Him

Oh…Last Night?

I've never understood why the sun has to be so bright in the morning. Seriously, though! It blinds me. Even though my eyes are closed, it still hurts.

I should probably get up if my parents are going to be home soon. And there's this weird heavy feeling across my waist. I don't know why it feels like that. I guess I could look, but by the way my head is pounding, I'm sure my eyes will feel awful when I open them.

Ugh. I think it's time to get up now. My parents will be waiting for me. Plus I need to make sure I look okay. Being dumb, I drank again, but oh well. From what I remember, I had a pretty good night last night.

Slowly I open my eyes. A sharp pain hits my head. As soon as my eyes adjust I freeze.

Wait a minute. This isn't my room. It isn't even one of the girl’s rooms. Where am I? I try to move but cannot. The heavy feeling seems to be weighing me down.

Looking at my waist I see an arm.

What? An arm?

Calm down Katie. I'm sure you're imagining it.

I'll just close my eyes for a bit. When I open them back up it'll be gone. Okay, here I go.

Nope! It's still there.

I turn my head to the right. There, sleeping next to me, is Owen. Owen!? Oh no! What happened!

So many questions fill my mind. I don’t seem to have the answer to any of them! I had blacked out. The last thing I remember was being led somewhere.

Oh my gosh! Did Owen bring me here with him? Did we? Oh gosh!

I slowly move Owen's arm off me and get up. Well maybe nothing happened. I'm still fully clothed! That's a good sign. Right? I grab my shoes and phone and hurry out the door.

Once outside I look at my phone to text one of the girls. There are about ten or so messages from each one of them on my phone. And even a few from Eli.

Fiona - We left. Couldn't find you, I'm sorry.

Emma - Katie!! What happened? We lost you.

Hazel - Girl I swear you better not be in danger!

Eli - Problem. Mom and Dad got home at 5 am. You need to get home now!!

Oh wow. This is not good. The girls are freaking out because I wasn't around last night. Eli's mad. Wait! My parents are home! Oh no no no!! I need to get home now!

I quickly text Maya and ask her to come pick me up.

I am not about to text one of the girls. All that would get me is an interrogation! Oh and Eli will be furious, so definitely not texting him.

M - Of course. Where are you?

K - Um, I'm at Owen Deen's house...

I hesitate before I finally hit send. Might as well, I need a ride.

M - Oh... Sure. Be there in 5.

K - Thank You.

M - No problem.

Well that went better than I thought. But of course it's only over text. So who knows? She might be mad. I guess I won't be surprised if she is. I would be.

Maybe leaving without even waking Owen was a bad idea. He might know what happened. Or what didn't happen. Jeez, I just want answers.

I'm trying to remember. I'll close my eyes and think. Maybe it'll come back to me.

I close my eyes. Flashes flip through my mind. The first flash was my encounter with the "mean girls.” I shake my head and another flash came. This one, I didn't remember. I was dancing and jumped on a table.

I open my eyes. No, I don't want to remember last night right now. Oh good. There is Maya. Quickly I get up and rush to her car.

I can feel Maya staring at me. I don't feel like talking though. Maybe if I don't look at her she won't say anything. Yeah, I'll look out the window. The trees look nice... I guess that'll be my distraction.

I hear Maya sigh and put the car in reverse. I'm glad she's not saying anything. Well not yet anyway. Knowing her she'll say something.

I can't believe I don't remember what happened. How could I be so stupid? I used it as a distraction so I wouldn't have to face my feelings. That wasn't a great idea, but I didn't want to think about my Grandpa.

I'm upset he's gone. I really am. I just... thinking about it makes me even more upset. That's why I'm choosing to not, at least for a little while. That's not wrong, is it?

Maya sighs. "So, are you going to tell me what happened or not?" She isn't looking at me.

What am I supposed to say? I barley even know what happened!

"You don't know. Do you?"

I look up at Maya shocked. How'd she know that? Probably because I didn't answer.

"No, I don't really know."

"Did you at least ask Owen? I'm sure he knows something?" She asks me.

We pull into my driveway and she puts the car in park.

"I left as quickly as I could. I didn't even wake him up."

"Oh, well maybe that's best. You know? To wait until later to find out," She suggests giving me a small smile.

"Thank you Maya." I give her a hug and exit the car.

Oh no. What are my parents going to say? They're probably mad. And why wouldn't they be? I wasn't home when they got here. If they're mad, it's all my fault. I better just go inside. It'll be worse if I wait longer.

Reaching up I grab the doorknob. Here I go. And with that I enter the house. I see my Mom first. She is in the living room, on the couch. My Dad isn't with her. I don't see him at all.

All of sudden my Dad comes to me from the other room. Anger is evident in his eyes.

"Who just dropped you off?" He asks crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maya," I answer him, looking at the floor.

