Page 150 of Falling Backwards
“I know,” I say with a faint chuckle.“Sorry, dude.”
“Party poopers!”
“That’s us.Are the girls there yet?”
They are, so I get him to put them on speakerphone so I can explain to them too.
“Poor Maggie!”Joy says.“I know she wassosleepy all day.I don’t blame her for sitting down somewhere comfy and dozing off.”
Emma adds, “Yeah, thanks for letting us know.Take care of her or I’ll destroy you.”
I think I hear male laughter in the background—probably Bradley’s because he doesn’t know how serious she is.
Joy tells her, “Maggie is perfectly safe with him.She’ll be fine.”
I confirm, “She is and she will be.Swear on my life.Y’all good without us?”
“Oh, yeah, we’ll be fine too!It looks like Paxton is putting video games on the TV.”
“Good deal.”
The three of us promise to let each other know if any of us needs anything.Then I talk to Paxton one more time; he’s already back in his carefree mood, though he says he’ll miss hanging out with me and Maggie more.
“Maybe some other time this week?”he suggests.
“Sounds good, Pax.”
Shortly, we’re off the call, and I’m free to let expectations and the rest of my day go.
I change into night pants and a thermal shirt, then set my folded pair of sweatpants near Maggie.She’s still asleep, but maybe she’d like to trade her skirt and tights for something more comfortable if she wakes up during the night.I carefully cover her with a throw blanket, make sure the door is locked, turn on the light above the kitchen sink and turn off the living room light, and stretch out on the couch.
Just like what must’ve happened to her, I’m hit with muscle-loosening fatigue almost as soon as I’m still.
I start drifting off, feeling soothed even as the sound of her exhalations reminds me of that gorgeous sigh she let out when I kissed her face.
M A G G I E
I wake up bleary-eyed and anxious—and despite my instant realization that I was only dreaming about Kyle following me through Lucent and the mall and Target, my pulse spikes higher when I also realize I don’t know where I….
No, wait.I do know where I am.
My heart rate starts calming just as quickly as it freaked out.I close my eyes and rub at the exceptionally warm side of my face, which I’ve had lying on my arm.Mere feet away from me, Luke’s light snores remind me of us being tired throughout our evening with our friends.
But my pulse jumps again because our friends—oh no.They expected us to find that game and bring it to them, and we’ve clearly not done that.
I sit up straight, groaning about how stiff my muscles are and how sleepy I still am.These things worsen as I lean over and smack around for where I think I left my purse on the floor.Yep, there it is; I feel around for several clumsy seconds before I find my phone.
Gosh, it’s late.Nearing three o’clock in the morning.
I see I have hours-old text messages from my group chat with the girls, so I open them.
EMMA:Okay, Ms.Moss, Joy and I are home safe.You must still be asleep at Bramhill’s.Hope you’re cozy.We love you and will talk to you soon
JOY:Love you!Snooze to your heart’s content!
EMMA:Also, Brad still isn’t half bad.He got along with Joy much better than Asston
