Wish You Were Here

where were you...

"So, can I come over tonight?" my overly excited boyfriend asks over the phone.

"We'll have to wait until my parents go to sleep.  My brother's at his friend's house so we should be fine," I murmur back.

"Sweet, see you in a few," he replies, then ends the call.

I flop back onto my bed, my fan blowing lightly and the lamp giving off a faint glow. Now, I know what your thinking: such a rebel, sneaking behind your parents back.

You don't even know the half of it.  We'll get there later.

tap, tap, tap

That was fast.

TAP, TAP, TAP

Jeez, someone's persistent.

I tip toe to the window, quietly moving the curtains that block my view.  A pair of blue eyes stare up at me.  A tall, lanky boy stands awkwardly in the grass, the dimly lit streetlight casts a glow on his tan skin, while a shadow stretches far back behind him.

"What are you doing here?" My voice barely above a whisper.  My short, frizzy hair bunched up in a messy bun bounces as I peer down at him.

"I told you I'd come back...I guess you forgot about our terms of agreement," he chuckles softly, a lopsided grin showing as he tilts his head slightly to the side.  He heaves himself up and ducks his head under the half opened window sill.

"Nathan, I- I don't even know what to say to you right now.  You left me when I needed you most and now you think you can just bombard into my room like..." my voice trails off as I slowly back up.

"Like old times, and I wouldn't call it bombarding either."

"Yeah, but you can't be here, I-"

"Hey babe! I texted you letting you know I was on your street, you didn't answer your phone-" my boyfriend pauses to take a breath after scrambling through the window.  What part of sneaking into my house quietly did he not understand?

"Elliot, I can explain!  It's not what it looks like!"  I stutter.

I turn to Nathan saying, "This is my boyfriend," motioning to Elliot, "and I was trying to tell you that he was coming over-"

"Who the hell is this?" Elliot questions, eyeing the two of us suspiciously, clearly confused.

"Just somebody that she used to know.  I was actually about to leave," Nathan states, obviously hurt.  He swiftly climbs back out through the window.

Elliot strides over to me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace, protectively.  My hands fall limply to my side.  Before Nathan jumps the fence, he turns back with the saddest look of defeat on his face, as if he's lost me again.  If only he knew...