Hot Starry Nights

1:2 ~ Howard

  The bell rings and everyone heads to their lockers. I grab my stuff and wait by the doors for Nat. Now that I'm alone again, I can't stop thinking about what he said. Mostly I'm wondering why he needed to know if my parents were home. I wonder if it has something to do with- "Shit! Dammit Nat!"

  "Did I scare you?"

  "OH, I WONDER."

  "Enough of your sarcasm, I need your help."

  He grabs my hand and suddenly we're running. We just keep running and running, down alleys and paths and roads until we can't run anymore. I flop down onto the grass, with him soon following, gasping for breath. "So what do you need help with? Why did we have to run? I don't think I've ever needed breath this badly in my life."

  "Wow, you must be out of shape."

  "We're both out of breath!"

  "Shh. This is about you owing me."

  "Yeah, ok. What do you want?"

  "Do you know who Griffon is?"

  "The senior? What do you need that has to do with him?"

  "There's a party at his place, and it's this Friday."

  "Why not the next? Then it would be the last week of school."

  "I'm not sure. But I want to be there, and I'll need your help."

  "How will I be roped into your shenanigans today?"

  "I need you to tell my parents I'm staying at your house this weekend."

  This probably isn't a good idea. Griffon's parties always end poorly from what I've heard. And we're only fifteen! His parties usually have alcohol there. I don't want to deal with a drunk Nat. Although I'm sure he'd be adorable.

  "Ward. WARD. WARD!"

  "WHAT?!"

  "I was trying to say that it's getting cooler out here. And darker. Let's head to your house."

  Once we're at my house, we decide to watch a movie. It's usually what we end up doing when we're at my house, it's easy and entertaining.

  I wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight. I always get some, but usually very little. I honestly don't know how I haven't dropped dead yet. I need to try and get some more before the party; I have to bring Nat back in case he gets drunk or something.

  When the movie is over, we decide to take a break and try to make some brownies. Neither of us are very good at baking, so we just use a box mix from the store. When they're done, we curl up on the couch with the brownies. I have my legs on Nat's and the brownies are on his lap. We start another movie, and another, and another. We just keep watching movies.

  When I start feeling sleepy, I pick up my phone to check the time. It's 2 am. I need sleep, but I want to finish the movie, so I don't go to bed yet. I look at Nat to see if he's tired. He's looking at the tv, but he's falling asleep.

  "Hey, if you're falling asleep, we should go outside for a minute. It might wake you up."

  "Shut the fuck up Ward, I'm tired."

  "Do you really want to fall asleep like this? I don't think you should."

  "Why not? I'm comfy."

  "I'm almost sitting on you, that's why."

  He pulls his legs from under me and pulls me down. Now I'm laying next to him and he has his arms around my waist like a hug. "Nat, this is not what I meant. I meant maybe I should go to bed and leave you on the couch."

  "Shut the fuck up. Let me sleep. This is more comfortable."

  "What?" My words come out of my mouth at a whisper. I start blushing, and I push on him. I try to get up, but he's already asleep. I don't know what to do now, so I just lay there, and eventually fall asleep.

○○○○○○○○○○○

  I wake up and Nat is shivering. He's squeezing me and I can barely breathe, so I try to push him away. That doesn't work, so I start telling him to wake up. He finally wakes up, but tears fall from his eyes. He looks scared, and he was still shivering, but less violently.

  I get up and check the time. It's a little past three, so we weren't asleep for very long. I go to the kitchen to get Nat some water, and he's sitting up now. I hand him some water and start to go to bed.

  He's been like this for years, so I've gotten better at handling it. I know that he hates talking about it, so I just leave him alone. I fall asleep on my bed, and decide to check on him next time I wake up.