So, Jude just left. Realizing my plan for the night fell through, I called him up to invite him over for burnt popcorn and fucking awful movies.
“Thank God,” he said after I propositioned him. “Jess was going to try and drag me out with her girlfriends to some gay bar. Why the fuck would she think I’d want to do something like that?”
I snorted. “Of course. The question you should be asking though, is why would she want to take you some place where you’d be getting more attention than her?”
“Come on now… don’t badmouth my girlfriend or you can spend Saturday night with your other two best friends.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ben and Jerry?”
“You know it.”
“Fine, I’ll be nice,” I said, sighing. “Are you coming over or not?”
“I’ll be there in an hour.”
“You live 15 minutes away, Jude.”
“Sorry, do you not want me to shower? Did you suddenly start liking the grungy dirty look?”
“Whatever. See you soon.”
FInally after he finished primping he meandered over to my side of town and made it to my apartment. I answered the door in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Thanks for dressing up for me,” he said, pushing past me to enter my apartment, carrying DVD boxes from a video rental store.
“Hey, I put on clean sweatpants didn’t I?”
He ignored me and went into the kitchen to make the popcorn while I examined the movies he brought. Killer Drag Queens on Dope and Vampire in Brooklyn.
“What’s with this?” I asked, holding up the Eddie Murphy vampire film.
He just shrugged. “We usually pick the movies for Bad Movie Night together. Since I was by myself I just found one I knew you’d pick.”
Aww. See why we’re friends? Because he fucking rocks and knows me better than anyone. Just for that, I agreed to watch Killer Drag Queens on Dope first.
Popcorn popped and sufficiently burnt, Jude plopped down onto my couch, putting his feet up on my coffee table and holding the bowl in his lap. I sat down beside him, handing him a beer.
“So what did Jess say when you told her you were coming over here?” I asked as the opening credits began.
“I didn’t tell her. She’d probably flip her lid if she knew I was here. I told her I was hanging out by myself while she goes out.”
I raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him. “So then why are you here?”
He looked incredulous. “You’re my best friend, Annabelle. Why wouldn’t I be here when you wanted me to?”
I considered this for a moment. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about being his dirty little secret. Could I still be considered a “piece on the side” even if it’s only emotional and we’re not sleeping together?
I stared back at him and came to the conclusion that I didn’t care. He said it himself. We’re best friends. I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, and apparently neither would he.
I sighed and shook my head, grinning. “Dumbass,” I said, slouching down the couch and cracking open my beer.
He chuckled and threw a handful of popcorn at me.
Yeah, we’re pretty awesome.
