Code Red

Chapter 8: STATE CHAMP

Chapter 8: STATE CHAMP

Monday mornings… The worst day of the week, or so that’s my opinion.

“Nina!” Dylan's voice shouted in my ear.

“Leave me alone,” I grumbled, pressing my face into my warm fluffy pillow. I pulled the blanket over my head to block out the incoming light and the intruder.

“Nina! Get up or else,” He threatened, tugging at the blanket. I hate Mondays, I mean who really loves waking up early for school after late nights and late mornings? No one!

“Get out,” I whined, squeezing my eyes together. I shriveled up into a little ball and covered my ears with my hands. Why does he have to be so annoying? I never did anything to him! Okay... That's a lie, but this is my sleep he is interrupting!

“Oh no you don’t Padley,” I felt his strong arm wrap around my torso, forcing my legs to weaken and straighten. His scent filled my nose and I fought the immediate urge to take a deep whiff. I was lifted from the bed with ease and placed on the floor. “Wake up! You’re late, you’re late, for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye! You’re late, you’re late, you’re late, you’re late!” He sang the white rabbit’s song from Alice and Wonderland probably just to get on my nerves.

“What do you want, Dylan?” I scrunched up my nose and opened my eyes slowly to reveal my still darkened room.

“I thought I would wake you up like a good friend. Can I do no such thing?” He mockingly asked, extremely happy. What was he up to?

 When everything became clearer, I saw that his hair was a mess, not in his usual spiked up hairdoo, he had some stubble on his chin that needed to be shaved, and his pajamas were a wrinkled mess. How he still managed to take my breath away was beyond me.

 My hands became clammy as I realized how close we actually were. His bulky arms were secured around my waist and our chests were flesh to flesh. My breathing hitched and that was when I quickly broke out of his embrace to prevent the redness that was beginning to creep up onto my cheeks. Thank god it was still dark.

“What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes to put some life into them.

“Five.”

“Five?!”

“I believe I just said that,” He murmed, rolling his eyes.

“Why would you wake me up at five?!” I squealed, running my fingers through my hair to break up the gnarly knots.

“I decided to let you have some more time to get ready, you’ll need it. And anyways, I always wake up at five,” I saw his dark frame shrug carelessly.

“Why would you do such a thing?” Bewilderment was an understatement. Why would a normal person voluntarily wake up at five when you could wake at six or even six-thirty and still get to school on time?!

“I work out,” He stated simply, flipping on the light switch. He flexed his muscles and his famous smirk that he wears all the time made an appearance. “Look at these big guns!”

“I’ve seen better..." I lied, placing my hand on my hip. "But you gotta' love a true work out,” I teased with a smile on my face. In all honesty, they were huge… and hot. Very, very hot.

“Yeah, so I decided to be nice and wake you up,” He smiled kindly… Yeah, I could tell that something was definitely up.

“Is that so?” I cocked my head to the side in suspicion. I crossed my arms over my chest, “Ready to confess?”