Movie Night - Jay

It was Friday, and despite my usual excitement for movie nights with my gang of friends, tonight carried an undercurrent of something different. For one thing, Tara had insisted on hosting at her place. That wasn't unusual—she loved playing hostess—but the vibe felt slightly off, like something unspoken was simmering beneath the surface. Maybe it was the fact that Sam would be there too.

I walked into her living room to find the usual chaos unfolding. The air was warm, alive with chatter and laughter, the kind that instantly made you feel at home. The TV was off, a stack of games teetering precariously beside it, while everyone huddled around the coffee table. They weren't just casually hanging out—they were engaged, leaning in, talking over one another, the kind of scene that made you want to dive right in.

Tara, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, beamed when she spotted me. "Jay! You made it!" Her voice rang out over the noise, and the group fell momentarily quiet as they all turned to greet me with warm smiles.

I waved, feeling the familiar comfort of being around my friends. But tonight, there was an addition to the group dynamic—Sam. He stood near the door, looking slightly awkward but holding a polite smile. It was subtle, but I could tell he felt a little out of place. Still, there was something genuine in the way he rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Hey, everyone," his voice low but steady.

Tara wasted no time. She hopped up from her spot on the floor and waved him over dramatically. "Sam! Come on in. You're part of the gang now. No backing out!" She added a playful wink, and Sam chuckled, his shoulders visibly relaxing as he stepped further into the room.

The others were quick to include him, the conversation flowing naturally, and the occasional joke lightening the mood. It was a relief, honestly, to see how easy it was for them to accept him into the fold. I'd worried there might be some awkwardness—some unspoken tension about who he was or why he was here, especially since he ran off at bowling—but my friends were pros at making people feel welcome.

I slid into my usual spot on the floor next to Alex, who gave me a pointed look as Sam settled down a little farther across the circle. "Well, well," Alex muttered under his breath, raising an eyebrow. "This is new."

"Shut up," I whispered back, nudging him with my elbow, conscious he knew my secret.

Alex grinned but kept his mouth shut for the moment, though I knew he wouldn't stay quiet for long.

As the group settled, the attention naturally shifted to Sam. "So, Sam," Alex said, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in his eye, "how's football? Any more funny stories for us yet?"

I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Alex, we're just here for a chill night, remember? You don't have to interrogate him."

Alex raised his hands in mock innocence. "I'm just trying to be friendly! Getting to know the new guy is, like, rule number one of the gang, beside we didn't really get much chance at bowling."

Eli chimed in, leaning back against the couch with a smirk. "Yeah, Jay, don't be such a buzzkill. Besides, Sam, you've gotta tell us something interesting about yourself—something we can't Google."

Sam chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck again. "I don't know. I'm pretty average. Nothing wild to report."

Tara clapped her hands together, cutting through the chatter with a sudden burst of energy. "Okay, forget the movie. Monopoly, anyone, like when Eli joined our group, it was way more fun that sitting in silence watching a film right?"

The room collectively gasped, half in disbelief, half in excitement. No one ever suggested board games on movie nights—it was practically sacrilegious—but Tara was clearly determined to shake things up.

Alex groaned dramatically, leaning back and throwing an arm over his face. "Monopoly? On a Friday? This is chaos. This is anarchy. This is against the movie night rules!"

But his protests were half-hearted at best, and as Tara began pulling the game from a nearby shelf, he was the first to volunteer as banker. "Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles with exaggerated flair. "If we're doing this, I'm the banker. And that means, if any of you mess up, you'll have to deal with me."

"Great," Eli muttered, already claiming the top hat as his piece. "The last time Alex was banker; he embezzled half the bank by the second turn."

Alex gasped in mock offense. "That's slander, and I'll see you thrown in jail on round 1."

As the board unfolded and the pieces were distributed, the atmosphere shifted again, becoming more intimate, more alive. Sam hesitated before choosing the race car, and I caught him glancing at me, his smile faint but genuine.

"You good?" I asked softly, leaning over to hand him his starting cash.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "This is... nice. Different, but nice."

His words warmed something in me, a quiet reassurance that tonight might be the beginning of something good—not just for him, but for all of us. As the dice rolled and the game began, the laughter and teasing filled the room, louder than before, carrying with it the promise of a night none of us would forget.

We all laughed as the game began, and it quickly turned into something much more interesting than the typical Monopoly. Tara, always the creative one, came up with a fun twist. "Okay, if anyone gets the 'Go to Jail' card," she declared, "you have to tell us a secret about why you're in jail. The rest of us get to decide if it's a good enough secret for you to get out. And also, you get —500 Monopoly pounds for your trouble."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes," she answered, grinning. "And Alex is judge and jury and has overall say on the story, of course."

"I'm the supreme authority here," Alex declared, sitting back smugly, as if he had somehow earned the position.

The first one to go to jail was Morgan. She pulled the card, landing on a chance square and the room fell silent for a moment.

"Alright, Morgan," Alex said, his tone serious. "Why are you in jail?"

Morgan sat up straight, her face suddenly serious. She cleared her throat. "Alright. You remember the last time we played monopoly and Alex was protesting for having to pay so much for landing on Mayfair?" Morgan paused momentarily, "well I might have stolen an extra house from the box and put it on there to raise up the price"

We all burst out laughing, and even Alex had to admit it was a pretty secret. "Alright, Morgan, you're out on bail. I'm giving you a bonus 500," he said, handing her the Monopoly money with a smile "but I'm keeping a close eye on the houses this time"

Next up was Eli. He managed to get three doubles in a row meaning it was a trip to the slammer, unless he could impress Alex with his tale.

