Free Bird

Chapter 7

Danny's POV

It was nice waking up on a bed for once. The studio apartment Creed had provided me with only had a couch. Sammy's place was pretty nice. I mean. His spare bedroom had a queen sized mattress with a bathroom attached to it. The house itself seemed to have a little wear and tear to it, but it was still huge and all around gorgeous. It made me wonder how he got it in the first place.

Sammy didn't really strike me as a rich kid type of guy. He was rough around the edges, which indicated some sort of hardship somewhere. Also, if he had been a rich kid, would he not have gotten an education or something? And why do you need to deal drugs if you have a decent education?

Whatever. Not my concern.

I'm sure it surprised Sammy that I wasn't keen on the idea of getting cozy with him. But, seriously. I met him less than 24 hours ago. What, are we gonna make friendship bracelets and sing Kumbaya around a campfire? Should we purchase best friend necklaces and wear them everywhere? Matching t-shirts?

James was one thing. He was amicable and I'd been forced to sit in a car with him for hours. Stand-offish  as I am, I'm not awkward enough to stay quiet that long. Plus, now that Creed has made his intentions clear, I need James. At least for now.

Sammy seemed nice enough, but there was something... off about him. He seemed to have something going on in his head and I couldn't put my finger on it. Several times the night before I had noticed him staring at me with an odd look in his eyes and then it would be gone and he'd be smirking at me and tipping his beer in my direction.

Then, when I found James, he was talking to Sammy and Sammy sounded a little pissed about something. As soon as he saw me, though, he did a complete 180 and acted as though I hadn't just walked up on him hissing something at James through his teeth.

That's their business, not mine. The less I know, the better.

I picked up my phone and checked the time. 11:32. I should get up. I had taken a shower the night before and washed off all my makeup, but I hadn't washed my hair. I needed my special conditioners or my curls would start to resemble Medusa's snakes. Instead I had wrapped it up in a pillow case to keep it from frizzing too bad.

I dug around in my bag for my extra tank top and eye-balled the white skinny jeans from the night before. Good enough, I supposed.

Thud-thud-thud

Before I could get to the bathroom to change there was a knock at the door. I pulled the make shift pillow case wrap off of my head and wandered over to it. I paused before opening it.

Did Sammy have someone other than James and I stay over? Did anyone else live here?

I turned the knob and cracked the door open to take a peek. It was Sammy. He smiled and his eyes lit up a touch when he saw me.

"Hey, pretty lady. James had to take off about an hour ago. I was about to order some food and wanted to see what you like. If you want, you can hang out here for the day and see if James is coming back or I can give you a ride after we eat."

Freaking great. James could've woken me up just as easily as this guy and then I could've gone back to sleep at the apartment.

I opened the door wider and stepped back, "Uh, just a sec." Sammy stepped in as I walked towards the unmade bed to grab my phone. I needed to text James and figure out a plan.

"I'm not a picky eater," I said to answer his question about the food as I rapidly typed a message to James.

Danny: Dude, you should have woken me up. When are you coming back?