Awake at Last

Five

"I'll get it!" Piper yells as the doorbell rings. "Twelve delicious inches of cheesy goodness here I come!" She practically leaps over our living chair and throws open the door, where a pizza guy stands with a box. Piper eagerly signs the paper he offers her, takes the receipt, and grabs the pizza. She sets it down on the coffee table, pulls the box open, and smiles. "Looks delicious. You want first slice?"

"So I can pig out like you?" She shrugs and reaches down. I slap her hand away, and she gives me an innocent look. "I didn't say no." Piper giggles at this and takes her piece after I pick mine. It's covered in cheese, sausage and pepperoni. My favorite kind. Before I know it, I've eaten four slices and chugged a Coke. We both bust out laughing as I give an ungraceful belch, and suddenly I feel like we're twelve again, sitting on my parents' couch and gossiping about boys at school, 'NSync, and The Backstreet Boys. God, I was a 90s kid.

""So, time to elaborate on that kiss some more." Piper taunts as she finishes her third slice. I sigh and flip on Spongebob, ignoring her question. "Hey, I was talking to you! Don't go around thinking you're better than me." I punch her in the shin and stand, heading into my room and changing clothes. Tight capri-legging-hybrid things, dark gray with 'Harvard' written in pink letters, running up the right leg and a loose white crop-top with '1990' written in bold pink letters. I fix my hair into a messy bun and head back into the living room. Piper gives me a pointed look. "Ready to answer my question now?"

"It was nothing Piper!"

"Nothing? You kissed Avi. From Pentatonix. This is serious. What if the news finds out?" I sigh and flip on the news to prove I'm right. A perky newscaster appears, blond hair done up perfectly and makeup flawless. She's talking and it shuts Piper up instantly as we listen.

"Reports coming in that Avi Kaplan, the bass from the popular a capella group Pentatonix has a new girlfr-" I shut off the tv, but not before I see a picture of me and him at the park. Cuddled in each other's arms. Asleep. Why, why must the world hate me? Piper gets an 'I-told-you-so' look on her face, and I'm seriously contemplating smacking her when my phone goes off in the other room. I hurry to grab it and see Avi's calling me.

"Hey Avi," I say as I answer. It's a horrible attempt at sounding casual, and even I know it. I can almost see his panicked face on the other side of the line. I imagine him pacing back and forth, imagine him taking off his beanie and running his hand through his hair worriedly.

"Did you see-" His voice is panicked. I cut him off; I already know what he's going to say so I might as well cut to the chase.

"The news? Yeah."

"What do we do? I've already gotten text messages from everyone else in the band." Looks like another Pentatonix fact has been revealed: They're all incredibly fast at typing. It's a weird thought to have.

"We play it off, act cool. No-more-PDA. Got that? We don't need sex rumors, or scandal rumors, or child rumors, or any of that. If and when we do anything, it's behind closed doors and shades. Understand?"

"Got it. What does Piper think of all this, by the way?"

"Who cares? It's her business what she thinks, not mine."

"Alright. Hey, Scott's throwing a party this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"Sure, I guess. We can't look like we're trying to hide. When is it?"

"Saturday. It starts at seven-thirty. I'll text you the address."

"Ok." I say, not really wanting to talk anymore; I need to relax for a while.

"Talk to you Saturday than. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up, and wait for the address. Once he gets it, I program it into my GPS, set my phone down, and go back into the living room. Piper is kissing the air. I stick my tongue out at her and her jaw drops like I just threw out some sort of insult. Her eyes ask the question 'who was it' now, even though she obviously knows who. "It was Avi. He's kind of in a panic. So I told him we had to keep everything we do indoors."

Piper smirks. I know what she's thinking, and sometimes I really wish she would get her mind out of the gutter. "Indoors, huh? What were you planning on doing?"

"I wouldn't tell you to save my soul." I growl, tugging my top down to hide my midriff. I should've put something else on under it. "Anyway, he invited me to a party Saturday."

"I wanna go!" Piper immediately yells. She looks like an excited puppy, and I suddenly picture her as a chihuahua with a tail on acid, tongue hanging out of her mouth in a pant, with ears perked and alert. I roll my eyes.

"So you can drool over Scott the whole time? I think not." Piper puts on her puppy dog face that only increases the accuracy of my vision of her. And also melts me.

"Alright whatever, you can come. Just promise you'll lay off Scott and you won't get drunk; I'm not hauling you home. Again."

"Yes, and I make no promises." She gets an evil look in her eyes and I sigh. Realizing it's now nine o'clock and I'm exhausted, I wave to her and go back into my room. I hear her call "goodnight" before I close the door and crash on my bed, closing my eyes and falling asleep almost instantly.

A/N: Yeah I know. Not very interesting. But forget karma, writer's block is a b***. I mean, I had literally no idea what to do with this chapter. The party will be next, so it'll be better next chapter but this was kind of a blob of mush. Aside from the news thing, absolutely nothing happened. I'm still developing Alyss, as well, for her attitude and personality. Trying to give her more depth. Anyway, see you all in the next part, peace!