Page 241 of Rock Me All Night
20
An hour passes. A door across the hallway opens and shuts. There are footsteps heading down the stairs and out the front door.
Drew's car turns on and pulls onto the road. God knows where he's going at this time of night.
If he's ever coming back.
If he's ever speaking to me again.
I brush my teeth and change into my pajamas. Then it's back into the not-at-all comforting embrace of my bed.
It's so cold in here.
It's so empty.
I toss and turn, not really attempting to sleep or think or do anything but breathe.
Even that is difficult.
Another hour passes.
Another.
The street goes dead quiet. It's closer to morning than it is to night. God knows I should be asleep. God knows how I'm going to make it through my homework tomorrow.
A car pulls onto the street. Then into our driveway. It stops. Turns off. A moment later, the front door opens and slams shut.
Drew.
His footsteps move up the stairs. They're steady. Not rushing. Not hesitating. Just coming.
There's a soft knock on my door.
I hug my comforter a little tighter. For a split second, I consider throwing it over my head and pretending I'm asleep.
But this awful pang in my stomach won't allow it.
"Come in," I say.
The door opens with a quiet creak. There's a footstep and then the door is pressed shut again.
I keep my back to Drew and my eyes on the window. There isn't much to see besides the sky. It's nearly black. No stars. There's too much light pollution.
He sits on the bed behind me. His fingertips brush over the side of my cheek. "Hey."
"Where did you go?"
"To think."
"You need to hop in your car to think?" I ask.
He shifts closer. "When it's about you." He lies on the bed behind me. "And even that only helps so much."
I hug the blanket to my chest.
"I didn’t ditch you in high school because you weren't cool." He moves closer. "I got caught up in the attention. Stopped trying to hang out. When I saw you around, you never seemed like you wanted to talk to me. I should have thought about how much you were going through, but I was a stupid kid, and I was distracted by my parents getting divorced."
"That was around when my dad got sick, wasn't it?"
