Just A Little Insane

Party

When I open my eyes, I realize how cold I am. I climb out of bed and down the hall. When I enter the living room, it's dark and quiet. I walk over to the couch where a blanket lays. I pick it up and hurry back to my room.

I lay back down in bed and place the extra blanket over me. Right before I drift back to sleep, I hear a loud noise coming from the living room.

Annoyed that I can't get any sleep, I climb back out of bed and grab a blanket to keep me warm.

As I approach the room, I notice a light is on. I slow down and carefully place the blanket on the floor. I move quieter and swifter on the wood floors as I come closer to the light.

When I'm a few feet away from the end of the hall, I see a shadow. I stop for a second and start moving slowly, with my back against the wall. I peak around the corner to see if I can see the person. The exact second my head makes it around the bend, a face appears right in front of me. I give a small yelp and fall to the ground, a foot or two in front of the blanket is dropped before. "Hey. Shh!" A voice says. "You don't want to wake the baby!" When I look up, I see Layla in front of me. I stand up and grab the blanket. "What the heck, are you doing up?" I ask in an angry whisper. "I could ask the same for you." She replies in an even quieter whisper. "I got cold and came out here to get a blanket!" I say and wrap it around me. "It's not that cold! And you already have a giant blanket." Layla argues. "Well I'm cold natured. What are you doing up?" I ask. "I heard you and came out her to investigate." She says. "Well okay. I guess we can both go back to bed now." I say.

     Layla agrees and we both head back to bed. I can't sleep the rest of the night though. I couldn't stop thinking about what'd confessed to Layla almost a whole three months ago. I hadn't really thought about it myself. But it was true. I was afraid to get close to anyone and I had to shut out any feelings for anyone to protect my heart.

     But now, I don't know how much I really am protecting it anymore. The more time I spend with Lincoln, the worse it gets. I need to stop talking to him. I know he likes me now and I know I like him, but I also know what's good for me. If I get too close to him, there's no turning back, and then, most likely, he will turn me down when he finds out my dark, sad past. Most likely, he won't believe me like everyone else.

     So, either way, I feel I am hurting my heart. It's a hard choice, and while I know the less painful path, it's also the harder one.

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"Alright. I've lived on a farm, um, I've kissed a cactus, and, I have... lived in six different states." I say hugging the pillow I'm holding. "Hm, that's a hard one." Lincoln says sarcastically from the couch across the room. "Oh! I know this one!" Layla says laughing. "It's the cactus one,"Wes says confidently. "Yeah. I think it's that one too." Lincoln agrees. "Nope! It's the six states one!" I say laughing. The boys question the answer in disbelief, while Layla just laughs. "Yeah. Really," I reply, still laughing at there surprised faces. "When I was six, some girls said I was afraid of the cactus, so, to prove a point, I kissed it. It's hurt so bad. My lips were swollen and bleeding for days." I say between my laughs. "It was my biggest regret," I say and immediately want to take it back. Everyone stops laughing but Lincoln. He seems to ignore our abrupt end and we move on with our activities.

Layla and I had planned this night years ago. We had to of been nine. We decided, that in a few years, we would get together on like, a double date or something, and play games all day. Well, me and Lincoln aren't going out, but, it was good enough since he had no idea what this was really planned for.

We didn't really have any official plans, but, we knew we wanted to play two truths and a lie, and truth or dare. We even made up a few games, but we've both forgotten them by now.

My thoughts from last night still swell in my head. I know I should be keeping away from Lincoln, but I just can't help myself. And Layla keeps having him over. I think that she thinks that I don't like him since the conversation we had. She just thinks I denied liking him because I was afraid to let people in. And since Lincoln is like her best friend, he's constantly over. And that's a problem for me. I wish he would just stop coming over. It would make this a lot easier for me.

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"Uh, I'm so tired," I complain to Layla as we begin to clean up after the party. "Why? It's not really that late," Layla says picking up some trash from the floor. "Well, after we ran into each other last night, I couldn't sleep," I say. "What are you talking about?" Layla asks. "Um, I couldn't sleep. Is hard to understand for some reason?" I ask. "No, no, no. Before that. Did you say we ran into each other last night?" She asks stoping her work so we can talk. "Yeah. Last night when I came out to get a blanket and then I went back to bed and I heard you, and I came back out. I saw you then. In the hallway." I clarify. "No. That didn't happen. Not that I can remember," Layla says confused. "Really? You scared the devil out if me." I say also very confused. "No. I'm certain. That never happened." Layla says. She seems serious. I try to think of it was a dream or something, but it seemed so real. "But, it happened. I know it did." I argue. "Zoe. Listen. It was probably a dream. Let's move on," Layla says and bends over to continue her work. "No Layla. I know this happened." I say certain. A look of concern hoes over Layla's face. "Zoe, I know it didn't. Please stop. Just move on. You're scaring me a little," she says. "I- I know, but-" I try to argue. "No." She says firmly. "It didn't happen. Go to bed. You're just tired,"

I know I can't argue with her anymore and I'm tired anyway so I go to bed. But I still can't figure out why Layla doesn't remember. I know it happened. Right?