I got to Brian's house at 10:45. He lived a considerable distance away from my house, but it was an easy commute at this time of night. Brian fell asleep in the car and somewhere along the drive his head fell onto my shoulder. I left it there, not wanting to wake him. I pull into his driveway and park the car. Gently, I move his head off my shoulder and shake his shoulder.
"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up, you're home." Slowly, Brian opens his eyes.
"Hm? What time is it?" He asks sleepily. It's so cute! What is going on with me? I hated him earlier today and now I think he's cute? Someone help me!
"It's 10:50, you have ten minutes until you're officially late, ho-- Brian." Did I really almost call him 'hon'? Yes, I did! I need major medical assistance, I think I might be crazy. I get out of the car, go around, and open his door. I take his hand and pull him out of the front seat. I walk up the front steps, still holding his hand so he doesn't fall over. He tries to unlock the door, but he's still half asleep. I take the keys from him and open the door.
"Cassie?" Brian mumbles. The house is dark and quiet. His parents must have gone to bed already.
"Yeah?" I whisper, in case someone is still awake.
"Will you... Can you stay with me tonight?" He asks. I'm pretty sure he's still delirious with sleep. I don't know why, but I feel responsible for him, like I would feel bad if anything happened to him.
"Okay, just let me tell my dad," I say quietly. I pull out my phone and text dad: Hey, staying the night at Brian's, he can give me a ride in the morning. He's still a little sleepy, I don't want him to get hurt. I hit send and Dad's reply is almost instant: Sure, just call me in the morning. Sounds like you really care about this guy. I roll my eyes and text: He's just a friend Dad, I just don't want him to fall down the stairs in the middle of the night.
I lead Brian up the stairs, and then he wakes up enough to lead me to his room. It's at the very end of the hall, a large room painted midnight blue with white and blue drapes. He seems hesitant before he speaks.
"You can take the bed, I'll just grab a pillow and sleep on the floor." He has hardwood floors in his bedroom. They won't be forgiving, I bet he'll have a crick in his next tomorrow.
"Nonsense. You take your bed, and I'll stay up until you fall asleep, and then I'll go sleep on the floor."
"Fine," he says, too loopy with sleep to resist. He flops down on his bed and I perch on the edge by his feet.
"Are you okay in there?" I ask him, but he's already fast asleep.
I stay up for a while after, not able to bring myself to sleep in his room, a place I've never been to before. I stretch out on his bed, a more comfortable position. He looks so peaceful in his sleep, so innocent and un-ruined. Suddenly, I flash back to earlier this afternoon, the long scar that disappears into the waistband of his shorts. I roll towards him.
"Good night," I whisper. I roll over again and sit up on his bed, meaning to go lay on the floor.
The next thing I know, an alarm is going off. I smack the snooze button, and someone rustles the sheets. The bed springs up again, with less weight on it.
I groan and open my eyes. Where am I? I see Brian in the corner pulling on a different shirt-- wait, BRIAN?
I roll over and make a small noise. Brian immediately turns around.
"Um, hi," he says.
"Good morning," I say. "What the heck happened and what am I doing in your room?" I ask.
"You must've fallen asleep here. I asked you to stay last night after you took me home, and you actually did. I thought you'd leave in the middle of the night. Are you hungry?"
"Not really, I don't usually eat breakfast." I tell him.
"Oh, okay."
"Actually..." I'm not exactly sure how to phrase my next question.
"Yeah?" Brian asks.
"Do you think I could borrow a clean shirt? We won't have time to stop over at my house now." It's already 6:45 and we will have to leave by 7:15 to get to school on time at 8:00. Brian tosses me an Oxford shirt out of his closet. I take off last night's shirt and pull the button- down on over my tank top. It goes, too, the shirt is light blue with white pinstripes, and the tanktop is white.
"So..." Brian says. "I'm gonna go get something to eat and then we can go, okay?" He looks at me and for a second I feel like he can see right through anything.
"Um, sure," I say. "I'll just... be here, so call me when you're ready to leave."
"Okay," Brian says and walks out the door. I find a stick of gum in my pocket and chew that because I don't have a toothbrush.
About ten minutes later, Brian yells, "Hey, Cassie, let's go!" I bolt down the stairs and I'm at the front door in seconds. Brian walks out of the kitchen.
"Wow, you're a really fast runner." Is all he says. I'm glad I didn't take my books out of my bag last night, and even more glad that I brought my bag when I drove Brian home. He opens the door and we leave.
