For a Boy

Chapter 8

A few days later, the day we had to leave for California, I woke up with arms wrapped around me. My face was buried into someone's chest. Inhaling, I was immediately comforted knowing that it was just Dwayne. Wait a minute. I pulled away from the warmth of my boyfriend and looked up at him. He was looking down at me with his eyes half open.

"G'mornin', honey." He said to me in his sleepy morning voice.

"Mornin', sweetie." I replied, my voice soft and my throat dry and scratchy. Dwayne sat up and handed me a bottle of water that I quickly chugged half of. "When did you get in here?"

"You don't remember?" He asked. I shook my head, confused. He sighed, scooting closer to me and bringing me to lay on his chest. "You had a nightmare last night, baby. A really bad one. You woke up screamin'." He softly brushed his fingers through my curls. "I heard you from across the hall and damn near busted the door down when Julie opened it to let me in." I thought back to last night, vaguely remembering him and Julie in here before passing out.

"I'm sorry, honey." I hugged him tightly. "I didn't wake anyone else up, did I?" His hand stopped for a second before continuing. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, baby. You woke up everybody." I sighed and burrowed my face deeper into his chest. "It's ok, darlin'. It ain't your fault."

"It is. I knew this was gonna happen if I told somebody else about it and I went and told Charlie." I sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetpea."

"Baby, stop that. You can't help what happens when you tell people, but it's good that you talk about it sometimes." Dwayne began rubbing my back comfortingly. "And it's ok to talk about it." I sat up and looked at him.

"I know that, but I shouldn't have told him. Especially not right now. You guys have a game when we get to California." I sighed, getting out of bed. "I need to get ready to go. You should, too." I heard Dwayne shuffling on the mattress and arms wrapped around me from behind as I was grabbing some clothes to wear for the day. Dwayne pulled me toward him, my back flush against his chest.

"Evy?"

"Hmm?"

"Look at me, please." Dwayne sounded tired. He was probably up half the night tryin' to calm me down. I shook my head and tears fell from my eyes. "Why not?"

"I need to get ready to go," I lifted my head and looked at the wall. "and if I look at you I'm gonna start cryin' because you were probably up half the night tryin' to calm me down."

"Darlin', you're already cryin'. Just look at me." His voice was soft and comforting, tempting almost. "Please." I sighed and did as he asked, turning around and looking up at him. "You didn't keep me up half the night. I couldn't sleep very well last night before you screamed. After I got you calmed down, I slept like a damn baby holdin' you. It's not your fault I'm tired." He cupped my cheeks and wiped away my tears. "Besides, I can sleep on the plane. So, I promise, I'm just fine."

"But-"

"But nothing. Now, I'm gonna get you one of my shirts. Ok?" He asked and I just nodded. I followed him to the door and stood there as he went into his room, quickly walking out with a maroon sweater with yellow words on it. "Here ya go, baby." He placed a kiss on the crown of my head. "I'll see you in the lobby, honey."

"See you in the lobby." I stepped back into my room and shut the door, walking over to my bed. Julie was sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning, Evelyn." Julie yawned.

"Mornin', Julie." I took off my large t-shirt and traded it for Dwayne's maroon sweater. He had gotten this from our high school. It was a sweater for the hockey team he was on back home. The front said Crockett in bold golden letters with black trimming and a pouncing cougar. The back of it was bare. "Sorry for waking you up last night."

"It's alright, Evelyn. But what happened?" The girl asked. I sighed as I changed into a pair of tights, throwing a pair of cut-up shorts over them.

"Well, if me wakin' up screamin' was any indication, I had a nightmare last night." I threw my pjs into my suitcase and zipped it up. "But it's ok. I don't even remember what it was about."

"Is that why Dwayne had to sleep in here last night?" Julie got up and began getting ready as well. "I saw him and you walk toward the door." I walked into the bathroom.

"Yeah. He and my mama are the only ones that can get me back to sleep after a nightmare." I started brushing my teeth. "And I know that I woke up everyone else. Can you tell me what happened after I woke up? 'cause I don't remember a thing."

"Yeah, sure." Julie went on to tell me that she tried to calm me down herself, now realizing that it was a bad idea, everybody tried to come in to see what was wrong, and how Dwayne basically told everyone but Darla and her to piss off, including Mr. Tibbles.

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would do." I put my toiletries in the smaller bag and walked out of the bathroom. "Though he'd usually be nicer about it."

"Everyone was trying to come in to see if you were ok and I think it just pissed him off." Julie shrugged as she packed up her bags. "You started to really freak out when Ken, Dean, Luis, and Tibbles ran in here." I lowered my head.

"Of course, I did." I scoffed to myself. "Because why wouldn't I?"

"Is there something wrong, Evelyn?" Julie asked. I sighed.

"I don't like talkin' 'bout it much. It happened a long time ago. I will say that talkin' about it is the reason I get nightmares." I took the sheets and pillowcases off the bed and pillows and put them in a pile on the floor at the foot of the bed and grabbed my suitcase. "And that being around new boys makes me nervous." Julie just nodded her head and did the same with her bed.

"Alright." The two of us double-checked to see if we had everything, grabbed our room keys, and went down to the lobby to wait for the rest of the team. "Are you gonna be ok with sharing a room with me, Connie, and Darla in California?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. I've known Darla since I was a lil kid and you and Connie seem pretty cool. I'll be perfectly fine." I waved my hand at her. "And if I have another nightmare or somethin', I'll go find Dwayne in whatever room he's in."

"Alright. Just wanted to check." Julie smiled at me and I smiled back. Looking around I saw the boys, Darla, and Mr. Tibbles already down there, eating breakfast. As I went to walk with Julie to the line to get food, Dwayne called out to me.

"I already got you food, baby." He waved his hand at me, a piece of bacon in his hand. "C'mere." I waved goodbye to Julie and went and sat next to the twins. "I know you're probably not very hungry after last night so I didn't get you a whole lot." He slid a paper plate toward me and there was half a bagel with cream cheese, a small cup of strawberry yogurt, a few pieces of bacon, and a cup of apple juice. "Darla had the other half of the bagel." I looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you." Behind him, I saw the rest of the boys looking at me in worry. I looked down at my lap and grabbed the bagel, eating my breakfast. Dwayne placed his hand, palm up, on my thigh and I grabbed it with my free hand, the boy rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. Someone cleared their throat and I looked up, seeing Mr. Tibbles leaning toward me and Dwayne.

"Are you alright, Miss Moore?" the man asked. I nodded and swallowed my bite of the bagel.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for wakin' y'all up last night." I apologized, going back to my food and ignoring them all. One slip-up. You're fine, E.