Hours

28- Friday, May 18th

8:47 AM

I stayed overnight at Micheals house.

I let out a sharp breath, almost a laugh, and try to gather my thoughts.

I stayed overnight at Micheals house.

What's the big deal? My parents won't care. I sure as hell don't care.

But-

"Kayla?" I hear Micheal ask, and I look down to where he's lying on the ground. "You okay? You look a little... shocked," He sits up, and I can see that all he has is a pillow and a small blanket. While I took over his entire bed...

"Yeah, no, I um-" I say quickly, not thinking about what I'm saying. I slow down, take a breath, "Sorry for, uh, taking your bed."

Micheals face goes red, and he looks down for a second. He looks back up at me, a small smile on his face, "Yeah, you did do that. It's okay, though."

"Are you sure, because-" Micheal cuts me off before I can finish.

"Let's not make this weird, okay? It isn't anything weird. You came over, we talked, you fell asleep. I couldn't wake you, so I let you stay the night. It's not like we-" Micheal cuts himself off this time, becoming very interested in the window all of a sudden.

"Right," I say, nodding. "No need to make it weird." I clear my throat, trying to shake off this cloak of awkwardness that seems to have fallen over us. "What time is it?" I ask after a few moments, realizing my phone had died during the night. It was sort of surprising since my phone had just gone under 50 per cent when I left for Micheals. I shrug it off, figuring I'd left some app running or something like that.

"It's, uh..." Micheal says, reaching for his phone on the bedside table. "Oh, crap. Eight-fifty." He looks at me, anxious. "I totally forgot to set an alarm. We're going to be so late."

And for some reason, I laugh. I look at the time and I look at Micheal and I laugh. It's hilarious to me, and I throw my head back in a fit of giggles. I'm laughing like I'm crazy and Micheal looks at me, looking so very concerned, and that only causes me to laugh more until I shake my head and sigh and look at Micheal and get the craziest idea.

"Screw that," I say.

"I'm sorry?" Micheal replies, clearly and rightfully puzzled.

"Screw it," I say again, clambering out of his bed and going to stand in the middle of his room. "Who cares if we're going to be late? Who cares if we go at all? It's Friday, the sun is shining, we're ahead on our project and, frankly, I don't want to go to school at all."

Micheal looks at me like I'm crazy, which I'm certainly starting to consider myself. "First of all, wouldn't Mr Reynolds care? I mean, it's his class that I'm most worried about missing. Second, we're definitely not ahead on the project. Are you seriously suggesting we skip?" He stands up, coming to stand in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Yes! Who cares? We have next week; we have all of next week. Let's take today. Let's... Let's make today our own." I have no clue what I'm saying anymore, I don't even know if I'm making sense. But I know now that this is something that I want to do. Something I really want to do.

Micheal looks at me as if to be sure I'm not messing with him. He blows air out of his cheeks, running his hands through his hair, and turns away from me. Then he turns back to me, and I see a smile in his eyes. "Sure. Why not?"

I'm shocked for a second at how easy that was. "Really?" I ask, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

Micheal shrugs, a small smile playing at his lips. "We have next week. Let's take today." I smile as he quotes my words. Then he asks, "What do you want to do?"

For a second I'm at a loss, then I smile as an idea comes to mind. "Let's go to the beach." My smile widens to a grin when I say it, and I feel ridiculous and like a little kid but I don't care. "How much gas do you have?"

I'm surprised when Michael doesn't question me or ask me why. He just smiles back, and I feel my heart warm. "A fair bit," He says shrugging. "But you can't go to the beach like that." He gestures to me, and I look down at myself in my sweatshirt and leggings and nod.

"We can stop by my place on the way out of town. Are you good to drive? It'd just be easier since we're already at your place..." I say absently, and Michael nods back at me.

"No worries. I just have to change real quick, but we can head out soon." Micheal heads towards his closet and I shake my head in disbelief. Are we actually doing this?

I've never skipped a class. I've never wanted to. But today, something is different. I look out the window, at the golden sunlight shining through onto Micheals hardwood floor. The sky is clear and all at once the despair of last night seems to fade away. All at once, it seems like everything could be okay. That everything is okay.

I jump as I hear a screeching sound. I turn around and see Micheal apologetically smile as he pushes the piano away from the door. Then it's out of the way and he slips quietly out the door, padding down the hallway silently.

I sit in the bedroom alone for a moment before I remember the envelope. I pull it out of the pocket of my sweatshirt, amazed that I hadn't felt it before or that it didn't fall out. Looking around Micheals room, I spot his school bag. I quickly tuck it into the bottom of the bag, feeling satisfied.

I go over to my phone, picking it up and checking the battery again. Still dead. It doesn't bother me. Who's going to be texting me anyways? I tuck the useless device into my pocket, sitting back down on the bed.

Micheal comes back a few minutes, and I can't help but grin when I see him in a white t-shirt and jeans. It's so different from what he usually wears that I don't know if I would recognize him at school. "Good to go?" I smile and nod, then follow him out of his bedroom, through the front of his small house, and out the front door.