Under the Lights

Chapter 13: Boyfriend

Chapter 13

“You look like absolute hell.” Carly laughed as I walked into the diner. 

“I drove here.” I informed her, sitting down on one of the chairs. 

“I can tell. You’re wearing school clothes. And you’re later than usual. Busy weekend?” She raised her eyebrows, already putting in the order for eggs. 

“No food.” I grimaced. “I’ll just have a cup of tea please.” I sighed, resting my head on my arms. 

“Aw poor baby, you’re hungover.” She teased, running her fingers through my hair as she leaned on the counter across from me. 

“I’m hungover from a hangover.” I replied softly. “I slept all day yesterday while Brian talked my ear off about how him and Jess made up.” I mumbled. 

“Well I think I need to give you something.” Carly said softly. 

I lazily picked up my head. 

She grinned, pressing her lips against mine. 

“That was for winning the game on Friday.” She whispered. 

She kissed me again. 

“And that was for getting a full ride to UT.” She added, softer this time. 

She kissed me a third time. 

“And that was for being awesome.” Carly winked, turning around to make my tea. 

I sighed, a smile crossing my face. 

“I can’t wait to show you Texas.” I smiled, watching as she poured some hot water into the mug. 

“About that... So I talked to my foster parents this weekend and everything, and they said that the only way they’d let me go is if they met you...” Carly bit her lip. “But like, I’m not sure if we’re at that stage of meeting families.” 

“Hey, you know my grandma. I’d love to meet your parents.” I smiled as she handed me a mug of hot water and a tea bag freshly placed in it. 

Carly grimaced. “First things first, they’re not my parents. They’re simply the owners of my foster home. Please don’t refer to them as my parents. They’ll take it the completely wrong way and think I actually like being there.” 

“You don’t?” I frowned. 

“No, I mean they’re awesome people, don’t get me wrong. But there’s six of us, I’m the oldest, I’m the forgotten one most often. But it’s a roof over my head and bed to sleep in, I’m not complaining.” Carly shrugged, leaning against the counter. 

I studied her face, sensing something beneath her words. 

“You’ve been without a roof over your head?” I frowned. 

Carly nodded, looking down at her hands. 

“Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime.” She shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk about it. “Tell me about the party.” She said, looking up at me, desperate to change the subject. 

“Well, we’d staged it so that it was a surprise that I was there. The guys went all insane over the fact that I was going to UT, the girls helplessly threw themselves at me, which I politely declined. I don’t usually drink this much, but the last thing I remember is attempting to walk on my hands across one of the wooden benches. And then I woke up in Dane’s backyard without my shirt.” I laughed, taking a small sip of the tea. 

Carly’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

“You tried to walk on your hands?” Carly giggled.