I hear my Mom get off the couch and come towards me. Her eyes are puffy. Probably from crying. If I would've been home I would know.

"Honey, she may have dropped you off. But you didn't stay with her," My Mom says.

"We know this because she was here. She stayed the night to be with Eli. Now you tell me what was so important, that you couldn't stay with your brother. You're his big sister! He needed you!" My Dad says shouting the last sentence.

I feel as if my heart broke. He needed me? And I just left him. What kind of sister am I? I looked up at my parents and sighed. I better just tell them. We don't have secrets.

"I went to a party last night. At O-Owen Deen's house," I finally say.

They both look at me shocked! My Dad reaches out his hand and places it on my shoulder. I am surprised. I thought he was going to be so mad. I look up at him.

He hugs me really tight and says, "Thank you for telling the truth. I know why you went."

And I have a feeling he really knows. He knew how close my Grandpa and I were. Anyone who knows me could see it. We were best friends. And now he's gone.

A tear rolls down my cheek and my Mom wipes it with her finger and joins the hug.

It's great they were back. I missed them so much.

----------------

O - Hey. I woke up and you were gone.

I sigh and look at my phone. I know I shouldn't have left without saying anything. But what was I supposed to do? I think I did the right thing.

I lay down on my stomach on my bed and pick up my phone. What should I say? Yeah I left. No, he obviously knows that. Oh I know.

K - I didn't want to disturb your sleep. Parents got home early.

Flipping my hair to one side I put my phone down. The bubble indicating he was typing pops up. I patiently wait for his response.

Beep.

O - Aw how sweet. You could've woke me.

K - And miss the opportunity to leave like you do to the girls you've been with?

I smile as I hit send. It might sound mean, but he totally deserves it. After all, he shouldn't get too mad... Or will he? I see the bubble pop up and get nervous. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

O - Oh, ouch! I kinda deserve that one, huh?

K - Uh yeah, kind of. So Owen?

O - Yeah?

Okay how am I going to word this? It's kind of awkward. I need to know what happened though. So I might as well be straight forward.

K - What happened last night?

A nervous feeling hit me as soon as he starts typing. Here I go. I will find out what happened or I guess what didn't happen. I should be more careful from now on. But who knows? I pretty much said the same thing before the party.

I'm glad my parents aren't mad at me. I didn't even get punished. I figured I would've. But nope. They were okay with it. They really are the best.

The beeping noise of my phone pulls me out of my thoughts. Well, let's see what happened I say looking down at my phone.

O - You got a little wild with drinks. When you began stumbling around guys were trying to get you to -- anyway! I took you to my room and put you on my bed. I locked the door before I left so no one could get you. Guess you could say I saved you!

I let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness. Owen definitely isn't as bad as I thought he was. I mean, he saved me! That's amazing. And he didn't take advantage of me either! Which is shocking considering his past with the ladies.

K – I guess you were my hero huh? Thank you (:

O – No guessing. I was. And hey, hopefully next time you'll wake me before you leave!

And there goes the sweet Owen. Back to his old self.

K - Next time? I don't know about that.

O - Don't be so sure Katie. (;

I giggle as I close my messages. He's something else, isn't he? I really do enjoy being with him though. He's not boyfriend material though. I don't even want a boyfriend right now. I just need a...distraction! That's it.

I roll over so I am on my back now. I turn to my right and reach for a picture. It is of my Grandpa, me, and the girls. My friends loved my Grandpa almost as much as me. This picture was taken when my Grandpa took us to shoot bow and arrows.

I already knew how, but my friends had never done it before. It was pretty entertaining to watch them all learn.

There is a faint knock on my door. Setting down the picture I sit up.

"Come in," I say.

The door opens to reveal my Mom. She walks in and sits down on my bed with me.

"Hey honey."

"What's going on?" I ask her hesitantly.

She gives me a small smile before continuing. "Well. Your Grandpas showing will be on Thursday and his funeral on Friday. I just wanted to let you know. Your friends are all coming."

I nod and look down. I'm glad my friends will be there. As great as that will be, I feel like... I don't know. I'm happy whenever I'm around Owen. I wonder if he can come.

My Mom gets up and walks to my door.

"Hey Mom."

She stops and turns to face me. "Yeah?"

"Um, could I invite someone to come with me?"

She looks unsure for a moment and then smiles. Nodding her head she leaves my room. She said yes. I'm kind of surprised she would agree without even asking me who. Oh well.

K - Hey, do you want to accompany me this Thursday and Friday?

I just have to wait for his response. Hopefully he'll agree.

O - For the Showing and Funeral? Of course.

How'd he... Oh wait. He's Eli's best friend. Of course he knows. I'm just excited he said yes. I won't be as upset now. I lay my head down on my pillows, putting my phone on my chest.