Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
Shit.
What the fuck am I supposed to say? That there's a weird competition between them because there's a chance both of them like me (no matter how unlikely it is), so they both are living with me because they don't want me to be left alone with the other, and I have to have someone live with me because I'm a legal liability?
"I choose to plead the fifth." I answer with my hands raised in mock defense as Mike places a refill down.
"Objection!" Sam replies, a little too loud as always.
"Overruled!" Claire interjects while pointing at me. "You have to answer the questions if you're on the stand. You swore on a bible."
Hannah shakes her head, "Stop it. She's trying to distract you."
Leave it to Hannah to see through my devious ploys. "Harsh Hannah." I sigh before finally answering. "They are both staying with me right now?" I purposefully leave out the whole messy possible crush situation with both of them. One because it's not my business to tell, and two because it would just feed into Claire and Sammy's delusions.
There's a confused silence that falls over the table.
"Why?" Claire asks while stirring her milkshake.
I cross my arms over my body, my chest aching with anxiety just thinking out telling them. "I'm not allowed to live alone for a little while."
Understanding coated in pain and pity crosses the faces of three of my best friends. Without any more being said, we all understand why I can't be left alone.
"What about your family" Claire is the first person to break the silence.
I try not to scoff, they don't know much about my home life. Even Ali who has been my friend for years doesn't know about it. "My family isn't home much." My voice comes off more bitter than I planned on it being.
"Why don't you live with one of us!" Sam's optimism almost sways me, but I know that I can't stay with them. The only reason I'm letting those two live with me for a little bit is because I have more than enough means to have them stay with me. Other people aren't as lucky as I am. Maybe one of them could live with me?
Claire is the first to respond. "No way would you be able to stay at my house. And I think my mother would rather die than let me stay at your house. I had to lie to her to even go to the sleepover." Claire's mother hates me. She is a short, religious woman that is under the belief that I have the devil in my soul. I'm not sure why, because I have been nothing but sweet to her every time I've met her, but she hates me.
Sam frowns, "Shit. I didn't even think about that. My house is kinda off kilter at the moment and I can't leave because of my brothers." Sympathy fills my chest. Sam's parents are going through a divorce and between that and them having to spend so much time working, Sammy has to take care of her three younger brothers.
Sometimes I think that Sam acts like I kid with us because in her house she had to grow up too fast.
Claire turns to look at Hannah expectantly, who in turn almost bursts out laughing. "You're kidding. You think my parents would let me live in another person's house? I don't know if you forgot, but I wasn't even able to go to the sleepover."
I know that it frustrates Hannah how much her parents obsess over her. Moments like these are the only time she ever voices her distaste, but we all know.
I could ask Ali, but her family definitely doesn't have the means to take in another person. Her dad already works two jobs and they can barely stay afloat even with her mom's disability benefits.