"Well," he said with a smirk, "I once weighed my carton at the pick-and-mix candy station. I'm a fiend when it comes to sweets, and I couldn't resist the jelly beans so I added another scoop after printing the weight out." He held up his hands in mock surrender.

Alex paused for a moment, clearly considering. "Nah. I want juicy gossip," he said, shaking his head. "You're staying in jail, Eli. No bail for you!"

Eli groaned, but we all laughed at his misfortune. "Wait till you land on my hotel I'll charge you double!"

Finally, it was Sam's turn. He drew the Go to Jail card, and he hesitated for a moment, looking unsure.

"Come on, Sam," Tara urged him. "You've gotta tell us why you're in jail. No skipping out."

The room quieted as Sam looked around, his eyes shifting from one face to another. Finally, he took a deep breath.

"I... uh," he started, then stopped himself. We all leaned in, waiting for him to continue. "I kissed Jay," he finally blurted out. "And when everyone found out, they sent me to jail."

There was a moment of silence before everyone exploded into cheers. I felt my face heat up, but at the same time, my heart swelled with a mix of relief and happiness. It felt so freeing to finally hear it out loud. Sam held my paw in his, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand, making my heart race all over again.

"You heard him!" Alex said, holding his hands up in mock judgment. "Guilty as charged! But I already knew, of course. So im happy it's finally out there."

We all cheered again, as the rest of the group started quizzing Alex on how he knew, and how long he known with Sam having to tell the group about the hallway incident, the energy in the room shifting into something lighter, something more comfortable. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn't hiding anything.

As the night wore on and we finished the game, everyone slowly started to leave. Tara gave me a knowing look as she helped me clean up the game pieces.

When the last of our friends had filtered out the door, leaving the house in a cozy quiet, Tara flopped down beside me on the couch. She was holding a mug of tea she'd made for herself during the clean-up, her fingers curled around the ceramic like it was anchoring her thoughts. I could tell something was on her mind; her usual bubbly energy had softened into something more introspective.

"So," she said finally, her voice quieter than usual, "how did you and Sam realize you were more than just friends?"

I blinked at her, caught off guard by the directness of her question. She smiled softly, her eyes searching mine, and I realized she genuinely wanted to know.

"Well," I began, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips as my thoughts drifted to Sam. "For me, it wasn't just one moment. It was a lot of little things that added up. The way he looks at me sometimes, like I'm the only person in the room. Or how he'd sit close enough that our arms or legs would touch accidentally, and then we'd both freeze and stare at each other, like we weren't sure what to do next."

Tara's expression was encouraging, her head tilted slightly as she listened.

"And," I continued, a slight blush creeping up my neck, "there was this one time we were play-fighting, and then... somehow, we just kissed. It felt natural. Like it had been waiting to happen all along."

Tara's thoughtful nod told me she understood. "Yeah, I can see that. Sometimes, it's not about a big, dramatic moment. It's about all the tiny ones that make it obvious when you look back."

She paused, her fingers tapping the side of her mug. "I might have to confess something too," she said, her tone hesitant but with a hint of a smile.

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What is it?"

"I think I might have feelings for Alex." She blurted the words out quickly, her cheeks flushing as she glanced down at her lap.

I stared at her, momentarily stunned. Tara wasn't the type to spill her feelings easily—she usually played her cards so close to her chest it was hard to tell what she was thinking. But as I thought about it, it made sense. Tara and Alex had always had a dynamic that felt just a little... extra. Their playful back-and-forth was too sharp, too full of grins and meaningful glances, to be completely innocent.

"Wow," I said finally, smiling at her. "I guess you two are kind of like Sam and me, huh? I mean, you're always teasing each other, and let's be honest, some of those jabs are borderline flirting."

She laughed softly, the sound a little self-conscious. "Maybe. I don't know. It's just... every time he's around, I feel this pull. Like I want to be near him, even when he's annoying the hell out of me. And when he's not here, I catch myself missing him, which is ridiculous because it's Alex. You know how he is—loud, chaotic, always making a scene. But there's this other side to him too, and when I see that side, it gets to me."

I nodded, a warmth spreading through my chest that had nothing to do with the conversation itself. It felt good to have this moment with Tara, to talk openly about things we were both navigating in our own ways.

"You should tell him," I said after a moment, my voice soft but sincere.

She gave me a sceptical look. "And ruin the friendship if he doesn't feel the same? No thanks. I think I'll just wait it out and see what happens. Besides," she added with a grin, "I don't need him getting a bigger ego than he already has."

I laughed at that, shaking my head. "Fair. But seriously, if he does feel the same, you'd want to know, right? I mean, that's how it was with Sam and me. I wasn't sure at first, but the more time we spent together, the more it just... clicked."

Tara leaned back against the couch, her expression thoughtful. "I don't know. Maybe one day. For now, I'm just glad I can talk to you about it."

"Same here," I admitted, smiling at her. "It's nice to have someone who gets it. This whole figuring-things-out thing is a lot less scary when you're not doing it alone."

She nodded, and for a while, we just sat there in companionable silence. The warmth of the moment lingered, the kind of unspoken understanding that only came with close friendships.

Finally, Tara broke the quiet with a mischievous grin. "By the way, don't think I didn't notice how red your face got when you were talking about Sam earlier. You've got it bad."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, well, maybe I do. But I think it's worth it."

"Definitely," she said, her smile softening. "And who knows? Maybe Alex and I will get there someday too."

The thought of both of us navigating relationships with people we cared about filled me with a quiet kind of hope. Whatever happened next, at least we had each other to figure it out with.