled pleasure. I got goosebumps from the warmth and wetness of our kiss. It had only been a few days, but this made me realize even more how much I’d been missing her.

“Hey, Mila? We were kind of having a conversation here?” Sarah said, grinning and teasing her friend.

Mila pulled away and we both stopped for a moment to catch our breaths. We smiled at each other. The words ‘good morning’ seemed pointless by now.

“Oh yeah? What were you talking about?” she asked.

“Sarah’s bad taste in music,” Grace said.

“Oh. Well, it’s impossible to have good taste in music if you don’t like Judas Priest, right?”

J-Judas Priest? I love this girl.

“You’re a bunch of bullies, you know that?” Sarah said. “Alright then, what about movies? What’s your favorite movie, Mila?”

“Ugh, that one’s hard… but it may be Mulan because I’ve watched it like a hundred times.”

“Shit, I can’t make fun of that,” Sarah groaned. “What about you, Grace?”

“John Wick. The first one.”

“Seriously?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh, that’s right.” Mila laughed. “Grace loves cute things yet her favorite movie is John Wick of all things!”

“That movie is just cathartic, alright? What about you, Oliver? favorite movie?”

“Um…” Please don’t laugh. Please don’t laugh. Please don’t laugh. “How to Train your Dragon. The first one.”

Grace’s eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh my god! I forgot that movie existed! I loved it as a kid!”

“I haven’t watched it,” Mila said.

“I haven’t either,” Sarah said, frowning. “Which is weird. I’ve heard of it plenty of times, and I have three kid siblings. What the hell? How haven’t I watched it already?”

“Then… should we get together to watch it sometime?” I dared to ask, my voice slightly lower than usual.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Grace giggled. “God, I’m starting to remember it. The music was SO good!”

“I’ll ask my parents if we can use the movie room, but I bet they’ll say yes,” Sarah said. “They might be in the house, though, so try to keep your hands to yourself, Oliver,” she teased, grinning and poking my cheek.

“C-Come on. I have self-restraint!”

“Could’ve fooled me…”

“That was…! You’re the one who started walking around the house naked!”

“You followed, didn’t you?”

“I clearly remember how you dragged me by the hand.”

Mila laughed. “Looks like now we know who really doesn’t have self-restraint, huh?”

“If it’s too much trouble, we could go to my house,” Grace said, suggestively. “I don’t have a movie room, but my dad is barely home…”

Mila frowned. “Wait, are we going there to have sex or watch a movie?”

“What did you think people meant by ‘Netflix and chill’, Mila?” Sarah asked her.

“...Ooooooooh.” Mila and I exclaimed in unison. Apparently we came to the realization at the same time.

“Wait, Sarah, you haven’t told us your favorite movie yet. You’re not off the hook!” Grace told her.

“Hm? Oh, it’s Enter the Dragon.”

“Is that a Bruce Lee movie?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Which one?” Mila asked.

“The best one. Duh.”

We continued talking about movies and making plans to watch them together until it was time to go to class. The bell rang before we noticed and we made our way to the classroom together. And being the last ones to arrive, we received a bunch of weird looks.

Not like I gave a damn. I had started the day having a conversation about music and movies with my friends. Life was good.