Sunkissed | Joshifer

Chapter 18

The sleep from my drive with Josh the other night was surprisingly peaceful. I had imagined I'd be tossing and turning the rest of the night, but my mind seemed to be relaxed. I guess I felt more closure than uneasiness from our conversation. It gives us both room to move on. Hopefully. It's been two days since I've seen any of the Hutchersons and I think it's for the better. They're all gorgeous, but all five of them all the time is too much for one girl to handle by herself. I haven't seen Sam lately either. I assume he'd been spending time with his parents since they returned from their trip, but I haven't even received a text from him. I'd walk over to his house, but that requires leaving my bed, and my bed is so, so comfortable. I hear a muffled buzzing noise and I frantically begin searching for my phone in my bed sheets. It eventually flies out from under my blanket onto the floor after I shake the sheets back and forth. I answer just before the call ends.

"Hello?" I answer brightly, trying to keep in my staggered breath.

"Hey, it's Claire."

"Hey! What's up?" I fall back onto my bed.

"I haven't really seen you all summer, and I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping down at the mall in Wilmington today." She says with a meager laugh.

"Yeah, I'd love to!" I answer as I gaze out my window. Even though I would love to leave my house, I feel a strike of guilt in my stomach. It'd be wrong to leave Sam by himself. I haven't seen him lately and he'd just end up studying more of his college prep books.

"Is it alright if I maybe invite Sam too?" I ask reluctantly.

"Yeah, sure. I've got plenty of room in my car.." She trails. "Do you think any of the Hutcherson's would like to come too?" She giggles into the speaker and I sigh. I do realize that Claire hasn't gotten any interaction with them at all. It wouldn't entirely be a bad thing.

"I'll see if any of them want to come. What time will you be over?"

"In like twenty minutes? I know it's kind of short notice, but I want to get good parking."

"Alright. See you soon." I say before ending the call. I dial Sam's number and wait for him to pick up.

"Hello?" He answers on the third ring.

"Hey, where've you been? Haven't heard from you in-"

"Two days. I would've called last night, but um.. Rocky died." He mumbles into the speaker. My heart sinks into my chest from his news. Rocky was vicious and unfriendly, but Sam loved that cat like it was the sibling he never had.

"I'm sorry, Sam." I hug the blankets around me tighter.

"My mom took him early this morning to be cremated." He sighs uneasily.

"You're getting your cat cremated?"

"Well yeah, wouldn't you get your pet cremated?"

"I guess. I just thought you'd bury him or something."

"I'm definitely not burying my cat in the sand behind my house." He lightly laughs.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry again." I frown.

"It's fine, I'm fine. You hated Rocky anyways." He adds.
"Well not so much that I wanted him to die." I respond to his remark. "Even if he did scratch at my leg that one time in the seventh grade."

"You're never going to let that one go, are you?" He laughs again and the sound brings relief. It's good to know he's not completely distraught over the situation.

"Nope, never. So what are you doing today?" I ask laying back down over my sheets.

"Not sure." I hear him clear his throat. "Might just stay home."