The Exception by Brittany Wynne

her about the waitress I couldn’t keep from laughing when she said, “That bitch!” I told Maya how Jake wouldn’t pay any attention to her and how he made a show of grabbing my hand when exiting the restaurant. I waited for her to tell the guys to shut up so she could finish listening to my story. Then, I heard Gabe grumble in the background, shortly followed by a door slamming. Before telling me to go on, Maya told me not to worry about it and that he had been in a bad mood all night. I thought about Gabe briefly but quickly decided that I was not going to let him ruin my good mood and continued telling Maya about my date. She practically screamed when I told her how he kissed me.
    “Wow, Em, he is too much. And the way he kissed you, it’s like something you’d see in a movie. I was still drooling over the ice cream thing, then you tell me about that. Oh, he’s good!”
    “I know, right! I don’t know what it is about him, but he makes me feel…”
    “Horny.”
    “Maya! Oh my God!”
    “I’m just sayin’. I wasn’t even there and that boy…”
    “Wow. Really? Stop.”
    Maya busted out laughing.
    “So when do you think he’ll call you again?” she finally asked, once she had composed herself.
    “Actually, he asked if he could see me tomorrow.”
    “Shut up! What did you say?”
    “Well…he may be coming over tomorrow when the boys do.”
    “Shut up, shut up!” she screamed.
    In the background, I heard Ryan yell something about not being able to hear the end of the movie that she was making them watch. I could practically feel her roll her eyes when she said she had better go.
    After I hung up with Maya, I went into my bathroom to get ready for bed. As I walked out, my phone beeped. It was a message from Jake saying he couldn’t wait to see me tomorrow. I had just texted him back, when my window opened.
    “From the smile on your face, I bet I could guess who that was,” Gabe said, clearly annoyed.
    I tossed my phone on my bed, then folded my arms. “What are you doing here, Gabe? It’s late.” I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to come over and take out his bad mood on me. Even though I was pretty sure I was the cause of it. Wait. Why am I feeling guilty?
    “Oh, so you get a boyfriend and now you can’t hang out with your actual friends?” he uttered harshly, before storming into my bathroom.
    “Seriously? Why are you acting like this? And you better keep it down before my parents hear you,” I snapped, following him into the bathroom.
    “Why am I acting like what?” he shot back.
    “Like this, like a dick,” I said angrily.
    All of a sudden the scowl on Gabe’s face softened and a smile threatened his face. “Like a dick?”
    First he stormed into my room, then he picked a fight with me, and now he’s mocking me and suddenly not angry? “What the heck, Gabe? I can’t handle your mood swings tonight.”
    “Like a dick?” he repeated. This time not trying to hide his smile.
    “Yes, like a dick. What could possibly be so funny about that?”
    “That’s just not something I’d expect to hear coming from you. Maya, yes. But not you.”
    I thought about it for a second, then let out a small laugh. That was definitely something Maya would say.
    “Gabe, what are we doing? I don’t want to fight with you.”
    “I don’t know. I’m sorry for acting like a ‘dick’,” he said smiling and stepping closer to me. “Can you forgive me?”
    He was giving me his best pouty face, so I threw my hands up in the air. “Fine, but don’t you ever barge in here acting like that again,” I spoke as sternly as I could.
    “Oh yeah?” he challenged with a cocky smirk.
    “Yeah,” I said matter-of-factly, placing both hands on my hips.
    “Well, we’ll see about that,” he uttered under his breath. Then, before I even realized what was happening, Gabe had me in his arms and was settling down in the bowl chair with me on his lap.
    We sat there quietly, just looking at each other