The Risk Of Falling (Edited)

EIGHT

"Luna," Charlotte whined for the fifth time tonight. I turned her way with a disgusted look on my face. "I miss my pets."

"You say that every year we're here," I said, rolling my eyes. "Do you not learn?"

She shook her head, and I sighed. Laying back on my bed, I glanced at my phone. No text. Where was DP? He usually texted everyday, but it's been a few days. Nothing. Nada. Zero texts from him. I was getting worried. A flash of doubt ran through me. How could I be worried about someone I hardly knew?

"I want to do something," Charlotte said suddenly. She stood up and plopped down on my bed, jostling me. "Let's go do something."

"Come on, Char," I said, sitting up next to her. "It's past our curfew."

"Really?" she asked, frowning. I showed her the time, and she groaned, flopping over onto my bed. I stared at her with a smile. "Why?"

"Um, I don't know."

"I still want to do something."

"I'm not getting in trouble just because you really want to do something," I said, yawning. "It's almost bedtime, anyway."

"I can't believe you still have a bedtime," Charlotte said, snorting. "You are eighteen, yet you still have a bedtime."

"Hey! It's good to have a set time to go to bed. That way, I have the same amount of sleep every night."

"Who needs sleep when you can live a little?" Charlotte said, and I looked over at her. She had the biggest grin on her face, and I knew she had a plan. "Let's go get some ice cream."

"From where?"

"Where do you think?"

"No," I said firmly. I shook my head."I will not sneak into the kitchens just to get some ice cream."

"Luna," Charlotte said, pouting. She placed her hands under her head and stared up at me with puppy-dog eyes. "Please. Do this for me."

I wouldn't be swayed. "No."

"How about for Brennan?"

I thought about it for a second and sighed. "My Lord, girl, how do you always get me to do things?"

"I'm irresistible," she said, grinning. "Just ask Paul."

"Nope. I'm not going there."

Charlotte hopped off my bed and pulled on some slippers. I laid back on my bed, shaking my head. Suddenly, her hands were around mine, and she yanked as hard as she could. I cried out as I flew to the floor. With a thud, my head slammed onto the side of my bed. Stairs painted my vision as I stared up at her.

"Oh my goodness!" Charlotte said, her eyes wide. She got down to her knees in front of me, taking my hands in hers. "Luna! Are you okay?"

With a groan, I rubbed my head and said, "Really? You had to do that?"

"I really want ice cream." She paused and checked out my head with one quick glance. "Unless you aren't feeling up to it."

"Rude." I glared at her as I stood up. My foot stumbled against hers, but I steadied myself. Grabbing my phone, I slid my own pair of fuzzy slippers on and sighed. "Let's get going."

"Good girl." Charlotte led me out of our room. Before I exited, I snatched my keys and put them in my pajama pants' pocket. They jingled quietly but weren't loud enough to alert people that we were out past curfew. I glanced back down at my phone and frowned. Where was DP?

I stumbled as Charlotte pulled me forward. My arm stretched out as far as it would go, and I nearly fell down. I wasn't expecting that at all. She glared at me as she steadied me. "We have to be quiet, Luna."

"I am quiet," I replied, glancing around. I made sure no one was out in the hallway before crossing into the other one. "You're the one who nearly made me fall."

"Nah." Charlotte's grip tightened on my wrist as she continued to tug me forward. The familiar hallways turned into an unfamiliar area. We had to be nearing the kitchens since I didn't know where we were at. Charlotte must have known where we were because she navigated the confusing hallways with ease.

"How many times have you snuck out?" I asked her quietly. She looked over at me with a grin. "And how did you get out without waking me up?"

"You were sleeping most of the times I've snuck out," she said, her eyes lit up with joy. "Did you know that you're a heavy sleeper?"

"No."

"Well, you are."

I sighed, shaking my head. Of course Charlotte had snuck out before. I'm not even sure how we're best friends. She's one for breaking the rules while I follow them. "Have you ever gotten caught?"

"Only a couple of times."

"I figured there would be cameras," I said, glancing around at the ceiling.

"There are," Charlotte said, and I dug my feet into the ground to stop. My eyes darted around, searching for the hidden cameras. "They don't work anymore."

"That's why we need to stop spending all our money on remodeling the outside. They need to fix the inside first."

"You tell them that."

My feet started moving again, but I didn't feel any better about what I was doing. I wished I had stayed in bed, snuggling with my covers, not sneaking out to the kitchen to get freaking ice cream. Before I could turn around and head back, Charlotte pushed a door open and said, "Voilà. Here we are!"

The kitchens were bigger than I thought they would be. A huge island sat in the middle of the room. Many cabinets and ovens circled around the kitchen, and an island stood silently in the center of the room. Everything was steel, and the room radiated coldness. "How many times have you been in here before?"

"Um," Charlotte said, frowning, "a few times, I think."

She pointed to a huge freezer, and we walked forward. She opened it, and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. Tons and tons of ice cream cartons sat like sardines in the freezer. "Gosh, how many do they need?"

"More than you think," Charlotte said, snorting. She walked over to a cabinet and opened it, grabbing two small bowls. Then, she grabbed two spoons and said, "You pick which flavor we're eating."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, looking back at the ice cream. The majority of the cartons were vanilla, and I almost grabbed one. Usually, I got that flavor, but that night I was feeling adventurous. I grabbed a carton of cookie dough ice cream and said, "Is this good?"

"Try heavenly." I set it on the island, and Charlotte opened it. She started scooping the ice cream into the bowls, so I decided to check my phone again. No text. What in the world was going on with DP? "How many times are you going to check your phone tonight?"

"I'm sorry," I said, shoving it back into my pocket. "Do you remember how my number neighbor randomly texted me? Well, we've been texting quite a bit, but he hasn't recently. I'm kind of worried about him."

"You continued to text him?"

"You told me to," I said, my eyes wide. "Do you not remember telling me that?"

"No."

"Well, you told me to continue to text him, so I did," I said, shrugging. "However, he stopped texting me because he was busy."

"Did he not explain why he was busy?"

"Nope."

"Don't worry about it, Luna," Charlotte said, waving the hand with the spoon in it. Some ice cream flew off onto the island, but she didn't notice. "I'm sure everything will be okay."

I nodded and gladly accepted my bowl of ice cream. We headed back to our room without any worry, and I slid into bed, eating the ice cream. Even though Charlotte told me not to worry about DP, I still did. It wasn't usual for him not to text me. I just hoped he was okay.