Dweller of the Cave

Seven

The trip home was better than I thought. Mom got everyone pasta bowls from a restaurant I never heard of. Andy waited to share his with Ollie. Lucky the East Elementary schoolers didn't have school on Friday. The sky was pitch black when we got back.

We all went inside my house. Ollie ran over from next door to play in our living room. Mom turned on the lights and set her purse down on the ottoman. "'Kay, kids. You guys can do whatever, just don't make too much noise."

She walked down the hallway across the living room, which held the kitchen on the left and her bedroom on the right.

Mandy opened the mini pizza box with her pasta bowl. "I'm starving. Can we see upstairs?"

"Sure." I led them upstairs.

I didn't have to worry about my room being clean. In fact, I still have a few boxes lying around, and a lot of my stuff was in the closet. But I did have something else to worry about.

"Someone's in love," Mandy sneered. She pointed to a Backstreet Boys poster on the wall next to my bed.

"It's just a poster," I muttered. "I have others in my closet."

She noticed the Throw Away box next to my trash can. "What's that about?"

"Old... toys. I don't want them anymore."

"Did your little brother want them?"

"Not at all."

I felt a little stupid. I didn't even realize everyone was in different clothes, and my small brain thought it was the same day.

Mandy wore a black windbreaker with matching ripped jeans and combat boots, an excessive amount of zippers, and black lipstick. Griffin had the same red and black flannel and cuffed jeans from the last time I saw him.

I almost felt itchy realizing I wore jeans for nearly two days without changing.

Mandy sat on my bed and set her pasta bowl meal in her lap. I sat down next to her. Griffin sat in my computer chair. He glanced at his phone one last time and set it on the desk.

"Must be a really long article, huh?" I smirked.

"Twitter," he muttered.

"What, by Cosmopolitan?"

"Tumblr-I mean Twitter."

Mandy looked at my face and squinted her eyes. "You have red eyes?"

"No... they're brown. Like yours."

"Oh! Nevermind. It's normal again."

"Whoa. No way. Really?"

She laughed like an invisible person was tickling her.

"Hey, wait a minute," Griffin chimed in. "You drowned. How did you end up in the cave?"

"I dunno." I took a bite of my pasta. "I had a funny dream, though. A man with horns said my wishes were in the stars. That Aries pin I think is cursed."

"He what?"

"Griffin?" Mandy straightened her face. "Are you okay?"

He shifted in his seat. "Just sounds weird. Was it scary, Blaine?"

"N-No. It was kinda cool," I shrugged. "I'm fine, really."

"Maybe we shouldn't go to Murderkill tomorrow. At least not near the bridge. Or non-bridge I guess. I don't want anyone else drowning in that stupid pond."

Griffin sighed and picked up his phone.

Mandy took the last bite of her pasta bowl, then looked at her phone.

"It's getting late," she said. "I should probably head out now."

"Guess you're right." I slid off the bed. "I'll go downstairs with you. My mom can take you home."

"It's okay. I'll ask her myself. Thanks for everything."

"You too. I'll throw this away."

She got off the bed and put on her shoes. It was strange seeing someone else in my room besides Andy and Mom.

"Bye bye, Blaine." She waved from the door.

"See you tomorrow." I closed the door behind her.

Griffin jolted up quickly from the computer chair. His phone slipped from his hands, but he swooped it up before it crashed.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," he faltered. "Just nervous."

"Oh, I mean, you can head home if you want. I'm nervous, too."

"Sorry. I just haven't been in someone else's room in a while. Especially someone from school."

That made me smile for some reason. Knowing he was nervous, too. I shifted my gaze to the lamp near the door. Griffin walked towards my bed, and stopped right in front of me.

"Blaine, are you..." he hid his hands behind his back and scanned my face with his darting eyes.

My eyes went wide.

"Are you scared?" he finished. "You almost drowned and all. And the cave? Doesn't that freak you out?"

"I-"

"I can stay over if you want."

"No, Griff. Please don't worry about me. Focus on yourself, okay?"

I mustered a slight grin, but his frown and soft eyes made it hard to keep up. He brought his hand up to my shoulder. I tripped back onto the bed, sitting up. I clutched onto the covers with trembling fists. His eyes widened, and his hand froze.

"Heh, weird." I heaved a dry laugh. "Must be the weather."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's just, we haven't known each other for that long. Maybe we should wait until we start t-touch-staying over."

"Hey, hold on-"

"I'm fine, Griffin."

I blinked away tears welling in my eyes. Griffin stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Call me," he whispered, "if you need anything."

"Okay," I said. "Thank you, Griff."

"You too."

He sighed and looked around my room. His frown faded, but he didn't seem relaxed either. He walked over to the door.

"See ya tomorrow." he waved.

"Yeah," I said. "You too."

He pretended his hand was a telephone, smiled, then gently closed the door.

I couldn't find the words to describe how I felt. A weird warmth hugged my body. I laid on my back. The corner of my mouth curled up, but I stopped myself from smiling fully.

I closed my eyes and imagined him touching my shoulder. Would I have flinched? Probably. But I don't think he would've minded.

Minutes passed like seconds, and soon enough, it was midnight. I changed into my pajamas. After I brushed my teeth and returned to my room, I saw a paper plate with a ham sandwich on my nightstand. Written on a pink sticky note in marker was "Andy".

When I finished eating, I made him a cheese sandwich and set it on his dresser.

The night carried on without a hitch: no weird dreams, nightmares, or strange noises. My pillows cushioned my head so well, I couldn't fathom how uncomfortable I probably was before. Air-conditioned room, light clothes... couldn't be better. And remembering that Griffin was in my room not long before filled me with so many feelings I couldn't sort out.