“Ah, yeah.” He looked at me incredulously. “All Floyd does is complain about Buggy and pretty much all of society. He’s always making little comments about how he doesn’t understand the way certain things are. Sure, it’s funny, but the fact he’s had enough of it isn’t that surprising.”
“You have to admit that Floyd has a point most of the time.”
Levi started laughing. “Oh my God. Yes! How am I only seeing this now?”
“Seeing what?”
He pointed at me. “You’re Floyd!”
“I’m what?” My mouth was open. I couldn’t believe Levi was comparing me to some crotchety old British man.
“You’re always making these observations like ‘Why does Keith think he’s superior just because he can tackle a guy?’ ”
“That’s a valid observation,” I defended.
“And ‘Why do people say L-O-L — aren’t they supposed to be laughing? Have we become that lazy of a society?’ ”
“Like that doesn’t drive you crazy.”
Levi was really laughing now. “It all makes sense why you like this show so much.”
“So does this make you Buggy?” I shot back.
“Well, he is hilarious.”
“He’s also a complete bumbling fool, so I guess …” I sank back in the seat.
“Okay, okay.” Levi grabbed the remote from me. “We’ll put the show back on. Don’t want to get your old-man undies in a bunch.”
This time I did hit him.
“Ouch.” He rubbed his shoulder.
“Blimey if I could help it.” I gave him a goofy grin before turning back to the TV.
We watched as Buggy and Floyd struggled without each other. It hit close to home in a way. Buggy was caught in the rain while a depressing song played as he roamed around aimlessly. I started to feel tears sting the back of my eyes. I couldn’t believe an episode of Buggy and Floyd was going to make me cry.
Floyd rounded the corner with a large gold umbrella. He paused as he saw his former best friend. He walked slowly toward him.
Levi grabbed my hand.
Floyd covered Buggy with his umbrella.
“It’s London,” Floyd said. “You know you need a brolly year-round.”
Buggy smiled shyly at him. “You’re right. Blimey if —” He stopped himself.
Was this the end of Buggy’s punch line? Levi and I exchanged a look.
Buggy continued. “No, what I want right now is a brolly to shield me from the rain. But what I need is me best friend.”
Floyd put his arm around Buggy. “Blimey if I could’ve said it better me self.”
They headed back to their flat to open Christmas presents. There were a few more comical moments, but the entire episode left me reflective, pondering the difference between what you want and what you need.
Levi and I sat in silence for a few minutes while the credits played.
“Well.” Levi finally spoke. “That was unexpected. It was sort of deep.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was good, though.”
“It was …” Levi stared off into the distance.
I turned on the TV to watch the countdown to the New Year. We made small talk about the various singers and actors on TV.
Then it came to the countdown. Levi and I held out glasses of sparkling cider and clinked as confetti rained down in New York City.
“Happy New Year!” I leaned over and gave him a hug.
“Happy New Year!” His smile quickly vanished. “Hey, Macallan?”
Something about the tone of his voice set me on edge. “Yeah?”
“Do you want — I mean, do you need me to take you to the winter dance?”
That wasn’t what I was expecting. Although I really didn’t know what I should’ve expected.
“You know how I feel about high school dances.”
He smiled. “I certainly do, Floyd.”
I glared at him. “I don’t need to go.”
“Okay, but do you want to go?”
I nodded. “Sure, but I’m not going to go for the sake of going. If I find someone I want to go with, I’ll go. If I don’t, the sun will still rise the next day.”
“But I made you that promise,” he reminded me.
The promise. The one we made before high school about not letting one of us attend a function alone. That lasted for the first half of the year, then I started seeing Ian, and Levi started seeing Carrie. Then we weren’t really speaking. And now he was with Stacey.
“It’s okay,” I said. Because it was. Would I have fun with Levi at the dance? Of course. But that wouldn’t be fair to Stacey.
“Macallan?” Levi leaned toward me. “What do you want?”
It seemed like a simple question, but it wasn’t. With our history, it was as charged as a stick of dynamite. One wrong move and boom — our friendship would be in pieces.
Was this really a conversation we should be having when he was so vulnerable and I was so … ? I didn’t know what I was, besides confused.
“I know what I want.” I stood up. Levi looked expectantly. “Pie, I want some pie.”
I went upstairs. I studied my face in the kitchen window. I knew better. We both did.
We had both been burned before. There was no way I was going to play with that fire.
Do you know why I didn’t kiss you at midnight?
Because you valued your life?
That. And I didn’t know what you’d do. Probably run away to the Arctic.
You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?
Let me think…. Nope.
Figures.
Yeah, well, at least I have this one thing over you.
True.
And you have so much over me.
That’s because of your actions, not mine.
Whatever, Floyd.
Oh, you’re going to pay for that.
I have no doubt.
Oddly enough, starting off a new year with knee surgery wasn’t as bad an omen as I’d originally thought. I did get to miss the first week back at school, so no complaints from me on that one.
Sure, I was a huge pain after my injury because I was in so much pain. I went through my five stages of grief: I was mad, then upset, followed by angry, which blossomed into frustration, which eventually turned into depression.
But then Macallan came along, as she so often had, and wouldn’t put up with any of it. If I complained, she wouldn’t let up until I either got over myself or laughed. She carted me back and forth to school. Helped me with my books, cooked for me, did everything I needed, and she didn’t complain once. Unless, of course, I complained. Which was often.
There was something about her help that calmed me. I didn’t like having my mom fret over me. I didn’t want Dad to think I was soft, even though he understood the severity of my injury more than anybody. And I hated thinking that the guys felt they had to take care of me.
Oh, yeah, and Stacey. I liked having her around, but things with Macallan were different.
For a second, on New Year’s Eve, I thought she was going to tell me that what she wanted was me. That she wanted to kiss me. She only paused for a couple seconds, but in that short amount of time, I managed to get my hopes up to a ridiculous height.
She was one of the last people I saw before I was put under for my surgery, and one of the first people I saw when I woke up. She took the day off school to be with my parents and me. She brought me my homework all week and did these hilarious reenactments of stories involving my friends.