It's Complicated

21. Live a Little

21. Live a Little

"NOOO!" I yelled, thrashing around blindly, glaring at my phone from across the room for waking me up at 9 AM. Why could I never sleep in till 11? WHY?

I stared at my phone, watching it ring again from my bed. Should I pick it up? That would require my having to get out of my very warm bed.

Nah, not worth it.

My phone stopped ringing and I sighed in relief. I turned around and was about to fall back asleep when my phone started ringing again. Was it just me or was it ringing louder than it was before?

I groaned and dragged myself out of bed and picked my phone off my dresser that was just out of reach.

"Hello?" I mumbled grumpily, not bothering to check Caller ID.

"Hey, Mariela! It's Drew!"

Even Drew's perfect voice couldn't affect me at all right now. "Why did you call so early?" I whined, forcing myself to keep my eyes open.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I wake you up?" He sounded so concerned that I had to smile.

"No," I mumbled sleepily.

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. I could just imagine his furrowed eyebrows and the regret swirling around in his piercing blue eyes.

"It's okay. I'm up now. So what's up?" I asked, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up.

"Nothing. I just called to talk," he responded, but I could tell that he didn't call to "just talk."

"What's bothering you, Drew?" I asked with a smile. It felt good to know him so well.

He laughed. "How could you tell?" he asked incredulously.

"I know you better than you think I do," I said in a teasing tone.

"Okay, so I did call you because something was bothering me," he admitted, making me smile again. Why was his voice so freaking amazing? His voice had brightened up my whole day already.

"What's bothering you?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not sure how to say this without offending you..." He trailed off uncertainly.

"Spit it out," I said enouragingly.

"Okay, but don't get mad at me. I just wanted to call to... warn you about Allen." He continued to talk before I could interrupt him. "Watch out for him, Mariela. He's really good with the girls and he's not exactly famous for his loyalty to his girlfriends. I'm kinda worried that he might..."

"He might what?" I asked curiously.

"Might, uh, make you like him," he confessed, sounding extremely embarrassed.

I grinned. Drew Jackson, the most sought after guy in our school, more desirable than even Allen, was scared that Allen would make me like him? The thought made me laugh.

"Oh please, Drew. Allen couldn't get me to like him even if he tried. I like you, dummy. Nothing Allen does or says will cause me to stop liking you, okay? You're perfect and Allen can't change my feelings for you. Don't worry about me! I'm yours and only yours."

There was a brief silence on the other end and I frowned, wondering if the line had disconnected and I had been talking to myself. That happened with Riya before and it took me a whole 2 minutes to realize she wasn't responding. Talk about awkward.

"Drew?" I asked, feeling like an idiot.

"I'm still here," he replied. "I like you a lot, Mariela, and I just don't want to lose you to Allen. He's just really good with the girls. Sorry if I sounded too overprotective."