Just For Glory | COMPLETED

An Interesting Turn of Events

"Donovan, this had better not be you."

At the time, I didn't find it strange that Piper was in fact wide awake and answering her phone at one in the morning. I also was undeterred by her knowledge that it was me.

"Hey..." My voice sounded sort of strange to myself, echoing and distorting to my own ears. "What's up?"

I heard a very distinct sigh and what sounded like the jingle of car keys. "How much have you had to drink? Are you high?" She had never been so frank about any kind of my lack of sobriety, so I frowned.

"Not that much, and not to my knowledge."

"How much does 'not that much' mean?" I heard a door opening from her end, along with the sound of a jacket being zipped up.

"Four—no, five—no, six. Yeah, six. Where are you going at this hour?"

"Shut up, Donovan. Go sit on the front lawn and...I don't know, entertain yourself with the magically spinning ground or something." Piper didn't say anything, instead silencing me with the click of yet another hang-up before I had a chance to inform her that I didn't even have a car and had gotten a ride with Laser. I glared at the phone for a few seconds before realizing that it wasn't my phone, and I wasn't sure either whose it was or where mine happened to be. It was funny then, but I found it less amusing the next afternoon.

I ended up slumped near the curb, my forearms resting on my knees and my head bowed. I had my old leather jacket on despite the surprisingly warm weather, and I was wearing black pants as usual. Chances are I looked more than a little intimidating. That didn't stop Piper from being her usual self.

After some amount of time (it could have been anywhere between five minutes and an hour, I wasn't sure), a car pulled up next to me. The passenger window rolled down, and Piper's voice rang out from inside. "Come on, Donovan."

Standing up, I leaned forward with my head inside the window. Her hair was pulled into two short braids, which I noticed right away for some reason. "What are you doing here? Change your mind about the party or something? Looks like it's still in full swing," I muttered, even though, despite the slightly murky state-of-mind I was in at the time, I knew very well why she was there.

Piper leaned her head on the steering wheel, closing her eyes briefly. "Just open the door and sit down, Donovan. And watch your head." Grumbling, I complied. Despite her warning, I got a resounding knock to the side of my head while trying to get into her car. I laughed and made the usual complaints of pain at the same time, glancing over at Piper in order to see her roll her eyes.

Once she pulled away from the curb, I leaned my head against the rolled-up window and found myself dozing off. I started when she said my name. "Tell me how to get to your house, Donovan," she said gently, and I stared at her incredulously.
"What are you talking about?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand, the elbow of which was resting on the frame of the open window. "Your house. The place where you live with your family? I'm taking you there, but I don't know where it is."

I was still having a hard time making one hundred percent coherent thoughts, but I did manage to form something mildly resembling one when she explained her intentions. "No, you can't! You can't...you can't take me there."

Piper glanced over at me, frowning. "What? Donovan, you need to go home."

"Piper, please, no. I can't risk it. I can't—" I screwed my eyelids shut, focusing as much as I could. The buzz was starting to wear off, and it was slowly being replaced by a pounding headache behind my eyes. She looked at me expectantly from the corner of her eyes. Sighing, I finished the thought. "I can't risk Jamie seeing me like this."