☆ halcyon girl - five ☆

☆ chapter 8 ☆

I woke up to Dylan laying down behind me with his arm around my waist. Memories of the night before came flooding back and I could feel myself getting happier. I twisted around so I was facing him.

He was still asleep. His breathing was even and he was drooling a little bit. I put my head on his chest and shut my eyes, breathing him in. I guess we were dating now. I looked back up to see his face and touched his stubble with the back of my hand. It was barely anything but it still pricked me. He woke up a little bit and looked at me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his face puffy and round from sleeping.

"Admiring you," I whispered. I snuggled back up with my head on his neck and he tightened his grip around me.

"It's nine am, do you think my parents are worried about me?" he asked.

I sighed. "Probably. You should call them. Or just go home, if you want."

"I don't want to go home, though. Hold on, I'll call them quickly. I'll just say I'm with Eric I guess." He let go of me and stood up. I watched him intently as he dug through his jacket to find his phone.

He called his parents and kept the conversation brief. From what I could tell, they weren't very concerned. He eventually hung up and walked back over to me. I sat up and he slung his arm around me. I noticed the tv was still on and it had returned to the title screen of the movie. I didn't really care.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while before I spoke up.

"You're my first kiss, you know."

He grinned. "You're mine, too."

Dylan and I spent the late morning making food and just talking. We were past all of the "you're incredible" stuff and just discussed our lives in general. I told him about Brenna and he told me about Eric and Nate and Brooks. I was sitting at the table as he was cooking something. He wouldn't tell me what it was.

"You gotta wait. I want it to be a surprise!" he called as I pestered him.

"Can you hurry up, then?" I smirked.

"Just a moment!"

A few minutes later, he stumbled in carrying two plates. The one he passed me had an omelette cut into a sloppy heart. I hid my face in my hands. I could hear Dylan setting his own plate on the other end of the table. Eventually, I started eating, wildly embarrassed but in a good way.

"This is good, Dyl," I said. He smiled to his plate.

"Good, I worked hard on it. I had no idea cutting eggs was so hard!" He shoved a forkful of the food into his mouth and I did the same.

Once we finished eating, we talked some more. I learned a lot more about him and it was fascinating. He loved baseball and music and video games and computers. He also had asked me to dinner at the end of the upcoming week.

It was almost eleven when we came to the collective decision that Dylan should finally go home. He had work at two pm and I didn't want to keep him around all day. Well, I wanted to, but I wasn't going to.

"Bye, Lily," he mumbled at the door. I pushed forward and hugged him. He wrapped one of his arms around me and used the other one to hold my head.

I looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said. He pecked my lips.

"See you tomorrow."

Dylan left and I watched out the window as he pulled away. I couldn't believe everything that had happened.

The first thing I did was call Brenna. She screamed. I talked to her for a while until I had to start packing for my dad's house. Whenever I visited my dad, it was for way less time than my mom. I didn't have many things at their house so whenever I visited I had to pack things up. I didn't bring much other than some clothes and my notebook and school things.

Around three pm, my mom got home. I was sitting on the couch next to my duffel bag of things. She looked at me silently but once she saw the bag she remembered.

"Give me a minute sweetie," she sighed. I nodded and hiked the bag up onto my shoulder. I sat in the passenger seat of her car, drumming my fingers against my leg.

The drive to my dad's was short but it felt like it lasted a long time. He lived in the suburbs of Englewood. He and Jan had a red bungalow that was smaller than my mom's house but had more bedrooms. My mom got the house in the divorce a few years back.

She pulled into the driveway and I saw her looking around at their house. I pulled my bag up from by my feet and looked at her.

"Bye, mom."

She snapped out of it and turned back to me. "Oh. Bye, baby." She pulled my head to hers and hugged me.

I got out of the car and knocked on their front door. My mom waited until Jan opened the door and hugged me, waving to her. She didn't wave back.

"Hey, dad," I said as I saw him sitting at the table doing his work. He got up and came over to hug me.

"Hey, princess." He kisses the top of my head. "How's school going? Keeping up the good grades?"

"Yeah." That was partially a lie, I was doing well overall but I had just gotten a 72 on a test.

"Good. I'll let you get settled in. We might be going out for dinner tonight, by the way."

"Okay, thanks, Dad," I replied as I walked over to my room and closed the door.

Back at my mom's place, I had a queen sized bed, but here, I had a twin. I didn't mind, it was just that I had gotten so used to sprawling out at night. I put my bag on top of the dresser and sat on the bed, looking around. There was a picture of the three of us propped up on the nightstand. Jan must have added that. I made a note to myself to get a picture of or with Dylan to put up.

Around five, my dad drove us out to dinner. I ordered pasta but I didn't eat much of it. I wasn't that hungry, anyway.

When we got back home, I saw Dylan had tried to call me a few minutes ago. I sat on my bed and called him back. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"Hey, Lily." His voice was smooth and gave me butterflies.

"Hey! You called?"

"Oh, yeah. Just wanted to talk, I got off work an hour ago."

"Okay. What's up?"

"I was just thinking about you. Like, all day."

"Oh, really? And why would you do that?"

"Shut up." I laughed.

"I'm at my dad's house, now."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Where does your dad live?"

"Englewood. It's not a huge drive but I can't bike to school anymore."

"Well I could always pick you up."

"My dad normally drives me but maybe."

"Come on, it'd be fun. Carpool party."

"Maybe. I'll ask."

"Good."

"How are things with you?"

"Fine. I was just on the phone with Eric planning things."

"Planning what?"

He paused. "Just thinking about the senior prank. Eric's really excited."

"That's a way's away but fun."

We talked for almost an hour before he had to hang up. It was nine at night and I still had to take a shower so it was probably for the best. I gave him my address so he could come to get me in the morning. My dad would probably appreciate it.

I took a shower and laid out my clothing for the next day. It was still warm outside but gradually getting cooler. I fell asleep and dreamt of Dylan, still amazed by how it had only been 24 hours.