Hot Starry Nights

1:3 ~ Howard

  When I wake up the sun is shining. Shit. I wanted to check on Nat. Why didn't I wake up again? I always wake up again. What time is it?

  I get up to check my phone, but someone already is. "Shit! Nat! Why do you always sneak up on me? And why are you in my bed?!" He smirks at me.

  "That's a funny question from the person who drug me in here at four in the morning."

  Excuse me, what? When did I- How- I don't remember- Fuck. Why must I have so many sleep problems? Damn sleepwalking.

  "You know I sleepwalk! Why didn't you go back to the couch?"

  "This is your fault, not mine! You drug me in here at four in the morning and laid on top of me like I was a mattress! I couldn't even move, and when I woke up, I didn't know how to leave without waking you! I know sleep is important for you, so . . . I just left you. And will you please stop yelling in my ear?"

  I sigh. This is my fault. At least he understands it wasn't on purpose.

  "Crap, I'm sorry. What time is it?"

  "11:42."

  "Is it even worth going to school? Half the day is over, and it's not like we were gonna do anything anyway. We should just watch some more shitty movies."

  He says alright, so we go to the kitchen to find some snacks. We end up microwaving popcorn and eating cereal. It's been a while since I've gone shopping, so there's not much in the cabinets right now. I wonder if Nat would want to-

  A buzzing sound interrupts my thoughts. It's Ember.

  "Hey, what's up?"

  "Hey! Are you not at school today? Raiden texted me saying he can't find you."

  "No, I'm not here today. Are you there?"

  "No. So, um, why aren't you here? You sound like you just rolled out of bed. He said Nathan wasn't here either. Are y'all both at home today?"

  "Yeah, we stayed up too late and slept in."

  "Who, uh, I mean, what kept y'all up so late?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Too sore?"

  "What? No, why would we-"

  OH MY GOD. Heat rises to my face.

  "EMBER ITS NOT LIKE THAT I SWEAR-"

  Nat bursts into the room, looking frantic. "WARD! Are you ok?" He runs up to me and I drop my phone on the counter as he hugs me, looking at me up and down to check for anything that could've caused me pain. "I heard you yelling and-" He sees who I'm on the phone with and frowns. He mutes the call.

  "Why are you talking to her? And what were you talking about? What's not like what?"

  My face gets even hotter. I'm sure I'm a full blown tomato at this point.

  "Um, nothing. She just wants to know if we're going to the party on Friday."

  "Well, we are, so you can hang up now."

  I tell Ember I'll call her back and we go watch the movie, this time Nat's sitting on the other side of the couch. He looks annoyed still, but there's something else on his face I can't recognize. Maybe it's anger? There has to be a reason he's sitting on the other side of the couch. I mean, it doesn't matter, he can sit wherever he wants to. It doesn't bother me. Nope. It doesn't.

  As the day fades, I decide we need food. I order some pizza and ask Nat if he wants to come pick it up with me. He says no, and he looks pissed still. Should I have told him what Ember really said? Would it have mattered? I should tell him. Maybe then he'll understand. Or would that make it worse? What if he won't want to be friends anymore. I would understand, she basically called us gay when she thought we'd fucked last night. Heat rises to my face once again. It's because it's hot outside. What was so bad about that though? It was just a joke, right? We're just friends.

  I get back with the pizza and he's asleep. Good. He doesn't get enough sleep in the night anyway. Might as well sleep in the day. I don't have anything to tell him anyway. Nope. Not at all.

  I set the pizza in the oven so it stays warm while I wait for Nat to wake up. Soon I start falling asleep, but Nat looked really uncomfortable. I stayed awake in case he started shivering again. When he did, I gently woke him up and brought him water. I also brought him pizza, because it was way past dinnertime. If we even have one at this point.

  "What were you and Ember really talking about?"