Why I Can't Rule The World

No. 11

"A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
One who lacks sense
gives a pledge and
puts up security in the presence of his neighbor."
--Proverbs 17:17-18

<<<<<<<<<<

    I jumped awake with a start on Sawyer's floor.

    Taking in a deep breath, I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Everything that happened last night came rushing back to me and I wondered immediately if my parents ever stopped fighting, what they were doing right now. I pushed myself up on the sleeping bag and sighed. If this was a perfect world, I would've been able to go home last night.

    I thought about whether or not I should give the pictures to Shelly. I didn't want to satisfy her, especially now that I knew she really wanted to be with me as a couple. Ace wasn't as bad as I had assumed he was. He didn't even want to be at the stupid party, but he let himself get sucked into it anyway. Why? It baffled me that he didn't just leave and go home. Who knows, maybe he couldn't go home either.

    The words Alivia and I exchanged on the roof swam in my head, causing me to grin. I grabbed my camera and started going through the pictures I took at the party. There were some of my old friends surrounded by girls, swimming in the pool, posing in ridiculous stances. Some of them were of Shelly, but I didn't feel anything at all when I looked at her. She was just too risky to be around. You had to say the right thing or you'd pay.

    Hitting the little button again, I saw the silhouette of trees against the Olson's night sky. I grinned a bit then clicked to the next one.

    Alivia.

    I gawked at how at ease she looked, even on the little screen. Her hair seemed to be perfectly placed with her eyes soundly closed. A small smile rested on her lips as she fell asleep beside me. For a moment, I felt like I had rewinded time to that moment. I could feel the wind encircling us and her hand resting in mine. The butterflies in my stomach jumped and I realized that I was hopelessly allowing myself to like her that way.

    As if I thought Sawyer could see into mind, I looked up to see him gone from his bed, probably eating breakfast or something. The digital clock on his desk read 7:56 in red letters. A sense of relief fell over me that I had been by myself when I stared at his sister.

    I put the camera down and reached for my backpack to dig out my phone, only to find it dead. As I was pulling out the charger to plug it in, Sawyer walked in dressed in kakis and a button-down shirt.

    "Good morning sunshine!" he said excitedly, going to the closet.

    "Morning," I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

    "How'd you sleep?"

    I paused as he crouched down to look for some shoes. He was being overly optimistic, even for him, especially at eight in the morning. Wasn't he in a weird mood all week too? I blinked rapidly to try and wake myself up from my daydreams.

    "Well?" he asked, sitting on the floor and pulling on some old dress shoes.

    "Fine..," I answered, letting my thoughts wander to what Alivia was doing right now.

    "Good, good. We're going to church this morning. You are welcome to join us, or you could stay here and drive home or whatever," he offered.

    "Church?"

    That caught my attention. Church was one place I had never been to and I didn't know if I wanted to go there. I knew I wouldn't be judged or anything, I'm sure visitors come all the time, but it was... Well, it was church and I didn't know what to expect.