Our Sandbox

eight - nolan

Where the hell is she?

    I've been standing at my car, waiting for Piper, for almost 20 minutes. We had to split up after lunch, since all her advanced classes are in the afternoon or something, and I haven't seen her since.

    I check my phone again for a text, but the only messages I have are from Melissa and Will.

    I just delete Melissa's.

Fucking bitch.

    The slap Melissa gave Piper couldn't hurt a fly, but I can practically relive the surge of anger that bubbled up in me.

    I told myself it's just because she's like my sister. Just my best friend. Just.

    I open up a message to Piper and begin to type:

    Piper, where are you??

    I watch the 'delivered' almost automatically switch to 'read', and I watch the text bubble pop up.

    I'm coming, I lost track of time when I was talking to Mike.        

    My grip tightens around the phone.    

    K, but hurry up, I'm hungry.

    Calm down, ducky.

    I grin down at the nickname, and look up to see her moving towards me.

    "Hey there, stranger!" She calls out, skipping over to me, her backpack bouncing against her small back. She's blushing slightly, her fair skin pink around her cheeks.

    "You're late, young lady." I scold, and poke her forehead.

    "Sorry, mom." She rolls her eyes and jumps in the passenger seat, flipping the visor down to fix her hair, which was pointless because it was already perfect.

    "So, your place or mine?" I tease, poking her side, making her jump.

    "Are you trying to seduce me?" She gasps, placing a hand on her collar in mock-shock.

    "Maybe." I laugh, and turn on the radio, allowing her to choose the station this time.

    She rolls down her window, stretching her hand out to move with the wind outside. I flit my gaze from the road to her subconsciously, but she just looks out the window, watching the trees go by. 

    I park the car in my driveway, jumping out and slamming the door.

    "So your place then?" She says in a faux-sultry voice. I blink at her a few times before remembering the joke.

    "Seems so." I joke but she runs ahead of me, opening the door with the key I gave her ages ago for whenever her mom didn't come home from a date.

    I walk in the door, calling to my mom as I enter. I'm met with silence.

    "Guess she went to the gym." I mutter, and Piper and I head to my bedroom, where Piper carelessly plops herself onto my messy bed. She sits up to unzip her backpack, pulling out her laptop and text books. She looks up at my standing form, raising an eyebrow.

    "You just gonna stand there?" She questions, and I exhale before setting at the head of my bed, leaning on the mountain of pillows.

    I watch as she whips her hair into a bun, fly-aways going in every direction.

    "What do you wanna start with?" She asks, scanning across her numerous class folders.

    "Honestly, I don't know how you keep up with all these classes, Piper." I reach over and snatch the notes from her hands. "Like this doesn't even look like english."