The Summer I Learned to Breathe

nine

☼ nine ☼

I was genuinely looking forward to a good, long night of uninterrupted rest. After a long day with Gabe and Sam, including dinner, swimming, and a late night around the fire, I struggled to keep my eyes open past ten.

Unfortunately for me, I was only allowed an hour of sleep before the obnoxious sound of my ringtone catches my attention and I'm startled from my comfortable position. I sit up and attempt to rub the sleep from my eyes, and then I glance at the clock. 12:05 AM.

I release a groan and continue to blink my eyes.

Who on earth needs me at this hour?

I extend my arm to grasp my phone and pull the charging cable out. My eyebrows crease in confusion at the caller I.D.: it's not one of my contacts. Curiosity overcomes me, and I figure I'd might as well answer the call as it pulled me from my peaceful slumber. "What do you want?" I answer, sounding like an aggravated eighty year-old man. My eyes slide shut, and I lean back against my pillow. I hope I don't fall asleep and begin snoring while on the phone.

"Well aren't you just lovely at this hour?" The caller responds, and the voice resembles Sam's.

"Sam?" I say, running a hand through my inevitable bedhead. I wince as my fingers get caught in a small knot.

"Yeah," he answers, his voice clear in contrast to mine at the moment. I assume he never got any sleep yet tonight.

I swallow, attempting to minimize the scratchy-ness of my voice. "How'd you get my number?"

"Oh, sorry. I texted Gabe," he says, sounding alert.

"I was starting to think you were some sort of pedophile and you've been secretly stalking me for two years," I deadpan, earning a chuckle from Sam.

"What if I happen to be exactly what you just described?"

"Then I'm a major dumbass."

He laughs at my blunt comment. "You could never be a dumbass," he says. "Me on the other hand..."

I giggle. "You're not a dumbass either. Just a creeper."

"Well how else was I supposed to get in contact with you? Throw a rock at your window or something?"

"You can't just throw something at my window. That immediately puts you at like a major creeper status," I tell him, allowing a tiny chuckle to escape my lips.

"That doesn't make any sense. I already know where you live so that's not as creepy," he claims.

"But you don't know which window is mine," I challenge him.

He pauses. "You're a handful, Marley."

I smile at the way my name rolls off his tongue. I haven't heard him say it much, and my exhaustion must be causing me to notice it.

"I guess I am," I admit. "so why did you wake me up?"

"I woke you up?" he exclaims. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were still up with Gabe!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm up now. What's up?"

"I wanted to know if you would maybe wanna come with me to Walmart or something? I'm kinda bored and I feel like driving somewhere," he rambles. "But if you're tired and you don't wanna go I completely understand."

"At midnight?" I question, not bothering to respond to the last part of his rambling.

"Yeah," he confirms, and I assume this isn't the first time he's done this. "I'm bored and there's great peoplewatching there at night."