Teach Me (GxG)

Nineteen

If anyone told me I would be having a sleepover at Wesley's house with Noah, I would have called them crazy.

Hell, I felt crazy for agreeing to be here. This feeling of dread in my stomach was hard to fight. My heart could not rest, no matter how much I tried to keep my cool.

I looked over at Noah, who sat across from me at the dining room table. Seriously, is this real life?

"Finally, our pizza's here!" Wesley placed two boxes of pizza on the table. Why did he buy two pizzas when it was only three of us? Knowing him, he could probably eat a whole pizza to himself with no problem. Being able to eat so much and still be that toned should count as sorcery.

Wesley took a seat next to me, getting comfortable. "I hope pizza is okay, Noah. I know you're probably tired of eating pizza at Charlie's all the time."

Noah smiled.  Lately, she smiled a lot. I liked seeing her smile; it was nice. "No, this is perfect. Thank you so much." She diverted her attention towards me ."And thank you Peyton. It's so nice of you both to invite me to a sleepover."

Now it was my turn to smile. Before I could speak, Wesley interjected, "You know, Peyton and I are so happy to hear that. Peyton would come up to me and be like 'Wesley we should have a sleepover with Noah ate your house' and I couldn't refuse."

As fast as my smile appeared, it faded away. I kicked his leg, thankful that the table hid the assault. He stifled a groan, but I ignored it and ate my pizza.

"Oh! I almost forgot." He nudged my arm, pointing to his pantry. "I have a bottle of tequila, pure blue agave from Mexico. Did you want to try some?"

I rolled my eyes. It was annoying how he knew me so well. After all, I was a self-proclaimed tequila girl. I stared towards the pantry, thinking about how nice it would be to have some right now.

Suddenly, my mind wandered to the time I offered Noah beer at a party. Then, my mind wandered to the time when she helped me through a hangover. Soon, my mind wandered to the time she cried in my arms after revealing that her mom died of alcohol poisoning. Yet here I was with alcohol at my fingertips again.

I reached for the soda instead, pouring some in my cup. "Tequila is so last year. I think I'll stick with this for now."

"But didn't you ju-"

I kicked his leg again. "Just hurry up and eat your food."

After we finished our pizza, we moved to the living room. Wesley had the great idea of building a couch fort with pillows and blankets. As we worked on that, we talked about pretty much anything that came to our minds.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Wesley draped another blanket over the sofa, "you actually tried sneaking into the gorilla enclosure at the zoo?"

Noah grinned, nodding her head yes.

Wesley erupted into laughter, forgetting about the masterpiece we were building and instead focused on catching his breath. "I've done some weird shit but seriously, what the hell?"

"I only wanted to give them a hug," she reasoned, holding back her own laughs, "I was four."

"Don't feel too embarrassed. One time Peyton and I were swinging and she jumped off mid air and sprained her leg. I guess it's a kid thing to want to endanger yourself."

"At least I was being adventurous. You have a permanent scar from trippin on air and colliding with the concrete."

We all burst into laughter. We laughed on and on for forever. It prolonged the time it took to complete our fort, but we didn't mind.

After a while, our fort was done. Wesley's living room was almost unrecognizable. Pillows and blankets were everywhere and complimented by the string lights that traced over the entire structure.

Noah and I took our seats on the sofa while Wesley had the entire floor to himself. We were now in phase two of the sleepover: movie time.

Wesley told me that he would be playing my favorite movie "in honor of our first sleepover as a trio." However, when the film started, I found myself balling up my fists. Why the hell did he choose this movie?

Wesley thought it would be a good idea to put on the one movie that freaked me out. It was not a horror movie, but on of the characters used to give me nightmares as a child. It was this weird mutant thing that looked wrong and gross.

Of course, Wesley gave me a cheeky grin before continuing on watching the movie. I took a few deep breaths and prepared for when he finally popped up on screen. I am strong. I got this. I am Peyton Wright, I should not get scared by a stupi-"

I could no control the "Ahh!" that left my mouth once he appeared on screen. I grabbed a pillow and covered my face. I have officially seen enough.

Noah inched closer, placing a hand on my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yep, I'm peachy," I said, my face not leaving the pillow.

She moved closer, closing the small gap between us. She used her free hand to rub my head, reassuring me that everything would be okay.

Before, I could say my heart was beating fast because of this old stupid movie, but that was not the only reason I felt this way now.

I hoped she was looking at the movie and not at me. My rosy ears were a dead giveaway of how I was feeling in that moment. My attempts to calm down were fruitless.

Suddenly, Wesley's phone rang. I heard his footsteps as he stepped out to take the call. After a minute, I could no longer hear the movie playing. I raised my head from the pillow. She paused the movie.

"How are you feeling?" Her eyes were wide and tense, the lights reflecting off her pupils.

I sighed. "About that terrible movie I had to endure? Not good." I shifted my body and propped my arm on the sofa. My head rested on my hand. "Having a sleepover with you and Wesley is nice, though."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. No beanie adorned her head today. "I thought you'd hate the idea of sleeping with me after that time I accidentally fell asleep in you room."

Oh, yeah. That did happen. I furrowed my eyebrows. "How did you end up in my bed anyway?"

She sat up, twiddling her thumbs. "Wesley invited me to that big Halloween party because he had a surprise for me. By the time I got there, I couldn't find him and I saw you and you.." she paused before continuing,

"You were so drunk. I helped bring you home. I should have left after that, but.." she paused again, covering her face with her hands, "I wanted to make sure you would be okay. Instead, I fell asleep. I should have went home. I'm sorry."

I couldn't help the smile that creeped onto my face. Why is she so cute?

Being able to see her like this gave me an unexplainable feeling in my chest. Free of worries, free of ridicule, there was no better feeling.

For the first time in a while, I felt normal. I didn't have to think about social status, about Ruby, about my dysfunctional family. I could simply exist. I wonder if Noah felt the same.

At that moment, Wesley returned with a suitcase in his hand. My eyes widened. Trailing behind him was Rebekah, his older sister. Her eyes quickly met mine, stopping her in her tracks. My heart stopped and my body froze in place. Why was she here?

"Sorry guys, is it okay if we add one more person to our slumber party?"

A/N: Uh oh,Wesley's sister Rebekah has come into the picture, but it doesn't seem like Peyton's too happy about it. I wonder what the rest of night is going to look like for them?