Fall from Love

night,” he says, totally catching me off guard. “It woke me up a few times.”
    “Yeah, well, you fell asleep on the couch with the T.V. on again,” I counter, hoping to turn the focus off myself. “How would you know if I was talking in my sleep anyway?”
    “After I went back up to my room, I had trouble falling back to sleep and I heard you whispering and mumbling, but I couldn’t understand any of it.”
    He arches his back and moans. “My back is killing me, man. I say we burn that couch. It’s the most uncomfortable thing to sleep on.”
    “Well that’s because it’s not to sleep on, moron. You have a bed for that.”
    He walks over to the sink and rinses his bowl. “Sleeping alone in my bed sucks now. Ever since Jenna and I’ve been together, it’s lonely without her.”
    I shake my head, hoping he doesn’t want to talk to me about his relationship with Jenna. I’m about to slip out of the kitchen, but I don’t make it in time.
    “Man, I’m not sure what it is about that girl, but I’m so whipped.” He turns around and leans up against the counter. “She’s… I don’t know, man. She’s just... freaking awesome.”
    My eyes roam the refrigerator for something quick so I can get out of here before he starts talking in detail. The only thing quick and easy I see is an apple.
    “So, I was thinking about inviting Holly and Jenna over for dinner this weekend. Is that cool with you?” He still has the fantasy idea in his head that we’re all going to get along. I know that he’ll never give up so I have no other choice but to agree to it.
    “Sure, man. Whatever.” I shrug and take a large chunk out of the apple. He still doesn’t know about the coffee I had with Holly yesterday, or the late night phone call from last night. The only reason I don’t tell him is because I know he’ll read too much into it.
    “Calm down, dude. Don’t get too excited about it.”
    What Josh doesn’t know, and what I would never tell him, is the second he says anything about inviting Holly and Jenna over, I get excited. My heart starts pounding in my chest just knowing that there is a possibility that I’ll get to see her face this weekend.
     
    HOLLY
    When I finally drag myself out of bed, I see Jenna standing at the stove and she’s cooking breakfast. I blink hard and wonder if what I’m seeing is real. One, Jenna’s never up before me, and two, she never makes breakfast... ever.
    “Finally.” She turns at the waist to look at me. “Geez, late night? You have some major bags under your eyes.”
    Actually, yeah, it was a late night. I think it was after two in the morning by the time Carter and I got off the phone with each other. I slide onto a bar stool and prop my elbows up on the counter. “That smells so good,” I say as my stomach growls.
    She turns to me and smiles. “Yeah, it’s something Josh was talking about the other day and I thought I’d try it out.”
    “What is it?” I lean forward and glance in the pan she’s tending.
    “It’s called a frittata.” She shrugs. “I’m not sure how it will turn out, but it does smell good.”
    It’s still weird for me to see her cooking; however, it’s just one of the many things that have rubbed off on her since she’s been dating Josh. Reaching over the counter, I grab my laptop to check my emails and see what time we’re supposed to be at the skydiving facility.
    Maybe telling her about skydiving will go better than I thought. She seems to be in a good mood; normally, she’s pretty grumpy until noon.
    “Have you ever thought about freefalling at two hundred miles per hour?” I ask casually, holding my breath, waiting for her reaction.
    “Uh… no. Have you?” Her voice sounds uneasy.
    “Yeah, it sounds like fun.”
    “I always knew you were weird.” She sighs.
    “Come on, I’m serious.” I laugh.
    “Yeah, so am I.”
    I groan and sit up farther on the stool, knowing that this is going to be just as hard as I thought it would be. “Think about it for a minute. It could be fun.” My voice is teetering on the edge of begging, but I am so desperate for her to join me that I will beg if I need to.
    She twirls around, pulls open the refrigerator door, and then looks up at the ceiling as if she’s deep in thought. “Thought about it and it’s still a no... Actually, make that a hell no. It holds no appeal to me.” She pulls out a container of sliced mushrooms and throws them into the pan.
    “I hear that you get